I can understand. A few years back I got to down to a 170. This coming from a 215, pretty good I thought! I felt and looked GREAT! I also could keep up with the workouts and enjoyed life a lot more. The problem was trying to lose the additional 30 - 40 pounds that I had left to lose, just like you ladies have stated, you get SO excited about no longer being in the largest size of the plus size store, but the smallest! I had a friend who worked at a Plus Size Ladies shop and I went in for some clothes shopping. She had a hard time finding my size because it was the absolute smallest size there! What a feeling!
But you all are right, its important to stay focused. I still have a ways to go yet until I'm to that point, but how do you stay motivated? Also how to answer people who ask you how much weight you lost so that you don't feel ashamed of the weight you were at?
I have the same problem -- I'm so much more aware of my body - and I'm even more self conscious (and dislike it more), get down about it more, BUT at the same time, I fit into cuter clothes now (and I can't fit into any plus size clothes anymore), I'm just 13 pounds away from having normal BMI (Unfortunately, I know a lot of it is excess skin I have to have surgically removed), my boyfriend tells me I'm hot and sexy all of the time, I don't have to worry about my health due to morbid obesity, I'm in better shape than anyone I know (except my boyfriend). Unless some kind of enormous motivation comes along, I may stay at this weight until it does so
(and I'm going to have to exercise 1+ hours a day too since I can't lower my calories anymore).
I'm thinking the new year will be good motivation -- I'm also getting a new job and will be finally able to get help for some of my eating/body image/self esteem issues. So I can finally be at peace with my new body and weight loss journey It's crazy because I've lost so much weight, and I'm struggling so much with a measly 19 pounds, only 12% left of total weight loss.
I've been searching for new motivation for the past 6 months, but I haven't come across anything. My major motivation to start with was health and that's taken care of. My next motivation was vanity -- and I still feel REALLY big -- but I'm working on that. I hardly can complain now -- there's no way I would have gone after the job (I may not have even been considered -- it said certain physical demands must be met -- I'm sure I couldn't have at over 300 pounds) and I went after an amazing guy (never would have done) and I got him too.
The motivation thing is really hard. I've lost 50 pounds and feel a million times better than I used to. I'm also back to the weight I was for 10 years so I feel comfortable at this weight. I do still want to lose more.
At the moment though its going very slowly, it never went that fast to begin with, and I'm finding it very frustrating. I was considering just accepting that I was maintaining for a while to give myself time to regroup but I was worried that would be one step away from relaxing so much I put it all back on!
I came on here for help and the suggestion was to exercise more...the sensible solution to get things moving quicker. Only problem is that I work full time and run two businesses and want a love life so I am finding it hard to go to the gym more than 3 times a week.
So faced with an impasse I've decided to just keep going. I am losing - just very slowly - but even if I manage just a pound a month then that's 12 pounds by next Xmas...better than 12 on!
So that's my trade off between wanting to hit my goal and having the life I want. Yes I may well decide to ramp it up later and exercise more but for now I'm chugging along trying to remember that story of the Tortoise and the Hare!
I suppose then my suggestion is to take a look at what you want and what you are prepared to sacrifice then make a deal with yourself.
As i see more responses to this post I get more and more nervous. Thank goodness I am still losing at a steady pace, but the more I read these posts the more nervous I get if and when I get to that plataeu. Will I have the strength and DETERMINATION to get through it. Certainly at a whopping 219pounds, 5 foot nothing, yes, but what if that plataeu comes at 170 or 150? I'm still thinking that I'd like to try real hard to get to goal, but having never been there I really, really can't predict what will be. I'd sure as heck like to THINK that'd I'd give it a REAL good try - well that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!
And jtammy,boaterswife, I really, really thought I was the only one who never seriously tried to diet. Day in and day out this place (3fc) amazes me. To be able to "speak" with so many people who have the same exact story is incredible. Here you are struggling in your own little world and to know that so many people are in your same exact shoes, it's just really something. I'm real glad we finally figured out that our weight does not need to go up and up and up , that we could put a halt to this craziness and that we can indeed "diet".
coley144 -- you sound like you're going through what I'm feeling. In my case, I'm getting lots of exercise in, but struggling with eating less. Maintain now, "ramp it up later" -- just as you said. And like you, I may lose, albeit very slowly.
robin -- will you have the strength and determination? Great question! I am personally thinking of this less as a plateau and more as continuing to make use of the habits I've already learned. My schedule has changed and one of my challenges is to reorient my habits to a different schedule. But that's life, right? It changes and we need to adapt.
HarpoChicoGroucho -- Congrats on the new job and the new guy!! I keep saying this is a "Whole New World" and your experiences speak to that!
Perhaps we all have to remember that losing weight and keeping it off really is a victory -- even if we may not be exactly where we want to be.
Unlike many of you I am a yo-yo dieter and have been overweight most of my life. The most I ever lost at one time was about 70 pounds, but I was still obese at about 190 lbs, so I am very concerned about keeping the motivation going and not becoming too compfortable at a weight that is still not healthy or where I want to be. I started this weight loss jorney for a healthier me, not for other reasons, like my son's wedding when I lost 70 pounds. My short tern goal is to be able to fit into the summer clothes I have from when I lost before, for a January vacation. I havn't had time to get them out and try them on yet but I think they will fit. I am now very afraid that I will not be able to stay focused and in control after I return from vacation. I feel so much better and I am getting many compliments even though I know I have a lot more to loose. I am hoping that by joing the New Years Challenge here and a challenge that will start agin after the first of the year at Curves while continuing WW will be enough to keep me motivated. I want to be healthy and off my blood pressure medicine and I feel I need to reach goal to do that.
I only found this site a short time ago, many of your stories are facinating and inspirering. Thank you for sharing, it really helps.
The thought of getting complacent about losing weight bothers me. I'm afraid that becoming complacent may lead back into old habits, which would lead back to weight gain. I feel like I have to be "always on " (always thinking about losing or at least controlling my weight) and that makes me tired, and almost makes me rebellious.
I'm so glad I read this post because it was a bit of a wake up call for me. I've been getting complacent about my weight loss; haven't been exercising as much (or at all some days), and haven't been as careful about what I'm putting in my mouth. Thankfully, I haven't gained anything back, but it's definately time to get back with the good habits.
Okay, i stumbled across this thread in the WLS forum, and Robin kindly invited me over here. SO! This is what i wrote over there:
At 24 years of age and 292 pounds (i may have hit the 300 mark, i'm not sure. But when i weighed a few weeks into active weight loss this is what showed up on the scale) i was just absolutely disgusted with myself. My MIL had decided to do Atkins, and asked if i would do it with her. I did a modified Atkins really, because i didn't go as far as she did, and i never bought the Atkins yogurts and chocolate bars and etc. that she did.
Anyway, i managed to lose about 50 pounds, and it wasn't that hard! And then i got pregnant! This was actually amazing news, as i was pretty sure something was wrong with me (well,.. something was,.. my weight!!!) after 3 years of my husband and i trying.
While pregnant i managed to lose another 5-7 pounds, and when i gave birth to my son, i lost 25 more pounds instantly! Yay!! LOL
Over the next 6-8 months after i gave birth i lost another 10-15 pounds.
Then my situation changed a bit, i lost all control of the foods available to me (don't buy the groceries, nor specifically pay for them, and could make a few requests but not complete diet changes) and stressful life occurrances, and i ended up gaining back 45-50 pounds.
Over the past 2 months i've successfully lowered my weight by 8 pounds. This is completely unacceptable considering my previous successes. I still have little to no control on the foods available to me, but i still make much healthier choices. I've been working out consistantly, and i'm very very frustrated.
I know the reason, among all the other stressors in my life, that i began to gain again was because i had also hit a plateau, and was not losing any weight, and i gave up.
Even now, i look at pictures of myself from 3 years ago and think how awful i looked, and i know i look a teeny bit better now. But, just catching glimpses of myself in windows and etc still makes me sick, because i'm still SO HUGE.
But since i can now find clothes without TOO much hassle, and even some of the stuff in regular department stores fit me now, i find that yeah, i'm a bit complacent about it all. Apathetic. Why should i have to work this hard for the rest of my life just to be what society thinks is acceptable?!
But then i realize it's for my own health, and to set a good example for my son, and to be able to spend as much time here on earth with my son, and get the most out of that time. To do all of these things i need to be healthier (my doctor says i'm quite healthy now, but i could be better.). I know i could still stand to lose about 100 pounds, and be quite healthy.
I really do want to lose it. Honest. But it's just so hard right now and i get so discouraged so easily. It wasn't so hard before!!
*** I also wanted to add, i'm afraid this is going to be my first 'yo-yo'. I never dieted before, never tried to lose weight. Just slowly but surely gained through my life. At 15 i remember my Dad making a huge deal out of the fact that he weighed over 220, and it hit me so hard, because i knew i was already at 250.
But i think to myself, i truly cannot afford a smaller wardrope! I live with my parents, paying off bills i didn't incur, trying to raise my son on my own, working full time at a job that pays next to nothing. Is losing weight worth it?
It's just, i'm not in serious health risk, like i was 60 pounds ago. My menstrual cycle has been regular since 4 weeks after i gave birth, for the first time in my life. I'm much healthier, actually. I find myself being slightly apathetic about it all. Why bother? I've lost some, i'm still horribly fat, but not MORBIDLY so. And so yeah, i'm finding losing again MUCH harder than it was the first time!
A few years back I got to down to a 170. This coming from a 215, pretty good I thought! I felt and looked GREAT! I also could keep up with the workouts and enjoyed life a lot more. The problem was trying to lose the additional 30 - 40 pounds that I had left to lose, just like you ladies have stated, you get SO excited about no longer being in the largest size of the plus size store, but the smallest! I had a friend who worked at a Plus Size Ladies shop and I went in for some clothes shopping. She had a hard time finding my size because it was the absolute smallest size there! What a feeling! 
to all who have lost! Keep going! 
It's crazy because I've lost so much weight, and I'm struggling so much with a measly 19 pounds, only 12% left of total weight loss. 
