I usually don't weigh myself when i get all excited about starting a new diet or declaring a change in eating habits, but this time I think it's necessary to track my performance.

Although it was a little less than I thought, it's still pretty damn depressing. How do you deal with staring at the face of overwhelming weight loss?

You must must must know that it's temporary! It doesn't really matter how bad it looks today ... next week it will be better. And then that number will only be temporary because the next week it'll be better still.

I take 10lbs at a time. Don't dare look at the total. Focus on a smaller goal. For me, my first major goal was getting under 200...next was getting under 185 (pre-baby#4 weight)...the next one is 160 (pre baby#3 weight)...beyond that I don't know! I don't remember being less than 150 in my adult life.

Take it easy, break it down into smaller chunks and soon you will be astounded at how far you've come.


Andrea

At my current weight, it will take me well over another year to be in to a healthy weight range. I realize this is better than some, but I can say I fully sympathize.

This is how I look at it: take over a year to be healthy, or don't be healthy. Be fat and unhealthy for life or lose weight slowly. Well, the choice is pretty clear. However long it may take, however depressing it is, that's the only choice.

And really, I have, what, at least 50-60 years left of my life? What's 1-2? Especially given the vast improvement in quality of life those 1-2 will bring?

As long as you have a plan that you can follow and stick with, it's really not that hard. Just frustrating, because we are an impatient society.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I've been doing well so far, it's just that initial shock I guess

My main forum here is the 100 plus forum, and this issue comes up a lot! I have to look at it 10-30 pounds at a time. That's why my ticker is only ever 30 pounds lower as my "goal". Otherwise I get overwhelmed. I focus "long-term" on 30 pounds, and "short-term" on the decade I'm currently in. And I try to set up rewards after each decade (a movie night with DH, a new book, a new outfit).

I also measure myself every month, and take pictures every decade. I know how fickle the scale can be, but adding up those inches lost is in some ways more palpable. I can say "I lost three inches on my hips" and it's more tangible than "I lost 10 pounds". It feels more permanent.

I also have begun to think of my weight-loss journey more as a road. I may be walking backward, standing still, or going forward, but I'm always on the road. I might as well keep moving. The journey has to be as important to me as the end-point, or I lose impetus to continue. It's too much work to keep going only for some far-off, indistinct, seemingly-unreachable goal of 150 pounds or fewer. But I CAN see the difference in my health when I exercise regularly. I CAN see the inches disappearing month by month. I CAN see how much more energy I have when I eat on plan, and how my blood sugar stays even and my cravings cease when I keep my carbs low.

When I focus on my actions -- my plan -- I find more success than when I only focus on goals. What I DO TODAY and the direct results of it, are more immediate than "someday I'll be slender and fit." So I try to focus on that.

I kinda WISH I had weighed myself at my heaviest. I didn't want to weigh myself until I was sure I had lost some, b/c I was too scared of what the number would be. When I finally did, it was 245. I am guessing I was probably pushing 250. But I will never know!

I try to make up as many mini goals as I can. Like to get out of a certain "decade." My most recent goal was to get to onederland. And my next goal is actually to get to 190 cuz that's what I weighed on my wedding day.

I haven't figured out a goal after that but I will If I try to think about being 135 I'm like OMG that's too far! I'll NEVER get there!

It's totally overwhelming to look at the big picture, but if you are morbidly obese now, you will reap the rewards of weight loss LONG BEFORE you get anywhere near your goal. I was ecstatic after 30 lbs, and felt amazing after 50! I'm still well above goal, but now I honestly look and feel like a completely different person....

Mini-goals are where it's at.... Why don't you break it up into 5 lb increments, and maybe set 10% of your total body weight as the first important milestone? 10% is the amount that is medically proven to improve your health. At that point, you can reevaluate.

I think we fatties tend to focus a lot on the end goal, not realizing that huge payoffs that come way earlier in the process!

Like many others have said, mini-goals, keep me on track. I do have my ticker set up for the long range goal, but I always have a mini-goal I am working towards. My first was 10%, then I wanted to hit 50 pounds lost, then it was to be under 300, then it was under 275. My current one is to have lost 100 pounds, which I am hoping to hit in the next 2 weeks. I have to know my long term goal because I am anal like that, but always working towards a new smaller goal keeps me sane.

I agree with breaking things up into smaller goals. I have two tickers - one for my total goal, and one for a current, mid-range type goal (such as 10% total weight). But then I also keep all sorts of smaller goals in my head, like dropping 5 lbs to get a new chickie avatar, or any time I move down to a new decade. Those are nice because I'm never more than 5 lbs away from hitting one of them, so that's a good motivator.

You are very brave to weigh yourself. Congratulations for getting over that hurdle. It was a big one for me, too.

But how can you get anywhere unless you know where you already are? I'm thinking of my Garmin device. First thing it does is pick up the satellite signal to figure out where it is: Oh. We're here. Okay. Then I put in the destination, and we can start up.

You just determined your starting point. It doesn't mean you're not moving or going anywhere.

Please don't beat yourself up for the past. You had to start somewhere. Now you have. As others said upthread, it gets better from here. Really.

When I first starting coming to 3FC I had never heard of mini-goals. I too felt it was too overwhelming to think about all the weight I needed to lose, and I had never really been successful at losing weight. I did eventually set a little mini-goal, and I want to say, psychologically, reaching that little goal was HUGE. It really meant something, it meant I could accomplish some weight loss. It doesn't have to be much. maybe if you are 285 its getting below 280. Don't make the first one to big, just a little boost for yourself. Its surprising how good it feels. The wisdom here is very good.

I take mine 10# as a time. It is a lot less overwhelming that way. I also do Biggest loser challenges. I set my goal for the challenge depending on how long a challenge is.

THAT is a fantastic way to describe it!