Thread: Fallen Off the Wagon - Need HELP!

Hello everyone. It is with a heavy heart I write this today. I have fallen off the LC wagon. I NEVER thought I would do this to myself. I was a LC die-hard vowing to never eat like the old me.

Well, that was until my first Thanksgiving, this year. I don't know what happened, I prepared a delicious LC dish to share at our family celebration. I won't go into specifics mentioning what non-LC foods passed my lips, but it was BAD. Really bad.

So, after that weekend I went right back to eating LC. Even did induction for a few days. Then the weekend came and I did it again! What's wrong with me?! Family and friends are even ENCOURAGING me to eat "normal" (like them). "It's about time you eat some bread!" they say. It's been down-hill since Friday now.

The intelligent part of me says "you know what's good for you", but the goofball part of me says "you know you can go back to LC when the holidays are over".

I am going back to LC as soon as I get the the grocery store to stock up on good stuff (veggies and the like), but in the back of my head I keep thinking I can't pass up on the "non LC stuff" during the parties and such, that I can do LC and let myself have a bit of the other stuff on occasion.

I admit I haven't logged in here for quite a while and I hadn't participated for a while before that. I didn't think I needed this forum anymore, afterall I was a LC die-hard, I could do it on my own.

Well, I'm back and I DO need you!

Thanks for listening.

Suzanne - Sorry you are going through this. It's good that you "fessed up"., so to speak. We are here to support each other on this forum as it's hard to do this lifestyle alone. When friends and relatives try to discourage you where else can you turn to for support. Get back on the LC wagon and join a challenge, if that kind of thing is a help to you. I think it's good that you haven't been off this wagon very long. Don't fall into that trap that you'll get back after the holidays. It's too risky. Good luck and come here often and let us know how your struggle is going as we gain from everyone's strengths and even weaknesses.

Many of us are struggling at this time of year, Suzanne. Don't be too hard on yourself! I find that it is the voices in my head that tell me: "One little ______won't hurt." are my downfall. Once I head there it is a slippery slope that I never manage to negotiate very successfully.

I keep coming back to this Forum. I couldn't do this WOL without it. I don't post outside of one thread very much either. But, I read, I occasionally track my food, and I try to keep only lc foods in the house. We have gotten rid of all sweets in the house. It's when I'm at work or out driving that I'm in trouble. With holiday parties, and office goodies, I'm really struggling.

I've been at it for almost two years, and find that even when I mess up, I'm accepted back here with open arms. This morning on the way to work I was having a talk with myself to lighten up. I can really convince myself that I am BAD. I want to enjoy this Season as much as I can and not make food the center of it. I'm going to try to focus on that.

Welcome back!

Suzanne, welcome back! Please lighten your heart a little. We have ALL been there and done that! Just chalk it down as an experiment . . . and an experience. You have not been "off the wagon" that long. And you don't have too much more to go! Staying with this WOE is a CHOICE we all make. Sometimes some choices are better than others. Have I made a "wrong" choice? Sure! But it was a choice, I made it and I move on. Outside pressures can really wreak havoc on our emotions, if we let it! My husband thinks I am thin enough. My cousin thinks low carb is not healthy. My aunt, 92, who may not be around for many more Xmas's, is used to receiving decadent home-made candy and fudge from me. My solution? Make a few of her favorites, but make some LC ones first, so I can nibble on those! And above all, I rely on this site to bolster my belief that this WOE is the right one for me.

Please visit often . . . and let us know how you are doing!

I had a few bad days last month and it was hard to feel like I am back on track completely. This week I finally have the good feelings again. But it's been weeks. Sometimes it's really tough when other people want you to eat "normal". What they call normal I call extra inches. I have a good support system now but it took a little time to get the people around me to see that this was a good thing. I know (like others that have posted before me) that if I didn't have this board I would not be where I am today. The most important thing for you right now is to get back on track and come here often for encouragement. You did great before losing the 60 pounds. Don't dwell on the 20 you gained back. I know, I've been there, thinking about where you could be, but it doesn't help. Just get back on plan and go for it. This month will be soon over and most of the parties will be gone with it. Good luck and good eating.

Thanks to all of you. It helps to know I'm not the only one who's fallan. You've given me some encouragement and I will do the best I can day to day.

I read the cover article about "Splurging" and it sounds like something I could stand to think about instead of giving up altogether.

To CushieButterfield - I haven't lost 60 pounds (I wish!), I lost about 30 so far, give or take 3-5 (I made that adjustment in my sig line already) pounds since Thanksgiving. My goodness, I hope to save myself from gaining more than 5 pounds before I rebound. It was slow enough loosing the 30 from January to August (I was at a virtual stand-still with loss, which probably contributed to my falling off).

Thanks again, everyone!

suzzanne-first of all, i'm sorry you are having a hard time! i would venture to guess there is not a person here who can't relate to some degree how you're feeling, and you won't find any harsh critics here. not from my corner, anyway!

and i am glad to hear you've made the choice to come back. as long as you're in there, you're NOT lost!

something you said kind of struck me, as you talked about it.

I am going back to LC as soon as I get the the grocery store to stock up on good stuff (veggies and the like), but in the back of my head I keep thinking I can't pass up on the "non LC stuff" during the parties and such, that I can do LC and let myself have a bit of the other stuff on occasion.

you see what you're doing here, right? you're telling yourself simultanouesly that you DON'T have control over your non-lc eating, i.e. you can't pass it up, and that you DO have control of your non-lc eating, that you can do lc but still eat the other stuff, too. i think you may giving yourself some mixed messages here, perchance?

in my opinion, it's not the occassional off-plan eating that is problemmatic anyway. the other lc naysayers are actually right in the sense that a few bites off-plan doesn't do you in, at least in and of itself.

however, if those few bites set off a cycle for you in any way, shape, or form, they're the first step in taking you off-track. it can be physical craving, psychologic cravings, or any combination thereof.

and only you can know, from self-knowledge and the ongoing learning process, exactly what those triggers are for you. personally, i think the best use of this entire experience is to find out what you can in this regard and use it to help you in the future know even better what helps you and what hinders you.

and you know you don't want to take the holidays "off" onplan eating. not that i have to tell you this, but you know. you're doing well to avoid that pitfall, 'cause if a little eating high-carb upsets you and causes you to regain weight, well heck. why would you want more of the same? i doubt the "goodies" are good enough to warrent that.

you're not a bad person because you got off-track, nor are you weak, messed up, or definicient in any way. you're a person who got a bit offtrack, and who has hopped right back up on that track in short order. and that's something you can be proud of, really. you can't expect yourself to be infallible, but you can feel good about doing your best to move in the directions that are the best for you over the long haul. this is exactly what you're doing now.

you're still here and you're still working on it, so you're still moving in the right direction. look as much as possible to where you're going, and it will be much easier to make choices in concert with your longer-term plans for yourself.

and much love.

I don't think there's much point in starting a "I Fell Off the Lowcarb Wagon Club" here....EVERYONE would have to join anyway! I am just now pulling myself out of a similar funk that started (get this) AFTER Thanksgiving. I may not have gained AT Thanksgiving, but I think the off-plan foods I ate at Thanksgiving dinner sent me down that "slippery slope" Peg was speaking of. As of today, I'm still up 6 pounds from where I was 3 weeks ago.

Falling off "the wagon" is easy.....getting back on it the hard part. Literally and figuratively. It took me a few days to really get back into the swing of things, and I'm starting to see the pounds go away.....again.

Let's try not to have a repeat of Thanksgiving at Christmas! I'm really gonna try to stay on plan.....I'm down several pounds from the last time I've seen some of my family, so I know they'll be watching to see what I eat.

Basically, you're NOT the "Lone Carber"! I'm glad you came back here for support and help. I've never failed to find it here, myself. Take care!

suzanne..
ya think you fell off the WAGON? well... guess what? the wagon is RIGHT HERE and we are all ready and willing to pull ya up and on it again... we can extend the hands to you... but you have to do the grabbing of them... and hold on with all your might...
sending positive thoughts your way...
keep trying girl... you NEVER fail if you at least keep trying..
kim

TG came and I planned on staying on track and then guess what!?! I bungee' jumped off the wagon! It happens! Don't let this send you down the path of a snowballing affect. Pick yourself up.. get back on the wagon, do NOT let your upset turn into emtional eating!

I also could not agree more with everything said by others!

You have done great, and you will continue to do great!

Bungee Jumping--that is a good way to put what I did at TG too. I didn't stay off for long but I think part of it is that yoyoing around at the end of the string that puts us in the hopper so to speak--you eat _______ then either you go back to LC foods or you eat ______ and it sends you down a road you didn't necessarily want to travel, or you "bounce around at the end of the cord a while then drag yourself back up it screaming all the way!

Those bounces at the bottom of the string are the ones that show us how important it is/has been to stay LC--or for me it is anyway!