I'm just wondering if anyone else has thought this way...

First, I want to say how much I love this message board. It is so great to find other people who understand what a struggle it is to be overweight, try to lose weight and keep it off. You all are great at supporting this journey with all the emotional and physical highs and lows.

I was feeling great about how I'm doing-I've lost forty one pounds, and now exercise five or six days a week. I've lost two or three clothing sizes, and look and feel much better.

THEN reality hits me hard! After all this work, I"m still not halfway to goal. I still have about sixty pounds to go. I'm still FAT! I would still be considered obese on weight charts, and have to lose twenty five more pounds to get to the "overweight" category. My present weight (215) is more than what most people have as a "Before" weight. It's making me very depressed. I realize I have so much more to go, and wonder if I can keep it up and not gain it back.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Sherry

i feel this EVERY DAY. i don't know how many times i've told david "i've lost 51 pounds, and i'm still fat. how depressing is that?"

but you guys understand. you know. and if we keep on truckin', we'll get there and it will all be worth it.

I'm right there w/ya! I feel like I haven't done anything at allll. I still have over 100# to lose. Grrrrrrr.

But on the other hand, I'm a lot more active, happier, eating better, fitting into smaller sizes, more confident, etc.

Oh do i know! I have lost 80 lbs and still have over 100 to go to be at goal. Sometimes i want to just sit down and cry. Its going to be a LONG journey but one i want to see the end of.

I do know the feeling. I don't dwell on it though. I've lost a total of 100. 32 on this last try. I still have 150 more to lose, maybe more. I look at it this way. I can be a year older and fat or I can be a year older and slimer. Either way I'm a year older. Just keep up the good work and you will make it.

I don't mind the journey (I wish there was a magic pill and the weight would come off quicker) and my weight has never kept me back from doing things I wanted to do. I do mind the people who believe that because I am fat they can say anything to me and I'm jus supposed to take it and not fight back. I am fat and will be fat until I reach close to my goal. Heck, my goal is 175 and to a lot of "thin folk" at 5'10" I will still be fat -- but that's okay. It is their problem.

Besides, I'm hoping for a resurge in Renaissance thinking and that the Botticelli form will come back into vogue. LOL. I can dream, can't I?

Lisa.

Hi Lisa,

Welcome to the board!

I think these same thoughts all the time, but you can't let that get you down or discouraged. I assume I lost about 130 pounds or so and still have about 80 pounds before I get to a "healthy" weight range. When I look at myself in the mirror I am still a fat man.

My size now is considered obese. According to the BMI, I actually have to lose about 60 pounds to get to the "overweight" category! Yes, it is depressing, but we all have came very far. We knew it wasn't going to be quick and easy and we stuck with it through the highs and the lows. In my mind, the goal is not to get to goal. It is to change my life and my destructive eating habits. When that is done, the weight will come off. If it takes 1 more year or 10 more years...

You've come a long way baby! Be proud of where you are and how far you have come and know that time is on your side.

whoa there, folks!!!!!! aren't we being a bit hard on ourselves here?????? sherry... you've lost 40% of your excess weight, holly has lost slightly more than 50%. howie has lost 40% of his excess weight, and matt has lost a whopping 62%!!!! and i've lost 85% of my excess weight and i STILL have 50 pounds to go!!!

we have done incredibly well, in ways that people who haven't struggled with this much weight can NEVER begin to understand. and basically.. it's none of their business. stand tall. know that we're all supported by our strength. be proud of what you've accomplished and what you've learned on your journey.

oops!!! sorry julie, somehow i missed your numbers... you've lost 42% of your excess weight!!!!!! you've done great!!!!!

Jiffy, I just adore you!! You're continually an inspiration and uplifting!!

You're right, the majority of people don't understand at all the struggle that we've dealt with. We have to continue to look forward, but realize how far we've come.

We're a great group of LOSERS and should feel really good about what we've accomplished.

Have to admit I occasionally get that feelig. I've lost 47 so far and I'm still not halfway there either. It is a bit disconcerting to look on the fitday.com charts and see that I'm still severely overweight or whatever it says. I don't really feel severely overweight.

But I do look at how far I've come, and that's pretty exciting! I move my body every single day of the week, and I've dropped four clothes sizes. So when I concentrate on that, I feel really, really good!

Botticelli?! Botticelli babes are dreams. I'd settle for Grunewald's pot bellied girls. What would be wonderful was if Rubenesque returned!

Matt: You've got it right, IMHO. We can get this business undercontrol and be fit in a year or two, or fret and do nothing and be fat (still) in a year or two. I've lost a whopping 10#. I only need to do that 13 more times....

Look at it this way - if you hadn't done anything, you'd be even more overweight. Take pleasure in your victories and don't beat yourself up.

It seems like a loooong process to loose 100+#s! So far, I have been working on it for over 2 years! Nearly 75#s are gone....jiffypop...I like your idea of changing those numbers into a positive statistic! There are 3 things that I remind myself of everytime I get impatient about getting to goal:

1- Imagine how much more weight I would have gained by now if I had kept all of my old eating habits! When you think of it that way....I have managed to keep even more that 75#s off of my body!!

2- I am adding healthy years to my life by reducing my weight. I may have just bought myself 5 years heart attack free, or pushed diabetes off by a few years. Well worth the effort of loosing weight!

3- For me, this is supposed to be about healthy living (as well as looking great!). I am certainly improving my health with good eating and exercising, which makes me successful with this goal.

The frustration of loosing weight seems to ebb and flow. Right now, I am feeling like I am doing pretty well!

We should all be proud of ourselves for taking good care of ourselves! We all know how much work and effort it takes.

Kris
261-188-155

70 lbs left to go for me, but sometimes its not the destination its the journey. What I decide to do when I get there is up to me, for now I am enjoying the road.

Miss Chris

Thanks so much everyone!

Starting today with a better attitude!

And I don't want to think about how much weight I would have gained if I hadn't started this journey.

Sherry