Hi all,

I'm fairly new to 3FC. I'm going to WW and have lost 9lbs, but I still have (gasp) 114 to go. That's a whole thin person I have to lose!

I think I'm just feeling lost and overwhelmed today.

Well your in good company. We all have (gasp) almost 100 sometimes more to lose. Juse look at it like 9 down 114 to go.

Welcome and don't look at the big picture that can be quite overwhelming. Just take it small goals like 5, 10 pounds or even a 10%. As some success stoires here can show you it can be done. Just one minute, meal, day at a time!

There must be something in the air as I awoke feeling a bit overwhelmed as well. Sometimes the length of our journey can be daunting. I didn't let the feeling linger as I forced myself to remember so many encouraging things I've read here and elsewhere...such as:

One pound a week and think of where you'll be next year.

If not now...then when?

You can either lose slowly or continue gaining slowly.

Take it one day...one meal at a time.

It's not just about the scale...most importantly it's feeling better.

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes it's the quiet voice at the end of the day that says "I will try again tomorrow."

It's a marathon...not a sprint.

The greatest thing in life is not where you are, but the direction in which you are moving.

Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can.

Hang in there...we're all in this together!

Thanks to you both. I do try to focus on the little goals. I'm at 264 right now (I was at 260, but gained 5 and now am relosing). My first goal is 259 - to get me out of the 260's.

We have all done that also. Gained and then had to lose it again. Just keep going you won't believe how fast it really goes once you get going with a plan. I made 10% goals. I had a 176 lbs to lose so I made 10 small goals of 17 lbs. I only have a little over 2 more goals to go before I am at my original larger goal. It really does help to look at it in smaller segments. Even so I can remember last year thinking how long it would take but you just have to push through those thoughts and you really will be there before you know it.

Think about the rest of your life. Think back 5, 10, 15 years I bet they went really fast. This too will go fast and if you stick on plan the weight will go fast along with the time.

I've lost 170 so far, working on the last 10 or so. When I started I didn't even think about any pie-in-the-sky ideal goal, I just wanted to lead a healthier life. What really helped me was to concentrate on changing my habits and bringing a healthy mental attitude and balance back into my life, with the understanding that weight loss would be a side effect of that. I followed (and still follow) a commercial program, but I didn't even weigh my first six months. I didn't want to get caught up (as I had so many times before) in scale-watching. That had only discouraged me in the past, I never lost as much as I expected or wanted, my goals (even small ones) seemed too far away. I'm not saying everyone should do this, but just that the more you concentrate on the REAL goals (healthy eating, activity, stress management, dealing with compulsive behavior, etc.) the less important those numbers become. Not that I'm not THRILLED at what I've lost and in watching those numbers drop, but that I'm equally happy with the fact that I have a life that doesn't revolve around an addiction and whims.

Feeling a little overwhelmed myself nowadays. I think the best advice I've had on the subject is to make small doable goals that you can focus on for the day (target water, exercise, doing something different) while visualizing how you will be when you've attained your ultimate goal. Make your vision as real to you as possible (use all your senses, fill in the details). I think the "journey" part is more important than the "destination" -- while it's hard, it's still your life and you gotta enjoy the small steps just as much as the big milestones along the way. But that's something I'm still figuring out.

The one-pound-a-week thing is working well for me. Most other times I've gotten discouraged when the initial quick losses faded away a couple of months into a program. I still see three and five pound losses from other people in the weekly weigh-in thread, and think "gee, how nice! I wish I could lose that fast." But this time I'm really trying to focus on baby steps. One pound a week is 52 pounds less I'll weigh next year. When I lose more than that, and some weeks I do, I'm elated. But I want to build the expectation of minor victories, and grow into success, rather than feel bad and defeated and overwhelmed when I "only" lose a pound, or even gain a couple.

Breaking it into smaller chunks helps a lot, too. Like reading a Dickens novel, it can feel overwhelming to start. But most of Dickens' work was serialized -- meaning that it was published a chapter at a time. It really helps to think of it that way.

Another thing that helps me a lot is to identify my comfort and trigger foods, and my needy and weak situations. When I'm bored is a prime one. When I first get home from work is another. Faced with cheese and starch in almost any combination is another. So, knowing that those are times when it is harder for me to make healthy choices, I try to plan ahead of time for what I will do in thost situations. I don't always follow the plan to the letter, but at least I don't fell totally helpless in the face of the cravings/habits/emotions. I am smart. I am wise. I have a plan.

One step at a time. We'll get there.

I agree with Inca's Mom!!!!!

I had to take it down to a 'bite size' (forgive the pun) piece like 10% goal and not look at the 100 lbs I need/want to loose - so I really just focus on that the 10%, then i'll focus on the next 10%.

Try that for 2 weeks - focusing on a 5% or 10% goal.

NEVER GIVE UP NEVER SURRENDER!

Welcome, Trudi!

Everyone's right-- chunk it up. I play with the numbers as kind of a game to make it seem more manageable. For example, if I were you I would think to myself, "Hey, I've lost 9 pounds! I only have to do that 12.5 more times. I can do ANYTHING 12 and a half times..." Then I readjust as I lose more, so the number gets smaller faster. For example, I've lost 21.5 pounds. I've only got to do that 5.5 more times and I'll reach my goal. How much better does that sound than 118.5 pounds?!

The 10 percent thing works great too, but I'm famous for making things harder than they need to be (what can I say? I like a challenge! ). I play the same games with myself when exercising, like after 10 minutes on the elliptical machine I want to quit, but I'll think to myself, "Now just do that 2 more times and you're done!" It sounds so much better than 20 more minutes. Then at 15 minutes, I know I only have to do what I've just done once more, and I'm through.

I'm probably branding myself as a nut case, but it helps get me through when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Just find the thing that works for you--it'll seem so much more attainable!

It's the same as I do when I'm running. I'll get to 2.5k and tell myself to try to make it to 3. Then when I get there I tell myself I may as well do 25 minutes. An when I get there I tell myself that it's just over 1k more and I'll have done 5, so I may as well carry on as giving up now.

Same technique. I tend to keep a current target in my diary with a list of weights for me to write dates beside when I hit them. This list is ever more than 10 - 14lb at a time, and it keeps me more focussed to get down the list fairly fast (compared if I had a 100lb target). Then when I make it there I do a new target.

Breaking it up into smaller portions is what I do too. In fact, I only think about how much further I have to go when I adjust my ticker, and then it's only fleeting--just about enough time to work out percentages and all that jazz. I'm far more interested in how much I've lost*. I started with 109 pounds to get rid of and it didn't really register when that first went below 100 and then 90.

And Cecily, don't fret about being thought a nut case! My entire life revolves around numbers, and playing with them. Everything I do includes ritualistic counting; from twists of pepper, to the number of seconds it takes to fill a glass with water, to how many steps it takes me to reach any given destination.... If I do say so myself, you're in jolly good company!

*I hate saying I've "lost" weight because that implies that a) I don't know where it's gone; and b) I might just find it again. Neither of which are true.

Ali, you're a kindred spirit!! I count stairs, steps from my office to the restroom, number of steps up the hill by my house, and I time everything (drying my hair, driving to work, grocery shopping, etc.). Glad to know it's not just me!

By manipulating the numbers we know we are in control of them! Yeah! We WILL get them where we want them!