I need encouragement!

What has helped me is not thinking of this as a "diet", but as a lifestyle change. I don't deprive myself of anything, so I don't feel the need to "cheat". I didn't gain this weight overnight and it won't all be lost overnight, but I concentrate on how far I've come and how much healthier I feel. You can do it!! Take it one day at a time.

I went to Club Med last week, and met lots of interesting people. Coincidentally 2 people said the same thing to me on the same day, at different times and places:

"Choose your actions not for today's results, but for the long term."

Translation to MFP: You might not get to be under your calorie goal every day. But if you look at the month's calorie goal, if you've been honest and made an effort, you might find you're doing much better than you thought.

If you get a ding in your car door, do you go ahead and total it? What do we do? we keep on driving, driving, driving, we are driving...

As I've just posted on another thread, the key is knowing how to counteract the consequences of slippage. Gone are the days of 'well i've ruined all my hard work I just won't bother' and they are replaced with 'I am back on track'. A week of sticking to daily calories and exercise, plus lots of water to flush out your system will help you see losses again, and get you back on track.

That's a huge learning for me over the last few months. I've treated myself to chocolate this weekend for easter, haven't we all. I've probably been on maintenance calories for the last few days, but the scale is heavier this morning as a consequence. I know that I need to get back exercising (I haven't done any bar walking for a week now) and sticking to my 1200 calories and I'll see a loss again. Once you see those numbers moving downwards again on the scale, you'll be locked in to the cycle again.

Above all, by doing this, you are learning that you can have treats and it doesn't completely derail you. A very important lesson for when we are all at goal x

If you get a ding in your car door, do you go ahead and total it? What do we do? we keep on driving, driving, driving, we are driving...

That's a great way to look at it - I'll remember that!!

Lots of good advice already posted! For me, I established a set of close friends who I email on my 1 weigh in day a week to tell them how I am doing. They agreed to hold me accountable to my goal of losing 40 pounds and maintaining that loss. Knowing I am reporting in to folks who love me, but will not let me slide if a definite plus for me. Also, I posted a picture of my mom (who is obese and I don't want to end up like her) at the top of my bathroom mirror; then using dry erase markers created a 20 week chart where I write in my actual weight on my weigh in day; at the end of the chart, I posted a picture of a healthy women (not a super model!). I see this chart several times a day and love seeing how my weight has dropped slowly over the past 13 weeks of this lifetime journey that I am on. I am not on a specific diet, but have tried to cut out white flour and white sugar in general. I eat 4-6 meals a day rather than an old fashioned standard of 3. And I am trying not to eat after 7 or 8 pm (that one is hard sometimes!). Having lost some of my weight and being able to buy new clothes and actually SEE a difference has been another motivator for me. Try to remember that it took time for you to gain the weight and it is going to take time for it to come off and plateaus do come along that stall us out. Keep your goal in front of your face and I think it makes it easier to make the right choices; but at the end of one day, you can always start afresh the next day! Keep a positive outlook and good luck to you!

To keep me encouraged, I think about the alternative!

If I stop where I'm at, I know I'll go the other way and gain more weight. Then, I'll be going in the wrong direction!

If I have a few days of slip ups (or weeks) I just make a choice. I usually start by just focusin on 1 change per week. For example, this week, I am not eating white sugar or white flour. After 3 days of this I feel great and start to unbloat. That makes me feel better.

I also workout no matter how I feel about myself. Working out keeps me motivated because if I don't eat right all that work just went down the drain! (that doesn't mean I don't work out if I slip, that's when I need it the most)

I have been working at this since last January 09 and have released over 30 pounds. I'm not trying to break any records here.

BUT here's a simple way to look at it!

IF YOU LOSE JUST 2 POUNDS PER MONTH, THEN IN 1 YEAR YOU WOULD HAVE LSOT 24 POUNDS!! 2 YEARS 48 POUNDS!!

Don't overwhelm yourself with the numbers. Just keep on keepin on and you WILL GET THERE!!

As far as eating, logging in and recording my nutrition really helps me. I am now certainly more aware. I am actually reading the labels on the packages. Instead of sitting down with a whole bag of chips, I'll just put a few in a bowl. Believe it or not, that usually satisfies me. I pretty much stick with whatever a serving is. No more heaping bowl of ice cream, just half of a cup.
I even do it with my dinner and lunch.
As far as exercise, my ipod keeps me going. I couldn't do it without it. And if the music is shuffling just right, I might even do an extra mile or two!
Also, I know if I do that extra mile or two, I'll have "earned" extra calories and I can indulge a little if I choose to.

Hope this helps!