Just try to eat right. Like eat vegs, fruits, salad, fish, tuna and other things. Maybe try to eat small meal. Maybe have sugar free cookies or ice cream for a snack. Maybe make a fruit salad or maybe sugar free candy,

I've been doing that for a while actually, but i gain all my weight back as soon as I have a cheat day, so I feel it isn't even worth it.

Maybe you can do some execrise. Like take walk around the block or walk around the mall. Walk to the park. Maybe join a gym or maybe get some execrise machine or maybe a jump rope. Maybe do some situp or push up.

I sure can relate to this. I was anorexic/bulimic for 26-30 years. I was always chubby from 4th grade until 8th grade when I started the deadly dieting thing. At 31 years old, I almost lost my life to it and got the help I needed. It felt like breathing air made me gain weight.....hence going days without eating or eating and getting rid of it.
About 5 years ago, I started gaining weight uncontrollably even though I hardly ate. I thought it was cuz I was going through the change. I had a horrible doctor who made me feel horrible. All she did was yell at me to go to Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. It turned out I was diabetic and my body could not get rid of the sugar (high carb foods that I loved) and stored it in my body. Once I was diagnosed, I changed my meal plan and voila.....the weight dropped off effortlessly. I have lost over 100 pounds and have kept it off for 2.5 years now.
The thing is.....I did NOT concentrate on losing weight.....I concentrated on feeling better and keeping my limbs, eyesight, and kidneys.
Once I took the focus/obsessing off food and dieting.....that is when things changed for me.
I'm not saying you are diabetic or can.....what I'm getting at is the focus on food that is holding you and most people back.
I do NOT deprive myself and I never use the word diet. I even cheat but quickly go back to healthier choices so as to keep my blood sugar from going out of range.
I made a game out of what I CAN eat and try to make new concoctions that are yummy. I eat like a truck driver for the most part. I eat more now than I ever ate before (except when I was hospitalized for the eating disorder and the doctors were trying to get me to gain weight).
I kinda count carbs and not calories. Carbs are dangerous for me becuz they turn into sugar quickly and wreak all kinds of havoc in my body.....plus they make me feel horrible (tired, weak, headachy, and nauseous). I stay away from the white starchy foods such as white potatoes, white rice, pasta, white bread, and fried foods. I do NOT eat at fast food places......way too many carbs and not enough carb friendly choices.
I still eat steak, chicken, ribs, lots of veggies (I usually bake them drizzled with olive oil and sea salt....and a little garlic). I also eat a fair amount of fruit. Portion control is also important. By the time I eat 3 ounces (sometimes a bit more) of protein, a salad with real dressing or a veggie and fruit (usually topped with whipped cream), I'm pretty full. I cheat every now and then with a very small dessert (I'm not a huge sweet eater, but I do eat a little dark chocolate every day)....about 1/4 - 1/2 cup worth.
I do NOT drink soda at all.....only water or unsweetened tea. I use to drink a ton of lemonaide...don't do that anymore either. Stricly water and only 1 cup of coffee with real sugar and real cream every morning.
Diabetes has been a real eye opener to me and has set me onto a healthier path. I feel the best I've felt in years. I'm still a bit over weight, but it doesn't matter any more (spoken from a former anorexic who only cared about looks and weight). I LOVE feeling better and having more energy to do things I love.
It's a pain to eat out becuz most of the restaurants do not offer a big selection of foods I can eat and my mom hates that my places to eat are limited (no more Chinese or Italian foods).
It is more of a lifestyle change and I consider myself lucky to be alive and NOT insulin dependent.
The more I let go of food.....thinking about what I can and can not have and found other things to enjoy in life.....knowing eating is just a small portion of life.....it got easier and better.
I eat more and better than I ever have. I eat at consistent hours to keep my blood sugars level. This is important whether you are diabetic or not. Starving yourself makes your body hold onto everything you eat becuz the body goes into survival mode and holds onto everything you eat in case you need it for later on.....that is why you tend to gain weight when you "diet" and then cheat. Try eating a balanced meal twice a day with two small snacks (i.e. an apple and 2 Tbls of peanut butter) in between your meals. You should be eating every 3 hours.
Well.....I've yammered on long enough to understand what I am trying to say. Take it or leave it and I wish you the best.

Oh.....don't EVER eat diet....no fat...low fat foods. Do not consume artificial sweeteners. All these things make you GAIN weight and are not good for the body. They are all traps. You need good fats to help you feel full. I had a hard time giving up salt, so I look for low salt when I can.
Be patient and gentle with yourself. Just do the best you can.

Don't worry too much about exercise. It sounds like your outside job is enough.
Learn to love yourself and don't worry about how those in Hollywood look or the guru's of exercise look........it's their job. Think about how they are gonna look after they are 60 or when they can no longer exercise becuz they wore out their body parts......FLAB CITY FOR THEM...lol. (funny mental picture).
Life happens man......enjoy it while you can and don't worry so much about looks. If ppl only like you for how you look.....trust me....you don't want those kinda ppl in your life

i HATE diets!!!!!!!!!!!!! to me diets are one of the worst forms of self harm....labeling foods as "bad" foods and "good" foods can really screw with your mind......i do my best to eat healthy.....at my apartment i rarely have sweets in my apartment....if i crave sweetness i find that in a gala apple or sometimes i freeze grapes in my freezer.....after i take them out they taste like ice cream.....my advice is if you really wanna do a diet i would probably go to a weight watchers meeting....i think that that place is the best place to go....you'll get support and they'll help you....starving yourself makes you GAIN weight so that's not a good idea.....it's actually healthy to have three meals a day and three snacks....like i have breakfast around 8 in the morning a snack around 10:30-ish, lunch at noon, a snack at 2, dinner between 5-6 and another snack around 8....keeping a schedule helps ME stay on track and helps me not overeat or anything........you can also cook stuff....my aunt makes most of her meals on sunday and then freezes them....then on the weekday she pulls it out in the morning to defrost and then she's good to go!!!! when i was younger my family and i also came up with a menu every week....from sunday-saturday.....so it would be like monday night was pork chops with mashed potatoes and corn.....done!!! and that helped us work things out....those things helped me......i hope this helped....if you wanna talk, i'm here

I think it's good that you've decided to quit dieting, because sometimes dieting can become an eating disorder that's very hard to overcome. I think the meal suggestions of the others is a good place to start. Do you have OCD, too? Sometimes that goes along with anxiety, can be treated with meds, but then again, meds don't fix everything. It's a little odd to "gain 6 pounds over night", is it possible you may be retaining a little water in your body? In the summer, I tend to retain water and have to take diuretics, also for another health reason that doesn't apply to this conversation thread. Don't let people tell you it's a matter of will power to get in shape, a lot of people have a strong will and are still not in shape. Your landscaping job, as someone else said, should be enough to either keep you in shape, or improve your overall health--since that is what you're after in the first place. Good luck.

Eating's not a moral issue.

Having insulation on your body is not a moral issue.

Eat what you want. Nobody's business but yours.

When you have your cheat days, do you go back to eating healthy the next days? Do you keep track of your calories?
I lost twenty pounds over the last year and I have cheat days at least one day a month...sometimes more if my weight gets too low....and the days after my cheat days my weight always goes up about 4 or 5 pounds because eating all those junk carbs makes me retain water like crazy. But then after a few days I go back to my strict 1950 calories a day and the weight comes back off again and after about a week I am back to the weight I want to be again.
I guess some people call what I do "dieting" because I do restrict my calories, but I don't look at it that way. I just know how much I can eat to lose or maintain weight and I don't go over that because my body doesn't need it and it makes me put on fat. I just consider it a lifestyle choice and I am not miserable on it. Actually the only time I feel miserable is after my cheat days because I am not used to gorging myself.....lol.

I gain weight in my stomach and arms too, so even just a few extra pounds makes my belly bulge..lol....so I can relate.

But anyway, so yeah I would just ask you if you keep strict track of your calories because they add up faster than you think. And also if you are eating a lot of protein. My diet is about 50% chicken, mixed in with greek yogurts, grapes, protein bars and vegetable steamer bags and flat bread and pico sauce and ranch dressing.....lol. I love all those things so its a pretty easy menu to stick with. :)

I would just keep trying until you find something that works for you. Its out there. you just have to find it. But it depends on how bad you want it. You might be happier ten pounds overweight, rather than spending your time constantly monitoring your food intake, and that's okay. Its your life and you have to do what makes you happiest.

And as a PS, protein is awesome for anxiety. Chicken breast has helped my anxiety tremendously. I swear I have thought it was magical at times.

I think this is a super common issue for a lot of people. I can relate to this in a lot of ways. I was a competitive dancer from the time I was 5 all the way through college. I never had to even think twice about what I ate because I was so active. Once college ended and I wasn't dancing quite as much, I started to pick up a few pounds. I tried dieting like crazy and never stuck with anything. I hated counting calories and watching what I ate, but I hated what I looked like even more. I don't blame you for wanting to quit dieting and I don't think it was wrong for you to do so. The problem will come if you gain more anxiety because you are gaining weight versus the anxiety you had about dieting. The change came for me when I stopped looking at life as a diet and started looking at it as a lifestyle change. I started a program called the 21 Day fix and it has changed my life. You don't count calories at all and it is really based on portion control and training yourself to generally eat well all of the time with the exceptions on occasion of course. I also workout daily for only 30 min a day. Looking at my eating habits as a lifestyle and not a diet where I can't have things has changed the way I view food. I would highly recommend the 21day fix to get you jumpstarted on how to train your body and mind to look at food differently. It will teach you all the basics you need to know. I've lost 25 pounds and still going and haven't gained anything back even when I have had a cheat day or cheat weekend.

When I did stop dieting, and started eating normally with a smaller plate, bowl, and glass to make it easier to keep portions in size, the weight came off.

Recently, I stopped portion size and within a week, have symptoms of weight gain, so have gone back to the smaller plate, bowl, and glass.

By not making the number the goal, you will be able to break the pattern of thought creating this moment. Changing your thought pattern will release the stress your body is keeping energy stored for.

Best wishes. You are not alone in this.

I've battled my weight most of my life. I had bulimia for about 20 years. I've been free of it for about 15 years. I'm 47. I have OCD, GAD, Bipolar II, and panic attacks. I've come a long way. CBT and medication help tremendously. But a lot caused weight gain. I tried many until I found one that works.

I lost 27 lbs and I've kept it off. Greek yogurt with fresh fruit, Splenda and cool whip have made the biggest difference. I snack on popcorn made with kernels. It tast much better than the microwave popcorn in the store bought ones. You can use an air popper but I just put mine in a brown paper bag and place in the microwave. I do use salt and butter sprinkles. Sometimes real butter. I eat mostly meat,veggies, and fresh fruit. My fast food is Taco Bell. A crunchy taco only has about 13 carbs. Same with the tostada. I have one cheat day a week. Do not weigh yourself the day after your cheat day. When you figure out what works for your body you don't feel deprived

Estelle, I am a cool whip and splenda girl too. I put cool whip on whole grain bread with some peanut butter and it SO good. I also eat the same Taco Bell you do and popcorn AND Greek Yogurt. Maybe we are distant cousins or something. ;)