What seems to be your main obstacle Sonali? I know you've mentioned your family lifestyle plays a part. Unfortunately we often tend to put other's needs and expectations ahead of our own.

So what's your typical day like? For example, you get up in the morning...what is your mind set? Are you motivated, or dreading the thought of trying to get through the day? If you are feeling motivated, what is typically the first challenge you have to face? Is it pretty much the same most days? I know you have a very active social life and that has been difficult, but on a regular day, do you see a pattern? When you make that decision to go off your plan, what is the dialog going on in your head? Having been through this myself, I know the bargaining and justifying and denial would be going like a tornado in my brain! lol! Sometimes it was an almost out of body experience. I would see myself reaching for something while in my head I was screaming "NOOOOO!". Or..do you get through the day ok, only to cave in to cravings and stress eating at night? We all tend to have patterns and repeat behaviors when tired or stressed or just feeling like we need some comfort. The challenge is to find a substitute that can fill those needs in a positive way. That doesn't necessarily mean exercise. Exercise can be effective for some physical stress or anxiety relief, while something calming like knitting or a repetitive activity might be for winding down and comfort.

The mental aspect of weight loss is important and really determines how successful you end up being. It all begins or ends with our thoughts. Action follows. If you can stop the thought it in its tracks before taking action, you will develop the new skills and patterns that will set you up for long term success.

If you wake up dreading the day and fearing falling off plan, then you need to do something to change things up a bit. I recommended something a while back to the members here. I suggested adding a meal of protein and fat. I know it sounds crazy, but a meal of moderate protein and healthy fat will not disrupt ketosis and will actually help. I'm talking something like a couple of eggs and 2 or 3 slices of bacon. Or maybe a small ribeye steak or a piece of salmon cooked in butter or olive oil. This will keep you in fat burning mode while giving you something to look forward to and make it easier to say no to everything else. I know we were all taught to fear fat, but that has now been proven to be unproven and in fact, a big contributor to the obesity epidemic as it forced us to all turn to carbohydrates to take it's place. Carbohydrate drives up insulin, the fat storing hormone. It is the catalyst to insulin resistance and eventually all the diseases we are trying to avoid. I would recommend having your 3 Cambridge servings a day and add one protein/fat meal either every day or alternate days would be even better. This may be your answer.