Personally, I would not set myself a goal of a hundred pounds in ten months. My body's been perfectly happy crawling along at the pace of approximately a pound a week. More importantly, I've had a somewhat difficult time with my mental/emotional adjustment, and I don't think I would have managed nearly as well if I'd had to adjust twice as fast. But as you've heard, everyone's experiences are different.

I think it's important to have goals, and important to visualize yourself meeting those goals. But even if you only lose 50 pounds in a year, that's 50 pounds that you no longer have on your body, and it's a huge achievement. And it's not like you only have the one year, right?

More important than having the goal is recognizing that not meeting the goal is not failing. It's not a reason to give up, or think less of your accomplishments. So if you think 100 pounds by New Years is a reasonable goal for you, go ahead and set it. But if you start to realize that it was an unreasonable goal, don't be afraid to change your time frame.

Lisa

I'm certainly no expert (my weight loss has been very slow---intentionally) but my question is: why 100 lbs and why 12/31?

I'm not very comfortable with date-based weight loss targets. I see weight loss as a by-product anyway. The behaviors are what I focus on ----eating sensible portions of healthy foods and getting in shape. I am constantly tweaking those things, of course, based on the eventual downward trend of the scale---but it is not my primary focus--healthy behaviors are.

You know, nothing ventured nothing gained. I truly think if Vicki loses any weight by 12/31 she'll be thrilled. If she aims for 100 and only loses 30 she will still feel better, look better and be healthier. I'm usually not a huge mega goal making person...my only goal when I first started out was to not gain back anything I lost. I farther I got, the better I felt, the more I tried, the more fun it became.

Slow is great, but some people just have had enough, they are tired of being fat and want it off like yesterday. I see nothing wrong with setting the bar high. If Vic only loses 1/2 the weight she'll be thrilled...we all are. Seriously, anything is better than nothing, and sitting and dreaming got none of us anywhere. With 100 pounds to lose it's going to take a long time regardless, so all those "new & healthy behaviors" that people say you learn from losing slow are still going to come. If a person only has 20 pounds to lose and takes it off slowly like in 4 months have they "learned" the behaviours better than someone who loses 100 in 10 months?

I lost well over 100 pounds in 10 months... 155 in 12 months to be exact. However... I was starting FAR heavier and I'll be honest... I was ON FREAKING PLAN day after day after day after day. I made good food choices for every single thing I put in my mouth. I RARELY faltered and if I did? I got BACK on that horse IMMEDIATELY.

I can count maybe 3-4 times I was off plan in those 12 months... maybe.

Shoot for it. Work your HARDEST. Realize that you CAN DO ANYTHING you put your mind to. But YOU have to do it.... talk it cheap. Let's see some action.

I think it depends on how VickieLou thinks she will react if she tries and doesn't make it.

I know for myself, in the past, if I wasn't perfect, then I was off plan and kept going, and would gain back everything I had lost. This time, I'm not going for perfection, I'm going for changing my life, and seeing my weight change as a result of that, instead of the other way around. But I could see where I'd set myself up for failure if I focused too much on X pounds by Y date. I started off that way, and have had to work hard at adjusting. I still will do challenges and make short term goals, but my whole outlook has changed, and I'm happy with any progress I make, even if I don't make a specific target. However, the old me wouldn't have worked that way.

I do still have the big goal and am aiming high, I just don't have a timeframe around it. Maybe when I'm 20 lbs away from goal or something, I'll try to push myself by putting some time parameters on it.

Sweetie, why of course, why WOULDN'T you be honest??? Staying on plan day after day, yada, yada, yada is nothing to be ashamed of!

I sometimes feel (obviously it must be in my head, a little paranoid ya think?) that that is looked down upon, as if it's "freakish". When nothing could be further from the truth. Well that's for another thread I guess.

And I'm with Lori, I lost 154 lbs in 10 months. Fast? I guess, kinda , a little bit. But it was MORE than enough time to customize my plan, find foods (healthy ones) that I ADORE, adapt strategies and coping skills to get me through all times, fall in LOVE with this lifestyle and DECIDE to STAY this way and never, ever go back....

If you want the weight off fast-ish, look at this as your job, your mission. Make it your priority. Make it your hobby. Embrace the lifestyle. Find the joy in this. Challenge yourself. Raise your standards. Require more from yourself. Push yourself. Reach new heights. Grow. Conquer something new. Make your dreams a reality. TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE. Find out who you were intended to be. :)

I love all the above posts!! I agree it's possible. Though I've been "working at this" since June '09 and have lost 23 lbs. Admittedly, I wasn't 100% dedicated 100% of the time. Now that I am becoming more dedicated and actually working my program...I'm finding that it actually works! I really have to be determined, dedicated and find alternatives to unhealthy foods so I don't experience deprivation.

My biggest challenges have been health related...illness and injury that have sidelined me from exercise and slowed my progress...even to the point of gaining and losing the same 5 lbs for months.

Set your sights and goals high, but make sure you are happy with each success, small and large. And above all don't berate yourself if you don't only get halfway or 3/4 of the way there by the end of the year.

Rockin' - I love your signature lines...definitely true.

Okay. The original question is "is it possible to lose 100 lbs in under a year?". And the question is CLEARLY yes as it's been done by several of us.

Okay. Then many of us chimed in with time based goals and all that stuff.

HAving a hard time getting my thoughts typed out here, putting them down on paper. It's kinda hard to explain what I'm getting at....

If the answer would have been unequivocally no, would that then be a reason to not try? Or to not attempt weight loss at all, like if it were to take TWO years, would that not be *good*? If I can't get it off in so and so time than it's not worth it? Again, I could be waaaay off base here, but is that what I'm hearing from the OP? I don't know...

Hmmm... Really what is the difference whether or not once can lose 100, or 90 or 80 or whatever pounds in a year. The thing is stop worrying, and pondering, and wishing and thinking and hoping and longing and JUST GET STARTED TODAY. TODAY. This day. Take ACTION. MAKE IT HAPPEN. DECIDE to do this. TODAY. This day. And every day.

Gosh, I know this may come off as harsh, but thems' the facts. You've just got to do it. And yes it can be done. It can. Whether it's 100, 150, 200 lbs or more. It's not rocket science. It's not some crazy hare-brained out of this world, unattainable "thing". It's weight loss. Some of us have more challenges then others, but there are ways around each and every obstacle.

You can't wish the weight away. Hope it away. Ponder it away. You've got to WORK it away. You've got to be willing to work past the initial discomfort and you've got to be willing to do what is NECESSARY and what is REQUIRED. And then it will happen. It will. Because it IS a doable thing.

I know we're gonna hear (or many will at least think it) from the well the "just do it thing never works" and all that and I'm sincerely sorry if I've offended even one person, even slightly, but G-d willing it'll help at least one person gain back there life and find their way out of the hole. And then they too can sit back and wonder (like I have done) why they didn't START earlier. Why they didn't START earlier and never the heck stop. Just CONTINUE. :hug:

ETA: diyana, I love my signature lines too!! Wish I would have written them. Though I didn't write them, them really rang out to me...

Great Advice, Matt! I second that. Also, for me this journey is a marathon not a sprint. I've lost 70 lbs in 6 months in the past with the help of the old diet combo phen /fen. I didn't learn how to eat like a normal person, I didn't have to exercise, I just took some pills and forgot to eat! This time, I'm taking my time...finding new foods I love, learning to cook all over again, finding activities that get me out of the house to "exercise" that are fun, not a chore...I'm treating myself kindly...taking bubble baths, painting my nails, calling a friend instead of eating when I'm needing something other than food to fill me...I'm relearning to be a "normal" person all over again. This is a lifestyle for me not a diet, it is a long term solution not a quick fix.

It is great to have 100 lbs in 10 months as your end all be all goal....and like Matt said...Have a good enough..is good enough goal.

One thing that got me in trouble with my eating/diet/lifestyle in the past was all or nothing thinking. This isn't about black and white, right or wrong, good or bad....For me if I set myself up with a goal like 100 lbs in 10 months...I'd quit rather early on ...say the first or second month that I didn't lose the 10 lbs. And when I quit something...I quit for a good long time. It took me 9 months to come back here after the last time I fell off the wagon.

Be gentle with yourself and your goals.

It will be a year for me on April 18th of this year, so I'm at 131 in 10 months. But I also was WAY fatter than you when I started. The less I weigh, the harder losing it gets. And the slooooower it gets.

I really like the idea of saying to yourself, "I'm going to stay on plan for the next 10 months, minimal slip ups, and see how much I can lose." 10 months of great habits, on plan calories, and exercise? That will be so good for you and your health no matter what the scale says in the end. And honestly, would you be bummed to lose, say, 60 pounds by the end of the year?

Don't set yourself up for failure by setting a "X pounds by X date" goal. Set a goal to be a pitbull about your plan and then enjoy your results, whatever they may be!

I don't mean to be snide or snarky, but honestly, is THAT what sets us up for failure? I don't think it was with me anyway...

Just commenting, also not snide or snarky but yes...it would set me up for failure. All or nothing thinking doesn't work for everyone. :hug: Some people have to be 100% strict all the time for something to work others need to have more wiggle room. That is what is so great about 3FC, we are all on different plans, giving eachother support and feedback and doing things in ways which work for us.

I feel like that too, like it's somehow "freakish" that you, CFmama and others (like me) are on plan every, every day. And that's odd, because isn't that what we're striving for?

Call me crazy, but each and every day I do this, it gets that much easier. It's not hard to be on plan, at least not my plan.

So I still say do it! I don't like time lines either because if I was on plan every, every day and did NOT lose the hoped for 100 lbs in 10 months, should I be disappointed? Heck no! BUT if I was on plan every, every day for 10 months I'd lose something and what a lot of good that does the body! I've set a goal for myself to be on plan for one year. Every day I am on plan no matter what...for one year.

OK, you know your personality better than we do, right?

So, if 10 months from now, you've lost 80 lbs, are you going to say "I'm a FAILURE, I didn't make my goal!"? Or are you going to say, "80 lbs, GO ME!"?

For me (and me alone!), I fell into the easily discouraged/did not meet my goal so I suck camp. What this means is that I had to structure my goals in a different way. I had a giant calendar for each month, and each month, I established a goal for different things (# of days between X and Y calories, # of days I did a cardio workout, # of leg, ab, and arm workouts). I put stickers on the calendar each time I accomplished one of those goals, and gave myself rewards when I met my monthly targets.

I probably lost close to 100 lbs in a year (I didn't actually ever calculate it, but my loss was pretty quick). This was particularly helpful for me in that no day was a "total loss", and even if I overate a bit, I was still motivated to get right back on plan because I could earn stickers for other good behaviors like workouts. And because I have some hormonal issues (and later, injury issues) that prevented my loss from being as fast as it might have been, it helped me see all the GOOD I was doing.

So in answer to your general question, it's totally possible. How you should structure your goals is something you have to consider and decide for yourself, taking into account your personality type and preferences.

My weight loss has been slow - lots of ups and downs...and if I'd had a 100 lbs in 10 months goal, I might've gotten frustrated. Long-term rigid time based goals do sometimes set me, personally, up for disappointment. But they work for others. I use the timeframes as a guideline. If it takes me a month or two longer to get to my goal, at least I'll get there. And the other things I tell myself are: If I go back to my former habits, I'll go back to my former weight, size and health issues. And...I know that no matter how long this journey takes me, I can't quit, I can't stop, I can't give up, or I'll just go back to the way I was.