Oops... Here we go again..

Okay so I have been steadily losing weight (again! yes I am a serial yo-yo dieter) but this time has been different and I have really tried hard but for the first time since I started losing the weight (about 7 lbs or so) I got ill...

...then I kinda reached out for food as a comfort thing and now I have gained 4pounds :( it makes me feel so rubbish after all the hard work I did. I know it doesnt seem like a lot and Im still lighter than I was previously but I am just a little gutted.

I just need the motivation back and to make sure I don't slink back into my kitchen and scoff and sit in misery... So I guess I'm typing out some frustrations and asking neone if they have any ideas or support that they can lend. Thanks in advance,

- Luthien xxx

make sure you have healthy snacks readily available, if you restrict yourself too much, it will cause you to binge later on (i know this from experience, as i am a chronic yo-yo dieter myself!). I hope you're feeling better!

I'm not very good at healthy snacking, I'm such a junk food'a'holic. I wish there was a way for me to magically hate it. I don't like the big food corporations but I just can't say no :( oh dear I just have absolutely no will power... lol...

Honestly?  The way I look at my weight loss is that I have YEARS to do it.  When you have YEARS to do something, you don't rush through it.  Lifestyle changes take time.  I've been steadily losing weight for about 2 years now (a pregnancy during that time bumped me back up ) but the key for me has not been to try and lose weight, but more like - make lifestyle changes that are conducive to losing weight.  Our first step was eating more fresh food, less processed stuff, etc.  I'm not afraid to increase our grocery budget because healthy eating is expensive!  And I'm not talking about a baked skinless chicken breast with a side of steamed broccoli and no butter on the side, etc.  I'm talking about REAL food.  It made a big difference to start but the thing is, one lifestyle change spurs another.

Habits take time to break - if you try to break everything at once, it's going to be a problem.  Look at the sort of junk food that you tend to eat, and see if there's a better option.  Pita chips instead of potato chips, etc.  We've gotten to the point where we really don't have much snack food in the house, ever, besides crackers, and even those have become the healthier whole grain variety.  When it's not there, you don't eat it, right?  And if I want to buy myself a treat, I do it... but I'm not going to buy bags of chips and cookies when I'm at the store because I know that I'll end up eating them.  If I want stuff like that, I'll buy a small package of one thing and then have that.

I love junk food too... if you look at healthy eating as something you have to do NOW, it's gonna trip you up but if you look at just slowly through a process of elimination and taking your time between each change if might work better for you.  It sure did for me, and especially my husband who is a total junk food addict.  He still buys small bags of chips and whatnot when he's at school but think of how many fewer calories he's eating in junk food because the stuff isn't here at home anymore.

So basically, don't kill yourself to snack healthy, start with snacking healthIER.  Wheat thins instead of cheezits, etc.  That's how we did it :)

bdasko - I could have not said it better.  Losing weight is not something that will happen overnight, and neither will the lifestyle changes.  I did exactly like you described - just change one little thing at a time.  Now I hardly have ANY junk food in the house, and what little there is, my husband and children eat.

Getting healthy is a journey - and most of the time to do it right, it DOES take years to do it.  Ditch as much processed food as you can, and yes - it is more expensive to eat healthy.  Incorporate more spices and different types of food into your diet - it makes a BIG difference!

I know what you mean about working hard, and feeling like you threw it all out the door by eating a bunch of food your body really didn't need. I work out all the time, but tend to overeat...mostly when I want to be comfortable, like you said, "comfort food."

My advice, is to accept who you are. You are going to like certain things no matter what. Changing your behavior is the key. Like others have said, the best way to keep junk away is to not buy it for your cabinets. This works extremely well for me. Then you can feel better about having some junk once in awhile, like one day a week. Also, I know you like junk food, but try eating only foods that your body really needs, not what it wants. Even think about the word "junk" and then picture all those foods that you call junk, to have just been pulled out of the trash can and wrapped up nicely for you. eeewww right?

Make sure to get back in your routine as soon as possible, because the longer you wait the harder it will be to start working on it again. Routine is what will either dig you in the hole or pull you out, so make sure your routine is good. Feel proud of yourself that you worked so hard, and view the time off and comfort food eating as just some rest time from all the hard work. But rest time is over, right?

Well hope this helps :) Never ever tell yourself you are doing bad, do your best to keep positive thoughts.