Fear of slipping back into old habits

Deanna,

You are not weak!! You are human and we all have those moments. Look how far you have come. You are an inspiration to many people including me! You have done absolutely amazing and you should be very proud of yourself! I'm very proud of you! You have been my greatest cheerleader and now it's time for me to cheer you on! You can do this and you got this! Remember the protein forward thing and start packing it in! I was on a 4 week stall until I upped my calories by taking in extra protein.

Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and MOVE ON! You can do it!

Please start going on the daily menu page again....I've gotten some really good recipes from you!:)

Chris

It's why it's so easy to be the sanctimonious newbie who never eats wrong ...  because we're not newbs forever.

This is a lifelong struggle that you'll have to fight every day.  None of us are perfect for long, we just try to do what we know we should do *most of the time*.

As long as you give yourself excuses not to eat right and skip real meal here and there - nothing will change. 

Recognizing there is a problem is a start . 

So now - you can find a solution. I.e. make 1/3 of coffee pot just for you. So you don't stop by and will not be tempted by bagels. 

Make a lot of meals on weekends or buy semi -prepared meals so the only thing you need to do is to reheat that. I.e. pork loin - when I bake it - I buy and make 8 lbs... Then portion and freeze. Same with meatloaf. I make a whole batch.  Winter Squash. I have thick stews and soups in jars or frozen in a freezer. I have a large freezer in a garage. Freezer was 500... Well worth for me to have it so I can keep good food stored for me.  

I buy RTE Hormel beef or turkey dishes. I have cooked lamb shanks. I have chicken skeweres... Having veriatey of foods makes me want to eat at home. And they are also easy to grab portins - great to grab for lunch. 

I had to change what I  was doing so I could stop regain. And lose regain.  

I do have a day every 2 weeks or so that I can eat anything I really want. And I don't feel guilty about it. I often hurt when I get off my diet so I often don't cheat..the price to pay is too much for me. 

You need to find out why you feel you need to stray? Is it stress of the new work? Stress because you carry on too many responsibilities? Is there anything you can do to deal with the stress beside eating crap and sabotaging the great work you put into losing all that weight? 

I'm going to start doing this. My kids got me a foodsaver machine for Christmas too - I can't wait!

In addition to Hala's advice, step on that scale every single day.  Post your weight, if you must, but be accountable for those pounds. It might help refocus your decisions. 

I am so glad that you like your new job, atmosphere, and co-workers. That is a huge plus with all that you have going on. It is not easy to be surrounded by all of that stuff every day. I work in two different offices, and one is in a hospital. There are always goodies at this time of year. I have to just stay away and tell myself none of it is worth it. Today I walked in the breakroom several times to see a giant tin of Almond Roca. I almost succumbed at the end of the day just as I was getting ready to walk out.  I decided that I would skip it, this time, and hope it is gone when I am back there next week. I think it is a case of one day, one meal at a time. Choose you and your health first. Tonight I chose me. It doesn't always work out that way. But one temptation at a time.  It is definitely a plus that my kids are grown and I don't have to prepare food for them.  I have found that planning my meals helps me to be more successful as it takes the choice out of the matter. On the two days I work out with the trainer, I pickup a Chick-fil-a Grilled Nuggets kids meal right after the gym and come home and eat it. It prevents me from making a bad choice. 6 Grilled nuggets and a small fruit cup. I don't usually eat fruit during the rest of the week, so I actually look forward to this meal. On Tuesday or Wednesday I have grilled shrimp or chicken lettuce wraps. Having a routine helps me so much because if I relied on making the right choice in the moment, things might not work out so well. Maybe plan to have fish a couple of days a week (I think you like fish), shrimp another day, chicken another day.  Now you have 4 days planned already.

I would suggest eliminating the carbs at breakfast because then I find that it makes me crave more carbs. Maybe you can keep some sausage links at work to cook when you get there so you are still eating there if the socializing part of that is important.

I don't have any other suggestions, but I know that you have come a long way on your journey and you can do this. 

Deanna,

just (((hugs))) and you can do this.

So first of all I'm so glad you're liking your job - YAY to that!!

Second of all this is a BIG change back to the office. Office culture can be really rough when it comes to dieting in any form. Certain offices I've worked in in the past were horrible - and I've been thankful for not being back in that environment over the last 2 years. My new office is predominantly Japanese and many people are traveling back and forth from there and constantly bringing in foreign sweets. I LOVE different food so it's been a challenge for me to not indulge. 

But you can do this. You know what you need to do - plan ahead of time and stick to it. Plan your snacks and your meals so that you aren't tempted to go off script. You're trying to be accountable which is a great thing. Plan your coffee at home - if stopping at Tim Horton's is a problem then work around and make a whole pot so that you don't have to got a Keurig. Even if we're doing things that are silly it doesn't matter if the results are there.

Thank you everyone for the support and advice.  I finally got to the grocery store tonight and stocked up on a bunch of protein forward, easy meals that will make it very difficult for me to go off plan.  

I will do my best to get on the menu thread everyday, but honestly my new job is so super busy that it's difficult to get on and post most days.  I will push myself to do it, because I need the accountability.  

Love you guys.  

Mine is the same and I'm having trouble finding time!  But we're here for you :)