Yeah, maybe but missing you, EdEarl or maybe @EdEalr1.

@DotLewis I'm missing everyone too. Still working on rl stuff. I'll return, soon I hope.

Getting on track, or back on track, can be incredibly hard to do. Over a lifetime spent for the most part being overweight or obese, I launched a "diet" more times than I can count. Admittedly, probably 90% of them lasted less than 4 weeks. The occasions when I did lose significant amount of weight through serious effort, were predominantly prompted by health concerns/fears as compared to the "I want to look .____" (fill in the blank) prompted diets. The current effort, which began a year ago, June 12 is an example of the health prompted type.

These things seem to act as the "kick in the butt" that I need to get on track and stay there for more than a few weeks. Of course, what that kick in the butt is for each person depends on their makeup. I have, a few times, lost weight almost without effort. On those occasions I found stress to be a big factor, either a complete lack of it or almost too much of it to even function under. That probably identifies me as a stress eater, under "normal" amounts of stress food serves to comfort me or to ease the stress by giving me something else to focus on.

Although I started this latest weight loss journey over a year ago, over 6 months of the first year were spent not in active "diet" mode, beginning around the holiday season. I did manage to maintain, within a 4 pound range during those months even though I didn't lose any more after late October. I gave myself permission to do this through the end of the year, saying that learning to maintain was also good as it has never been a pattern for me. However, after the new year I kept struggling to get back on the loss track, with only fleeting successes.

Finally, coming onto the anniversary of the beginning I decided I had to get going again and would do it on June 12th. That was when I decided to use this group, something I had not done before although I had been a member of the group for some time by then. Since I seemed to be lacking accountability to myself to stick with better (loss) eating for more than a few days, I made this group my accountability buddy. I started out posting daily whatever I ate and the calorie counts as counting is my chosen method of losing.

It did the trick. I have faltered a few times since 6.com/12 but only a day here or there and more importantly, I have not let a stumble throw me off track. I've found supportive people when I lamented over eating too much sometimes and encouragement to make the next day better. I know we all have to find our own path but hopefully you can find something helpful in this post that will give you a boost onto your own track.