Help help help, I've fallen off the wagon!

I've been eating HORRIBLY for the past few weeks, and not exercising...I guess I've just gotten so fed up with dieting for so long and it's the holidays and all this tasty food is around, so I keep telling myself I'll just worry about losing it again January 1st...but I know that's bad! I haven't even gotten on the scale because I'm sort of scared to find out how much I've gained, but I know I need to get myself back on track. Is this happening to anyone else? How do I get back on the wagon? Thanks!

Take it one step at a time :)  Allow yourself to eat during the Holidays, but eat a little of everything, instead of LOTS of everything.  Don't tell  yourself you'll '' lose it again starting from January 1st ''. 

Already start to look at what you are eating, try to make wiser choice.  Keep it relax 'til January if you want, but don't eat everything at anytime just because you're on '' vacations '' 'til then.  Eating healthy is a lifetime commitment, and one cannot take vacations of life ;)

I'm sure you'll get back on track soon :)   Also, try to move a little more than usual (take walks, clean up your house...etc) without going to the gym, try to make alittle exercise daily, this will help a lot.

i so feel u right now man. Ive been doing SO bad these past couple of weeks too, and i know ive gained back a few lbs. im also avoiding my scale . But yea, i need to get back on track too, this is ridiculous. Lol, i was also really considering just bingeing until jan 1st, but i know if i do that, im very capable of gaining back ALL the weight i lost. thats terrifying.  Good luck buddy.

Well actually you're lucky.  Imagining gaining 6 whoely pure pounds over the course of a month without even going over 1,700 calories.  Depressing and I can't even get rid of it that easily.  It's depressing me every second of reality.

My theory is that if you are going to "fall off the wagon" make it a choice and own it.  Continue to record what you eat - all of it - and let yourself enjoy your break.  Otherwise, it won't be the food, it will be the head games, the guilt, that knocks you completely off the wagon.  Then, when you are ready, take a look at where you are at and tell yourself, "OK, that was fun, but back to work!"  You know how when you go on vacation you come back to twice as much to do at work?  It's not like the tasks do themselves, unfortunately.  But, you just dig in and get it done and you certainly don't regret having taken a vacation.  Good luck! 

yeah I'm there too, owning it, and accepting it for now. As long as you try to moderate MOST days of the week it should even out in a 7 day span. Be good to yourself and try not to stress out too much. Remember, the holidays are about family, not eating! :)

I've been indulging alot more often this time of year.  I'm managing to maintain and even still losing a bit, but I know I'd be seeing better progress if I'd get back to my plan hardcore like I was prior to Thanksgiving.  We're all human, and temptation does get to us sometimes.  The best thing we can do if we fall off the wagon is pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and climb right back on. 

I have to say that I agree with most of these posters... it's the Holiday Season -- enjoy it!  What is the point of weightloss but to improve one's life and to feel better about one's self... if you make yourself miserable, beat yourself up, miss the holidays, and don't indulge a bit you will fall off the wagon BIG TIME later on.  It just won't be worth it anymore because the bad: (the restricting, the regret, and the misery - the nagging thoughts of "will I EVER be able to eat my favorite foods during the holidays again and maintain weight?") won't outweight the good: (feelings of accomplishment, feeling healthier etc.) anymore. 

Furthermore, if you stress yourself out so much about falling off the wagon, the natural tendency will be to say, when you inevitably give in a bit, "well, to hell with it, I've already screwed my diet for the day, I might as well stuff myself and eat EVERYTHING I see that I couldn't eat before. I'll just make up for it later." It's completely self-destructive because you will end up eating more than you would have if you had never been on a diet in the first place!  So go ahead and indulge -- stop calorie counting, feeling guilty, engaging in whatever diet restrictions you were on with your diet during these weeks -- just don't go crazy and remember to stop eating when you are full.  Remember not to eat as much appetizer because god knows you are going to want that delicious dessert.  Get to the gym when you feel the urge (because anyone that has a genuine gym routine starts to miss it a bit after they stop beating themselves up for skipping a day etc.), eat one piece of pie and have a cocktail... but not 6... you know -- moderation in all things. 

*My personal method is to pick one party/event per week to go nuts at and then to be really well-behaved at the rest -- I just pick which event will have the foods and beverages that I'll most enjoy for that week.  So for example, I'll pig out on my Dad's prime rib and great wine and cherry cobbler on Christmas Eve and skip the cheap wine coolers and store bought pie etc. at my friend's "weekend holiday bash" the Saturday before.* 

Sure I'll/you'll gain a few pounds indulging but it will revitalize us and totally recharge our dieting battery/resolve after the 1st.  As long as we don't go so crazy that we fall back to where we were before we began dieting in the first place.  That's all.  Just remember, I'm right with you on this issue and so is everyone else on this board.  That's certain.  You just have to avoid the black and white thinking of "on a diet"/"off a diet."  Weightloss is about a new lifestyle -- about learning when to indulge and when not to.  It's not about losing a certain amount of weight "come hell or high water" and then gaining it all back when you return to eating the way you used to.  If you can indulge during the Holidays and eat healthily for most of the rest of the year... you're doing pretty darn well AND you're enjoying life -- living it to the fullest.  That's the whole point, isn't it? ;) 

 (Wow sorry for the novel I just wrote, everyone)

When I started out last summer my doctor told me that the most important thing I can do for myself is to get my calories under control.  Exercise and everything else comes secondary to controlling your intake of food.  Remember that keeping your calories under control does not mean you have to refrain from enjoying the holidays or eating the holiday foods.  If you are stressed out from dieting, then stay away from the scale and allow yourself to eat your maintenance calories.  This way, when the holidays are over you won't feel like you've set yourself back. 

I've not been very happy with my own choices the last couple of weeks so I'm feeling similar things.  I'm also paying another price because I seem to have picked up A LOT of water weight this week and I'm actually physically uncomfortable from it. I don't think I'm going to think of it as a break until January though. My goal is to have a healthier lifestyle as well as to loose weight and I really don't want to take a break from that. I don't think I should think of it as 'work'. I've just made some bad choices in challenging circumstances recently. That is in the past. I'm going to try and prepare for the challenges to come so I can do better.

As I look back at the times I've resisted some decadent treat, I've never regreted it or been haunted by it the next day. It only bothers me while it's right in front of me. The same can't be said for when I give in!  I really need to try and remember that at all of these cookie laden functions. 

I would advise you to weigh yourself as soon as possible. When I had my broken foot in Aug and couldn't exercise for 10 weeks, which increased my appetite so I wasn't sticking to the plan, I was convinced I had gained tons of weight. I was afraid of my scale! When I finally got on it, I felt so much better because I had only gained 20 lb, not the 50 I had imagined. And I lost the first 10lb in the first week back to eating and exercising properly.Within a month I had those 20 lb off and was making progress again.