will i ever do this? feeling doubtful...

i'm having a hard time right now believing in myself.  i've failed at losing weight and keeping it off SO many times that i feel it will never happen.  i'm getting married in a little over 10 months and i want so badly to be a healthy, beautiful, SLENDER bride.  my problem lies in binge eating.  i will go several days of eating right, tracking calories and choosing healthy foods and then BOOM one day something happens and i eat everything in sight.  it used to be that i could bounce back from these binges, physically speaking, and lose any gain/bloat from the binge fairly quickly.  but now it seems that each binge leaves a layer of fat behind that i can never get rid of.  it gets tougher each time to recover.  this also hurts my motivation because i work out at the gym and eat well for weeks with no results!  its so frustrating!  please give some encouragement...thanks!

You can ask your husband-to-be to be your support! If you find yourself bingeing a lot because of too much healthy foods, try limiting yourself to a small treat per day (like maybe a cookie). If you are disciplined enough, you can beat the urge to binge.

Good luck and stay healthy!

Start small. 

If you are trying to do everything all at once, eat right, low cal, exercise, drink water, purge junk foods... it's too much change all at once. So when something happens, and it will, life is change. Then it is overwhelming. You go for comfort, you punish, you self-inflict.

Find one thing to get control of for the next 4 weeks. Maybe it is simply logging your food. Not to reduce your calories, just to understand your pattern of eating. Then maybe you work on an emotional journal. What foods do you eat when you are upset? What do you feel when you are eating? How does it feel to grab them? What do you like about them? How do you feel afterwards?

Understanding your behaviour will give you the power to be able to change it. If you can identify patters, reasons, rationales for your actions then you can address the root causes behind them. 

Loosing weight is not rocket science. You have done it before. However, it is about adapting to real personal change, finding the desire and strength for that change within yourself and believing that you are both worth the process and that the process is worth the long term results.

Good luck. 

Sara.

JLM,

I feel you on the try and fail routine.  That is also my story ... except I have never actually taken the weight off nor have I kept it off.  But, the start, stop, try, fail routine is familiar to me.  I am in no way qualified to give advice since I have only begun my journey of losing the weight (which is going okay for now).  I did realize that if I am ever going to be successful it can't be about denying myself or working myself to the bone ... that (for me) is a recipe for failure ... which I have definitely been accustomed to in the past.  I like Supersized idea of the food journal ... I did that for months prior to starting this weightloss journey.  I realized that it was not so much about changing everything but making small changes that I can live with -- hopefully for life.  I analyzed what it was I was eating and looked for things  I could do that would help ease me into making a difference in my weight. 

For instance, I love popcorn ... so I switched from the homestyle popcorn to the 94% fat free butter flavored popcorn (huge difference in calories).  I also swapped out real eggs for Egg Beaters (also a huge difference in health, calories and fat).  I switched to fat free sour cream, mayo, coffee creamer, cream cheese, etc.  I still get the things I enjoy ... but in a healthier way that is not so fat and calorie loaded.

I am not much of a junk food junkie ... but I often have a hard time meeting my calorie minimum each day and discovered some lovely treat options that are really tastey but low in calories like:  skinny cow ice cream, weight watchers deserts, fat free jell-o pudding, etc.  I still get the treat ... but I am saving in the amount of calories I take in when I eat them. 

I also plan ahead when I know I am going to want to splurge a bit (like Thanksgiving --- stuffing is like chocolate cake to me).  I know it is high in calories but I can't pass it up!  YUM!!!  So, before Thanksgiving, I carefully calculated what I would eat and made sure I increased the exercise I did to counteract the extra stuffing I knew I was going to eat!  The results weren't too shabby.  I have lost 10 lbs in one month.  Granted it is only my first month ... but so far ... I don't feel like I am missing out on anything!  At this point, whatever I am doing appears to be working ... start your journal and see what kind of changes you can make that won't make you feel as though you are making such huge sacrifices.

Good luck!  I know you can do it!

Gwen

First of all CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

You look amazing in the dress you picked out. (not sure if thats the one you plan on marrying in but it's beautiful.) You have made a smart decision in starting while you have 10 months rather than 10 weeks so kudos to you. Have you ever spoken with a counselor to have you figur eout why you're binging? Finding the root of the problem may help you recognize when you feel a binge coming on and you may be able to avoid it or stop all together. Whatever you set your mind to you can do it. Keep fighting the good fight.

I used to binge a lot and really don't much anymore.  For me, I wasn't eating enough on my "good days"... I was eating around 1500 cals, but for the amount I was working out and my body weight I really needed to be up around 1800... a few days of just a few too many cals would cause me to binge I think.  Also staying away from refined sugars really helps me, sugar is like crack, its addicting.  I think they key is not to deprive yourself.  i always say to myself... ok if you are hungry... eat!  And I have something small/reasonable even it if it out of my meal plan for the day, just knowing I can do that whenever helps me from feeling deprived.  Good luck.

thank you all so much for your encouraging words and good advice.  its all advice i've told myself or others before, but sometimes it helps to hear it from someone else.

You gotta be strong,  If you crave something one day, is best to go and get  a lil bit to satisfy that craving and move on..   When you binge (we all do)  you gotta be strong too and realize it happens..  Enjoy whatever u ate and move right back eating healthy on ur next meal...

Just need to have accountability of your foods.. If you binge today, then u know that this next days u should eat healthy.   If you manage to controls this, not only you will lose weight, but you will be able to eat healthy for the rest of your life :)

And btw u a real cutie with that dress ur hubby should be proud ;D