I totally understand that one pound down is better than one pound up. I know it is a slow process to lose the weight in a healthy way and keep it off. But when you are just starting out and work so hard and lose a pound or two, how do you make your mind celebrate the accomplishment instead of thinking about how much farther you have to go and how the results aren't noticeable yet. I lost a pound yes, but I'm still totally "fat girl" I want to be excited with each small step. But I am just still incredibly disgusted with myself

It DOES totally blow when that happens. It's freaking hard. The only way I was able to get past that kind of disappointment (because sometimes it takes the same effort to lose 5lbs in a week as it does to plateau) was to focus on how I was going to maintain, what the day-to-day of the rest of my life was going to look like.

When I started coming to terms with the fact that I was going to have to count cals in some fashion, prep food, exercise, and sometimes pass up on things I wanted forever to maintain a weight loss, it stopped being so much of a disappointment when the scale didn't move. That was defs not something I could accept overnight, but it gave me a lot of peace of mind when I could.

I started to feel good about keeping track and doing well with that instead of seeing the numbers go down. I also focused a lot more on exercise "victories." It sill sucked when I felt like I was doing everything I could and nothing seemed to changed, though! I just got better at not feeling gutted over it.

Thank you. It really does help so much to hear someone just even say "I get it" knowing they really DO get it! Thank you!

Hi Want2SmileAgain,

If possible, change your username! Because one day you WILL smile. It might even be TODAY!! Who knows???

Listen, losing weight for me used to be not a big deal. Once I hit a certain age, though, it was like my body was laughing at me for trying!!

What I did was Lose the Scale! Then I became Process Oriented. I choose a plan I feel excited about. Then I do the eating plan and exercises for that day. If I'm traveling or at a party, I stick to the SPIRIT of the plan (i.e. eat less if calorie counting, forgo the bread if low-carb, etc.)

As long as you're eating healthy and moving, you will look good, no matter what you might think yourself! Trust Me!!

I hear you, but you did not gain the weight overnight and you are not going to lose it overnight. You lost a pound. Great! A pound a week does not seem like much but it's a very healthy pace to lose weight. If you lose a pound every week, a year from now you would weigh 52 pounds less than you do now. The most important thing is to keep going. Don't give up, don't get discouraged. If you have a bad day or a bad week, choose to turn things around and make the next day / week better. It's all mental and you CAN do this.

Listen, the past year for me was tough. I went through some really difficult things in my life, and lost a couple of people I loved dearly. It sucked. I wanted to give up. I was not focusing on myself or my health at all because I felt rotten. And then a few months ago I turned my attitude around and started eating heathy again and running. I realized that I may not have control over some of the things that happen in life but my choices of food and exercise are completely, 100% under my control. If I want to be fit, healthy and thin, I can totally do that. I just had to make the commitment and do it. And I'm doing it. It's taken me forever to lose this weight but I made a commitment to myself to get to my goal once and for all. And I am doing it. Dig deep. Find what motivates you. You can do this.

Something that helped me was looking at picture of how much one pound really is. It's actually a lot when you look at it!

I understand too, you just want to see it! You want to know its gone!!! And even after the first ten twenty, sometimes even thirty, you can't see it. You can't tell. For me, it took over thirty pounds before I noticed the difference. So don't get discouraged, remember that inbsome ways your own mind is working against you. Your body is used to seeing you FAT used to calling you FAT. It's gonna see FAT even if you loose a hundred pounds in a week, even though you aren't. So look at that scale and tell yourself "No brain I am BEAUTY. I am POWER. I am CHANGE. Whatever you need .

And maybe, spread your weigh days further apart so you see bigger changes. That's what I did in the beginning... Every two weeks, than every week, then every few days... And it's changing again. You make the rules for yourself

If you recently started an exercise regime, you can retain water, masking your loss. I often stay stagnant for 6-8 weeks whenever I begin something new.

A pound doesn't seem like much until you realize how few people actually accomplish it. I have lost virtually all of the weight I've lost so far at the rate of no more than two pound per month, and my average is much less than that.

I often struggle with stalls and even backsliding, but I don't let myself get discouraged, because I'm doing what I have never done in my life before - kept any weight off for more than a year - and it's been over 10 years since I was at my highest weight.

I stay motivated by never working much, if any harder than I'm willing to in order to maintain my current weight. It means I lose much slower than most people, but I never feel too discouraged to keep going.

Because my entire focus is on "not gaining" (and maybe losing just one more pound), I get to celebrate success more days than not.

So few people keep off the weight they try to lose, that getting off (and more importantly keeping off) even one pound, is an extraordinary accomplishment worthy of wild, mad, celebration and pride.

Too many of us (probably close to 100%) think we are doing far worse in comparison to everyone else than we really are. We think we're failing because we see the 500 marathon runners ahead of us, and not the 25,000 runners in our wake, all of them envying us because we're so fortunate to be ahead of them.

Every ounce is an achievement that millions of people have reason to envy.

Uh Kaplods, thanks! Your post helped me!!!

Ugh I get frustrated because I've already lost these same pounds before so not only don't I see a change in the mirror but I don't even get a thrill from the number on the scale as it goes down because I've already done this before lol sending you good thoughts though!!

Hi all, a one pound loss was on the cards for me this morning too which is really strange because I felt like it was going to be more based on my clothes etc. But determined not to let this prompt any dodgy eating behaviour today! A poiund of is a pound closer to my goal and it may be setting me up for a bigger loss next week! Good luck all - keep on truckin'

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I've read and re read this about ten times !!

Thank you!!!! Nice to know others understand!

. Thanks for the support!!!

Good advice. And thanks for the encouragement !