Struggling

I've been doing so good for the past month. No binges, good foods, lots of water, activity and the crazy part was (for me) that I was having very, very few urges to slip back to my old habits.

The past week has been so hard and then yesterday I cracked and ate more than I had in recent memory and while today the quantity was less, so was the quality. I feel so disgusting for giving in again.....I guess I truly thought I was over all of that.....how foolish of me. I'm terrified I'm going to start this cycle of struggling/giving in once I finally thought I had it beat.

oh my.

Did something happen recently that perhaps could have triggered your eating?  Stress at work/home for example?

Don't give yourself a hard time.  It really does happen to the best of us, nobody is perfect when it comes to weight loss. 

Just know that everything will be okay. Yesterday was just one day, and today is a new day. Going a little crazy one day will not hurt your progress in the grand scheme of things.

So, don't be down on yourself. Be proud of how disciplined you have been, and think of today as a fresh day! Everything takes a little time, but you are obviously learning that your past ways are not the best and you have the desire to change.

I think many people have bad days, and days when they make poor decisions. The important thing is not the mistakes you make, but what you decide to do the next day.

Keep up the good work!

My experience w/this kind of behavior was that it was a neverending cycle. By the time I recognized it as THE problem in my weightloss attempts, the cycle was recurring every 3 days.

There is truth to what these folks are telling you. So many people do go through it, too, there are triggers that upset your best efforts, you can respond w/o guilt and bounce back right away and this will stop the cycle.

I was told all these things and more and nothing changed for me until I started really looking at my behavior. I have had 18 days of surprisingly worry free eating...no calorie counting because I wasn't eating to excess. On day 19, I overdid but nothing compared to where I've been. On day 20 I bounced back. This is so new to me that I am very cautious to say that I am through w/binge eating forever. But, I am surprised by what I'm experiencing and it feels great. I guess the bottom line for me was that I didn't want to be disciplined. I wanted to stop worrying about what I was eating/stop being consumed w/eating so I could focus on other things besides counting calories.

What started me off on this new cycle was a book called Shrink Yourself. It is psychology based and gave me insight I agreed with into WHY I was overeating and doing it regularly. Another CC member recommends Jean Antonello's books that are physiologically based...she believes that reduced calorie dieting is the culprit behind yoyo dieting/overeating episodes like you experienced. SY agrees that reduced calorie dieting is the root problem, too but JA thinks looking into your psychology is a waste of time. lol I love psychology, personally.

Anyway, if you really want to get a handle on the behavior, it wouldn't hurt to look into reading on the subject. Best of luck.

I believe that there are both psychological as well as physiological triggers.

Emotional stress really sets me off.

But so do certain foods: anything made of white flour or sugar.  Once I get started, there's no stopping me.  So I don't eat these foods any more.  But instead of refined sugar (like cakes) I eat plenty of fresh fruit every day.  It tastes delicious (the more so when you don't eat any sugars) and it satisfies my craving for sweets.

You need to find what works for you ... healthy substitutes for problem foods.

I concur. I had quite a week last week with two separate incidences with glazed donuts and chocolate milk. I caved in and before I knew it I was popping off the top of the milk and inhaling the donut.

Damn grocery store, that strategically places these things front and center as you walk right in, in the early morning. Can't be missed, not even another entrance to bypass it. So.. I simply do not go to this store anymore in the morning. I wait till noon, which is when the crap has been removed back to the bakery section.

I don't mean to rant in your thread about how I feel most places need to get on board with putting healthy foods front and center. I feel your frustration. My triggers seem to take over in a scary way and before I know it, I'm eating nearly unconsciously. Or...simply not caring! I fear that the old behavior will return, take hold, and consume me again.

It hasn't yet, but it's still a struggle.  And those old eating patterns of mine won't disappear as I learn and teach my body to eat better. I'll probably face more slip ups.

I had the slip up, and spent the rest of the day back on track with my menu. I felt pretty horrible and guilty all day.

I learned alot about myself from the slip up, the trigger, and that it's okay to have a treat once in awhile.

One thing that helps is taking a free day each week. Not to go overly crazy on whatever I want, but to have a dinner and dessert that I have been wanting most of the week.

Lastly, I'm a big emo- eater. I'm so used to eating my emotions, so that's another struggle.

You'll find a means to get around your triggers or work through them. Give it some time. And please don't be hard on yourself.

You've gotten some great support/ideas already! I'll just send some good vibes your way to help you on your journey!

 

We ALL slip up. Anyone who tells you they lost weight with no problems or slip ups is lying. We are human. You are doing great and you cannot beat yourself up. Just get back up on that wagon and keep going!

Sweets, fatty foods etc are "occassional" foods.  Sounds to me like you were being perfectly normal and should most certainly not feel guilty.  Food should never make you feel guilty in my opinion.  You know you can't eat like that all the time and you usually don't.  So take heart and don't beat yourself up!

hey There!! Hang in there..all is not lost...one day of messin up is not going to affect your long term goal as long as it does not happen very often..it will be alright dont beat yourself up ..just jot down what you feel you did wrong and ways to avoid that situation again and keep with it ...that should help you to regain your goal and not slip back to where you was...thats why you got us!!to help in these situations!!

bumping b/c I moved it to a new forum