Yes I can relate. After my husband passed away in January, I lost a few pounds. Like you I felt good. So good I had to go buy a smaller size for my jeans. Every women's idea of heaven! I remember I was eating but in small portions and I was not into snacking which explains why I lost the weight. But slowly I found my sweet tooth can back to haunt me and I would start to snack on cakes, chocolate or candy. Those new jeans are tight so I am back to not buying anything that tempts me and I am walking my dog for an hour every night. The walks are good for my mental health as well as the physical health. Makes me more aware of what I am eating and slowly my new jeans are fitting good again. So many "friends here at DS have taught me to be "kind to yourself". The best advice ever. I am taking care of me now.

I have lost weight and gain it all back and more. I have a long day working, driving and help take the grandson to daycare. Don't have much time to cook a good meal or don't know how to handle the need to graze. I have better control during the day. I would walk at lunch time with co-workers, but at night I lose control and too tire to exercise. Whole closet full of clothes that I couldn't fit in. I keep telling myself that tomorrow will be the day to start taking care of myself and I failed to do so. I think we need some kind of motivation to get healthy again.

I have struggled with my weight my entire life. I had read that when a person is going through grief, the process can affect their weight, either to go up or down drastically . My husband passed April 2014, so Jan of this year I decided to join a weight loss group, not so much to loose weight, but more to learn healthy eating habits. I found myself eating in front of the TV, picking up fast foods, not eating at all etc etc.
Focusing on taking care of myself has improved not only my health, but also has improved my self-confidence and self-esteem.
I am getting out more to go for walks, enjoying the good weather also. That has helped me mentally and emotionally.
Hope this helps
Mary

I've been finding myself going through waves...times where I'm doing well, like last fall, where I got fitter and was working out and eating really well. Lately, I've been doing a lot of comfort eating of a lot of sugary, high fat foods - like Starbucks giant chocolate chip cookies (I think they are 1000 each, aren't they?) in recent weeks, not only I have not been eating well, I haven't been feeling up to cooking, so my kids aren't eating well either. Pizza and burgers for dinner, anyone?
The lonelier I feel, the more I miss him, the more I comfort eat, or make bad choices...the lower my self esteem gets, the lonelier I feel...it's a vicious circle for me. Add on my PCOS and it just makes things harder. :/

Well, I lost 26 pounds in two weeks initially. Then I lost about 6 more pounds through the initial months. Now at four years later I have packed on about eight of those pounds. Combination of baking and eating what I make, and lack of exercise.

The thing that I found was that I was regularly running during my first and second year. The physical exercise helped me so much emotionally. As I got my life back into some kind of order, I stopped the exercise, as I felt that I had other priorities (Go to work, clean the house, take care of Mom.) I need to get back into the exercise mode and prioritize.

Hugs,
Val

When I were caring my wife, I told myself to eat. Because I was only family caretaker so I didn't have anybody to lean on. If I crashed, everything would fall. So I ate and ate, like eating would keep me going, and I was eating lots of junk foods. The funny thing was, I lost a lot of weights. After my wife's passing, it has been completely opposite, I stopped overeating but I start gaining weight. No clues what is going. Anyone got same experience? Tiger

I lost weight at first too, only to gain a lot more through eating mostly fast food, pizzas, fried chicken. My turning point came when I went to the doctor and was told I had just crossed over into the obese range. I knew I had to take care of myself, I'm raising our son on my own now. I was able to lose a little weight on my own but not what I needed, then heard about the fit bit. Basically you enter the food you eat, it keeps track of your steps, and you can see how active you are, or aren't compared with what you eat. I've lost 55 pounds feel great physically, have learned to cook (sort of) and get much better sleep. There are other devices out there also that do the same thing also, you can even join and use a pedometer. It started out as a need for me, turned into a hobby, and is now a lifestyle.

absolutely, at first I lost and then that came back and then 1) because I need to lose some serious weight 2) I need the structure right now and 2)to make sure what I eat is healthier than if I did have to be accountalbe. I jointed Weight Watchers. I can't handle the meetings right now and to be honest they are a bit beyond my budget, so I joined on-ine. It give a little more structure to my day - which I need at this point. So far for me it has been helping - on all 3 counts. I'm not perfect at it, and taking both journeys together sounds counterinuative, but since WW is focused on creating a new me, if I follow the plan it keeps pulling me foward when all I really want to do is hide in corner and stagnate while surrounded by my comfort foods

Same here. Lost a few pounds initially but gained it and a few more recently. Bad eating habits, laziness - who wants to cook for 1? Trying to get back into better habits. Planning to join a local gym to start moving more. It's heating up here in AZ so will not be able to walk outside for too much longer. Totally understand the comfort food. We have so little to feel good about some days that its natural to take whatever pleasure you can. Someone else here suggested meetup.com, you put in your zip code and all manner of groups come up. I've joined outdoor yoga!

Don't beat yourself up. It's just another phase. Hugs, Liz

Thank you all so much for taking time to reply to my post. It looks like I'm not alone on this subject. I guess I just need to start taking better care of myself. I also think that I need to try to get more sleep and learn to relax a little bit. I feel like I am always on the run and then when I get over tired, I REALLY turn to the comfort food. It's like I have no reserve left and just end up caving in and eating anything I can get my hands on. Thanks again for all your help...

Yes, I did find comfort in food. At first I couldn't eat, but it returned to being comforted by food. Try being more active and grabbing something with less sugar and starch. I still splurge, but try to limit my intake.

Of course, I'm writing this after returning from a picnic where I over indulged, but tomorrow's another day. Sharon