You and I are the same height and my starting weight was just a little more than yours. If that is you in the picture, you are much younger than I am. I did not look at the amount of weight that I needed to lose because that was discouraging. Just could not face it.

I focused on losing 5 and 10 pounds at a time. I have lost 120 pounds so far with that approach. I may end up losing 150 pounds but maybe not. My life has greatly improved with my loss so far.

Major weight loss is possible!

Time2lose,

I'm starting to think your approach is a good one. Breaking weight loss up into smaller chunks might be more sustainable because its easier to make mini goals quicker and more consistently. It can be demotivating to see how much total weight we need to lose. Taking it day by day...

I've broken it down into dress sizes and focus on that. it's a great motivator because i love buying new clothes and it's been amazing to buy a whole new range in a smaller size.

Ideally I should be losing a total of about 150 but I decided to start of by deciding on lots of mini-goals (every 10 pounds) and trying to get down to 178 - which would be 40% of my total body weight. When I make it there, I'll just re-evaluate and start again!

Hi Terra,

I am already on my journey to lose 180 pounds. You can do it. I like to focus on 5 pounds at a time, and then for every 10 I lose, I give myself a reward. It helps keep me from feeling overwhelmed with the fact that I need to lose the equivalent of a man (ha - have done that before LOL).

Would be honored to support you through your journey as well.


Kat

Current Weight 188.8

Making mini goals and joining the threads here for the current decade I was in (the 300s, 290s, 280s, etc) was the key to my success. Making one good food choice at a time and doing some type of exercise every day (even if it was only 10 minutes walking because that's all I could do...) became good habits and changed my whole lifestyle.

Wishing you lots of luck and can't wait to read your updates!

I am in the same boat, I need to lose 150 pounds, well 142 now cause I already lost 8! It seems impossible since I have always failed before. I'm determined to make 2014 my year!

kates, It is possible to lose 150 pounds but I really want to encourage you to not look at that number. You will feel the benefits of weight loss long before you lose 150 pounds. If you end up losing 100 or 120 pounds you will have changed your life. The best thing that I did was to put my blinders on and just look at a small block of weight. Losing 10 pounds seemed doable so I just focused on getting below each decade, 290, 280, etc.

You can do this!

I had about that much to lose, but I didn't want to focus strictly on the number -- like I'd be a giant failure if I only lost 145 lbs LOL

I did the same, broke it up into chunks, celebrated every new 'decade' of weight, seeing a 2 in front of the number was the biggest thrill for me, even more than reaching the 100s for some odd reason!

It can be done - it's not easy, but it's not as hard as most people think it is, or as hard as they make it. Sometimes getting out of your own way, keeping your head down and just pushing thru the crappy parts is all you need!

good luck!

Hi Folks,

It is exciting to see what everybody is doing. I am just shy (148 pounds lost) of losing 150 pounds. I have about 140 to go. I really do not focus on my "number", either weight or pounds los, or to lose. It seems undoable! I focus on the behaviors I am changing; primarily eating, movement, and stress reduction. My weight seems to have a life of its own, and to tell the truth, even after losing all this weight, I have no sense that I can control it. I do feel I have some control over what I do with my body , i.e. put in my mouth, movement, and stress reduction. As much as possible, I try to focus on these behaviors and leave the weight alone.

Dee

Started with 140 to lose, 15 lbs into it so far. Seems like such a daunting task if I sit and think too long on it, but just taking it one day at a time. Like everyone else is saying I'm celebrating every 10lbs or so. I keep looking at the success stories of the ladies and gents on here and in other places pretty much daily as a motivation to keep at it.

Interested to hear your progress and good luck!

Just keep plugging away at every 10. That's the way to do it. And so rewarding each time you make a new decade.

I always struggled to lose at the top half of each decade and then the second half would suddenly whoosh away!

I have around 115 from where I started. I set a mini goal for Valentines Day and have just been focusing on that. At that point I will set another mini goal!

I am not quite at 150lbs, but i have 131lbs total to lose and it really does feel overwhelming to think about how much i have to go. Today is day one of my journey and i am planning to break it down into 5lb goals to make it seem more manageable. I am glad to have the support of everyone here!