Yea OP! I cut myself off at 7:30pm because I have the same problem as you!

Last night was the first time I cheated (I just wanted to try one of something I bought for my kids' lunches) and I ended up stuffing my face--ate the whole bag! So I learned my lesson and won't take one bite of anything after 7:30!

Remember, OP…the cycle is Fail. Assess. Try again. Fail. Assess. Try again.

I say this because it's important to understand and expect failures--by doing so, it's easier to get back on the horse after a failure. Every "try again" contains the tweak that you learned from your assessment. So for me, my "Try Again" is to do everything I was doing, PLUS not taking a chance putting anything in my mouth after 7:30.

After many, many cycles of failing, assessing and trying again, you will have found, say, 20 things that cause you to put on weight. Of those 20 things, you can fix maybe 12, are still working on 5, and maybe 4 you will decide you want to live with. But somewhere in there, maybe when you fixed 8 or so of those things, the tide will turn and you will be living a life that will keep you in shape.

I know this is true! If I can do it, for sure you can do this!

That's great, OP! You're inspiring me to do better!

OP here. I am GOOD! Since I started, I have lost 7 pounds, and my energy level is already much higher. I am incorporating some basic muscle-building activities (push ups, planks, lunges, etc.) into my daily walks, and I seem to be getting stronger already. Not anything miraculous, but like I said, I'm playing a long game here.

Thanks for nudging me!

Hi OP, just wanted to check in on you. I've lost some significant weight recently (for me) - 25 lbs and I remember the first couple of weeks being tough.

What helped me, sparkling water, helped break up the water boredom

I've got 10 lbs to go until I'm at my goal weight. Good luck to you OP!

Congrats and good luck OP. I think weight watchers is great. Get the app if you can. It helped me to really see what I was eating and develop portion control.

Keeping track of everything you eat is key. But nothing is off limits, which I like. I started eating a lot more fruit and vegetables, and after a while I just didn't have the taste for sweets that I had had. Don't get me wrong, I have a piece or two of chocolate every day, but I don't have three servings of pie.

I lost about 15 pounds on weight watchers, and some of my family members lost even more. I don't do the meetings- just the app.

Good luck! Keep posting!!

How's it going with the Fitbit? I found the first month that I wasn't really motivated by it. I used it mostly as a data collection tool to see how much I was moving in a typical week, and the results were pretty humbling. Basically, I was much more sedentary than I realized.

But after a month of watching the numbers with no motivation to change my behavior, I finally engaged with it. I set a more modest goal of 7,500 steps a day at first, and then ramped up to 10,000 when 7,500 started feeling like a given. I'm now thinking about ramping up further to 12,000. Anyway, I now find all sorts of ways to add more steps to my day. Small things like walking around the block when I have a bit of downtime at work to larger things like getting into a routine (finally!) of walking 3-4 days a week for an hour at a time either on the treadmill or outside if the weather is decent. Once I engaged, the feedback from Fitbit about my steps became surprisingly motivating.

Beyond that, my approach is to make marginally better decisions all around. Water instead of other drinks. Smaller portions of meat and very tiny tastes of bread, rice and pasta. And I look for ways to add veggies and high fiber beans/lentils into everything I make. The family hates that, so I just toss that stuff into my portion. Tonight I mixed lentils into my turkey meat sauce and ate it for dinner over veggies and very little pasta. Yesterday I mixed extra frozen spinach into my soup.

Good luck! Keep reporting back. We're cheering for you.

Good luck, OP! You will need to find what works for you, but what has helped me was working on changing my mindset from a dieting/deprivation mentality to one on moderation and only focusing on "the big rocks" http://jillfit.com/2014/04/16/less/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why no eating after 7? Just plan to have something healthy and satisfying. I like to have some greek yogurt with some fruit mixed in, or a protein shake.

OP here. Mostly because when I was tracking my food, I noticed the majority of my carb-binging happened at night. Cutting off food at 7 (or 8, which has become more practical) keeps me away from the worst of my binges.

Haven't weighed in lately, but I definitely have more energy. Something's working, I think!

Hi OP - thanks for responding. Good to get ahead of the carb-binging. I have had better luck with replacing the carbs with something good and filling -and leaving a few hundred calories for the evening in anticipation. I mean, if you can binge after a smoothie made e with greek yogurt, kale, chia seeds, frozen blueberries and half of a banana that would be surprising! I also think that if you are really craving something it means something. I think I sleep better when I have something with more protein before bed.

I am not a therapist but I would just be wary of any kind of rigid rules/restrictions given your history of anorexia. You're learning new behaviors and creating a new normal, not just trying to drop weight now. Sounds like you're doing great, just wanted to add my two cents

Hi OP. Glad things are going so well! Another resource for "real food" type recipes and ideas that sounds like it might jive for you: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com

Anonymous wrote:

Why no eating after 7? Just plan to have something healthy and satisfying. I like to have some greek yogurt with some fruit mixed in, or a protein shake.

OP here. Mostly because when I was tracking my food, I noticed the majority of my carb-binging happened at night. Cutting off food at 7 (or 8, which has become more practical) keeps me away from the worst of my binges.

Haven't weighed in lately, but I definitely have more energy. Something's working, I think!

Anonymous wrote:OP here. One week in, and I've lost 3 lbs. I guess that's a perk to being so overweight.

Cool things: not eating junk for a week, figuring out how to make substitutions so family favorite foods can still be on the menu, getting some good baseline stats (weight, measurements, how many push ups/situps/lunges I can do in a minute, etc.)

Tricky things: not eating after 7. For example, it's 10:30 now and I'm hungry. I brushed my teeth and am having some ice water, but... I'll probably go to bed soon. Also tricky: not eating my feelings. Stress tastes like pizza, and anxiety like chocolate. I'm trying to substitute journaling and planks for emotional snacking (not simultaneously; I'm not that badass yet).

I don't want to jinx it, but I may be getting a bit more energy. I feel like my system is probably still cleaning up, but the fog is starting to lift.

Not a bad start.

Why no eating after 7? Just plan to have something healthy and satisfying. I like to have some greek yogurt with some fruit mixed in, or a protein shake.

Hi OP! I lost a lot of weight in between my two pregnancies and then re-gained a bunch during pregnancy/breastfeeding. I've lost the weight in a healthy, slow but steady way, and here are some things that work for me:

1. Be realistic about food intake. Don't try to switch to tilapia and broccoli and eat only 1200 calories a day. It doesn't work.
2. Log everything. In fact, make a logging goal. 50 days of logging everything, even if you blow through your calorie goals, which you will do sometimes. Life happens.
3. Focus on what you are putting into your body, not what you're taking out. You need healthy, nourishing food. Have a protein goal. Have six servings of veggies every day. Make sure you're getting enough dairy (or a substitute if you don't do dairy). Drink enough water. When you're making sure to get all that good stuff in, you don't have a lot of time to think about what you're keeping out.
4. Don't categorically restrict foods. IF you say "No sweets until I lose 20 lbs" you will think about food constantly. Try to limit your junk to 10% of your daily calories or less. If you know you're going out to dinner and will be having a huge dessert, plan ahead and stay off the sweets until then.
5. FIgure out what your weak spots are in terms of diet. For me - it was as soon as I came home from work. I would be ravenous when I walked through the door and would snarf down everything in sight. I started keeping a substantial snack at work so I didn't come home hungry. (Hard boiled eggs, cheese stick, apple, nuts)

6.Follow an exercise program, don't just get to the gym and think of things to do. You can design your own program. Walk ten minutes, stretch, etc might be your first workout.
7. Do resistance/strength training. Even when the scale stalls (it will) or you gain (it happens) you'll see progress in your strength. And that will keep you motivated (and make it easier to drop fat).

Do you use myfitnesspal? Do you want a buddy to help you? As long as you stay motivated I'd be happy to "coach" you through this since I'm right with you, I've done iet before and I"m confident I'll do it again

Great work, OP! Keep it up & just imagine where you will be next year at this time!

Congrats OP! Sounds like a great start.

OP here. One week in, and I've lost 3 lbs. I guess that's a perk to being so overweight.

Cool things: not eating junk for a week, figuring out how to make substitutions so family favorite foods can still be on the menu, getting some good baseline stats (weight, measurements, how many push ups/situps/lunges I can do in a minute, etc.)

Tricky things: not eating after 7. For example, it's 10:30 now and I'm hungry. I brushed my teeth and am having some ice water, but... I'll probably go to bed soon. Also tricky: not eating my feelings. Stress tastes like pizza, and anxiety like chocolate. I'm trying to substitute journaling and planks for emotional snacking (not simultaneously; I'm not that badass yet).

I don't want to jinx it, but I may be getting a bit more energy. I feel like my system is probably still cleaning up, but the fog is starting to lift.

Not a bad start.