I thought I knew what I was doing

I can relate a little. I am up 13 pounds. I am lifting so I am supposed to celebrated my gain. Not easy.

If you are living alone, then surely you can control what you do and do not have in your kitchen so there will be less temptations?

I can relate. When I started grad school I kept eating the same (and a lot of snacks) but stopped being as active. I got a car and stopped biking everywhere. I went up about 20-25lbs and now I'm having to remember to not eat when I'm bored and I stopped buying cookies.

If you need some support, feel free to add me.

Be proud that you're getting onto it now and not in anither 20 pounds You know what you need to do.

I can relate! Definitely hard to keep it up. I have an it's ok to cheat day that sometimes helps me not cheat daily.

We all find ourselves "setback" from our goals on occasion, tlathen. What I see from your post is that you're back on track mentally and that's 90% of the battle. You lost 66 pounds and only gained 10 pounds back? You're totally in the game still!!! You've recognized your challenges and began to readjust after a pretty big, geographical move.

You have a physical goal set - your HM in June. Which means you signed up, paid the fee and began the mental and physical process of reaching your goal. You're taking action!

Spring is coming and the weather's getting better and you're getting fired up to cross that finish line at a better weight goal than you are today. You know the feeling of accomplishing a huge goal and overcoming defeat . . . don't leave anything for the past to devour . . . devour your goal as you burn up the past victoriously.

Keep enjoying the moments ~

This!!!

And try to get a limited amount (or no) "bad snack" food in the house. Since you live alone that should be farely easy. I have 3 kids so I cannot really avoid it but what I do is I try to buy the things I personally do not really like so I don't not get tempted too much every time one of my kids has a snack.....

Good luck. You will get there!!!!!!!! And have fun on your HM

So, I lost 66 pounds and easily maintained that for a year. I ran 3 half marathons last year and I ran daily, so I was pretty active. I ate healthy, but mostly ate the exact same foods day in and day out. (I know....).

In August, I got a new job and moved 300 miles away. Suddenly, I didn't have time to run as often and I had an unlimited meal plan at the university where I work. I still made "healthy" food choices, but I realized far too late that nearly everything in the cafeteria was coated in butter and oil. I also got lax about "sometimes" foods, and suddenly, Oreos and sugary cereals became "I'm bored and want to snack" foods.

I've gained back 10 pounds and I absolutely know what changes I need to make. I'm just having trouble doing it. I'm running another half marathon in June, so I've definitely upped my activity level, but now that I am living alone, it's too easy to wander into the kitchen and do regrettable things.

I a super frustrated. Can anyone relate?

Watch the quality of the food you are eating and you will lose all the weight you want. Most quality do not come in a package so try to stay away from anything in a package.

Joanne Moniz
The Skinny on Obesity Group

I can totally relate as well... I reached my initial goal in October and thought it was going to be a piece of cake (pardon the pun!) to stay there.... all the lessons I had learned about eating well and the importance of moving my parts every day... got a little too cocky and complacent figuring no problem! but this winter was especially cold and long and although I normally don't mind winter, this one was bitter cold and I found myself skipping walks after taking a header on the ice, reaching for comfort foods, and letting some old bad habits creep in.... and creep they did... and "suddenly" I had gained 10 lbs over a few months..? I saw a couple of pounds show up first but I was in denial - you know, weight fluctuates daily no worries.. ya... uh huh.... then the scale KEPT creeping up..but I was still confident it was just "a few pounds" and I would drop them no problem.. then a few more and I was into the "what the heck?" mode - so the old habit of turning to food for comfort came back and consoling myself for feeling guilty about gaining weight back with even more crappy choices.... when the scale finally showed a full 10 pounds I finally got angry - I worked too damn hard at getting to goal and getting fitter to let this happen!! I think a part of me was also feeling like I failed as such... that obviously the lessons I thought I had so ingrained were not.... and had to admit I had gotten just a little bit arrogant.... and complacent..... so for me, I went back to the basics; I ran reports on my diary exercise logs and read back some of my early posts to remind myself WHY I wanted to lose the fat and get fit... and how great I felt when i was at goal and moving every day... and that really helped get my head (and the other parts!) back in the game..!! I'm still annoyed I let myself gain the 10 lbs back but lesson learned and I'm putting in the work now to get back to my goal and I know I will do it! I agree with the poster who said a big part of it is the mind game; sometimes I just gotta tell that little voice in my head to sit down and shut up LOL!

Omg! xsmilexforxme. What kind of life are you living? Why are you working so hard? It would be impossible for anyone to eat properly under those circumstances. Is there anything that you can do to improve the situation? Can you at least catch up on sleep on the weekends? Don't beat yourself up. You are surviving an extreme situation.

I just know I have to stay on top of this at all times, not letting my guard down. Like you I gained about 15 pounds couple of years ago, got complacent and did not weigh as often. I know right now I could easily put on 5 lbs in a weekend and then another 5 and another 5 and keep on. I now weigh every day. I realize I have to eat like I am on a diet all the time or lifestyle. I know it sucks but what choice do we have. I am greedy with my food and have to remind myself of that daily.

I'm with you!! I blamed it on the cold weather and a new job, but the truth, is I lost my motivation and stopped keeping track of what I ate. I am back to get this 15 lbs. back off!

yes, i, too, relate. i have gained a couple of pounds. at first i thought it was a temporary fluctuation...but it is sticking around, so i did end up accepting i had gained weight. you can't cry over spilled milk. as you said, you know what needs to be done. i have no doubt you will do it. good luck! and remember...you didn't undo all your hard work. you just had a temporary set back that is a pretty normal response to a big life change(s)-- a move and career.

So, I lost 66 pounds and easily maintained that for a year. I ran 3 half marathons last year and I ran daily, so I was pretty active. I ate healthy, but mostly ate the exact same foods day in and day out. (I know....).

In August, I got a new job and moved 300 miles away. Suddenly, I didn't have time to run as often and I had an unlimited meal plan at the university where I work. I still made "healthy" food choices, but I realized far too late that nearly everything in the cafeteria was coated in butter and oil. I also got lax about "sometimes" foods, and suddenly, Oreos and sugary cereals became "I'm bored and want to snack" foods.

I've gained back 10 pounds and I absolutely know what changes I need to make. I'm just having trouble doing it. I'm running another half marathon in June, so I've definitely upped my activity level, but now that I am living alone, it's too easy to wander into the kitchen and do regrettable things.

I a super frustrated. Can anyone relate?

can totally relate!!

i didn't read through the whole thread, but bottom line, sugary fatty foods are highly addictive. when i eat mindlessly, i'm satisfying my reward system, which is to feel different RIGHT NOW. to quote the comedian Jim Gaffigan: "it sure does feel good going down!" cheating and temporary reward at the expense of anything i want long term.

it's hard to commit to or even think a total sugar/unhealthy food abstinence program will work, hence the difficulty with maintenance of weight loss and fitness gains. there constant temptation all around.

it all comes down to what are my goals and what am i willing to do to achieve them? at times i really heap a lot on to my future self. "i'll start tomorrow". what about starting something today that will begin to make an impact. behaving myself into a motivated state. because unless for some reason a magic window of motivation has opened in front of my, i usually have to behave my way into being motivated.

anyway this is how i think about this journey - not sure if it helps or not, but it's how i get through. good luck!!

Luckily today is a new day and for once, I actually measured out my portions at breakfast. Turns out, I'm not as good at eyeballing a tablespoon of almond butter as I thought I was! Oops, haha.

Yeah, those little things will add up quickly. I try and measure out everything and account for everything too, especially condiments, I tend to use a lot of ketchup and mustard.