Reader Advice Day: Getting Back on the Plant-based Wagon after a Hard Fall

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I'm so excited to be back again this week with a second installment of Reader Advice Day! Here's a question that came in this morning, but to be honest with you, I have been itching to discuss this topic with you for the past week. Funny how that happens.

Here's the e-mail that came in:

"Hi there!

I have been a fan of your blog for some time now. I love the reader advice and hope you can help me too.

Over a year ago I had 30 lbs of pregnancy weight to lose. After reading all the books (Furhman, Esselstyn, etc) and watching the films (Hungry for Change, Forks over Knives) I went plant strong. I loved it. Became an expert at cooking the food, exercised daily, felt and looked amazing, lost the weight. I blogged about it and wanted to spread the word to everyone I knew. For 5 months. Then slowly, a cookie here, some seafood, and bam...back to cheeseburger and chips. Now I've been back to the SAD diet longer than I was plant-strong.

The problem is, I can't seem back to get back to my plant-strong lifestyle. I do it for a few days, then the old food creeps in. I don't have the motivation and enthusiasm I did the first time. I am rereading the books and re-watching the films, but it is almost like my brain is telling me 'what's the point because you'll only end up back where you started anyway.' Why, when while being plant-strong I felt and looked amazing AND I loved the food, am I resisting so hard? So, my question is - how do you motivate yourself to start and stay plant strong?"

My thoughts? I have never gone too far off of the wagon, but many times I have gone to places where I don't like what I am doing and how I am eating. And I wondered the same thing you are--how do people stay motivated and make the best choices over and over?

I also totally understand the initial excitement about a new way of eating, and that carries a lot of us through a certain amount of time. But then we wear down, our old patterns begin to emerge, and over time, we can be right back to where we started.

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