What is wrong with me - - why after doing so well the last 14 months (almost) I am totally losing it (and not weight) as of late! I can't stick with the WOE for more than a few days - - then eating something I shouldn't - a terrible cycle over last few months and I am very frustrated at myself. How can I get back into that frame of mind! I am so unhappy with myself at this point and even more unhappy that I am feeling sorry for myself...

Trying my best to NOT cheat and try to get back into Ketosis...I think that is the only way I can survive and reach my goal.

Thank you for listening. Its just a rough time right now for me...I can use all the encouragement I can get.

Oh wow, just let me say I love to read your posts, huge source of encouragement to me!! I am new, only 15 days low carbing and I love to see someone who has done this a long time, gives me hope I can do it too. All I can say is you are an inspiration and I hope you can get back that initial motivation!!

Maybe you have that fear of success that makes us sabotage ourselves so often. Are you having cravings or is it a generalised "I don't want to do this anymore!" thing? Fourteen months is a long time to do one thing, but it's also a big investment, and it would be a shame to risk losing any part of it. Are you afraid that once you've gotten down to your goal you won't be able to maintain it? Are you uncertain what your focus will be once you've achieved your goal? I imagine that when you've spent a long time focused on one very big thing for your life you would feel adrift after you've arrived - you're here, now what?

You've done so well for so long. You do need to find some way of maintaining, and the closer you get to goal, the more pressing it becomes to figure it out. As Dr. Atkins pointed out in discussing OWL and Lifetime Maintenance, as you increase your carb intake to find your CCLM, you're going to slip in and out of ketosis and that's no big deal. Your CCLM may not be the same every day, and that's no big deal either.

Try not to freak yourself out. Probably a lot of people go through this. Maybe instead of telling yourself, "I'm not going to cheat today!" you should say, "This day I'm going to eat this and this, and that's okay."

Yvonne326, I agree with Justcindy. I started this WOE a month ago and I find your postings both helpful and inspirational. You've lost so much weight on the plan! (We also have similar weights/ goals.) I'm sure you're just going through a stressful time right now, and it will clear up. Are you having trouble at work/ school? A lot of times, when I'm tempted to cheat, if I step back I realize it's just because I had a bad day at work and I'm trying to make myself feel better. Hang in there!

I definitely think stress has lots to do with it.... and I am working on relaxation techniques....I also think its the "running around" I tend to do and thus grabbing convenience foods which are not always low carb.

Stress definitely can send a person over the top....good and bad stress.

I've been having the same problems Yvonne. While I havn't gained any weight, I can't seem to get back into ketosis because I keep saying, well I will stick to it tomorrow. But you hit one problem on the nose for me, and that's the "running around." I need to grocery shop and have all the low carb stuff available all the time, and I just don't have the time right now. Its hard. If you find the secret, or an extra two hours in the day, please let me know about it!
-Chad

I think we've all had phases where the high carb world calls us back, myself included. It could be stress, it could be eating low carb treats that are triggers for me, it could just be the siren call of that killer fudge brownie in the bakery case. But for me, it's not long or too many "cheats" before my blood sugar meeter is saying, "Girl, you need to get a grip on yourself!".
Maybe some would see being diabetic and having to test your blood sugar all the time as a pain in the a**, but for me it's my reality check.
We all have to decide what's more important to us..being healthy or having that treat, eating right or eating conveniently. Sometimes one is more important or necessary than the other but I know for myself I always make time for the things that are important to me. Finding the motivation and the inner strength to DO what's important to me in the face of obstacles...that's another battle all its own.

You may also be at a major set point for your weight. If so, this can throw you off because your body is trying desperately hard to get you to eat so it won't have to move beyond the set point.

I have found I seem to have minor and major set points. When I hit a major one, I become a ravenous, crazy woman. And it doesn't seem to matter how well I have done up to that point.

hmmm... Set Points. You may have hit the nail on the head....

Why,....because for a long time I was at this weight - - from about age 20-23 and then after my pregnancy for a few years.

So now to get past this point...

Well I did well yesterday - - no cheats - -and so far today am doing well...still not in ketosis but trying to get there.

Thanks everyone!

You know, this hits home for me too. I got down to 165 and whined because I was "STUCK" there for six weeks!!

Well I broke my stall and gained almost 20 pounds...and stayed basically LC...just got loose and careless.

I've also been LC'ing well over a year and love this way of eating in general. I've had so many health improvements and I don't feel deprived at all food-wise, but something still is just not "clicking" in getting down to 150 and keeping it around there.

I'm going to sit and think out some things...need a strategy for success that is not intimidating. Can't figure that one out...

I don't think there is anything wrong with you. I think you are human. I have a big fear that if I fall off the wagon, so to speak, I will not be able to get back on. Sometimes that fear is all that keeps me in line.

It sounds to me like you feel you have lost control over yourself. Try and take it one meal at a time. Just decide for this one meal you will keep to your plan-don't worry about any other meals. Get through that one meal and you have yourself a victory and control. I find that I cannot think in the long term when it comes to things like food-I have to take it in baby steps. I have to use mini goals and small victories to get me through most things-school, sobriety, low carbing.