Having sucess - it's scary

  • I'm being sucessful and instead of feeling good about it it's absolutely frightening me.

    The last month has been pretty sucessfull for me. I've steadily lost weight (8 poounds), I've improved on my physical stamnia by doing the Couch Potato to 5K program, I quit my 6 cans a day Diet Coke habit cold turkey, I've become more flexible through doing Pilates, I've cooked a healthy meal almost every day and learned new recipes

    I'm supposed to be excited about it, yet I just feeling genuinely terrified. Being good at things and mastering them makes me scared and worried. Am I a crazy person for feeling this way?

    I grew with a mother who is emotionally abusive and a dad with alcoholism, I was never happy as a child, I was always scared because of my parents behaviour, when I was 16 my dad was diagnosed with incureable cancer and I watched him die in a quite painful way, while watching him die I was also bullied in school, to sum it up there was never really a time growing up that I was not worried or scared about something due to various stuff going on.

    It's almost like I genuinely don't know what it's like to be happy, to be sucessful. Does what I'm saying make sense at all? Like is it possible that I lived for so many years being miserable that it can be genuinely frightening to be happy and have success because I've rarely experienced the feeling?
  • I am happy that you are in a good place. The past is past and you should never look back...

    Enjoy the moment and keep moving forward.
  • Fear Not
    It appears that you are afraid of "change", rather than success. With every pound lost, more is being revealed to you. We don't just lose weight, we lose layers of regret, sadness and our former selves. In its place, we gain clarity and purpose. Good nutrition can be its own form of medicine. Don't try to be happy. That will come naturally and in time. This is a process of healing. Give yourself permission to grow and learn from this experience
    You are already doing the work. Distract yourself with beauty. Look at pretty blogs, pinterest, magazines or nature. I did this when we were in the midst of a terrible family crisis, and even if it was for just a few minutes, it refreshed my soul. You will come out of this victorious!
  • I think that I can relate. I don't necessarily feel scared but I definitely feel uncomfortable. It's like the heavier I was the more invisible I was and now that the weight is coming off, people are commenting and that's not comfortable for me.
  • I'm kind of the same. I have suffered so much heart break and trauma through my entire life that now that I am happy (for once) I am paranoid that something might go wrong. It's scary, I know what you mean. I am definitely "conditioned" from my past. Always waiting for the other shoe to drop...worrying that it's too good to be true.

    I've made a lot of changes the past 5 years that lead up to getting myself on track so I try not to worry and just live my life. I have to think positive that everything will be ok!
  • Quote: I think that I can relate. I don't necessarily feel scared but I definitely feel uncomfortable. It's like the heavier I was the more invisible I was and now that the weight is coming off, people are commenting and that's not comfortable for me.
    You basically described me to a T.

    I was at the doctor's office and the doctors said I looked slim and she wanted to weigh me. She was impressed by my weightloss. For a normal person I imagine that being fun, maybe even a highlight of the week, for me it's was an absolutely horrifying moment.

    I suffer from social anxiety and part of the disease is the desire to be invisible and not have attention drawn to myself, which means that the attention I'm receiving from my weightloss is making me EXTREMELY uncomfortable.
  • I think because of your pasts that now as the closer your goal is, the more you scare it won't last. Don't get me wrong, it's like the sky before the storm is extremely calm, this is your "calm and peace" period, and you are worry that this too-good result might just disappear fast. And it's understandable. If you feel uncomfy with the new attention, just smile and let it go. You earn it with your efforts, so why would others opinion matters? Toss aside the new attention you receive, how do you think about your new body? , just be honest with yourself, I think you will finally see the positive side.
  • Quote: I suffer from social anxiety and part of the disease is the desire to be invisible and not have attention drawn to myself, which means that the attention I'm receiving from my weightloss is making me EXTREMELY uncomfortable.
    this is exactly me...im horribly shy and DO NOT like attention...and i get VERY uncomfortable when others mention my weight loss, like now they're paying attention to me...if i could be invisible, i totally would...im just trying to be at peace with being uncomfortable in those moments...like i know the moments will happen, and i know i'll be uncomfortable, and i know the moment will pass and be gone...and not let that derail me from losing weight

    there's a mexican guy at work who speaks in such an accent that i can barely understand him and yesterday he said, in what was meant to be a nice way, he said "are you dying? you looking so skinny!" and then he said "you looking much younger!" and so i know he meant it nicely but it was still....weird lol