I need some encouragement!

My biggest problem is the monthly church dinners and eating out after church on Sundays. I have to be cautious about staying away from potatoes and pasta but most of my calories come from fried chicken so I limit myself to only one piece and no other starches only lots of veggies. At the church dinners I only get a spoonful of items I know are high in calories, salt and oil. Then I eat very light that night to not go over my intake limits. Above everything else I'm honest in listing my calories. If it goes in my mouth it goes on the list and I try to measure or weigh stuff. Good luck.

I'm experiencing a mini-version of what you're going through (fell off the wagon this weekend, I've been tracking in the AM then getting lazy by the PM and overeating). Don't know if it will work for you, but this is what I'm doing to combat my negative mood/lack of motivation:

I'm trying to be patient with myself - ANY effort is better than none. The task of living healthy seems less overwhelming when taken in little bits - give yourself credit for logging in and for reaching out for support. Then take it one step farther and just track without worrying about calories, then ease into tracking AND hitting your calorie goals.

I went probably 400 calories over my goal yesterday, but if I wasn't trying to watch what I eat I would have likely gone over much more (like 1,500 calories more!). There is still room for improvement, but avoiding those 1,100 calories is awesome! I want to meet my goal quickly, but I have a feeling that patiently chipping away at it is more effective.

In any case, I feel ya! Hang in there!

I know how hard it is. I have always said "tomorrow". Last fall, shortly after my 50th birthday, my doctor told me that if I didn't make some serious changes in my life, when I saw him this spring he would put me on diabetes medicine. It scared me at first, then I relaxed and just said "tomorrow". At Christmas I was having difficulty getting up and down on the floor to play with my grandson. I realized tomorrow was here. On January 4th I started using myfitnesspal and runkeeper. Runkeeper is a tracking app that monitors walking, running, etc. It gives you time and distance traveled, pace, calories burned, etc. It has really helped me. I lost a lot of weight in the first month. It seemed the second month was almost entirely a plateau, yet I kept on. I have been very honest with what I eat and my exercise. I know that no one would know if I snuck a cookie or walked 1 mile instead of 4, except me. I have gone out to eat, but I make smarter choices. I try Applebees 550 menu, and IHOP has a simple and fit menu. I eat grilled instead of fried. There have even been a couple of times where I just say what the hell, it is just one meal. EVERY time I have done this, as long as I get back on the wagon starting with the next meal, the scale has NOT MOVED UP!! Losing weight is hard, and gets harder as we get older. But the benefits far outweigh (lol, no pun intended) the "sacrifices". Good luck, and let me know if this helps at all.

BTW, I got on the scale before I logged on, and to date I am down 49.2 lbs.

Get your food planned for the entire day and Enter it in the day b/f or the day of. Then you know What to eat and when to eat it. You can do it. Amp up your protein! Eat 5 times a day Breakfast /snack/lunch/snack/Dinner.

Go You!:happy:

You did the first thing right by logging back in and asking for help. Sometimes that is the hardest part. I think majority of us here can totally relate to falling off the wagon!! You can do this!

Hi Stephanie,

We all fall down once in a while, we all get up and keep going. I do not know why, when we diet, we feel like we cannot get back on track.

I think we only need to give ourselves permission to be falable and to keep our vision forward and continue on!

Personally I look forward to: Better health, Feeling well, Participating in activities, Finding love, Confidence, and Smiling. I will always keep these few things in mind and I will get back on track every time I stray.

I know you can too, you have all of your life!

Mike

just keep moving. dont worry about what you didnt do instead focus on what you are going to do and then execute.

I think the main thought to keep in mind is the weight did not come in a day and nor will it be diminished in one day. We will have days that are up and down but we have to take our struggles in stride. If you put encouraging notes in the places that serve as your weaker points it will help over a period of time. If you read them. Also, when you go out, you shouldn't have to deprive yourself just be aware. Try to make healthier choices and if you know that day that the calories are off the chart then go really light at dinner and incorporate more exercise that day. You won't stick with a plan that is not realistic. Everyone wants to enjoy life but the best part of life is doing something good for your body. You are special and every bite that you put into your mouth should be special and not just empty calories that does not serve a purpose for your body. I know you can do it. Hope to see you back on track. Remember one bite at a time.

You know there are days I say "Its not fair I can't eat like other people that can and not gain weight" I just had to accept that was not how I was made. Lets face it... we are eataholics.We love all food. I think over weight people make the best chefs. They can "taste" it before its made. Just the smell of food makes us hungry . we wake up thinking about it and go to bed thinking about it. Its our solaice,our companion and friend that makes us feel better when we are down. I am thinking part of it is our lifestyle. I have seen thin, active people do skydiving, skiing,bungie jumping,climbing hills and rocks and NO WAY am I good at any of that stuff nor have any desire to do it.
Society over the years have polked fun, rejected and down graded over weight people as lazy, uncommitted, with no goal in life but to be fat and lazy.
I say to them, put down that milkshake you can drink every day and try doing what we have to do to be thin like society says we should and walk in our steps we go through and will HAVE to go through until we die.. we have proven over and over we can be committed, by going through the grueling things we do to ourselves to lose it.
I have come to the conclusion we fall, but get back up because thats the kind of person we are..strong.
We don't fail, we just learn from it and get better.
The biggest thing we need to focus on is our health. The weight will catch up with us in the long run I know it has me. Yeah I will never be a bikini size, but focus on what weight do I FEEL better at or comfortable with,health wise and body wise. My best weight where I felt good was still concidered over weight by some peoples eyes. (Again society's view as to what is fat or not fat) I am big boned and never will be that petite little 5'4 person but I can be where I feel good about myself.
Some people will still think we're not good enough and thats useally because they have an issue with themselves and try to convince others they don't by focusing on belittleing someone else.
Focus on what you do well and love and do it. Let your personality shine and realize you are not doing this for anyone else but YOU. Don't punish yourself cause you went off..lift your mood and emotions that got you started to do something about your weight in the first place. what ever that goal was,,,re focus do it again.. thats what we do best is fight the good cause, Show those people we are not lazy or uncommitted we CAN reach goals. We feel SO much better about ourselves and love the praise we get for doing it!!! WE CAN DO IT!!!!