Lisa I blew it!! *sobbing*

I decided to 'get serious' and go low carb..even lost 10 lbs. but then we went on vacation... and I blew it!

I ate whatever I wanted during that one week..only a week!...and got home to find that I had gained all but one pound of that 10 back. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I am so depressed and discouraged...I've all but given up on this... thinking that I am just meant to be over weight for the rest of my life.

How do I get away from this thinking?? what now??

~help~

added note..

This happened the first week of July... and I can't seem to get back into the groove- I litterally have given up! What's worse is I don't just eat normal the way I use to.. the depressing fact that I gained all my weight back has caused me to eat even worse then before.

now Im afraid to even get on the scale to see how much more damage Ive caused myself.

am i just a hopeless case here??

I know I'm not Lisa and I don't have her area expertise in low-carb dieting, but I have been a yo-yo dieter for most of the past 15 years. If you gained back 10 lbs. in one week after losing it on a low-carb diet, I would be willing to bet A LOT of the weight you put back on is water weight. Anytime you diet, and are choosing your foods carefully, your sodium intake is going to go down, especially if you are eating a lot of fresh foods. If you ate out at a lot of restaurants, then they probaly used more salt and seasonings than you've been using at home, so don't beat your self up about that 10 pounds!

The problem has now become that you are so depressed about that 10 pounds that you can't seem to get your head back focused on what you were trying to do. I don't know how much you weigh (I'm not asking!), but your picture is beautiful! Focus on that instead.

Lisa, let us know if this is a bad idea.

Charise, if you can't get started back on the whole diet all at once, try doing it in stages. Anything from starting with water, add a fish, cut back a bagel, add a salad, cut back a banana, etc.
OR you could try doing it one meal at a time; you know you are goin to burn off your carbs for breakfast, so save that meal for last - start with dinner. For a week do low carb dinners, then the next continue w/ dinner & make lunch low carb, too, then the next - breakfast, then your snacks... Just find YOUR way to get started again. It may not be the "book-perfect" way to do it, but as long as it gets you back on track, then go for it.

Good luck! (DON'T look at the scale for at least 1 month!)

Hey Charise,

I've been there before - I lost 18lbs in 6 weeks last summer and felt fantastic after - I lost another 2 lbs in the next week or so and then after that my weight stayed the same for awhile but I got so sick and tired of 'dieting' that I went back to habits worse then before - it's a crazy cycle and I hope to break it. I'm doing low carb right now but I KNOW it's not the answer for me (no offense Lisa). I enjoy too many foods that are basically bad carbs and for me I can do a program for 6 weeks or whatever but a lifetime?? It's just not feasible for me. Maybe I have no willpower - maybe I just don't want to lose the weight bad enough or maybe depriving myself of certain foods just doesn't feel good to me so I'm not going to stick to it forever. Ok so you blew it - it's only 10 lbs and you can get rid of that in just a few weeks of strict eating. I don't know what the key is to get YOU back on track - that's something you have to decide for yourself but I know you have posted a lot of really positive things on this site and you've made me feel motivated many a time when I didn't want to. If that avatar is a pic of you I can honestly say you are a beautiful looking woman. Don't give up now. I find the more I tell myself I can't have something, the more I want it. So maybe for now you could eat just a little bit of those foods you may be missing - nothing's going to blow it if you eat in moderation. And stop beating yourself up about one week - heck you were on vacation - I bet you had a fabulous time!! Go get your nails done or your hair styled and get back on the horse slowly and steadily - you can do it!!

oh and yes - I gained back the 20lbs but in 5 weeks of low carbing I've managed to lose 10 lbs again. I've plateaued for the past 3 weeks though. It sure can be frustrating.

You know...I think maybe just being aware of where I am here, and even posting about it has helped (those who keep a blog or journal really might be onto something there! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />)

As for the picture there, yes it's me..but taken a few years ago... my face is a little bit pudgier then that now..lol.. but most of my trouble area is from the waist down... *sighs*

Im going to try again!!..I swear it!... erm..right after I finish this can of coke *hides head in shame*

Even a little "pudgier" I am sure you're still gorgeous! And BTW the new Coke Zero is the Coke Classic formula made with Splenda, so it tastes more like "real coke" than does Diet Coke or Diet Coke w/ Splenda (different formula).

Hubby works for Coca-cola enterprises, I made him go ask the difference!

aww..thanks for the vote of confidence!

I will definately have to check out this Coke Zero- my SO is the real coke drinker in the family; maybe I can turn him onto it!...unfortunately my kids took it upon themselves to drink all my bottles of water and there just wasn't anything else in the house that sounded remotely pleasing to me..and I was sooo thirsty...so I took what was there in the fridge <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

my lower body is my problem too but i'm slowly losing inches. Pilates is great exercise and you can get inexpensive DVD's or videos and workout at home! You don't spend a long time doing it either and you end up feeling really good afterwards.

ahh..I've heard really good things about pilates too!

Im just afraid that I wouldn't commit to watching it <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I'm the worst when it comes to watching things on TV..I sometimes don't even bother watching my favorite night time sit coms if i get too busy on the comp.

I did find a fun little health channel on cable's 'On Demand' though and actually tried to do the work out with the instructor.. only thing was it was some sort of hula/hawian belly dancing thing and my attempts at that turned out to be more comical then cardio!! lol

Well, you could always figure in the amount of breathing it takes to laugh while exercising. If you are gasping for air that is bound to drive your heart rate up! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Don't feel bad about blowing it - we all do it! I've been low-carbing for nearly five years and here are a couple of things that work well for me:

Cook/make up a lot of low-carb foods at once. Fire up the grill and do some chicken, dogs, hamburgers. Cook up a package of bacon. Fix a batch of tuna and cut up a bunch of celery for munching. Keep frozen broccoli on hand - add cheese for a perfect side dish. Scramble a carton of eggs and freeze. Nuke and add cheese. Roast a whole chicken or turkey and portion it out in snack-sizes. Now you have a fridge/freezer full of stuff ready to grab and eat when you get the urge. Or an entire meal that is ready to go all week long.

Plan a "breakout" date. A day when you reach a certain weight goal that you eat whatever you want. (Note: this is not good advice, just the way I do it.) I usually choose my birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Those are the only three days I can eat whatever I want, but ONLY IF I'm within my chosen weight range.

And keep checking in here for encouragement! Share what you're cooking up. We're all in this together! (Thanks to Lisa, the low-carb leader.)

Number #1 - stop thinking about the rest of your life, and concentrate on TODAY ONLY. Just do the right thing today, and forget about tomorrow. Deal with it when it comes. If you get a craving, promise yourself you'll eat it tomorrow, but not today.

TexasBlueHeron had great advice - have a refrigerator full of good things to eat so you won't be tempted with the wrong things. Don't let yourself get too hungry, eat many small meals & snacks. Keep your drinks OFF LIMITS to the rest of the family, and have plenty for them to drink (not having sweet drinks around for the kids is not a bad idea, either. With all the good sugar-free drinks out there, there's no excuse to have them around).

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get into action, and start thinking of yourself as a winner, not a whiner. Only one day of success will give you a boost and help your self esteem. And stop making excuses and rationalizations about why you eat the wrong food. You eat it because you want to eat it. Period.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's reality, and I have been there, for more than just food. I had to get honest with myself and take responsibility. Once I did that, the rest was easy. You have lots of support, it sounds like, so don't think you have to do it all alone. I will be keeping you in my prayers, and wishing you luck. I know you can do it, of you wouldn't be asking for help.

Remember, one day at a time.

Yes definitely you don't need me for advice, everyone else here has been there too and everybody is offering wonderful advice!!

Yes, you gained weight. We all pretty much gain weight on vacation. What you've learned from low carbing is that you can lose it again. So think of it in this way - if you had NOT lost that weight previously, you would have gotten even heavier. You in essence "pre-lost" the weight so that you would come even again when you pigged out <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> That's not bad, all things considered! Now you can go back to the task of losing weight again.

Chantal - low carbing should never be about depriving yourself. You get a ton of luxurious food on a healthy diet - asparagus and cheese, lobster, filet mignon, you name it. The things you should eat in small quantities are all BAD for you - twinkies, white Wonder bread, etc. So what you need to do is ask yourself if these things you crave are really things you want in your life. Hopefully you are not saying that you are so desperate for Twinkies that you are going to let them harm your health <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Definitely we should all find exercise we truly enjoy - whether it's walking, dancing, doing silly things, etc. It doesn't matter if you "look silly" <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> All that matters is that you are up on your feet and moving. I quite happily dance around to my PS2 "dance dance revolution" game <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hey Lisa,

I guess my post maybe sounded a little negative but actually I didn't intend it that way. Twinkies are most definitely not a problem for me - I think I've had maybe 2 in my life thus far and I'm 31. For the most part the low carb eating is pretty easy for me. It was a little difficult getting used to eating differently but after 5.5 weeks it's starting to become easy. Last night I went out for dinner to celebrate getting a new job and I decided I would eat whatever I wanted. I ordered nachos and a ridiculously huge plate arrived at the table and my appetite dwindled. I ate a few nachos (they had chili, bacon, gr peppers, halepenos, cheese tomatoes, onions and possibly other things that I'm forgetting on them) and then all I could taste was salt. Nachos used to be one of my favorite foods. So I stopped eating and brought them home for a friend that cleans up any leftovers without hesitation. I ended up with a stomach ache in the restaurant and by the time I got home the nachos were just not sitting well and went right through me. I won't be having them again.

I'm feeling a little more like I could stick to low-carb for a long time but I will just take it day by day. However, when I have cravings I often give into them but after a few bites I change my mind anyway. I have found some low-carb alternatives to lots of my fav foods - pasta, chocolate and pizza are the big ones.

That's great news! Definitely I am finding that things I used to crave, I don't care about any more. Salt especially gets to me very quickly (which is good!). The trick with cravings is to figure out WHAT it is you are actually craving. Usually it's not really a dish - usually it's a flavor or a sensation. You crave something buttery, or something crunchy. So if you think up something else similar but healthy, you're just as happy.

I used to eat a ton of popcorn which of course is not very healthy <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Now if I get a craving for popcorn I'll get one of my crunchy snacks and I end up just as happy.