I have had the WORST Cohans day ever... and really need some supportive words of advice.. See (its a very loong story so ill cut it short ) but i was at the hospital with my sister who was taken to emergancy at 7am and i was with her (i had a cohans breaky at 6am before she collapsed).. anyway after being there since 7, and being worried sick... Another family memeber brought us pizza at 1am.. i was starving... and ate 5 slices ( i know right.. im a pig)... i also had 3 coffess brought for me with milk (before being asked how i wanted it) Im home now (3.30pm) and needed to write this straight away as im the type of person who once i have eaten something bad, ill just groge for the remainder of the day.. and think todays gone down hill ill start fresh tomorrow.. Please ppl, talk me out of it... please tell me that some of you have had a bad day and recovered just fine... Sorry im a tad emtional as well.. todays been a rollercoaster.. Sorry for the typos or spelling errors.. im dead tired..

i also have a habbit of eating when im stressed so im trying to just focus on the computer and the the fridge at the moment

Stress makes us do all sorts of weird things. It's understandable that in an emergency, when you don't have time to plan, all sorts of things will happen. You don't have food or drink, don't know when or where you can get it, and tend to just do whatever to survive.

It's very hard feeling like you've completely run off the rails. But one day does not a diet make. Just remember that when you get up the next day, it's all over if you decide it was. Nothing gets "broken" except your peace of mind.

Don't 'catastrophise' - one bad day is all it is. Write it off as one of those things that just happens in life, and set yourself a new list for the next day of all the things that you ARE going to do right. If you get straight back on track, the worst that will happen is your weight will not move much for this week.

Beating ourselves up is what has kept us fat for years. Give yourself some love and attention and forgive yourself, and then just be determined this is not the shape of things to come - that you will just go back to doing what you know is the right thing to do for your body.

Good luck, and hope your sister is okay!

Oh Niyah.. Thank you... im determined not to let this be the begining of the end... i dont want to gain weight... thank you thank you.... (oh i noticed in my first post i wrote 1am, i meant pm of course.. anyway thought getting out of the house for a walk might help my frame of mind'.....hopefully

As you know I am not on Cohen's - but certainly do feel for you. Everyone has a moment when they slip up at some point in their healthy new life - and stress is a killer for making it happen. I have and it didnt stop me. I will wager that everyone that has been on their project a long time will have had a moment too - whichever program they are on.

What is done is done. Feeling bad about it will not make it go away. The damage will be most limited if you can get back on track as quickly as possible. The best way to do that is to feel good about your accomplishments. A quick scan of your diary shows that you have lost 6kg which is a great achievement. You didnt set out to have a bad day - but the stress of the situation was too much.

Distraction is a great idea. Getting people to phone you to distract you over the next few hours could work well. I am a big fan of exercise so getting out of the house for a walk will work well. I find that walking makes a window when you cannot eat so that can be good for breaking up a bad day. The exercise will help to burn up some of those calories too - and the afterburn effect will cause your body to burn calories at a faster rate for quite some hours compared to if you did no exercise. A bad hour does not have to extend for the rest of the day. Some people make the mistake of thinking that the day is lost and continue eating badly. We can take control and get back on track straight away.

[QUOTE=bensmum;647104]Oh Niyah.. Thank you... im determined not to let this be the begining of the end...

No, it's not the beginning of the end. Just a detour. An exceptional circumstance, like roadworks you need to detour around on the way to the shops. If you can, have a rest, and plan your cohens meal for tea. It'll help your head if you get back to it straight away.
Rather than beat yourself up about what you had, think of it like this: you didn't have Cohens meals with you, and ate what was available. I've been in unexpected situations, and not eaten, for hours, and risked coming home and bingeing on whatever I could get my hands on because I was starved. Yeah, oh so good of me to choose not to eat rather than non-Cohens, but the result was the same. The only difference being the timing. Big hugs to you. Hope you can unwind a little. Stressing over this will make weightloss harder. "hugs" BTW some of us will make the journey with detours, some of us without, not that I condone intentional planned detours, but it's not like you thought last night, "hey, tomorrow I'm gonna eat 5 slices of pizza and milky coffee, etc etc. Try as hard as it is to keep perspective. What would you say to one of us, or to your own child if they were beating themselves up in the same situation? You'd hug them, and say okay, you tripped over, don't stay on the ground, here, let me help you up.
Love yourself hun, it's so much easier to love others and be kind to them, women need to learn to accept their ups and downs in life, and while not staying down, not hating themselves for it. We don't treat those we care about like that.

Thank you so much L-jay, omega and Niyah.. I am in a much better mind frame this morning... I had a cohans tea last night and a cohan breaky this morning and feel so much more "sane' than yesterday... I truely felt like old habbits would die hard and once off the waggan id be off for good... But im so proud of myself for getting right back on thanks to hearing what you all had to say.. Last time i attampted this diet i didnt deviate once until i got my pregnancy result..lol so thats why i wa so scared.. i thought it was all or nothing.. but that is no way to live, i now know that (while i will not deviate again... god i dont need that stress again...lol) but at least i know that im strong enough to stay on track.. Toooo scared to weigh myself... wont be happeing for at least 2 days.. i dont want to be demotivated.. Thank you all so much again..
ps.. ill be going to the hospital today to visit my sister but bringing lunch with me.. :-)
pss.. food i use to love like pizza now just makes me feel like crap.. so many pointless cals...

I know someone who has a good analogy for this - one I've used on this board before a lot.

If you're walking down a staircase and you trip on the top step, what do you do?
Do you grab the rail, steady yourself, and keep walking?
Or do you go "Oh god I'm a failure" and throw yourself down the stairs and break your neck?

The second option is just ... well ... stupid right? Why kill yourself for tripping?

So when you slip on your diet, do you just regain your balance? Or do you throw away all your progress and just give up?

All or nothing is an impossible way to live. No one is perfect all the time. Ever. At anything. So quit throwing yourself down the stairs because you tripped.

That's a really good analogy Kara! I don't know how many times in the past I've "thrown myself down the stairs" and it's really silly. I've learnt that it's a much better idea to grab the handrail and steady myself!

Wow Kara.. so true!!!! So i weighed myself this morning.. no loss.. but no gain either so i guess i shouldnt be upset about that as i was expecting a gain... todays been great... Thank you so much everyone

"If you're walking down a staircase and you trip on the top step, what do you do?
Do you grab the rail, steady yourself, and keep walking?
Or do you go "Oh god I'm a failure" and throw yourself down the stairs and break your neck?" Kara
That is a wonderful analogy Kara!
Bensmum- I hope that you have picked yourself up and moved on. I too, used to be a stress eater. The food never makes the stress go away. Grab that rail Bensmum & keep walking, xo Cate.
PS. I am never, ever without a small drink bottle & one serve of crackers in my handbag for emergencies- often an apple as well.

Carrying a healthy snack at all times is a great idea. I have got out of the habit of that over the past year - but during the first year or so of my project (when I did the main of my weight loss) I did something similar (water bottle / piece of fruit)... I am sitting here wondering why I stopped doing it...