Anyone else feel too overwhelming?
 

Sorry if the topic doesn't make sense. I mean, when you look at losing 100 pounds or so, do you ever just get overwhelmed? I have been stuck at the same weight range for 2 weeks now, and sometimes I just feel like its too hard and overwhelming. I have been able to push through, and keep going. And I don't want to give up this time. But I feel like its so early to hit a real plateau...

I wouldn't look at the big picture. If I think "omg I still have about 70 lbs to go" I feel that way.

But if I think "okay I'm at 198 today, let's get to the 180s!" I feel like it's not so hard to do.

i don't have more than 100 pounds to loose, more like 52, but it can be overwhelming at times. I work so hard to lose even 1 pound, and really restrict my diet and exercise. I've already lost 35 pounds, but those came off relatively easy. At the moment, i am so motivated but i don't know if it will be like that 3 months down the road.. it's a long journey ahead of me. Right now i the only thing is do have control over, and i'm definitely not giving up.

Of course.. It's all very overwhelming. I'm still stuck at the same plateau I've been at for well over two months. Sometimes I want to give up... but I don't. When I slip I get back up and get on that horse. It's easier to keep trecking then to live with being fat. For realz.

Absolutely. In fact, I think that was my mental block for so many years. I mean, 20lbs is one thing, but 80,90,...100 lbs??? Insurmountable. I think I eventually just pushed it out of my mind. The first 30 pounds just flew off me, but I didn't know it at the time because I wasn't even weighing myself. Once I got that first big chunk off, I started breaking things down into 10 and eventually 5 pounds increments. It really is all mental, I think, for me at least.

I'm just restarting my weightloss journey; at an even higher weight the last time I was here.

Trust me, overwhelming is a feeling everyone here at one point or another, has dealt with. While I'm not "actively" on my weight loss journey yet, I'm taking this week to make my plan. Learning what worked last time and what didn't. I hated my workouts last time. I dreaded them and I got this horrible overwhelming feeling that for the rest of my life I'd be in this phase of plugging along every workout session.

It helped me to break my goals into 10% losses. At first it was hard cause I thought, "yeah, i lose this 10% and there's another right after it!" But the closer I got to the 10% the more pysched I got. It gave me a kind of high that I think helped me along. So I know, no doubt, that this will be a very important part of my weight loss this time. I'm setting rewards to for each 10%; saving the "big" rewards or the ones I really, really, really want till the last few 10%'s.

I read an article awhile back about cycling your calorie intakes too. Have a couple (2-3 depending on your activity level) of higher calories days, cycled in to low calorie days than avg. calorie days. Like do 1 avg., 2high, 1 low, 1 avg, low (theres tons of articles out there). Its supposed to boost your bodys metabolic rate and its supposed to help break through platues. I'm not sure how effective it is but I'm sure theres some ppl here who've tried it out and might have some feed back.

Just remember platues suck but they're a good time to review what is and isn't working for you and make the adjustments you need to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ENCOURAGING VIBES sent to you :)

Thank you so much for all the support. It just helps to not feel alone. DH just doesn't get it. He is happy where he is at, and doesn't get the frustration of seeing the same weight day after day after day. I have really good days where I am really proud of my accomplishments so far and know I can do it, and there are days like today where I feel like I haven't changed and I will always be fat. Just gotta push through...

I don't completely block out the big picture, but I mostly focus on the small increments. Not just what's in my signature, but all sort of milestones that I keep in my head. Right now, it's to get into the 2-teens (just .8 to go!!). After that, will be to hit 45 lbs total, after that comes meeting my second 10%. Sometimes, it's a few lbs to get to one of these minigoals, but not more than 5 lbs because I can always work to get a new chickie avatar.

But I look at myself as living my maintenance lifestyle. Although it's possible I will need to reduce calories at some point, I don't plan to eat a lot more than I eat right now even once I'm at goal. The biggest change for me is that I'll be able to enjoy a restaurant meal a little more often than I do right now without worry. But for my day to day food, what I eat now is pretty much it. So even if the scale doesn't cooperate, I try to tell myself that I'm practicing maintenance. And since I plan to have several decades to live in maintenance, I can use all the practice I can get!

To keep your teeth, you've got to practice good oral hygiene. Do you know how much tooth brushing, not to mention how much toothpaste, how many toothbrushes, how much dental floss and how many trips to the dentist that means over a liftetime? Do you have any idea how many thousands of dollars that comes to?

Dental care would be overwhelming too, if we thought of it like that.

We're taught to think about weight loss in a way that is likely to be overwheming - so think differently.

This weight loss attempt is different than the 1800 or so previous attempts primarily in the way I think about weight loss. All those other times (over more than 35 years, as I've been dieting since age 5, with more failure than success), I dieted just like everyone else does.

I started on Mondays
If I blew it one day, I'd start fresh the next day (eating whatever I wanted in the meantime) - unless of course it was Thursday or Friday, then I'd start fresh on Monday (eating whatever I wanted on the weekend).


In essence, I got overwhelmed easily, and I let the scale rule my life.

This time (which I'd say started about three years ago) I decided that I weight loss wasn't going to be my goal - it was going to be a side effect of my real goal (getting healthier by making healthier habits). I was going to only add stuff to my life (or take a way stuff) that I could see doing for the long haul, probably forever. Things I wanted to add or subtract from my life - and I was going to do them whether or not any weight loss occurred as a result of them.

Some of the things I did in the beginning didn't result in any weight loss at all. Some of them didn't result in much weight loss, but they all made my life and health better.

They are all "brushing my teeth" behaviors. I'm doing because they have long term benefits (with or without weight loss). And I've been rewarded with a loss of more than 80 lbs, better mobility, less pain, and improved health.

And it's been easier than EVER, and it's not overwhelming at all - unless I start making it all about the weight again. When it's all about how much weight I lose - I get anxious, I start doing dumb stuff to try to lose weight faster, then I beat myself up for doing the dumb stuff or I beat myself up for not being able to do the dumb stuff, and I start to think that I'll NEVER be able to get all the weight off (so what's the point of even trying)..... Blah, blah, blah - all the stuff that is "normal" about weight loss, but entirely useless.

When I look at it rationally, it never goes down that overwhelming path. So what if the weight loss is slow, what is this a contest? Are there prizes for finishing "first" (especially when you do unhealthy and even risky behaviors to get there). So what if I never lose another pound. Weighing 311 lbs isn't the greatest thing, but it's sure a lot better than weighing 394 lbs (and a lot better than weighing the 400+ I know I will weigh if I "give up" entirely).

If I never lose another pound, and only maintain my current weight - it will still be a monumental success in my life. A success I've never had this long before. In fact, I've never maintained a weight loss before - I only have ever lost and gained (I did spend a few years not gaining or losing, by refusing to diet, but it was my highest weight. Maybe if I had found "not-dieting" earlier, I could have maintained a lower weight, I don't know. That's water under the bridge, so no use thinking about).

Learning to maintain my weight has been a much more useful skill than even losing weight was, because it doesn't matter how slow the weight is coming off, it's coming off. It could stop at any time, and then I'll have to decide what else I'm willing to do to lose more (this has happened several times in my weight loss). In fact, I just recently decided that I'd reached that point, and I had to accept my weight or do more. For a long time I mostly accepted my weight, now I've committed to doing more, but still not overwhelming - just the next step.

Steps. That's how you stop being overwhelmed - you look at the next step, not the end of the journey and all of the steps it's going to take to get there.

The end goal is overwhelming. Just focus on eating right and working out. I don't even think about goals anymore but more on just going and going and going. And being consistent. This is a lifestyle change and not something temporary. Everyday on plan is a victory. Make your goals small and incremental or else you will beat yourself up when you don't need to. Also just want 2 remind you there may be weeks you gain instead of lose make sure u never quit - I would always quit the minute I gained a pound but now I just keep pushing through.

I guess I really don't look at the "big picture" at all. It doesn't matter that much...I'll get there eventually, or I'll just keep trying. If I want to keep my weight down, I'll have to do pretty much what I'm doing right now anyways, so I may as well just keep doing that.

I do look ahead about 5 to 10 pounds. And I fantasize about eventually wearing this dress I own that I should be able to get into at about 170. And I do make incremental behavioral changes that are intended to improve my health and which will potentially bring weight loss. But I don't timeline and I don't get specific about when it'll happen.

I just keep on putting one foot in front of the other.

Pinkhoodie,

Some may disagree with this antic but I never looked at myself needing to lose the overwhelming amount of weight. I was always excited for just one more pound, just one more pound, just one more pound.

As far as your stall, don't stress. Stick to your plan that has already been working for you. Watch your sodium. Up your fiber and activity and see what happens. Don't lose heart. Keep going!

Yes. Knowing that losing 100 lbs would only get me to the Overweight category made it seem like an awful lot of sacrifice so why even try.

However once I decided that I wanted to develop healthier habits even if it didn't get me to a "perfect" weight, I got started with a plan I developed for myself that did not include stepping on the scale for 72 days. When I did finally weigh in I found it was working and so kept on going.

I know this makes many people's heads explode but I feel a major part of my success has been weighing only once a month. As I only lose around 6 lbs a month I suspect daily weigh in would be too discouraging for how much effort I put into this.

I just keep plugging away and goal weight is now in reach. But there is nothing about my plan I expect to change once I see that number. The habits I have now are the ones I need to have for a healthy active future so while I'm a bit annoyed at myself for not getting this message sooner, I actually have to thank my body for giving me the "gift" of having to lose 100 lbs.

Yes right now it does feel a little overwhelming, I just restarted a new plan and I am looking to get rid of about 120 lbs. but I won't let the number bully me, I'm just going to take it a pound at a time!

Hang in there...you can do it!

I had been feeling that way, but once I got my ticker set up today, I realized that I'm about 25% of the way to my goal. I was surprised. If I could lose this first chunk, I could do it a few more times and be at my goal!