I don't want to dwell on failure, but there is some value in drawing that line in the sand and proclaiming, "Here! But no farther!"
There are "good" seasons and "bad" seasons in my weight loss history. 2016 was a fantastically good season marked by a steady stream of small losses, and ultimately, reaching a goal weight that I did not imagine I'd ever reach. I can hardly beleive I saw that magical number on my scales. In my 60s!!! It defied all odds. I did what all the research studies say just isn't possible. It was amazing in 2017 to start the year thinking "For the first time in my life, my New Years resolution can be something BESIDES 'lose weight'!"
Now my total weight history looks like a huge smile -- a high point followed by a dip, then a string of quick gains followed by small losses. I haven't quite regained it all, but I am devastatingly close.
Every time I say I'm going to quit, give up, resign myself to a fat life; the voice in my head says, "No way! You are not going to live life in *this* body -- filled with shame and regret! It's just not YOU! Have you forgotten who you are?!?!?"
Let this be the new season. The continuation of the lifestyle changes that brought that string of losses. This cannot be the end.