It's like I'm on Repeat...

Totally feel the same way.

I've actually been on this healthy kick seven or eight times in the last few years. I'm seeing better results this time around and I think I've come up with a couple ways that keep my motivation up. I work in a cubicle, so I post my weekly weight up on the wall. That way I'll see it all day and have that number in my mind. I also put my weight in dry erase marker on the refrigerator door. That why, when I go to look for food, I see that number.

Motivation is the hardest thing for me. So with little tricks like these, I can keep focus a little bit better. Three weeks in and I've lost around five pounds. That helps too.

Supposedly it takes 21 days to form a habit. Not sure how concrete that is. But if you can something your regular routine, you'll be more likely to continue.

Good luck! You're gonna do great!

Happens to me all of the time. Instead of making it a "bad" week, have a "bad" day and then continue your being good. Sometimes I do need to drink to excess or have half of a pizza. New day is a new day, start over, keep up your good work. Just don't let the bad days be your excuse to be bad for long periods of time.

I do this, constantly.

For me, I've found the best way to get back on track is to log everything. All of it. Even if I'm way over on my goals.

That way, I can look back over the bad days and see where I am as a whole. And I've found that as long as I'm at a deficit for the entire week, I'll still lose.

If I had to guess, it's because you're trying too hard to chagne everything at once. I used to do the same thing. I'd try to live on barely any food and would do ok for a week or two and then binge like crazy and try to claw my way back to eating less, and the cycle continued on and on. There were other versions of things like doing low carb, taking pills, etc and they all eventually ended the same way - with me giving up and regaining the weight.

It actually took a good friend of mine asking me why I put the weight back on for me to figure it out. It wasn't rude or any of that, she honestly was curious both personally and professionally because she's my best friend and she's also a weigh loss consultant and personal trainer - but she's never been truly overweight (not more than maybe 20 pounds) so it's hard for her to understand. Anyway, at first I kind of blew it off like "the past is the past" but I couldn't get the question out of my mind so I thought about it over several months and realized all of what I put in the 1st paragraph of this post. Every diet I ever tried before centered around some sort of deprivation and that simply didn't work for me.

So this time, I eat what I like but in smaller portions and/or with healthy twists. Like when I make spaghetti, I add a bunch of veggies to the sauce, use leaner meat and only have one portion of pasta (instead of 2 or 3). And if I want pizza, I just have a few slices of a medium with veg toppies instead of half a large loaded. And I don't try to eat salads or other things that I really don't care for just because I'm trying to lose weight and they're "diet" foods. Although I will admit that I tend to go for at least lower fat versions of things because they're lower in calories.

And with exercise, I try to take the same approach. Forget about whever everyone says you "should" do, just find 2 or 3 things you really like and do them. It might not be the ideal workout but you're off the couch and moving and that is the key. Like I know I should do more strength training but this time of year when it's nice out, I'd rather be outside walking. If I enjoy what I'm doing, I'll be consistent instead of making excusesj - and I'll get back to the weights when it gets colder out.

Think about it. WHY doesn't this crazy cycle work for you? What might be a better way?

I see a couple of things here:

1. You're probably trying to do too much at once. Don't make it complicated. Set a REASONABLE calorie deficit and stick to it. You'll make adjustments over time to accommodate your calorie goal.

2. You're not addressing the issues that are causing you to go back to bad habits. Some will disagree with me, but a lot of the time, overeating is rooted in not properly handling emotions. There may be some emotional or life issues you need to address, or you may simply need to learn some new coping techniques, so you don't turn to food in the normal moments of life's stress.