I think I need a kick in the butt

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  • I've been at this since 10/8/09. I had a goal to lose 20 lbs by Thanksgiving. It's very unlikely I'm going to make this goal. I'd have to lose 3 lbs this week and 3 lbs next week (weigh in day is thursday). I got on the scale this morning and it looks like I'll be down a bit more than a lb.
    I'm beating myself up about this though. I need someone to kick me. I'm totally on track to lose 20 lbs by my 2 month...That's GREAT!

    These are my stats so far:
    date weight loss total loss lbs to go to goal
    10/07/09 270 120
    10/13/09 263.8 -6.2 6.2 113.8
    10/22/09 260.8 -3 9.2 110.8
    11/05/09 258.6 -2.2 11.4 108.6
    11/12/09 256.2 -2.4 13.8 106.2

    I don't have one week in there because I was sick and lost 7lbs and gained most of it back right away. But I've lost over 2 lbs a week since starting! I'm doing well! Just because I don't reach some stupid thanksgiving goal cannot sabotage me.
    Kick me, please?
  • Congratulations on the great start you have made. Don't beat yourself up because you didn't meet the Thanksgiving goal. You are doing great and will see success.
  • You are doing fantastic! Don't beat yourself up for what could have been! Cheer yourself on for what WILL be!
  • That's what I don't like about "I'm going to lose XX pounds by XX date" goals - they totally negate any sense of accomplishment you deserve to feel for losing whatever you did lose in that amount of time! You should feel AWESOME that you lost 14 pounds so far. Here is your kick: Make it two:

    Give yourself a huge pat on the back for what you were able to take off in such a short amount of time and stop setting those kinds of goals for yourself. Instead set a goal of "I'm really going to give this my all and see how much I can lose by XX date". Then whatever you do lose is a success and you can't fall short unless you don't give it your all.
  • You are doing great!! Dont let not meeting one goal make you feel bad. Its all a process.
  • I would normally say "don't make weight goals with a date", except that I have totally done that for Christmas! However, instead of giving you a kick, I'm going to give you the big picture:

    If you don't make your goal, you have two choices: (actually, you have lots, but here are the extremes), fall off the wagon, gain back all the weight and then some, and have to restart at a later date feeling like a total failure OR continue with your weight loss, and make goal 2 weeks later than you would have if you had made your Thanksgiving goal. Two weeks. That's all. In the grand scheme of things, 2 weeks late is so insignificant as to be ridiculous.

    A third option is that you freak out a little and overeat just enough to maintain at your current weight. I've done that a few times, and whilst it's better than backsliding, it is incredibly frustrating and I wouldn't recommend it. You may find that a mini-goal weight without an official date works better for you. It's generally what I do, and I find it significantly less likely to backfire.
  • in your heart you know you're kicking boo-tay (I, personally, would be doing an ode to joy dance if I were losing at that rate). I totally get the feeling of wanting it to come faster.
  • Twenty pounds in a month in a half is a lot... Be proud of how far you've come... sometimes the process is a bit slower than we would like but if we go at it with a slow and reasonable pace it is more likely to stay gone.
  • Thank you so much for putting things into perspective for me.
    When I look at the #'s...I'm impressed. But when I realize I don't feel any different/look any different than I looked a month and a half ago, I get discouraged.
    I need to just put my head down and keep trucking.

    Thanks ladies!
  • Quote: Thank you so much for putting things into perspective for me.
    When I look at the #'s...I'm impressed. But when I realize I don't feel any different/look any different than I looked a month and a half ago, I get discouraged.
    I need to just put my head down and keep trucking.

    Thanks ladies!
    It took almost 50 pounds for me to *see* a difference and then just barely. But KNOW that it's coming. KNOW IT. Because it is. Those rewards are going to start surfacing and when then do - look out and hold on. Because it's a thrill a minute.

    You're doing great. Just great! Keep at it. Keep on plugging away. Keep on working that plan, making it your own and the weight will come off, each and every excess pound. There's no way that it can't, as long as you continue, in whatever time frame. You'll see it. You'll feel it. And you will astound yourself!
  • Listen to RR... she rocks... and she's a robin. lol!!!

    You ARE doing so awesome! Keep trucking along and you'll see a huge difference in NO time at all!
  • You are doing AWESOME!!! But I SO relate to how you are feeling....

    I was losing really well in the beginning but I kept getting discouraged and thinking somehow it wasn't working... I guess I was so scared I was going to fail.

    I clung hard to stuff like Robin's posts... because really I couldn't convince myself that I was really going to beat this thing.

    It won't be much longer before you HAVE to realize that you are REALLY doing it. Until then, just hang on!

    You are doing great!!! Awesome!! Stupendous!! Fantastico!!
  • I think you are doing great!! I know sometimes it's hard whenyou want bigger numbers but just hang in there -- they will come!
  • You are doing amazingly! Don't doubt it, you want and deserve this - no matter how long it takes it IS worth it!

    Other than one or two little goals, I have learned the hard way to NEVER set time-related benchmarks, because it sets me up for disappointment instead of feeling good about myself. You didn't NOT lose 20 pounds, you STUNNINGLY lost 17. It's all about positive framing of achievements and that makes the difference in long term motivation.
  • I've learned the hard way, too, that setting time-related benchmarks can end up making me feel bad. I hit my first two major ones, the first easily, but I was sweating blood on the second one, and while I DID scrape across the line, I drove myself pretty crazy in the process. I can't quite stop doing it, but I've learned to re-frame it as saying, "I would LIKE to be X by X," and then, if X arrives and I am not quite X, well, I'm still a lot closer to being X than I was when I started, yes? And it helps that as you get closer to your ultimate goal, boy does it start to show quite dramatically. 50 pounds was barely noticeable on me, but 60 and 70? Oh, yes. The most recent ten I've lost? That's been a WHOLE SIZE.

    Stick to it, and you will totally see it, you really will.