Hi Kimmie,

We just got back from a nice bike ride in the park, had lunch overlooking one of the many lakes it has and walk in between, when the hills were too hard to get up by bike. This is one way to get me to stick with the plan; along with reading other peoples stories of success; seeing the scale going down (but I don't depend on that, it could back fire); changing my thinking & what I say; a healthy attitude helps a lot and encouragement from my MFP friends too.

I like the 'anne of Green Gables' sentiment. Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it. One off day isn't enough to seriously derail the plan, unless I let it. I try to use the same philosophy in my Christian walk too, as each day is usually filled with mistakes. However, God forgives me unceasingly, so I need to apply His view of me to a number of areas of my life.

I haven't lost any weight for about 6 months now, so am experimenting with exercise eat back or not, however, I've not been discouraged, as Each day is new, and has the potential to be the day when I'll record that elusive loss!

Because I eat back my exercise calories and try to look at the big picture (with an aim for an overall deficit for the week instead of each day making or breaking me), I can be a little more relaxed, with the understanding that I must pay for what I eat above my calorie limit.

There are some things that I feel are worth the extra calories and I'm willing to either exercise a little longer to "pay" for them, or eat less the next day to make up for the extra one that I enjoyed.

I've found that it's not an occasional "off" day that kills my goals, but a habit of not moderating my intake and/or skipping out on exercising.

Ultimately, this is a life change and the whole goal is to enjoy life in a moderate, healthy way, so that's the attitude I try to keep! Giving up really isn't an option because there is nothing good to go back to!