mollyfied's Journal, 24 Feb 16

Totally understand! My son and I were just talking about how we are "all or nothing" kind of people. I either hit it hard or don't hit it at all. Have spent the last year trying to find that "sweet spot" moderation. Doing better and with practice gets easier. Not perfect and never will be.... Just climb back on and continue forward!!! 

Thank you Rckc. It may be that I'll always battle the "all in/all out" mentality, but if I could make those swings less wide on either side, that's an approach I could live with! 

I understand as well and have suffered with same symptoms for years. I hope that this time will be different. I'm hoping that a quote that I got from someone since joining this group will help. It goes, "If it matters to you, you'll find a way, if it doesn't you'll find an excuse". To me that means that every day I'll look in the mirror and say to myself, "It matters to me"! Good luck! 

just a pothole in the road. Keep going and watch the road ahead for the next one. Personally, I can't do those cheat days. They lead to binges for me and wreck havoc in my life. Not worth it. I am learning to "take the back roads" so there isn't so much traffic. - I tend to use the analogies in my woe. It helps, at least for me if I break it down into something I can relate to. Since I like to travel I use this. 

Not sure if this is helpful, but... There's a new awareness of how the body uses food. There are body sensors that signal satiety (fulless, doneness) and also the need to eat. If the body senses that too few nutrients are entering, it goes into a defense mode. (Prisoners of war experience this, for example.) Anyway, if the body is in defense mode, it hoards every calorie. I think there is a metabolism change and less fat is burned because the body fears worse deprivation in future. Problem is, you can trigger the defense mode by dieting. So, the new theory for dieting is that you should have a splurge day each week. Don't overeat, but don't deprive yourself on that day; eat satisfying foods, not just what's within reach. The goal is to convince those sensors that you're not starving, so they allow you to burn calories instead of hoarding them. Let's just redefine your "off the rails" and say that you had your splurge day and not beat yourself up too much with guilt. Next splurge day, just restrain yourself so the result is satisfaction and not guilt and poundage.