Struggling...

If you fall off then you can certainly pick yourself up and get back on. Trust me, once you start losing sizes that will be all the motivation you will need. I can't believe how good I feel physically and mentally. It is hard until you start seeing the results but you will never see them if you don't jump back on the wagon and keep going.

One day, one meal at a time. Just decide that you are worth it and don't look back.

Just look at your ticker and see the 23 lbs you've already lost. Think about having to lose them all over again. That's what I do when I think I'm starting to derail. It usually works for me.

I am sooo familiar with how you must feel. You are stronger than you think you are. Take control of the food. Don't let it control you. when this happens to me, I try to pinpoint what is happening in my life to make me want to punish myself by eating horribly. Look at how far you've come! You can do this!

I've been dealing with lifestyle change for the last 6 years. I've been on and off weight watchers, and now MFP. It's generally the fall-of-the-wagon moments that cause me to entirely give up and go nuts for 6 months.

But I've learned along the way that it's a process. Whenever I fall, I fall for less time now than I did before. I pick myself up faster. I never gain as much weight as I used to weigh 6 years ago. It's a process. Getting healthy is a lifetime process for a new lifestyle. And over the last 6 years, my lifestyle HAS changed, even when I'm off the wagon. Healthier foods and better exercise than 6 years ago, even when I'm being my "worst."

So forgive yourself. Fundamental change is hard. And change takes a long time - not just the period of initial weight loss. The important thing is to learn how YOU pick yourself up when you fall off the wagon. Here are some things I've learned that have helped knock me back on track:

-start by focusing on ONE thing to get back under control. Not everything (counting, water, calorie limits, exercise). You can't do it all, but if you make one simple promise to yourself and keep it, you'll regain control eventually. For me, I spent the last 3 months exercising. I couldn't handle anything else... but that finally led me back to tracking and counting. Sometimes, it was all I could do to just write down what I actually ate, even if it embarassed me. Make writing it down a habit, and it will lead you back to better habits too. One thing.
-One day at a time. Not one week, not one month, one DAY. Start small. Conquer your one thing during one day and you'll feel control and accomplishment. Then do it the next day. And so on.
-if you have the resources, pay for help. For me, exercise leads me back to health. So I pay for a few sessions with a personal trainer or an expensive fitness class that I feel like I HAVE to use, since I spent so much. It kick starts things for me. Maybe for you it's a week of healthy pre-packaged meals.
-pre-plan one week of meals and shopping. Count out the calories, plan for tasty-but-healthy meals and snacks. Have everything set and ready so you don't need to think about what you're going to eat each day.
-throw out your trigger foods. I can have them around when I'm on the wagon, but they are bad news when I'm off.
-talk to your partner (if you have one) and friends and say you need extra help this week

You can do this. One day at a time. These few days are a bump in the road on the lifelong journey to health. It's a process of becoming ever better, ever stronger, and ever healthier. You're earning it, every time you fall off the wagon and climb back on.

If I have a bad day... I try not to let it turn into a bad week...
Chase the wagon down and jump back on it ;-)

I posted yesterday that I was struggling/had lost my motivation. You do get to a point with this where it's not quite as much fun. It's a lifestyle change, and if that's the truth, who has a daily nutritional routine that is always fun? How about exercise--sure as hell isn't fun here, at least not every time.

It really helped me to just say it and acknowledge that I didn't have to be perfect at this. That's progress in itself.

When it comes down to it, you just have to make up your mind to just do it.