A fall off the wagon...

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ndm531
ndm531 Posts: 33 Member
in Success Stories
You all are my heroes. Your losses inspire me and I need that inspiration more than ever right now. After three weeks of making really good choices I had a bad weekend - too many social events, too much bad food and not enough exercise. My normal reaction to this would be to beat myself up and continue a downward spiral. Can you help me learn from your successes? How do you rebound from making bad choices and get back up on the healthy wagon?
Thanks for your suggestions. :flowerforyou:
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Replies

  • caroeden
    caroeden Posts: 31
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    i just think about it like it really is a (horse-driven) wagon. if you don't get your butt back on it and start driving it, it will run away without you. and then you're stranded...
  • gnrshelton
    gnrshelton Posts: 358 Member
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    Just know that everyone has a bad day once in a while. Just get back up on the wagon. You don't want all that time you worked so hard be wasted. Don't beat yourself up. YOU CAN DO IT!!!
  • JennaM222
    JennaM222 Posts: 1,996 Member
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    I did the same this weekend. Monday is another day, and work a little harder at the gym. Try to be better next weekend. Weekends are my weak points. remember, it is lifestyle change, so we have to learn to be able to survive the weekends with out locking ourselves in the bathroom. ( I have considered it ) :) Good luck.
  • Joyjmb
    Joyjmb Posts: 221 Member
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    Occasionally cursing at it will do the trick for me. =) Look at the offending temptation and just say 'F*@K YOU' and walk off all full of confidence like you've always wanted to say to some horrible person in high school.
  • iamdesiderata
    iamdesiderata Posts: 95 Member
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    Don't beat yourself up over one weekend. In your body's perspective, one weekend of bad choices is like a blink of a second, of course, only if you've been living a long term healthy lifestyle. Your body is an amazing thing, in which it bounces back really well. Just get back on track, and make sure that you indulge with consideration. You may gain a couple pounds, but nothing drastic, as it will mostly be water weight, from bloating :)

    We've all been there, and we're still succeeding!
  • sillygoose1977
    sillygoose1977 Posts: 2,151 Member
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    I fell off the wagon for a week. Today is my day to pick it back up and move on. There is no sense in kicking myself for it. I just put my big-girl pants on and keep going. The success of my past will not be ruined by one week of failure.
  • JUSTFORME2010
    JUSTFORME2010 Posts: 125 Member
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    Its ok bellieve me we all have those weekends as well. I had one a couple weeks ago. But then monday comes and we start again.

    HAPPY MONDAY you will do great!!!!!

    Debbie
  • DanOhh
    DanOhh Posts: 1,806 Member
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    We've all fallen. Every single one of us who's taken the journey in weight loss has. Just forget about and move on. Learn from your mistake and try not to do it again. 'Get right back on that horse!' Good luck!
  • johnnya2
    johnnya2 Posts: 40
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    Don't consider it "falling off the wagon". You spent the weekend like that. Today you start fresh. I always allow myself a day to indulge more than usual. Typically a Friday night I might have 3-4 drinks. I earn it through my exercise though the previous week, and my exercise the next.
    This is changing your eating and lifestyle, not a punishment.
  • redefiningmyself
    redefiningmyself Posts: 476 Member
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    Occasionally cursing at it will do the trick for me. =) Look at the offending temptation and just say 'F*@K YOU' and walk off all full of confidence like you've always wanted to say to some horrible person in high school.

    haha! I love this idea!!!!!!!

    Aside from that, one thing I have tried to follow is the idea that the definition of success is "getting up one more time then you fall."

    To me falling isn't the problem - in fact, set backs are expected. But its getting back up as soon as I can instead of lying there in my own misery.

    I haven't lost unless I'm dead. And last I checked...I ain't dead. :)
  • jenniferjill
    jenniferjill Posts: 6
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    I like to think of those times when we go off track and eat what we know is not good for us simply as momentary lapses of focus. It's very much like when you are spaced out and run through a red light. Just because you ran through one red light a moment ago, doesn't mean you should run through every red light you come to for the rest of the day. Tell yourself, "oops, I screwed up just then" but get right back to what you know needs to be done to stay on track. The trick is to NOT run those red lights very often because if you tempt fate like that too much, eventually you'll get blindsided and total out the "car." Also, I keep track of what I eat and how much I exercise then give myself a little happy face sticker at the end of the day when I stayed true to my daily goal.
  • carrieliz81
    carrieliz81 Posts: 489 Member
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    Oh my gosh, I feel your pain. I have bad days all the time, and bad weekends, and I think the important thing is to just KEEP GOING even if you mess up. I haven't found that my slip-ups have impacted the progress of my weight loss much at all, even though I can have some pretty terrible regressions to the dark side. :) If you just make yourself start anew each time and stick with it, you will see success. It will take a long time, but slow and steady wins the weight loss race!!
  • billgiersberg
    billgiersberg Posts: 163
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    Hollywood casinos have a little trick to encourage gamers to place bets. At the roulette wheel, they post past winning numbers. Passing gamers see, for example, that red numbers have won the last 3 or 4 times so the gamer thinks, "Hey! I'll place a bet on black now because the odds are in it's favor." They have a point but the Casino isn't trying to help anyone "win" a bet. The Casino knows that the odds of black or red hitting are the same no matter how many times a color has hit in the past and we know that the Casino generally always wins. Posting the past hits just entices gamers to place more losing bets.

    The point is this... Don't focus on the past. Each day begins a fresh day for you. If you focus on the past slip-ups, you'll end up just "betting" on them and possibly building on them. You can't change what happened yesterday but today you can make new choices. Tomorrow will be another fresh day. After a week or so, look at your reports for a trend and make adjustments to reach your long term goals.

    Always keep your eyes fixed on your long term goals and don't focus on your short-term slip-ups.
  • neelia
    neelia Posts: 750 Member
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    When I have an "off day", which is A LOT, I beat myself up about it- that is, until I realize that it took me much longer than 1 day to get to where I am. It is going to take me just as long to get back to where I was beforehand. The key to staying motivated is to remember that unless you DO something about the weight, it is just going to stay there. Good luck!
  • ndm531
    ndm531 Posts: 33 Member
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    Wow - you all are amazing. Thank you for your encouragement and great ideas. It is great to know that I am not alone in this journey and that I have such great company. So the plan is to forgive myself, move on, get right back into healthy choices and to go give all of the offending food a big old piece of my mind! I love the idea of swearing at the offending habits!

    Thanks everyone.
    Nicky
  • Behavior_Modification
    Behavior_Modification Posts: 24,482 Member
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    Successful weight loss is the difference between getting back on the horse or admitting defeat and continuing down the beaten path. (almost) Everyone who loses weight falls off the wagon from time to time and the difference between you and those other people who give up are that you are determined and committed to not let it interfere with your end goal. Your goal has not changed, you just took a little detour along the way. But now you're going to get right back on the horse to continue your journey to a healthier you. I have to remind myself of this once in a while too. :flowerforyou:
  • sajar_06
    sajar_06 Posts: 173 Member
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    Hey,
    The best way to handle this is just to realize that you did fall off the wagon and just get back on it and start immediately again. Beating yourself up is never the answer but, realizing what caused it or why it even happened then addressing it and learning from it is the right answer so that the bad habits we all have will no longer be our down falls. Make a committment and then take it one day at the time if you have to one meal at the time. God Bless, brenda
  • candlegal
    candlegal Posts: 220 Member
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    Good visual! I can picture that. You have to get back on or you'll be stranded, I like it:bigsmile:
  • candlegal
    candlegal Posts: 220 Member
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    You guys have some really great ideas, I'm going to use these cuz you know it will happen. Thanks!:smooched:
  • candlegal
    candlegal Posts: 220 Member
    Options
    Hollywood casinos have a little trick to encourage gamers to place bets. At the roulette wheel, they post past winning numbers. Passing gamers see, for example, that red numbers have won the last 3 or 4 times so the gamer thinks, "Hey! I'll place a bet on black now because the odds are in it's favor." They have a point but the Casino isn't trying to help anyone "win" a bet. The Casino knows that the odds of black or red hitting are the same no matter how many times a color has hit in the past and we know that the Casino generally always wins. Posting the past hits just entices gamers to place more losing bets.

    The point is this... Don't focus on the past. Each day begins a fresh day for you. If you focus on the past slip-ups, you'll end up just "betting" on them and possibly building on them. You can't change what happened yesterday but today you can make new choices. Tomorrow will be another fresh day. After a week or so, look at your reports for a trend and make adjustments to reach your long term goals.

    Always keep your eyes fixed on your long term goals and don't focus on your short-term slip-ups.

    Nicely put!!! Another good way to look at it.

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