I'm about to sabotage 7 months of weight loss. Please stop me!

[FlatsInDagenham]

I've been doing Slimming World since July and I've lost almost 2 stones. I would like to lose another 2.5 stones.

I seriously lost my motivation over Christmas (don't we all!) and it took aaages to get back on track but I did it.

Two weeks ago I went back to work after a year on mat leave. I'm finding it so much harder to stay on the plan now - I'm so much more tired, my food choices are more limited, I have less time to eat and get more hungry. Worst of all, I'm really unhappy at work (I'll be leaving in a few months so it's temporary unhappiness) so I comfort eat to give myself a little 'joy' iyswim.

I find myself toying with the idea of giving up SW and starting again in the summer when my work situation improves. But I really want to have lost the rest of the weight by summer so I can wear lovely summer clothes! And if I take my eye off the ball I'll probably start gaining back some of the weight I've lost.

I wonder if part of my current state of apathy is also because I am now at my pre-pregnancy weight, and although I wasn't happy at this weight back then, maybe part of me thinks I can never be the properly slim person I want to be, because I never have been before. Iyswim.

I need your wisdom, experience and encouragement. Don't let me let myself down!

Gosh, you CAN do it. Imagine you stop your diet and put the weight back on. Think about how you will feel and how much you will regret it. Then imagine a point two months from now when you have made healthy choices, you are x amount thinner, imagine how THAT feels. Think about the clothes you can wear...

Or you could listen to Paul McKenna's Think Yourself Thin cd which works for me when I am wavering.

I've never listened to that CD. Is it long? I might try it.

I think it is brilliant. About 20 minutes. Although I low carb and find it deals with cravings really well, I have used the cd to get back on track after christmas etc when I have found it a struggle.

Of course you can do it. Think about it, what good will comfort eating do? Why on earth would you make a conscious choice to do that? You won't get any comfort out of putting the weight back on, all you will get is self loathing and knowing you're back to square one.

Make some positive, practical choices. Take your lunch to work with you, count your syns. Think of the summer, think of the feeling of utter freedom that will come with wearing what you like and feeling comfortable in your own skin.

I actually think it's quite a hurdle when you're losing weight to get down to your pre pregnancy weight. You were ok at that before, why not now? I remember it well but I still had 3.5 stone to go at that point. I made it though and so can you. Push on, do it for yourself and don't let apathy or misery get you. Self sabotage won't help and you know it.

You've done brilliantly by the way, well done.

Thing is, I wasn't ok with my weight pre pregnancy. I was (and am now) a size 16 and while I'm not obese, I'm definitely larger than I should be.

I'm looking for that CD on amazon - is it the one that goes with the 'I can make you thin' book?

yes

good luck

Just remember that NOTHING tastes as good as being slim feels & how much better you'll look & feel simply by staying in control.

You can do it so don't give up!

put two stones worth of food tins into a couple of carrier bags (ie 28 tins of beans) and then carry it around for ten minutes.
Then put it down.
Then think how AMAZING you feel with that weight gone forever from your knees and hips and ankles - so that you can hurtle around with your little one when they get bigger

What a great idea re carrying the weight! I would have never thought of that, I'm actually going to try that myself

"I'm so much more tired, my food choices are more limited, I have less time to eat and get more hungry"

This would suggest that

a) you're not eating properly
b) you're not planning your food properly

The key to success on any diet is making sure that you are planning ahead, that you have the right foods in the cupboard/fridge/freezer, and that you are eating foods that you enjoy and that give you enough energy (without resorting to the biscuit tin!)

Just think about yourself in a couple of months time - when the sun is (hopefully) starting to shine a bit more, and it's warmer - imagine the clothes that you would like to wear, and what you are going to look like in them.

In two months' time, if you keep going, you could have lost up to another stone, which would take you, I should think, into a size 14. Go online to your favourite clothes shop and have a look at the summer stuff - and visualise yourself wearing it, in a size 14.

Sadly no-one else can do this for you - you are in control of all of this. And it's bloody hard!

But you know it's not worth it.

Focus on planning some of your favourite, Slimming World-allowed meals, and make sure you go shopping to buy all the things that you need.

Can you afford to take a day/couple of days off, to help re-charge your batteries? And to do some appropriate shopping/cooking? Do you have a SW leader that you can talk to about how you're feeling, so that they can help to motivate you?

But above all

DON'T DO IT TO YOURSELF!

What are you eating Op? Hungry/tired/thinking about treats for comfort would suggest your body is not getting what it needs to stay on an even keel... You have done really well so far, maybe you need to tweak things a little and find what works for you.

You don't have to go down the whole low carb route (but I did, with great success!), but it may be worth looking at the ratio of carb to protein and fat in your diet - tired and hungry probably means not enough protein and fat, and too much carb (blood sugar spikes and crashes make you hungry!), so it may be worth changing your diet and see how that makes you feel.

For treats, try dark, dark chocolate (aldi does an 85% one which is fantastic. A 20g bar is a real treat, very satisfying and only 5.4g carb, so it won't spike your blood sugar and leave you hungry an hour later!