Hi everyone. I am feeling really BLAH today. I'm trying not to let a number on a scale determine how I feel about what I am doing for myself but I feel bad today anyway. I don't understand how the scale is hardly moving but I can see so many changes in my body. It makes me feel like I'm imagining that I look different and I really look just as bad as ever. I am so tired of wearing a flippin' 22/24 in everything... I hate weighing in the two-hundreds! I am sooooo disgusted with myself for ever letting this happen. I also know that this is completely pointless to feel sorry for myself because it won't be forever and I can't do anything to change the fact that I became so overweight except what I'm doing now but I guess I just need to vent how bad I'm feeling today... I just wish it didn't have to take so long to lose weight. It's not like I gained it over night though so what can I expect? I just want to be fit and look decent and wear normal sizes. All in time I guess...
I'm sorry you're having a rough time, I'm stuck right now too, so I know how much that sucks. You're doing really well though, and if you're seeing differences in how you look, that's great! I know you aren't imagining them. Are you taking measurements? Measuring myself has helped me get through times when I felt like I should have lost more. Keep your chin up, things will get better soon.
It is very frustrating, sarah but it will get easier. I started out about where you are and my first week I lost like 4 pounds. The next week I put on 3. HUH? I was so upset and confused. In times past when I lost weight I never really gained weight while trying to lose weight and I almost gave up that 2nd week. The 3rd week I lost more, gained the fourth week. I figured out I had a pattern of lose/gain and I was still average 1-1 1/2 pounds a week loss. Yes it came off a lot slower than I really wanted it to but I did perserve. I've since had a few trips off the wagon and am just now getting back on it. I plan on reminding myself that I don't expect my body to give me the 4-5 pounds a week loss I see many achieving and as long as my scale averages a 1-1 1/2 loss per week I will be happy.
Keep on doing what you are doing and if you don't see a loss in a week or two it might be time to look at your plan and make some changes.
Just keep going. Believe me when I say once you get the weight off you will wonder where the time went. It really does go by quick. You just can't focus on next year, month or week. You have to focus on today only. I used to drive my self nuts when I first started. I have a weight chat that I keep and it has every weigh in up to January of next year. I would sit there and fill in different weights to see where I would be in a year or in two months or what ever. I started feeling like you are now. I knew that I had to quit. So I just focused on what I'm going to do today. Time and daily diligence takes care of the rest. I look at that chart now and can't believe how quick the last 16 months have gone.
As Howie says, it seems like you're losing so slowly, then in a couple of weeks or months you'll look back and you won't be able to believe how quickly it's coming off. If you just keep on going day after day they will add up soon enough. I lost 9lb in 8 months when I started doing this last July, then something suddenly clicked for me. If I hadn't stuck through it through those 9 months of painfully slow progress there's no chance I'd be where I am today (and chances are I'd be more than 260 now).
I used to get really jealous of people who lost lots of weight straight away, but I'm glad now I started off slowly. I started making small changes I could live with, one at a time, and over time they started to really add up and make a difference. Then, as I said, it got to the point where the changes weren't just stopping me gaining, they were helping me lose and I never looked back.
Of course, even losing 2lb per week for most of the time since March there were times when I was frustrated how slow it still was, but it's amazing how quickly it all adds up. Just hang in there!
I know how you feel, Sarah, but one question...are you exercising or doing weight training? Believe it or not, that makes a big difference. You've probably already heard this, but muscle weighs more than fat. When I did my first progress weigh in at Curves, I gained three lbs and lost 10 inches. The way it was explained to me was, again, muscle weighs more than fat but takes up less space. The hardest thing you have to fight against is getting discouraged with yourself. You are doing great, and the changes that you are seeing are real! Also, do you weigh yourself alot, like every day? In my crusade against the scales, I have found that peoples bodies (especially a woman's hormones) fluctuate so much that stepping on those mechanical monstrosities every day is just setting yourself up for heartache!
Don't give up the fight, you are doing great...and we are all here for you!
Everyone, thanks so much for being so awesomely nice!
Krysidaisy - I do take my measurements once a month so I've only done it twice. I've only been working at it for two and a half months. It's not like I should expect to have lost 50 pounds or something already. I'll know my inches probably tonight. *gulp*
Barbygirl43 - Thanks for your perspective on my sitch. I think I need to just put my scale away and only pull it out like I said I would twice a month. I'm still on target as far as a pound or so a week so I don't know why I'm acting like a crazy person... heh.
Howie6267 - You cracked me up because I completely do that weight thing. Filling in where I could be based on the amount of weight I could lose with a minimum of 4 pounds a month up to 8 pounds a month. And then, I lose track of everything and feel like garbage... weighing in daily and not seeing large changes. I tell myself all the time that I'd rather spend my day doing some exercise and eating better than doing nothing because the time is going to pass anyway and there's more of a chance of results if I keep doing something... if that makes sense. Anyway, thanks for making me feel like I'm not alone when it comes to the weight charts. I think I'm going to stop making them too. They really don't do anything to help!
YP1 - That must have been SO frustrating... losing about a pound a month. I don't really know you but I'm proud of you for sticking with it all that time. Like I said up there ^^^ to Howie... I'd rather spend my days working on it than not because it HAS to be better for me to be doing this than to sit around doing nothing...
Bonnieangel - I do Taebo right now. I want to join the gym again so I am working on saving for the joiner fee. When I go back I will be doing weight training MWF and work up to an hour cardio M-F. I know muscle weighs more. I also read that it burns calories faster and more efficiently even when you're sleeping... which would be wonderful!
So, thanks again everyone for making me feel better.
I so completely understand how you are feeling! Sometimes I think - why bother? Nothing is changing...<sigh> <self pity>
But, then I realize that I AM doing something - something BIG - to conquer this and even though me and my husband are the only ones who can tell so far that I've lost weight...soon, others will notice too! It is a slow journey and frustrating...but hang in there and keep fighting! We can do this together!
Thanks for making me feel a little better! You're right. Eventually other people are going to notice. I just hate that I get so down over this stuff. I want people to notice and be like WOW. But that's not a good reason to do this for myself...lol.. and it's not why I am. It would just be nice for people to notice too. Anyway, thanks again.
I'm right there with ya. Those plateaus are really soul sucking. You struggle and work and then step on that darn thing and ...NOTHING! But it will happen. Just keep thinking positively and try not to let it get you down. Just keep in your mind how great you are doing and how far you have come (even one little step is like a mile in this battle we are fighting!). I think I am gonna toss the scale and just go on how I feel and how my clothes hang on me. Its a much more accurate representation of how we are doing.
Sara I just saw where you are at. Give it 10 more pounds and I bet people will really start noticing and commenting. I already gave you my brief weight history and if I remember I was around 275 or so when people really really started noticing and commenting.
Oh Sarah, I can soooo relate to you! In fact you sound just like me. Each time I read one of your posts I find myself nodding my head thinking yea, I was exactly where you are, I felt exactly the same things! I know this feels like it's taking forever, but don't look at it like something that's ever going to end, cause it's not, this IS forever. Just keep taking it one day at a time, each positive choice you make bringing you one step closer to your goals. It's gonna take time, but you WILL get there, as long as you never, ever give up on yourself. You CAN do this!!
Sarah,
It could be that people are in fact noticing that you have lost weight, but just feel a bit uncomfortable mentioning it. I had lost 50#s before anybody said anything to me.....When somebody asked if I had "lost a little weight?"...I was thinking "Duh....50 pounds...about time somebody noticed!". They confessed that they had noticed my weight loss long before, but were uncomfortable mentioning it. Some people take "Have you lost some weight?" to mean "Wow! You really should loose some weight!". If they don't know how hard you are working they are probably reluctant to mention anything! Don't worry....they're noticing!
Yeah, I've been feeling discouraged lately. I've just started & I'm not losing weight nearly as fast as I like. My MIL, of all people, helped me put in perspective. You can either give up, and be where you are now, or even heavier OR you can take it one day at a time and it'll eventually add up.
I've been exercising a lot and making positive changes in my diet, i.e. limited sugar, more vegetables, plenty of water. As my handle says, I'm taking baby steps and I'm NOT giving up this time, no matter how hard it gets. I know there will be times when it gets hard and I'll have things get in the way, such as flying down for my sister's wedding this week, but I am going to dust myself off and persevere. We can do this!
Sarah, I can relate. It seemed like forever before I started dropping sizes. My lower half is slower to keep up, too, so I keep wishing the potbelly away. But...I've gone from a beginning 26-28/3X to a 16-18/XL now on top and from a 26W to between a 16-20W on the bottom. Don't lose heart.
Feeling Blue
scales, I have found that peoples bodies (especially a woman's hormones) fluctuate so much that stepping on those mechanical monstrosities every day is just setting yourself up for heartache!
