I do think people get overwhelmed by the big numbers or by trying to say "I need to lose 20 lbs in a month!" but really, if you keep a reasonable goal then you will get there in a healthy way. People who tend to lose weight through unhealthy methods tend to gain the weight back faster than people who lose through more maintainable methods. I'd be happy with 1lb a week weight loss but really my plan is 2lbs a week which is actually slightly below my average but I do weigh a lot and people tend to be able to lose more weight the more they weigh. So using the 2lb a week number, I figure I'll be at my initial goal sometime next year which makes me extremely happy at the thought.
I will say it almost astounds me right now, at some point 5-6 years ago, I weighed 60 more lbs than I do right now. Just this past year, I weighed 50 lbs more than I do now. It is kind of hard for me to say that to people though because I am embarrassed that I let myself weigh that much, but I do tell people because I am proud. So if I lose 50 lbs in the next year, 1 lb per week, then I'll be proud to say "I've lost 100 lbs" even though I'll have more to go but I'll be closer to my goal than if I did nothing.
It is all about the baby steps, small changes grow into bigger changes and small losses grow into bigger losses but really, 1 lb of fat isn't anything small.
This is a picture that floats around the LWL (Ladies who Lift) forum quite a bit it is a picture of 5 lbs of fat and 5lbs of muscle. Just think when you lose 5lbs, that is the ugly stuff that is disappearing from your body..
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/atta...chmentid=17582