Do you think it's harder/easier/no difference to continue to lose weight if you've successfully already lost a lot?

If you've lost 40 or 50 lbs., obviously you KNOW how to lose weight and what works for you.

If that knowledge - that you KNOW how to do it -- helpful? as in it motivates you to keep going?

or hurtful - as in, "I know what needs to be done now, I'll take a break for a while and do it again" and time passes by...

or neither one???


Just curious what's going on in the minds of my fellow posters

for me, i think it leans to the hurts side - i tend to have to smack myself in the head when i think that way LOL the whole 'oh i can do it next week/month etc" smack smack!!!

For me...Loosing weight leads to easier weight loss...Or at least makes it easier to stay stricly on plan...Kindof...
Once I start loosing and feeling healthier, lighter and wearing a maller size...I don't want to mess that up and have to re-loose those pounds. I want to feel and look even better and I am getting closer and closer. It motivates me.
But
It doesn't help when I go off plan...I am still prone to those all or nothing thoughts and wanting to put of being healthy...It makes no sense!

Losing weight makes it easier for me. Easier in that I know THIS TIME the weight is coming off fairly quickly and easier. Easier in that I know every time your weight yoyo's it's harder to come off the next time. I don't want to ruin the groove that I have going

Easier in that I know the LONGER I can keep this really good quick weight loss streak going, when it DOES slow down I will have less to lose lol! I keep saying that I know it's going to slow down, it has to, but I am so enjoying this ride while it lasts

I stalled after 30 pounds. I've had a hard time finding my committment to changing my lifestyle. I'm in my mid 40's and change is sometimes difficult. But, I've found new resolve with the acknowledgement that my whole family is suffering with weight issues. 2009 is going to be the year when I figure this out for myself and meet my goals!

Losing weight definitally made it easier, it was the stalls that made it hard. When that would happen instead of thinking screw it, this isnt working, I would just try to maintain what I had lost so far for a while and see what happened. I think most people tend to have problems once they have lost all the weight. They start to think well ok Im done now I can go back to how i used to be. Just gotta keep thinking that the way you used to be is what caused you to need to lose weight in the first place.

I think for me the knowledge has been helpful but doesn't make losing weight any easier. I just now know that it is possible to lose the extra weight and I know what to do to make it happen. Previously, I had a terrible mentality and really believed that it was not possible for me to lose weight. I can't justify that old logic anymore, which has been a real motivator since I can no longer realistically say, "I can't do it" because I know I can.

Hey Trazey~
I think like our emotions change, our perspective about discipline and focus does too. Personally, the reasons I've regained weight I've lost times past were because I didn't give myself that "I can't do it later" smack! Now, 50 lbs later, it's a kick in the pants!
It's definitely harder to do...and increasingly frustrating to have to lose weight I've lost countless times before. Worse for me this time is to have even more to lose! I'm just thankful for 3FC...and people like you who share and let me know I'm not alone.
Thanks to all!

Right now, I'm not trying to lose the weight I have left. I've lost a bit more than half of it, and I've been at this weight for about a year. I know I can lose weight if I buckle down and put the energy into it, I just don't want to right now.

It's kind of weird--the fact that I have already lost sixty-someodd pounds doesn't feel very "real" to me, possibly because I took my time about doing it (approximately eighteen months). I've had a lot of time to adjust to *this* body being me, as well as no sudden, abrupt losses to really capture my attention. It's been so gradual that there's no "going back to how I ate before". This is how I eat now, and it was how I ate last year, and that was how I ate the year before...portions are slightly different because I'm maintaining, but the essential foodstuffs are the same. In the same way there's no going back, though, I have to admit I don't really contemplate going forward, either. What would I change? As I said, pretty much all that's changed is my portion sizes, and right now I'm not willing to mess with that.

So I guess my answer to your question is no different, really. I know how to lose more. So that piece of the puzzle I was missing at first I already have now. But I don't particularly have the motivation right now to do anything other than maintain, and motivation was something I had in spades when I started. It's really just a matter of having all of your pieces, no matter where you are in your journey.

Its not an either/or thing for me...although as time passes I'm afraid I get complacent, and that makes it harder!

I agree, losing makes it easier but when you stall or have a little road bump that's what makes it hard for me. I need to learn some patience and not get discouraged if the scale goes up a few pounds because I know what to do to get the scale moving down again. Along with patience I think learning to be realistic is important. We didn't gain the weight overnight and it's not going to come off overnight.

Jessica - I like what you said about the old way of thinking got you there in the first place. Thinking more about maintenance will only help us when we get there.

Hang in there Trazey we are here for you

I think losing weight makes it easier in some ways because you see progress and know you can do it. Since having kids though the most I have lost at a time is 60 lbs. That is quite a bit but after losing that amount I have still been heavy and then have stalled and quit my program. I used to think I just couldn't get below 180 lbs. I know that isn't true now. I can get below that I just have to keep going and stay motivated and I am going to do it this time!!

So far I have found it easier this time but it's a way of life now. I still struggle with things but I have found ways to help handle my triggers (I'm a stress eater).

I don't know as it is easier or harder to stick with a plan. I have those periods where I just don't want to pay attention to what I eat, and there are those periods where I am in the zone. It's been that way all along.

Having the majority of the journey behind me (losing wise, anyway), it seems easier instead of seeing a large amount of weight to go. However, the last bit of weight is taking *for*ever* to leave. So - it's harder in that respect.

It is easier to slide back into healthy habits now, because they are habits. I am not trying to make the habits like in the beginning.

I think some days it's harder, some days it's easier, and some days it feels about the same. Maybe I'm just prone to mood swings, but sometimes I can envision myself getting all the way to goal, and my current loss gives me confidence that I can do it. Other days, I can't see myself at goal, and wonder if I'll ever be able to lose any more (I try to remind myself that I can at least keep off what I have lost).

I think for me, I have to remind myself that it is what it is. What I cannot change, I have to accept and what I can change I have to work at changing. Sometimes I don't have the wisdom to know the difference - I can get afraid and overwhelmed and just plain whiney about how hard this is.

But again, it is what it is. I have to make do with what I've got. I do think that getting started is more intimidating when you're at your highest weight. Each pound can prove that it is possible. I've "tied" my unassisted weight loss record of 60 lbs, and I've started to wonder if the reason my weight loss has stalled is because on some level I don't think I can accomplish more. I was able to lose 70 lbs in high school, but was on prescription amphetemine diet pills and even then I lost alot of the weight by crazy starvation stunts, so I think part of me sees a 70 lb loss as impossible. Maybe once I get past the 70 mark, it will be easier - and yet it's very frightening as uncharted waters. Can I do it? Can I sustain it? There's really only one way to find out and that's to do it.

For me, I have to focus on the small steps, because I can get really intimidated if I try to take on too much. I start feeling overwhelmed and unsuccessful, focusing on what I'm not accomplishing or not accomplishing fast enough rather than what I have done. Losing 60 lbs seems like a miracle to me, and then I think of how much I have left to lose, and I feel like I've barely started and still don't know what I'm doing.

I'm not really an insecure person, but dieting is one area in my life where I have always second, third and fourth guessed myself. I don't know what it does take to lose weight and keep it off as I've had so little practice at it.

I'm losing the last 5-10 pounds a whole lot slower, but I'm not sure I can say they're harder. Probably they're easier which is why they're slower (in other words, I'm not trying as hard - I'm not calorie counting any more).

In an entirely related matter, what IS harder for me at this stage (close enough to goal that I could live happy at this weight) is sticking closer to plan. When I was unhappy at 190 pounds, it was really pretty easy. Now, I'm not as strict. I would be if I decided I needed to be.