I don't know if am the only one, but I've always had it in my head that it takes a long time to lose weight. Like, a year plus to lose 95 lbs. That would be about 8 lbs a month. BUT, I realized after watching The Biggest Loser, if you REALLY GIVE IT ALL, it could be done much sooner. Who would have thought? I don't know why I never figured it out. Probably because in my mind, it's always been out of reach. "One day" I will reach that goal.

It's so simple. The harder you work at it, the quicker you will get there. HUGE LIGHT BULB went off in my head. I am really hoping my positive attitide and determination stay awhile. I know I will have rough days. But it feels so good to be doing "the right thing" and so miserable not doing it. I just have to stay focused.

3 weeks ago, if I was still at work at 8:28 PM, me and the vending machine would be chillin'. Not tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

Does anyone have a "schedule", like a goal date?

I have a goal date of next year when my *first* start date was. I fell off the wagon big time at Christmas, but I am back on. In my head I have a halfway date of June, because I want to go to my summer camp job looking much lighter!

It helps to keep me motivated, and like you said, I'm hoping if I really work at it, I can do it fast!

Good luck!!!

By next Christmas I've set the [realistic] goal of being down 50 pounds, and the [fantasy] goal of being at my goal weight. This comes with lots of caveats.

1) I tend to lose 1 pound a week, on average. Actually, a bit less (19 pounds in 22 weeks). So the first goal is reasonable. I'll still strive for the second, but I'm not going to be kicking myself or giving up if I don't make it.

2) I feel like the amount I am "giving" right now is reasonable and realistic for my life right now, and is sustainable. I am busy and I go in several directions on any one day, yet I still make time to exercise 6X a week. Granted, I don't exercise for 3+ hours every day, but my life wouldn't sustain that. I want to lose this weight doing what I can continue to do.

3) The food choices I make are choices I can sustain, also. I basically eat whole foods, minimal processed (things like peanut butter; I'm not going to grind my own peanuts, thanks! ) and cooked from scratch whenever I can. On fridays I can have a cheat meal, though, and have whatever I want. Not perfect and not 100%, not all my effort, but it works for me.

So, yeah, I see what you're saying and I do have goals. A thing to remember, though, is that that's an unnatural environment. They're been removed from their lives and situations to entirely focus on this goal. Most of us don't have that luxury, and have to "settle" for slower progress in exchange for continuing to live our daily lives.

My goal is to be under 300 pounds by the end of January (16 pounds to go), 250 by Tax Day, 200 by my birthday (August 3), and my goal of 185 by Halloween... but right now one day at a time is good!

Ok. So I am trying a new method this year (cause the whole "till the weight comes off" didn't work for me last year). I'm setting challenge goals intermittently (like my vday one below) with the agreement with myself to use them to push myself but not beat myself over if I don't meet them. I hope to be halfway to MY goal weight by my birthday (I'll be having a huge to-do). I haven't thought about when I want to be at goal...yet. But, hey, now you got me thinking !

I'd love to be around goal by graduation, June 4th... but that would be about 15lbs. a month, so I'm not sure it's realistic. I have BUCKLED DOWN in 2006 though, so we shall see....

I'm going on a houseboat trip for a week in July with all of my friends. Last year, I was super self-conscious hanging out in a bathing suit... this year I'm gonna be in a teeny weeny bikini

and I'm gonna look hot!

cheers!
paula

I would love to lose weight more quickly, but slow and steady wins the race every time, espcially when it comes to weight loss. The slower you lose weight: your skin can retract gradually, you are more likely to keep the weight off for good, your mind is able to adjust to the new you, and you are more apt to sustain your new and healthier style of living.
It has taken me 16 mos. to lose 88 lbs and probably will take another 13 mos. to lose the next 59 lbs (I am guessing). But no matter how long the journey takes, I will just be glad to finally see my goal.

My goal last year was to lose 50lbs (I lost 61) and this year my goal is to lose 50lbs again. If I lose quicker than that, fine, but if not that's ok too. My routine revolves around exercise. I have lost only a weeny bit of lean muscle in that time, which is why my loss has been slowish, it's all fat, and that's a good thing.

I'd really love to be at or near my goal of 140 by the end of June...40 pounds to go...I'm not sure if I'll make it...but I guess I'll be a lot further ahead than I am now..u know? We are going to this four day music festival (I think I've mentioned this before)....we've gone to this other years and I've always had a good time but I know I would have had a better time if I would have been thin. All of my friends were wearing short shorts and bikinis..I felt so huge and out of place. I'm not sure if I'll ever do the bikini thing but I would love to be able to wear some short little shorts and a cute cami or whatever...u know?
I've realized that I've been letting my size and my self-consciousness about my size...interfere with my life and they way I live my life. I've really noticed a big boost in my confidence even after losing the 70 pounds....think of how I'll feel at goal..I"m so excited. Exercise has been hard recently because of my back pain...but I really,really want to get back into working it hard!!! I desperately need to tone many parts.....I was kind of thinking about that too...the whole biggest loser thing and how they worked soooooo hard to lose weight so quickly. I'm ok with losing the 1 to 2 pounds a week..but I got to thinking...if I really,really stepped up my exercise...maybe I could actually be really toned or whatever. I"m starting to get into the flabby skin thing...I've lost some weight but the flabbiness remains..I know some of it may never go away but if I become "buff"..lol..maybe some of it will tighten up a little. Anyways...geeze..I'm rambling on....I must be tired. Ok...talk to you soon...
luv,
Olivia

I'm not setting any dates for goals. I know that what I'm doing has led to a loss of about 2 pds/week lately (more at first), but my body may plateau on me, or I may run into some of life's "challenges" that slow my progress.

That being said, my next mini-goal is 20 pounds away, and I really hope I'm there by May. It may be sooner, it may be later, and I'm going to try not to be too fixated on the date, but just keep on keeping on.

I have tried the "high bar" goal setting method before. I get all excited about the weight loss and my new lifestyle, and I loss quickly, and I think I can sustain it. Then reality hits. Life happens, and the weight loss slow, or worse, reverses. And I get discouraged and give up.

I used to keep a spreadsheet that showed my actual weight, with a line projecting one pound a week loss, two pound a week loss, and three pound a week loss. It was more than discouraging to see those two and three pound lines drop faster and faster, whiel my actual weight hovered more around the one-pound a week line. I kept thinking "If you'd done it right, you'd be THERE on the chart." That's defeatist thinking, and it has done in more of my weight loss efforts than I can count.

So this time I am focusing much more long-term, and working on the slow-and-steady approach. One pound a week is more than 50 pounds in a year. That's do-able. THat's sustainable. And that gives me hope even when I feel discouraged.

For me, I have to have reminders of how far I've come. Like standing in line at Disney World, when it seems like the lines go on FOREVER. Part of the process of waiting, for me, is to look behind me and see how far I've come forward in line. That shows me that progress has been made. I do the same thing with my weight loss. Ticker, paper clip chains, goals and rewards... they all help us remember and celebrate our successes.

You know, every now and then I get all caught up in wanting to do this quick, right now...*poof* I'm done. But over and over I have been told by those who have lost and are maintaining that if you look at their food and exercise habits today, they are exactly the same as the when they were losing with some small increases. So my plan now is to create a lifestyle that I can live with FOREVER, like Mousie. I have always had an on or off attitude with weight loss. I would be on and "working it" like mad and then I would burn out. Although I think that kind of intensity is great, it's never been anything that I can sustane. For me, it's making choices and changes that I can stick with forever. When I am OFF plan, we eat exactly the same things over and over without a whole lot of variety. They are what we like. My hope and plan is to create the same lifestyle but have the foods be healthy and eat less of them. Create a healthy routine. I will always go out to dinner, have birthday parties and have situations that I didn't plan for.

My goal this year is to lose 120 lbs. That would put under 200 for 2007. It's a loss of 10 lbs a month. I have seen it done before and believe that if I stick with it, it can be done. I'd like to be at goal by my 40th birthday (12/12/07). That gives me 11 1/2 months to lose the last 50 lbs. I know weight loss slows down as you lose, so I think I'll need that time to get to goal. How GREAT it will be to turn 40 and be the healthiest I've ever been.

Every time I say "I want to lose X pounds by X day" I fall short. Sometimes it's only a few pounds, sometimes I've never lost any weight at all. So this time around (I hate that phrase right now!!) I am focusing on eating habits and not working with a specific date in mind. Of course, that may change.

The phrase that keeps going around my head is that I didn't put the weight on overnight, it's not going to come off overnight.

I too am NOT setting any major timelines. I would like to be at goal by my 35th birthday (6-20-2008) so 128 pounds in 2 1/2 years I think is more than doable. My my spoiled inner child would love for me to be at 200 by the end of June for my 15 year HS reunion. I know that unless something drastic happens in my life I'll never be there. My more realistic self will set a goal I would like to be at by the end of June at the first of Feb. after I have been eating healthy and exercising for a month so I can see my pattern loss.

In all honesty, where I am mentally and emotionally right now I just want to be healthy. If that means I plateau at 220 pounds and can't lose anymore as long as I can do things in life I want to do, I'll be happy. That's not to say I won't get caught up in the #s down the road but for today I'm happy with just getting healthy and letting the weight loss be a side effect.