I am new to the message boards but not to Alli. Let me explain my story. I started my wieght loss journey on January 1, 2007 and was doing sooo good.  I learned to eat better and exercise everyday and lost 127 pounds as of Feb 1st of this year. Well my weight loss stopped there so on March 1st I didn't lose anything and got disscouraged and started eating junk and stopped working out everyday too. I gained about 10 pounds back. In june I finally got myself back on track with the help of Alli and lost 6 pounds and then the stress came. I got a new boss, my mother-in-law became sick and passed away, and I have a 13 year old daughter that I want to kill sometimes(why are teenagers such horrible creatures?). Well I lost it and gave up again. This time I got so lazy and didn't exercise at all. I know what I have to do but just don't seem to care anymore. So I gained another 10 pounds or so. I'm not even sure. Anyways I decided to get back on track for the last time tomorrow, Sept 3rd and need some advice on how to get back my willpower. I have 75 pounds more to lose until I reach my goal weight.  Please help me!!  Thanks, Lynn

 Dang woman, if you have lost 127 pounds, I would say that would be a big motivation to get back on track and finish it off.  It is hard to get back your will power once you get on a binge, believe me I know.  For me I just keep thinking that I put way too much time into this weight loss to gain it all back, and funny how you gain it faster than you lose it.  Can you bargain with yourself?  What I do is try to stay within the program during the week and tell myself that the weekend is coming and I can have whatever the food is I'm craving then if I still want it.  Often by the time the weekend rolls around I've forgotten that I even had a craving for a particular thing.  I don't recommend this as a way to lose weight, but it does work for me for maintaining the weight I've lost.  Maybe that is enough for you to strive for right now, and then when you get back in the diet mood, you can become more strict.  Good luck to you, Lynn.

Judy

 I would say you really need to think about what really drives you; wants important; and figure out how to use that to your advantage for losing weight. I have read a lot of different things about getting motivated to lose weight or to excercise. I have read a lot about how it has to be something you do for yourself, bla, bla, bla. I came to the realizaton finally that being motivated to lose weight just for me wasn't good enough. When I started thinking about trying alli I started thinking about how much better it would be for my health and how I would like my appearance better and have higher self-esteem. None of those thoughts motivated me in the least. Then I started thinking about what I wanted to look like for my husband. I also started thinking about how I wanted to appear to my younger sisters (much younger, impressionable sisters). The thoughts dealing with how my weight effects others motivated me more than anything. So far I have been on alli 4 weeks and am down 12 lbs (something lost each week). Now in addition to that each week that I see weight lost on the scale I am more motivated than ever. Everytime I fit into something new that I haven't worn in years that encourages me even more. It's all about figuring out what is going to drive you to get started again and what will drive you to do well throughout the first week, and then the second, etc.

Good luck. I know that you can do this.

Hi Lynnw24,

With all that you have been through why are you still pushing to lose weight? You have only discussed losing and gaining. Why not make maintaining your current weight your goal for a little while? It's important to be able to keep off what you have lost so this will be a good test for you. Give your body and mind a little time off of pushing to lose and see what it's like to maintain. You can set a time limit for how long you will maintain. During this time focus on your activity and things that relax you and bring you pleasure. It's better to take a little rest than to push so hard that you keep falling.

How does this sound?

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

 I think that is great advice, Betty.

I just started alli 2.5 weeks ago and so far no major stressors but I know what life circumstances can do. Sometimes it's all you can do just to hang on. I lost both my parents within the last 3 years (while I was still in my 30s -now I'm 40- and have young children at home). I really think losing my in-laws would be almost as difficult! In fact, I'm still dealing with the "estate" (trying to get the house sold in this wonderful -NOT- market about an hour's drive from me).

Anyway, maintaining what you have lost already (WHICH IS A HUGE AMOUNT & YOU SHOULD PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK!!!) is success as well!

I wish you the best.

E

 I'm was so upset today when I weighted myseld and gain 1lb and started to think I should just give up, nothing I do seems to work for me. Then I read your message saying you lost 127lbs and your having a difficult time getting back on track. Think back to how great it felt to get on the scale and see your weight go down and use that to get you going again. I know you have inspired me so use that to once again to inspire yourseld. Thanks so much for sharing you story. This is a difficult journey but look what you have done for yourself. Lisa