I've lost almost 90 pounds, and I'm not even half done. It absolutely boggles and frightens me. Maybe it'll be better after the halfway point. But, yeah, I get the overwhelming thing.
But, then, I was able to pack it on just fine; should be able to take it off. It's just time, and numbers. When I think of it that way, it's easier.
Great advice! I keep seeing that quote about a year from now you'll be glad you did this, and that is so right. As I said, I was a "tomorrow" person, and that quote really helps me visualize how those tomorrows add up.
milmin, I agree about rewarding myself for each pound. When I was first setting goals for which I would reward myself, I thought I'd just get myself something nice for getting off each quarter of the weight I needed to lose. I'm still going to get myself something nice when I reach those big goals, but I am also going to reward myself with something small for each ten pounds. I thought ten pounds wasn't worth it since I need to do that sixteen times, but you know what, that's a lot of fat gone!
I changed my focus from "losing all the weight I want to," to only the next pound.
I redefined success. In the past I only saw losses (and usually only big oens) as success. Staying the same or even small losses were failure (and often felt like dismal failure).
So this time, my main goal is to "not gain, and to try to lose maybe just one more pound."
This way, I experience a lot more success than failure. And success breeds success.
How long would you work at a job that didn't regularly yield a paycheck?
And yet when we define success as "only big losses" that's what we're doing - we're withholding the paycheck, and then wondering why we quit.
So, I had to give myself the paycheck, when I stayed the same. Weighing daily became an incentive rather than a disappointment - because most days I could celebrate staying the same - and actual losses were bonus!
It's been slow weight loss, but by focusing on maintenance from the very first pound, I've never been tempted to quit. I've made enough progress that even if I thought I couldn't lose another ounce, I'd work to maintain the weight I've lost, because I don't want to gain back the health problems I had at my highest weight that have since disappeared or improved.
It helps to realize that even a loss of one pound a month is an acheivement that most people who want to lose weight actually don't acheive. They either lose nothing or they gain because they've given up.
I firmly believe most of us don't quit because we're failing, but because we're taught to see failure where there is actually success. It's just not the "success" we've been taught to expect.
You are right it is so easy to feel overwhelmed, I find it most difficult to deal with the feeling of failure when you aren't where you think you are, I'm at the start of my journey as well so I don't have anything inspirational to say, other than I empathise.
Wow, that post by Eliana is really amazing! I would love to be able to write a "one year later" post like that. I don't really have any advice to offer since I'm still struggling a lot and just starting out (for the 3rd time!). I have about 130 pounds to lose at this point and it took me two months to lose the first 10! Even thinking about that 130 is too much, so I just think of 220, which is my previous low weight. Of course, when I was 220 I hated it but now that I'm 270 I would kill for 220! At the moment, I just keep thinking about that number. My goal weight is so far away I don't even think about it.
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Kind of, yeah. I remember when I first started; I kept thinking "Well, crap, I have 78 pounds to lose...that's gonna take *forever*!" I figured that feeling would go away as I lost weight.
It hasn't, though.
I'm over halfway to my goal, and I still sometimes look at how much I have left to lose and think that there's no *way* I'm going to be able to pull it off. But then I try to convince myself that, hey, I'm already more than halfway there, so I can definitely go the rest of the way!
I keep telling people that I'm like The Little Engine That Could...only instead of saying "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can" I keep telling myself, "I know I can, I know I can....." *L*
Yes, yes, and yes. Just thinking about losing 150 pounds for me is enough to keep me from even trying sometimes. My grandma constantly tells me how losing weight is so easy and she doesn't understand why I am not losing. She doesn't understand the difference between having 5 pounds to lose and 150 pounds to lose. When you have that much weight to lose, you have to commit to changing your entire lifestyle forever. It is a hard commitment to make. Just know that you aren't the only one who has been there, and there are a lot of people who have had large weight loss and successfully kept it off. I love the quote from Eliana, "A year from now, you'll be glad you started today."
I'm trying to lose 100 pounds for the second time in my life. It seems like such an enormous number so, even though I've already lost 40 pounds, I wonder if I can do it.
As everyone else has said, you just have to keep at it. A friend of mine rehabs wrecked old buildings and he always says he does it by working on one thing at a time. I think it's good to have interim goals that aren't so daunting and that can give you a sense of progress. And you have to accept that there will be obstacles and setbacks along the way and try not to freak out about them.
Wow, I feel like I could have written that post. I am doing well, but every time I pass a mirror it feels like an impossible battle.
I try to just focus on the number of weeks I have been on a weight loss program, and the number of clothing sizes that I've dropped, rather than the weight. I am in my 15th week, which is over a quarter of a year. And only 11 weeks away from half a year. I am almost three clothing sizes down. I have been wearing the same clothes I was wearing pre-diet to work, and instead of being tight I have to pull them up all the time. They are so baggy they look bad...and I love that I used to have to wear the jacket unbuttoned because I couldn't button it. Now the jacket is too big for me.
I try to celebrate the little things. I find little things almost every day that have changed for the better. Yesterday, I was driving and my left wrist itched. When I scratched it, I felt my wrist bone - I hadn't felt that in ages! I have been walking a lot, and was dreading getting on the elliptical for fear that I couldn't manage it for a long period of time. It was hard, but I did 35 minutes, which felt good because it meant that I was getting physically fit.
I loved the post about the one year commitment and not giving up on that year no matter what. That was a key takeaway for me. Good luck, and don't give up. You will get there.
It's definitely overwhelming and I think it's one of the main reasons I haven't been able to stick to anything. For my height, I should weigh 100 pounds! I weigh 300 and it just seems impossible. The smallest I ever remember being was 170 so to think I'm going to have to weigh 100 to look normal? It's really discouraging and I often feel like I'm at the point of no return.
This threads helps though. It's important to look at it in small goals. I'm trying to remember that while it will take a long time and be very hard, if I plan to do this for the rest of my life to maintain the weight, then it can be looked at as practice and learning how to change during the journey.
Yeah i think it can be hardest at the beginning! Even now i still have days/weeks where i feel really stressed/sad about how far i have to go. It gets better though, and it definitely helps as you keep loosing.
The only thing i would say with having lots of mini goals, is just be careful that you don't get too disapointed if you arent meeting them as fast as you think you should Any achievement, whether big or small is an achievement
Boy do I ever get overwhelmed by the number of pounds I have yet to lose. To me it's an almost incomprehensible amount of weight - so I do my best NOT to think of the total number. Instead I think only of my smaller goals. I don't need to lose 100 pounds, I just need to lose 10 pounds 10 times.
I try very hard to concentrate on each little increment and celebrate each notch as I go down the scale.
I used to have to wear the jacket unbuttoned because I couldn't button it. Now the jacket is too big for me.
