I followed the 800 a day for 7 weeks back in October and November. Birthdays and Christmas I partyied hard and had a great time, but my waistline didn’t! So, back to square one here and looking for encouragement. I’m working ridiculous hours at present, often at a desk, so I’m finding it tough to get going.

Welcome Baziboo – well done on the 7 weeks completed last year, which shows you that you CAN do this, so I’m guessing is what is missing is the mind set. I’m also guessing some of that is connected to you beating yourself up, because you didn’t managed to maintain the weight you lost last time round.

My advice is to forgive yourself and move on. Wasting energy in giving yourself a hard time about the weight gained back, is not helpful and simply feeds in more negativity. You’ve learnt an important lesson, which will be valuable to you further along the line, but for now don’t worry about it. As you are working crazy hours, I’m guessing you are looking for easily portable foods and quick to prepare dishes. There are lots of great recipes posted on here and you’ll find a stack more if you search online for low carb recipes. Look to increase physical activity in small ways, like taking the stairs instead of the lift (assuming that’s an option), or just taking a few minutes to walk a little at some point in your day – every little helps.

Now is the time to weight and measure yourself, set a mini-goal and make a new start. Weigh, measure and record all you consume and watch the pounds drop! We are here to support you, but you need to find the strength and resolve to make this new start.

Best of luck to you and be sure to keep us posted.

Hi Baziboo — welcome back. SunnyB has given some wise advice above, don’t beat yourself up about going backwards, just use that experience to inform yourself about what to do DIFFERENTLY this time (write down what went wrong and what you plan to do next time) and…
just start again
And, a thought exercise: ask yourself if the partying was really that much fun, or if it was really not worth the gain, because wrapping your head around the cost/benefit of the partying might help you next time around.
I’ve been maintaining now for almost 18 months but I well remember my own slow start and how many times I had to “start again”. The great news (and you know this) is that it works brilliantly, even if you aren’t perfect at it. Just start again and don’t look back.
Keep us posted Baziboo! There is a lot of wonderful support on this forum.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I’m back at the gym going gently after a bout of bursitis, and on the couch to 5k too. I’ve eaten healthily this week although a meal and drinks night at a friend’s last night took me off-piste! Back on track today, and trying to kick the odd lager too. More salads and veg planned this week. Last time I went down to 9’13lbs. Currently I’m 10’8 and I have a midriff, so here I go again! Thanks again for your words of wisdom. B