I want to lose something in the ballpark of 125 lbs. I know it's going to be a long journey -- I've lost something in the neighborhood of half a pound to a pound a week in the periods when I've been actively trying. So this could take as much as two more years.
It feels sometimes like I haven't gotten very far -- I've lost about 30 lbs in the past year, about 35 from my highest weight. But the scale is moving again after about a 6 week stall and I had a little bit of an epiphany the other day. I'm only 14 lbs from losing 50 lbs. When I was buying food for my chickens the other day I hoisted the 50 lb feed bag up over my shoulder and it was really, really heavy. I realized that I'm not carrying that heavy load anymore and even if I don't think I look all that different, it is pretty big.
36 lbs for me means only about a size and a half down. I can still wear most of my old clothes. But the unflattering photos of 2009 and the unflattering photos of today are totally different. I can see the difference there.
Fitness-wise, I'm in a lot better shape, too. I'm doing the couch to 5k, which is supposed to be a 9 week program and it is more like a 20+ week program for me, but I'm running two eight minute chunks with a five minute break in between and I remember when running a minute straight was hard. I did a really, really hard fitness class on Friday, Willpower and Grace (google it and be impressed!) and made it all the way through with no modifications. I rock-climb and can make it to the top of the wall on several routes. I know this is a big change.
What seems like big progress to you? What seems like small progress?
I mean it. Some days, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and I'll think, Wow, I totally look better!. Other days, I'll deliberately look in the mirror, and all I can see is my remaining fat--which is quite substantial, don't get me wrong, but I shouldn't be focusing on it.
Similarly, sometimes I'll realize that I've lost 75 pounds in a little over six months, and I'll feel totally proud. Other times, I'll agonize because it's taken me five days to lose one pound.
In the end, though, as long as you're feeling better and going in the right direction, it's all good. And feeling way better and more physically capable, like you said you do, is the best thing of all .
I think that it is pretty hard not to get bogged down in how long it takes to lose this much weight. The media bombards us with "eat this and lose 10 lbs!" but I'd have to do 13 of those crash diets to get where I wanted to be and I know that my weight would yo-yo right back up in between. I just have to keep reminding myself that a week where I lose .2 lbs is a success because I'm inching closer to my goal and that it might just be followed by a week where I lose 3. I know that I could lose weight faster in the short-term if I were more hardcore about it, but I just don't want to live like that for the next 3 years. So, I do well enough to keep plodding along and adjust so that the weight comes off at least a little bit every week.
Gabe -- you're getting there. Don't get discouraged. You're doing great and I will tell you, as someone a little ahead for right now (but maybe not for long -- at this rate you're going to lap me!) that you don't have to get all the way to goal to feel a lot better, to be happier with your body, to like the way you look.
For reference, unflattering photo from last year, unflattering photo from this year -- excuse the hair in both. In one, I had been up all night delivering a baby and in the other I was at the reunion picnic for the babies in my midwifery practice and I was super-sweaty. Beige sweater, red dress. Same friends in both.
I can identify with your post in many ways, first because I'm not one of life's super fast losers and second, because sometimes I don't feel the way I thought I would at 6 lbs away from 100lbs lost. Sometimes unless I see a picture, I feel like I haven't made that much progress.
I've been on this journey since January 2009 and it's not that I couldn't have been at goal before now, I probably could have. But life happens and sometimes you slack or get bored or frustrated, whatever your reasons and you stall or (eek!) gain. What I decided when I started this journey was that even if I didn't feel like continuing, I would do what I could not to gain back and to that end, since Jan 2009, I've weighed myself at least once a week just so things don't get too out of hand. After losing 40 lbs, I spent over a year at 235lbs +/- 2lbs. And then when I was ready and in the right headspace about this time last year, I got serious again and did C25K (which wasn't an 8-week programme for me either), got serious about working out, got a food scale and just generally got serious again.
However, I don't feel like that year was wasted because I lost no weight. I felt like I did make progress by finding a way not to regain AND by getting in the right headspace of how I was going to live longterm with my lifestyle change. It would have been nice to have made some progress weight loss-wise but as I always try to remember this is not a race. I could get discouraged and stop because it's taking longer than I'd like but that won't stop the time from passing and I'd really rather be working towards my "hot body" goal for whenever I get there.
To me, having had periods when I've lost nothing at all or very little even when I've tried, progress is every additional pound lost, every inch lost, every day on plan, everytime I resist temptation.
FWIW, I really do see a big difference in your pics. And well done for the 35 lbs, it really shows in the red dress! Keep on keeping on, you'll make it!
I've lost just a few pounds shy of 50 lbs. In my head, that seems like a LOT. But it doesn't really FEEL that way. I have changed clothing sizes, but pretty much just one size on top (I carry most of my excess weight in the top half of my body), and maybe a couple of sizes on the bottom. But because I am an apple, I have to wear mostly stuff like yoga pants and other knits so they will fit my waist but not be too baggy everywhere else. So the sizing on that is a lot more forgiving and I was wearing an XL even at my heaviest.
I am hoping that as I get relatively smaller, I will start to see a more noticeable difference in my body and in clothing sizes that will feel like a better match to the scale. I certainly never thought I would lose this much and still be wearing a fair amount of the same clothing.
I guess I do need to have someone take a photo of me to see if I can really see the difference. (and to the OP, I do see a BIG difference in those photos of you!)
I see a big difference, too. And I agree that progress is relative. Some days just feel better than others, regardless of the amount of weight lost.
I jumped into this with both feet, full speed. Totally changed how I ate and joined a gym and go about 5 or 6 times a week. I've lost pretty quickly, but still feel discouraged on the weeks where I've only lost .2 pounds.
You said you could lose faster if you were more hard core about losing but you don't want to live like that for the next 3 years. I think that once we realize we have to live like this forever, it gets easier. It isn't a 3 year plan or a 9 month plan, or a 10 year plan. It really is forever. I had an epiphany of sorts when I realized that I am now eating the way my thin friends and family members eat. No set diet. No food off limits. No limits or boundaries. Just healthy food in appropriate amounts. At appropriate times. Getting the mental game in line is the biggest step forward you can make.
Keep up the great work. Your persistence will pay off in the long run. Anyone with a large amount of weight to lose will certainly have some great days and some not so great. It's a long commitment. And then it (hopefully) becomes a life long habit.
Lin - what you said about living like this forever totally resonates with me, as that is how I have been thinking as well. It also makes the amounts I lose each day/week/month somehow less important, as while I may tweak things here or there when I'm frustrated with a plateau or unexplained gain, my only real plan is to keep doing what I've been doing, as that is how I eat/exercise now.
Defenestrator - I hear you - I'm trying to lose 200 lbs and while I am over halfway there it definitely starts to get frustrating that I have so far left to go. I am exactly where you are with the c25k - and I have been doing it since last October...
I guess the way I look at it, for me, is that after a lifetime of dealing with obesity a doctor finally identified for me why I had trouble losing weight and was as heavy as I was (insulin resistance), put me on medication for it (Metformin) and suggested a low-carb diet, and I began exercising. I feel more like I have been "cured" in some ways than like I have been dieting, and that watching the weight come off is secondary to the way that I feel (full when I eat a small meal, no cravings or feeling like I have to eat or else, etc)
My advice would be to take things step by step. Focus on the little things and set goals throughout the entire journey. That is what has helped me a lot through this and has kept me positive and wanting to reach each of my mini goals and not jus worrying about the whole amount that i need to lose.
Like others have said some days feel better than others, you just need to stay positive about it and do the best that you can.
I'd like to give my thoughts on your time concerns, defenestrator, because I have been at this for over two years myself, and anticipate another 6-12 months before I'm done losing.
One thing I've noticed as I've gotten older is that time really does seem to go faster. When I think about things that happened six months or a year or two ago, it just seems like yesterday.
Being in this weight-loss process for two years hasn't felt like an excruciating ticking of time. The time would have passed anyhow, and in much the same way, whether I was losing weight or not. So the next time you start to feel down about it taking two years to get where you want to go, look back at something that happened two years ago and think "wow, was that really two whole years ago?" Or look at some child you helped birth, and marvel that she's gotten so big already.
The other thing I'll add is that the second year was easier than the first year in a lot of ways. I really approach my plan one food choice at a time - I say "not now" or "not today" a lot when faced with temptation. I make the choice to plan meals and prepare extra healthy food over the weekend so that it's mostly ready for me when I get home, tired, on weeknights. These things take a lot of work and discipline and vigilance but they get easier over time as they become part of my routine. Without ever setting out to make a "lifestyle change" (that piece of conventional diet wisdom always seemed very daunting and huge to me), I wound up doing just that, one choice at a time. So some of the things that seemed like extraordinary effort in my first year of weight loss are now, after two years, just how I do things.
Okay last comment. Picking up the 50-pound sack is a really good idea. Those tangible reminders are invaluable. The reason for that is that, as you have noted, when you are still very overweight it is harder to appreciate the changes in your body. The benefits don't become really obvious until much later. For me, I didn't start to feel really different or be excited about the way I looked until I had lost close to 75 pounds - that is, well into my second year of the process.
This is something else that has made the second year easier, and the last six months especially. I now, finally, feel much better, like the way I look, and don't feel like a fat person any more. That is what has given me the strength to buckle down for my third year of this, which is going to require more careful vigilance over my eating (there is just less room for error when you are closer to goal). But I'm ready for it because I feel some of my goals are achieved - liking the way I look in clothes, feeling like an active, somewhat fit person, not bumping my fat rear into things anymore. So even if the whole process takes me three years or more, the benefits are here for me to enjoy even before the process is "done".
I hope that helps with the long-term thinking a little bit. It's been a challenge for me as I am not a patient person by nature, but I have learned a lot about patience throughout this process. It's one of the most interesting topics to me about weight loss - I'm happy to talk about it any time.
My progress seems...cloudy. It shocks me I've lost nearly 100lbs, but then again, I did it slowly, and I don't have a before picture Plus I still feel very heavy and large. I only dropped from a size 20 to a size 12/14 in those 100lbs, which makes my progress seem less significant.
On the other hand, I have bones I never knew existed LOL.
I think you've gotten a lot of great responses already but I'll chime in here too. First off, your picture, wow, I can see a HUGE difference in your face especially! It's really thinned out a lot, congrats!
I wanted to also suggest that you work towards some mini-goals. I too get overwhelmed with how much I have left to lose (I've lost over 60lbs, shouldn't I be done yet!?!? ). However, my mini-goals really keep me in the right headspace. I was thrilled to hit Onderland, just like I was thrilled to hit my highest prepregnancy weight. Right now I'm extremely excited because I only need to lose 4lbs to get rid of the last of the baby weight! It's helped make losing a significant amount of weight more manageable and I also see the progress.
I also love posting in the decade threads because whenever I get to move down to a new decade that's a pretty big achievement too .
Like others here, I'm a SLOW loser. I've been at this since the summer of 2010 (starting weight then was 225, the rest I lost earlier on). At the beginning I was losing somewhat quicker but for all of 2011, I've lost on average 2lbs/month. Sometimes it'll speed up a bit if I'm sick or what not but it's been pretty consistent. However, I see this as a lifestyle change. Something I'm going to stick to for the rest of my life so eventually the weight will come off even if it's slow.
Lifting that sack was a great reminder and I do similar things at times. I do a lot of weight lifting and at my gym you can strap on weights. Sometimes I'll strap on how much I lose and try to walk around a bit or jump onto low steps they have, man is it hard! But I love seeing how much easier things are for me now.
Right now I would settle for a lousy pound. But I need to remember how far I've come. I've lost 80+ pounds since July of '10. Right now I'm in a big battle with the scale, it seems I'll go up and down the same few pounds and it is driving me CRAZY.
I guess I'd rather be losing at a snail's pace at my current weight than losing big numbers and being heavier...
To the OP, since we are the same height, let me tell you I noticed a big difference in how my body looked when I got down from the 230's into the 220's. Big difference. Keep going, you are doing great!
I can identify with your post in many ways, first because I'm not one of life's super fast losers and second, because sometimes I don't feel the way I thought I would at 6 lbs away from 100lbs lost. Sometimes unless I see a picture, I feel like I haven't made that much progress.
I've been on this journey since January 2009 and it's not that I couldn't have been at goal before now, I probably could have. But life happens and sometimes you slack or get bored or frustrated, whatever your reasons and you stall or (eek!) gain. What I decided when I started this journey was that even if I didn't feel like continuing, I would do what I could not to gain back and to that end, since Jan 2009, I've weighed myself at least once a week just so things don't get too out of hand. After losing 40 lbs, I spent over a year at 235lbs +/- 2lbs. And then when I was ready and in the right headspace about this time last year, I got serious again and did C25K (which wasn't an 8-week programme for me either), got serious about working out, got a food scale and just generally got serious again.
However, I don't feel like that year was wasted because I lost no weight. I felt like I did make progress by finding a way not to regain AND by getting in the right headspace of how I was going to live longterm with my lifestyle change. It would have been nice to have made some progress weight loss-wise but as I always try to remember this is not a race. I could get discouraged and stop because it's taking longer than I'd like but that won't stop the time from passing and I'd really rather be working towards my "hot body" goal for whenever I get there.
To me, having had periods when I've lost nothing at all or very little even when I've tried, progress is every additional pound lost, every inch lost, every day on plan, everytime I resist temptation.
FWIW, I really do see a big difference in your pics. And well done for the 35 lbs, it really shows in the red dress! Keep on keeping on, you'll make it!
Your post really resonates with me! I've lost upwards of 45 pounds, but I've really been at a standstill for months now. I've been hanging out in the same size clothes and up and down the same 2 or 3 pounds. I guess I'm also proud that I've learned how to STOP the regain, but I'm also bummed at myself for not keeping on down the losing path! So now I'm just turning my thinking around and waiting to get in the right headspace to finish what I started. Thanks for pointing that out!
OP, I think you've done an amazing job! Take it minute by minute if you have to, the time is going to pass whether we are fat or thin, on plan or off plan, content or distraught. You're making great progress
How big/how small does your progress seem?
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Plus I still feel very heavy and large. I only dropped from a size 20 to a size 12/14 in those 100lbs, which makes my progress seem less significant. 
). However, my mini-goals really keep me in the right headspace. I was thrilled to hit Onderland, just like I was thrilled to hit my highest prepregnancy weight. Right now I'm extremely excited because I only need to lose 4lbs to get rid of the last of the baby weight! 
It's helped make losing a significant amount of weight more manageable and I also see the progress. 
