Getting started again for what feels like the 20th time...anyone else like this?

Hell no, you're not the only one! From my heaviest, I've managed to keep about 40 lbs off permanently. But the "last 20," I have lost over and over again. It's super annoying. If I'm really on my game, I can lose it. When I try to "find balance" & start having drinks & going out to dinner, it comes right back. I just deleted my MFP account & made a new one. I wanted a fresh start. I found some supportive & motivating new friends & I'm getting it done! (Again!)

Haha. I hear you on the in love part. That's how I gained my weight. About 25 pounds in six months and then I maintained for about a year before finally deciding to do something about it. I think you need to learn how to maintain. I know I need to work on it too. Good luck.

I can completely relate. Last year I tried calorie counting with MFP for the first time and got all the way down to my goal weight which I've never been able to do. I felt so great that I decided I could stop keeping track for a bit and see what happens and man, it's very easy to put all the weight back on! I stopped counting calories, stopped using my food scale and stopped weighing myself, for a few weeks I was afraid to even look, haha.

I've gained about 15lbs in just the past 3 months maybe, even though I cycle pretty regularly I've just been eating and drinking whatever whenever (bike rides and beers, such a winning combo). I'm reaching the upper limit of some of my clothes fitting, and about 15lbs ago I decided to get rid of all the clothes that were too big because I was feeling so confident that I could maintain where I was, oooooops.

Since my early teens I've been very self conscious about my body and my weight, and I was just getting to the point where I alllllmost felt confident; I really want that back. I also don't have much money right now, so I basically can't afford to buy new clothes even if I wanted to. Those two things in particular have motivated me to get back on track. I came back to MFP just a couple days ago after a hiatus of at least a couple months. I'm choosing to look at the whole picture without regrets, I needed to see what would happen if I took a break, and it didn't go as well as I'd hoped, haha. So, now I know for the future that I can take shorter breaks but need to maintain some discipline in order to feel better about myself and my life, and also remember that I've done it before, I have the tools and the knowledge, so I can get there again.

Hi, there. I have been there, too, and have a very long way to go, having just discovered this website today. I remember someone saying to me once "if you had a lovely bouquet and one of the flowers was wilting, would you throw away the whole bouquet, or just the one flower that had wilted?". Forget the bad days and falling off the wagon - you are very determined and will get there because you work hard and deserve it!

I have done that so many times I lost count! This time for sure I am doing it and so can you! There will always be things in life that happen to us that we can't control but we can control our eating! We are the only ones that can!

I so relate! I remember losing ~10 lbs before I turned 30 and thought, "I never want to do THAT again," but here I am needing to lose 30+lbs (Dr.'s orders) and feel angry and overwhelmed.

I'm not a good rule-follower by nature , so counting calories and scheduling exercise takes more self-discipline than most anything I've ever done. And that self-discipline has been hard as I've moved, changed jobs, gotten married, dealt with illness. But I'm realizing that I will only make progress if I make the same good decisions day after day after day.

So I sat myself down to look at my bad habits (ouch!) and made a list of priorities for my health each day. Then I made achieving those goals as easy as possible: they are things I can schedule and do every day or as often as needed. I track those habits each day in an app. I also have a list of non-food pick-me-ups to turn to when the cravings start. And I'm finally learning not to keep my food weaknesses at home. I don't bake right now and we have to go out if we want dessert.

This strategy is the result of a lot of really discouraging up and down over the past several months, but I've learned a lot through trial and error. Also, I'm learning what works for me at this time of life: what I'll do consistently and enjoy will probably be something I'll stick with!