wanna give up :/

Don't give up! You can do this!!!

It takes work but if you find the motivation to go through with it, I'm sure you will look amazing

Try now, waiting won't make it easier. Even if things aren't perfect around the holidays, being mindful can help you limit the "damage."

Absolutely. That was my issue before I lost most of my weight. I never felt motivated and kept putting it off (i'm a habitual procrastinator as well though). It went on like that for 7 years..........do it now. Find some motivation. My kick in the but finally came by way of online 12 week Biggest Loser Competition. Money's hard to come by for me so the idea of a $$ prize for the weight loss seemed to do the trick, and yes, I won Find something to motivate you, even if it is a self reward (i.e. a mini shopping spree or pampering day when you reach goals).

My question is: How are you "blowing it?
If you are sitting and doing something in the evening that is leading you to eat. STOP and go do something else.
If you know you are going to want to snack in the evening and want chocolate then allot for it and have some. Just dont go nuts. I have 2 snack size snickers in the evening ROFL I am addicted to chocolate and have to have a snack before bed to keep my sugar from dropping to low at night.

If you're doing great during the day, then keep doing what you're doing during the day.

If you struggle at night, then CHANGE what you do at night.

Try going to the gym at night. I do my weight training at around 9pm. The benefits are that there are less people, the ones that are there at that time tend to be regulars (you can maybe make some workout friends).

Do you have a bike? If so, can you spare $300 on a bike trainer? I use a Cycleops Fluid2 and ride my bike while I watch TV.

Don't check out!!! Remember this what you eat can never be worked off in the gym. If you want to have a treat every now and again or a cheat meal once during the holidays it's okay just keep it to the right amount of portions. Don't over indulge, just keep your portions in check and work out! Don't stress yourself out if you make a mistake make the next choice better. Don't give up!

I think that thinking of it as an "it" often dooms one to failure. If you just eat healthy most of the time and get some exercise, that's all you really need to do. It's natural that during the holidays you might stray from that more than usual, but throwing in the towel would be a failure. Don't be so strict, just do what you can.

I just took a month off and focused only on logging food. I was feeling unmotivated. Yeah, I had a couple out of control moments, but I still logged it. Ended up losing 2.2 lbs for the month.

I feel much better about diving back in now and I don't feel like I sabotaged myself.

Good luck!

I have upped my calories for the break to maintain my weight for the next couple weeks! I think it will give my body a break, and then I can relax and enjoy the holidays. If I gain a couple lbs I know when I go back to 1400 a day it will come off. I just need to be able to relax and not count! I have 8-10lbs until I hit my goal, but I know they will come off quick. Don't give up, just give your body a break and then trick it in Jan!!!! The weight will come off!

Dont give up, you can do it! Try some alternatives, some people fill up on water for a false sense of being full. Save more calories for your dinner since you're hungry later at night. When I get hungry at night I make decaf hazelnut coffee,extra splenda to make it seem like i'm having something really sweet, lol and some low calorie creamer (10 cals for a teaspoon), this gives me a false sense of being full and it's sweet. Coffee also helps you poop, so it keeps your system a little more regular instead of storing extra poop.

I've become a little bit of a zealot... Sorry in advance for all the long-windedness

Here's how I started:

1) tracking for a couple of weeks before I worried about losing.
(although seeing what I was eating I couldn't help but rein back a bit)

2) seeing where I could make small changes on things that weren't that important to me.
(Don't even think of taking chocolate out of my diet!!!)
--Reducing quantities where I won't notice it so much
--Swapping out things instead of eliminating them.

3) Look at my diary and started adding foods that had positive healthy effects specifically for the health issue in my family.
I found most of the things I "should" add were really yummy too! salmon, avocado, oatmeal, mango, red grapes....
(Sort of think of food as medicine to deal with family history of various health issue oatmeal is good for heart health, mango and red grapes lower cholesterol, tumeric and cinnamon good for arthritis)

4) every couple of weeks I see where I can make another couple of small changes.
If you completely revamp your diet, it's way easy to revert to old ways in times of stress. (and who doesn't have stress?)
If you make a series of small changes, food still offers you some sense of comfort.
sort of a comfort continuum, and after a while the first small changes will seem comforting in themselves.
You don't have to be perfect you just have to do better.

5) also rather than being uberstrict with the target MFP set for me I did the math to find out the calories needed to maintain my goal weight and my current weight and I gave myself a range with 1200 as my rock bottom, lose 1 lb/wk as my target*** and maintain my goal weight as the top of my range. As long as I keep within in this range I'll lose. I tend to naturally zig zag my calories 3-4 at very close to my target and then a higher calorie day closer to the top of my range.

As long as I stayed under maintain my current weight calories I won't gain. So no need to throw in the towel, just pick-up where I left off.

Once I found ways to lessen the stress, I found it way easier to focus on the process and let the results follow. (It's what worked for me some people need the stress to get them motivated. Me I get scared and overwhelmed and don't see the big goal as achievable. I only worry about it 1 lb at a time.)

***also once my lose 1 lb/week target was down to 1200 calories I switch to lose 1/2 lb/ week (1200 cal rock bottom, 1/2 lb/week as my target, maintain goal weight as the high end of my range.)

Food is not the enemy.
Oddly enough on my journey here I've reduced guilt over food.
I have the occasional treat and I fully enjoy it with no guilt involved.
The thing is since I'm not eating crap all the time the occasional treat is just that a TREAT it's special and I enjoy it so much more than when I was unconsciously shovel junk food into my face.

I figure if I've got a good plan that I can actually maintain I can keep this off for a long time to come, without feeling deprived.

Good Luck

Well, I hate to pull out a cliche, but it does get easier. I was in the same boat, expect it wasn't so much the nights that screwed me but the weekends (hello Merlot!). I kept working out and then started tracking my food/exercise here. Gradually, I just got better and better about gym consistency and calorie intake. I chalk it up to a shift in my thinking. I started loving the gym and tracking my food made me think more about what I was eating. Suddenly, I started seeing some real results, whereas before I had been stuck for months. I still have a lot of work to do but I feel great.

My lesson? Don't put so much pressure on yourself. If what you are doing isn't working, make a small change and see if it makes a difference.

I think something that gets us all is we want big numbers loss. In reality a difference of a few pounds really shows.

If you're doing great during the day, then keep doing what you're doing during the day.

If you struggle at night, then CHANGE what you do at night.

Try going to the gym at night. I do my weight training at around 9pm. The benefits are that there are less people, the ones that are there at that time tend to be regulars (you can maybe make some workout friends).

Do you have a bike? If so, can you spare $300 on a bike trainer? I use a Cycleops Fluid2 and ride my bike while I watch TV.

Great advice!

Just do it now............... because there is always going to be a holiday or a life event on every month of the calendar. Thats what life is, birthdays, weddings, parties, graduations, new babys, showers, social events at work, holidays, retirements, weekends, visiting family, going out with freinds, dates, anniversarys, etc... They never cease, and there will always be reasons for excuses. Do the best you can throughout what ever events are happening and forgive yourself the slip ups and stay on that horse.

If You Think You're Beaten

If you think you're beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't,
It's almost for sure, you won't.

If you think you're losing, you've lost.
For out in the world we find -
Success begins with a person's will,
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise.
You have to stay with it,
In order to win the prize.

Life's battles don't always go,
To the one with the better plan.
For more often than not, you will win,
If only you think you can.