Confession of a failure

My friends on myfitnesspal keep me motivated every day - make an account and start tracking your food.

My number one piece of advice is track, track, track. It helps make you mindful of what you are eating, makes you weigh/measure/count your portions, and keeps you accountable. 

Second, you need to find something that you want more than food. You need some goals. You need a reason to get back on track Only you can decide what that is, but without that fire and passion for something more than food, it's very hard to get back on track. 

You need to start making some life style changes so that you can have long term success. You need to cut out the junk first and foremost - do not buy it, dont keep it in the house, dont go through drive thrus. And then you can start playing around with meals until you can find things that are going to provide good nutrition. BUT start with baby steps. If you have to start with just adding a couple glasses of water, then so be it. Add a 20 min walk a day. Add veggies. Cut out the carbs. Don't expect yourself to be perfect from the beginning and be reasonable in your goals so that you can actually accomplish them.

ou can DO THIS. 

Cut the hunger by loading up on dense chicken breast--like 2 meals of the day, then do a low cal protein drink the other meal. The dense white meat chicken absolutely takes your hunger away and snaps that pyloric valve shut. Good luck.

You haven't failed until you stop trying! Do you stay at home or do you work outside of the home? I find that my toughest time is weekends. I get bored sometimes and I tend to eat at home. I don't buy or keep any of the sliders in the house(anymore). I was buying pork skins because of the no carb thing but I got hooked quick. Love. love, love the salt and the crunch but it put me in a stall and I quit buying them. They filled me up really quick but as soon as it went down a bit I would eat more. When I threw them out I craved them for over a week and I would  love to have them but I apparently still do not know how to eat in moderation with stuff like that.
You have to get in the right mind set. The more you say no to the junk and find a healthy choice instead the easier it gets. Just take one day at a time and make better choices. No one can do this for you but you! You have the right tool now. Good luck and big (((hugs))). Don't stop trying!!

Thank you so much for being brave enough to post your feelings of feeling like a failure. You are not a failure. 

I am a pre-op and have wondered a 1000 times if I can be successful. I am going to make an appointment today to start counseling BEFORE my surgery on 04/16/12.

Your post is going to help a lot of people.

I do not know if this will help, but my mom went to OA for her food addictions. I have not tried it, but it worked for her.

I am praying for you.

Sharon

Hi Im Tamara and I know how you feel, I too have slipped back to eating out of boredom and the wrong stuff. I posted about it just yesterday asking for support. I have made it 24 hours without junk, only eating the right stuff but it is not easy. I have been thinking about the junk food alot but I know that if I tough it out for a week or two it will get easier.  

If you would like we could help support each other and hold each other accountable for our food choices each day. My e-mail is [email protected]  Good luck with your journey

  I love this OH family... thank you all for the advise and support. I just got off the phone with a support group that meets tomorrow night.  After work I am cleanning out the house, no more junk food.. I am going to stock up on chicken breast, it did fill me up in the past. 

thank you all for the love and advise. I look forward to writing only positive thoughts from now on....

This is all I wanted to add, girlie,

Just because you *feel* a thing, does not make it true.  You can only do what YOU can do, your body needs to have time to adjust and recoup, to heal, and to find its even keel.  Most folks do not lose in an even pattern.  Learning and losing weight are not linear, meaning there are periods where it just is a flatline, and then there will be a jump.

The ONLY things you can do are control your input, your output, and your attitude.  Your body will function better if you work on being compassionate towards it and put optimal foods in it. 

There are really only 2 things to ask yourself and then 1 thing to do.

Q1 - Am I doing everything I know to do?

Q2 - Am I being HONEST about everything I know to do?

And then?  Keep on keeping on.  All you can do is what you can do RIGHT NOW, which is stay the course, cry if you need to, but do not wallow.  If you cycle through a period where all you do is whup up on you, then you are creating more stress hormone in your body, and that creates a situation where your body stores fat more/better. 

Now is the best time to learn, feelings are not always true, you do not have to ACT on them, and sometimes there is no fixing a feeling, its going to come and it will pass, but remind yourself of what is TRUE.

You ARE doing everything you can.
You will CONTINUE doing everything you can.

And like life, and marriage, and children growing up, in a blink it will be a year from now. 

But a Tuesday can last forever.  :}

Be sweet to you, be kind to yourself in your thoughts.  Do what you can and hold onto the fact that you body WILL FOLLOW.  Some folks lose in hitches and jumps.

Nobody thinks a baby is a failure when it stands to toddle and falls.

You need to learn what will work for you and what will not work for you.  What you have now, is what we call "experience."

Some folks can have some of whatever, some of us, not so much. You find yourself in the "not so much" camp.

Its not good, or bad, its the way we are.

Maybe some junk food later if you can handle it and separate it from every day life, maybe not, but right now its not "no not EVER" but definitely, not no right now.

Just look at today.  Double check and see if the words you use towards yourself are helping you to move forward or stay stuck in a wallow. 

Be kind to you, be the kind of friend you need, not indulgent, but kind.  Do not **** yourself about things that are not working, but learn to see how you are, and set yourself up for success. 

Rarely are things in life either WONDERFUL or AWFUL!!  Sometime we live in the learning zone, and learning is not always exciting and wonderful. Its always great once we KNOW it, but along the way, it can stink.

But you need to expect good things from you because you can be good to you.

Do be good to you.

Most of us are incapable of "snapping out of it". If we could, we wouldn't have needed surgery.

I'm going to Overeaters Anonymous to help address the non-physical aspects of compulsive overeating. I'd recommend that or going to counselling.

You also could try going to bariatric support groups. But I suspect that this problem is bigger than a support group can handle and that you need professional help.

Admitting that you need to change is a great first step.

What works for me is tracking in Lose It on my cell phone, and committing to exercise 6 days a week.  Some days that is an hour to an hour and a half.  Some days it is just a 30 minute walk.

I also find that it helps me to get out of the house.  If I'm not sitting in front of the tv or at the computer then I'm much less likely to eat from boredom.  And if I am doing mindless eating I know that I have to measure out my portion first, or else I may nibble away until the container is empty.

Good for you for being honest and sharing here instead of feeling miserable!!!  I would reiterate all of the sound advice people here have given you.  The only thing I would add is just a small thing, but has helped in those moments when I feel so hungry I think I won't be able to stand it.  I have a cup of tea or decaf coffee with Splenda and a little bit of hot chocolate.  Something that tastes good but won't make you feel bad.  We're not supposed to eat and drink at the same time.  I used to think this rule was so the food would stay in my stomach longer or so there'd be enough room in my stomach for the nutritious food and not filled with liquid.  However, I learned, after drinking too soon after eating, that I get very ill.  So having something pleasurable and guilt free to drink is my safety net in moments of weakness.  Keep coming back and getting the support here.  It has been a lifesaver for me!