WHY CAN'T I GET BACK ON TRACK!!!!!

[Faith in DC]

Eppy
First off, you might find Nettie's Start Mcdougaller story. She lost and gained and lost 100 also.

The health attitude does help as does a scare. I was eating typical vegetarian with loads of fat and cheese. Though I kept 'trying' to mcdougall and failing. I got a surprise cholesterol check at the doctor's, and my cholesterol came back with 240. It hit me, that I wasn't a healthy vegetarian. So I started making permanent changes, slowly. My progress has been small steps. The good thing is I feel very settled and happy with what I'm doing. For the first time in my life I feel I can actually lose all my weight and keep it off.

Remember only you can help yourself. It's not hard, we only make it hard on ourselves. The food is available at every grocery store. So it's up to you to decide what it is you want for your body. Good health vs poor health, thin vs fat, drugs vs non drugs. You know.

[Mrs. Doodlepunk]

Faith, how long has it taken you to lose the 80 pounds?

[ladynnred1]

Hey, Eppy,
I just walked in from 48 min on the treadmill at 3.7 mph and the weight circuit. I had a cup for McD soup for breakfast along with half a bag of frozen mixed veg; I had a cup of soup and the rest of the bag for lunch. I had a couple of hands full of roasted chickpeas for a snack.

We might see a movie tonight but I've already said I need something healthy for dinner. No intention of popcorn so I will do without if need be.

How are you doing?

[Faith in DC]

Faith, how long has it taken you to lose the 80 pounds?

It's taken me almost four years. I've went slow. Really I had some down times of dealing with emotional eating. The first six months I lost like 30 lbs. Then stalled. Then lost like 10 more and was hit by a drunk driver, and totalled my car. I had physical problems, and wow, the emotional binge eating came on. I battled for six months with that. I held my own though, basically came out staying even. It was four months later, after the holidays, that something clicked and I said I am tired I need to be strong and healthy, and that's what I've been working toward. I think not having full use or complete strength in my right hand and arm really scared me. Now I dare ya to arm wrestle me. I'll put up a heck of a fight. LOL

It was a learning process. I always kept in my mind my motto, which is my signature line. That is what I wanted when I started the journey.

Sorry probably too much detail. Emotions do play into it for those of us with binge and emotional eating. I am happy to say I struggled but didn't go wildly over board like I use to during times.

[eaufraiche703]

Oh, thanks for sharing this story, Faith!

You are truly an inspiration - way to go!

[Eppy]

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments. I knew I was right to come back on here!

[WishIWasInBuffalo]

My advice...

Believe in yourself.

Focus on health, not weight.

Realize that you are battling forces much larger than you suspect. Companies that sell SAD food have very strong marketing on their side and they know how to engineer food smell/taste to maximize appeal.

Understand that some people process SAD food better than others, meaning they eat SAD but don't seem to suffer the same problems that you do. That's them, not you. You need to focus on eating healthy to avoid problems. If it helps, tell people you are a medically supervised diet.

Avoid trigger situations.

Find healthy ways to reward yourself.

Practice, practice, practice. It takes time to turn off fond memories of SAD food. I used to worry about how to replace this, that or the other. Don't think of as needing to replace, but rather finally discovering how you should have been eating along.

This option isn't for everybody, but consider seeing a therapist if your insurance or financial situation affords the luxury. I selected the most coverage at work last year, for this year, knowing that I really need to be in therapy for some very deep and painful problems. I go weekly and it really helps. Wouldn't be able to afford it without the insurance.