[kaybee1]

A friend of mine told me you really have to be that sick of it (the weight) before you'll be successful at getting it off and keeping it off. She was talking about herself but I wonder if it applies to me too, or to you?

Is the reason why I'm not losing a lot of weight or why I haven't been successful in the past or why I may not be successful in the future because i'm just not that sick of it? I've never been the kind of person who body-shames herself or throws up at the site of the scale; is that hurting me in the long run?

I don't know - but I did put a sticky note on my monitor stating that mantra, just in case it helps me to not cave into those stupid donuts my boss brings in to work... lol

[kaplods]

I think there are a gazillion reasons for weight gain and a gazillion reasons/ways to lose it.

You'll succeed when you find your recipe for success.

Carb reduction works best for me, though I hate it, and for WAY too long, I have been trying to convince myself that I wouldn't have to carb-restrict if my motivation and willpower were stronger.

Yeah, so much for that theory, I haven't lost in months (except when I go back to low carb).

I don't want to low-carb forever, but that may be the only way to get and keep the weight off. I will have to decide what's more important to me, toast and pasta or a fitter body.

For me, the weight itself doesn't bother me at all. If I could get healthy and fit enough to be as active as I want to be, free of pain and meds without losing weight, I wouldn't bother trying. Although my first 20-30 lbs were without trying. Weight loss wasn't my original goal, it was just a side effect of working at getting healthier.

I think there are too many factors to weight loss success to reduce it to a simple matter of attitude or belief. I think it's a lot more complicated than that.

[dragonstar85]

I think it depends on the person. For some that could very well be the case. For others it may be part of many reason they can't lose the weight or keep it off. I think it's a part as to why before I would "attempt" to lose weight then end up not losing it and any I did I would gain back. I was always overall comfortable with myself. Despite knowing I was overweight I didn't see myself as being overweight. Then one day I had enough of everything involved with the weight I had on me. The health problems (hello knee pains!), looking over weight, buying new clothes cause I once again went up a size, etc. I find myself in that place again. I lost 40lbs and to me I was really skinny (I've never had a dress size under 14 before this weight loss). I knew I still have some weight to lose to get into the range of healthy weight for me but I'm once again ok with myself (which is a good thing). But I'm starting to get to where I want to be in the healthy range more then where I am at now.
Kaploids is right, you'll find what works for you.

Wow, that ended up being longer then I tended it to be. lol

Yep. That's what happened to me exactly. If you Google Huffington Post Weight Loss Success stories you will find about 700 of them.

All have a breaking point moment. I had my breaking point moment, and then it made it almost inevitable I would succeed. It was that important for me. Also keeping an open mind and starting with believing I knew nothing of nutrition.

But this is just me. Was that breaking point moment itself complicated? Yes. But I clearly remember a change in attitude, importance of weight loss to me, vastly important. I KNEW I would succeed after the moment.

[IanG]

For me, it was a bit of fun. I had always assumed I could not lose weight. People even told me as such. So, one day I thought I wonder what happens if I eat less today? Well, the scale went down the next, and the next and the next. So I just kept going.

Being at a heavy weight really helped as I got good, motivational losses.