I read this article on the weekend via Peer Trainer (I read it while I was on my phone, and now I can't find the actual article).

But basically, the article asked on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being that you don't believe and 10 being that you truly believe), how much do you believe that permanent weight loss is achievable for you?

I looked inside myself, was really honest, and came up with 3/10.

I am trying so hard, and have been trying for so many years, have achieved some weight loss, but when I was honest and asked myself this question, I realized that basically I truly do not believe this is achievable for me - I will never be the weight that I desire to be.

This was a huge moment for me, as obviously this is something I need to work on - I just don't know how. If I don't truly believe it, then how can I believe it? You know?

Thoughts anyone?

~BreathingSpace~

From your S/C/G on the side there, it looks like you have already made quite a bit of progress! You should be proud of yourself. One thing I'm trying to convince myself of lately is that my past mistakes and mess ups with losing weight don't matter. If I tell myself enough that this time is different, I believe I can convince myself that it's true. With that said, I think my number would be a 6/10 right now. I feel more confident right now because I have proven to myself over the course of this week that I CAN eat right and exercise regularly...and not die from it lol. But there is still that voice in the back of my head telling me that I've tried sooo many times and failed. But I can't stop believing in myself (and neither can you) because if you never try...then you don't even have a chance.

Hi

I started a thread about this very topic the other day. I have bounced around so much and never maintained a healthy weight before. I have all the willpower in the world to lose the weight, but no experience with maintenance.

I think my worries are based on fear. Fear of the unknown. I have never known maintenance, so that is the unknown for me. I would imagine that when I get to goal, and each day I am able to maintain will build a base for me.

I am holding on with everything I've got and trying to be positive about all of this. It is a constant test of my mental strength. But, I would rather have this feeling than the fear of being trapped in my out-of-shape, huge, uncomfortable body.

On a scale of 1-10, currently I am probably about a 7. I am working on it though!

Perminate weightloss is about making substantial changes to your life. If you aren't confident in these changes and you think you'll fail you probably will. Just try and believe in yourself and let yourself know that this isn't about losing weight it's about changing your life.

If I had to pick a number for me I'd say 8/10. I'm still young and I plan to have children one day and I know that can be really hard on my body. I know that I will never let myself get as big I was but I'm not sure if I will be at my goal forever I just know that I really want it and I'm going to do my best to acheive my goal and keep it off.

I guess the thing is, I've hovered around 160 lb for literally years. YEARS! That's why I just think it's not possible to get any lower.

~BreathingSpace~

They DO matter though. You learned something every time you failed. If you think back on it, what did you learn that you will do differently? They say it takes the average smoker X amount of attempts to finally get it right. And we all know plenty of ex-smokers, don't we? I've come to believe weight loss is similar. It's a trial and error/finding what works for you/learning experience. So please don't forget those times you failed!

I really like the thought of 1-10. I have never been higher than a 5 in the past (and I failed each of those times). But something is different this time. It's a matter of when, not if for me these days. I've been consistently probably an 8 out of 10 for the past several months. I AM going to do it this time!!!!

Wow! So you have been maintaining a 40 lb. weight loss for years! That's terrific. You really should be proud.

That brings up a good point. When I lost a huge amount of weight at first, I started Weight Watchers and probably was at 10/10 on the scale. It didn't occur to me that I *wouldn't* lose weight, you know?

I guess now that it has been years, I have lost all confidence. There was a point where I got down to 154 lb in August 2010, but that's because I was doing a 30-day hot yoga challenge - something I couldn't keep up. It did spark something inside me as my weight went down, but then after months of not being able to exercise due to health reasons, the weight just crept right back up again.

and now I'm left at 3/10 again!

"fake it til you make it"
I like this thread, cuz i've never really thought about my confidence about maintenance.
like someone else mentioned, my main thing is fear of the unknown. I've always been Big. When i was little i was always the tallest in my class, and so even though i wasnt overweight for my height, i was big for my age and so i still felt uncomfortable with my size. Once i stopped growing in height, i kept growing out, and so even once the other kids caught up to me in height, i still weighed more. Once i realized this, my desire to lose weigh began, and its still going on today. I've never known a time where i felt like my body was the correct size. And its scary to think of getting there, because i won't know what to do with myself.
I'm afraid of self sabotage.
I do it all the time. Mostly with food. Ill binge, and it's just recently that i've learned to identify my self-sabotage binges while they are happening, but its still so hard to take myself away from the food, and pick myself back up from the mental state of wanting to throw it all away and not have to think about my weight ever again.

My confidence in losing all the weight would be a 9.
But my confidence in maintaining permanent weight loss is more lingering at like a 6.
I think that once i can get over my fear of the being content with my body, fear of the unknown world of not dreading pant shopping, fear of looking good in a bikini, then ill be at a 10.

100percentme-

I hear you, totally. I think that we are taught to believe that losing the weight will make us magically turn into people with 100% self esteem. Getting there is only about 25% of the battle. That is probably the main reason why I have never been able to maintain.

100percentME - It seems like I have also always been big. I was always the tallest (boy or girl) until high school. I played varsity softball and basketball, was on the track team and in pretty good shape. But I was always the biggest. I can't remember ever being a healthy weight. Maybe back in elementary school when no one really thought about those things. But even then, I remember being bigger. I'm just sooooo ready to be healthy. I am a little scared of the unknown, but I figure I need to just get there and worry about whatever pops up when it actually pops up.

9/10 for me.

This time around, it has been a true lifestyle and knowledge change. I didn't know anything about health and nutrition until I started working on it. Any previous attempt at losing weight was more like a wish or a gimmick, rather than a true understanding of what's going on in my body.

I feel pretty confident, because my weight loss is really about health. Even if my weight loss has been slow, the fact that I am staying healthy as my motivator is even better than just some random goal on the scale or dress size.

The reason it isn't a 10/10 is because I don't know what will happen in the future in terms of my health or how it might get harder as I get older. But I hope that everything that I've learned in this process will help me then when I have to make more changes to stay healthy.

I can relate to what Rana wrote, changes that are long term, not a diet but a new relationship with food. Food was for me something that gave me pleasure, it filled a void and I am changing my way of thinking, I look at it as fuel for my body, the void I can fill with activities instead of food.

I will give myself a 5 just to keep me honest and dont feel too confident, keeping in the back of my mind that each choices I make will influence the long term
result.

This is a weird one. Right now I'm 10 lbs away from my high school weight senior year. I've even posted feeling unsure about succeeding and my head game. I got down to 205 or so when I was 23, and gained it all back. Using unsustainable starvation methods.

So back when I started this time around, it is a zero. Now, I'm feeling like a 5. But this is the thing: I Don't Care What My Head Says. I feel good counting calories and eating a natural, whole food based diet. Since this is a lifestyle change, I'm going to keep going. By the time I make it to maintenance, I think I'll be a 10.