Help! I've fallen off the wagon and I'm too fat to climb bac

Before your cheat meal, plan what your breakfast will be the next day... then you're already on the way to getting back on track.

Since I started mfp, I stopped "cheat" meals... even for my birthday, Super Bowl, V-Day, etc... "cheat" meals made me fat (that and not going to the gym enough). I don't miss being bad. I love good, healthy food and I am happy to stick with it. If I allow myself cheat meals I will find reasons to have them and that is counterproductive.

I need a kick in the pants!

For 6 weeks, I ate really well. Felt great. Lost weight. Yadda yadda.

Then, I gave in to one treat meal. Though WTH? I'll get back on it at the next meal.

...3 weeks later, I'm still telling myself I'll back back with it tomorrow.

How do people manage eating a "cheat" meal, whatever you want to call it, and get right back with it? I feel like for me, it's either all or nothing. If I eat ANYTHING I shouldn't, it just ends everything else.

I KNOW that a lot of it is psychological. I have spent a lot of time in counseling trying to deal with my emotional eating, but I slip right back into bad habits. Eating something I shouldn't makes me feel bad, which makes me eat, which makes me feel bad. Cue cycle that never ends.

I still log into MFP every day, telling myself that as long as I'm logging in I haven't actually forgotten what I'm trying to do. But, that hasn't made me actually LOG what I'm eating.

I want this, I really do. I want to know what healthy feels like. But it seems like such an endless journey.

I guess I mostly just wanted to get this out. Any tips on dealing with emotional eating?

Then don't eat cheat meals. They're stupid anyways.

For me the trick is to not deprive myself of the stuff I love. I just try to eat a smaller portion or in some way alter it so that it is lower calorie. I don't have cheat meals. I may have what I call an "expensive" meal but on those days I have a lighter lunch and I do a little extra on my workout. Like tonight we are having cheeseburgers, fries and salad. I'm using 93% meat and I'm eating a low cal lunch. Last week we had pizza and I just worked out extra to be able to have it. I feel that if I deprive myself of the stuff I like I'll never be able to stick with this long term. Hope this helps.

I literally lol'd when I saw your topic line! We've all been there, girl!

I know for me, recognizing my weaknesses was the biggest step. Like you, the emotional component is huge! I can't count the number of times I have eaten when I was not hungry or to reward myself or because I was bored or anxious. When I fall off the wagon I have to reel myself back in.

Here's what I do:
1. Revisit my goals and set new short term ones: this week I will work out MWF and log my foods every day. I don't look at the scale as a measure for my success (although I do track my weight loss each week). I start by seeing if I actually did what I said I would do.
2. Simplify my diet: I actually love Smart Ones meals! I'll eat one for breakfast and lunch and then have a healthy dinner. This gets me back in the habit of eating smart and takes away the hassle of trying to figure out what 'smart' looks like.
3. Snacks! I love snacking so I have to always have a smart snack on hand. Lots of fruit, pudding, crackers- something for those "I can't take it moments!" (The Smart Ones desserts are AMAZING!!)
4. Those cheat meals you speak of? When I am getting back on the wagon, those go away for 2 weeks until I am back in the habit. And when I cheat...I don't CHEAT!! I still eat smart I just don't log what I eat. :-) Cheat meals negate all the hard work I spent working out. I don't like wasting that energy!

35lbs is huge and that is something to be so proud of!! That's amazing! Don't forget to give yourself a pat on the back for all you have done but also be careful not to use this a justification to plateau. I find that after I loose a lot I get lazy and kinda get over-confident. Keep the goal in sight. Keep pushing! :-)

"if you bite it you write it"

^^^^
THIS. And erasing the word "cheat" from your weight loss vocabulary would help too. Some of the other posts alluded to this, but the concept of setting rules for yourself could help. Everyone who's been successful at some point with weight loss followed a certain set of rules, & they can vary greatly depending on the person. Maybe it's "I can eat whatever I want as long as I meet my calorie goal for the day" or "I can make one day a free day to eat what I want as long as I log it, & set a specific time to end it." A lot of my effort through the week happens with the mindset that "the better I do now, the more I can eat on Spike Day." True story. If it sounds like I reward myself with food, I absolutely do. If I'm willing to run a couple miles for a donut, what's the big deal? Some donuts are just worth it.

The tendency toward emotional eating complicates things, so having free meals or free days may not work for you. Only you can decide if it's something you can handle. If you find that you can't separate emotional eating from these planned indulgences, then it's probably not for you.

You don't just HAVE to view it as "falling off the wagon." I really hate that phrase. There's no wagon, people. You simply made choices that you now realize weren't good ones for your weight loss. Dedicate yourself to making good ones today. That's all you need to worry about right now. Don't worry about yesterday, & deal with tomorrow, tomorrow.

You have to want the goal that is at the end of the tunnel and until you are ready just like anything you won't commit or at least that is how I felt for years. No I want to feel better and things I know now I wish I would have known when I was younger.
Get a group of friends that you can work with that can help you out in giving you that extra little push but don’t get to down on yourself. Enjoy life eat what you want with in moderation think baby steps and you will get there. Good Luck “YOU CAN DO IT I HAVE FAITH IN YOU!” If you need a friend to give you a little extra push of encouragement you can always add me.