I'm getting a little scared of not being in weight loss mode...I've been at this for 4 years (there was a pregnancy with a 50lb gain in there). I'm afraid of a couple things.
1. Right now I'm consistantly losing and it's more than enough motivation to get my butt to the gym or on a run and keep me from raiding my fridge. Once I'm at my goal what will be my motivation? Obviously not to gain weight or go back to where I came from...but at some point won't that fade?
2. I'm afraid of regaining. I did have a baby 18 months ago and I did lose the pregnancy weight and maintain 10 lbs below my prepregnancy weight for a few months before I started losing again, so I know I can maintain, I know I know what to do...but I can't help but be scared I'll be a statistic.
3. Not having something so positive to focus on. This has been my focus for quite a while and while I know I can replace that with maitenance I don't know if it will be the same.
Anyone else afraid? It's been a big change in my life and a big/good adjustment, but I'm still a little scared.
Firstly because I've been there twice and blown it.
This time I have some fitness goals. I've developed a keen interest in nutrition ... hopefully that's enough to keep me on track even though I'll no longer have losses to track.
Being Fat is Hard. Losing Weight is Hard. Maintenance is Hard. Choose Your Hard.
I love that quote because it's so true (or I'm guessing since I've never really been in maintenance). I'm terrified of reaching my goal. As impatient as I am to reach my goal, it is very scary entering the world of maintenance. My whole life my weight slowly went up. I never 'dieted' or tried to lose weight before, so this journey is a whole new experience. Like you I'm scared of how I'll transition into maintenance and it's a worry that I'll somehow mess-up and gain the weight back. I try not to worry too much (at least until I'm closer to my goal) but in the back of my mind it is something I think about.
Like Susan, I set fitness goals for myself. Lately I've been setting a goal for workout minutes each month, with a mini-goal each week. Last week I drank NO alcohol (I REALLY enjoy wine!). I'm hoping that will carry on for longer than a week, LOL. And this week my mini-goal is to get to the gym at least 2 days (I also work out at home every day) and try at LEAST one new machine while I'm there. Also, having an entirely new wardrobe to wear is motivation for me since I want all my new clothes to fit for a long time!
And of course, all the chicks here offer support whenever I'm feeling down. It's amazing how much it helps just to have a support system.
I am very scared of reaching my goal weight, I'm scared I will lose focus and not be able to maintain the low weight I would like, I'm also scared that I will get there and be very unsatisfied. I try to focus as much as I can on fitness and nutrition so I can become as healthy as I can I be and hopefully I can maintain that attitude and focus for life!
I am so scared of not even getting there. I am just staying positive and saying that I can get there...and I will. And I know that I can find plenty of people here, and I can talk to my aunt about maintaining a loss. I have thought about reaching my first goal and then taking a break to maintain for awhile. Any thoughts on that?
im afraid of reaching my goal weight to. because i have this feeling of when i get there its like....now what?
for me the weight loss journey has been as much about learning about my self esteem and how my view of myself should not be based on the number on a scale. But i honestly cant remember the last time i was happy with my body. and while losing weight has helped a lot, im not going to magically be confident once im done losing.
im also afraid that i wont know when to stop. my original goal when i first started was to be a size 8 or 135 pounds. i passed a size 8. i recently passed 135 pounds. right now my goal is 118 pounds. and i know that its normal to adjust your goal, but i just dont know if im going to have the ability to know when my body is how i want it. i dont know what i want basically.
but ya, im afraid too. but i guess we just have to keep going and see what happens.
I'm not scared of reaching goal... but I think that's because I'm in complete denial. I don't think I'm ever going to get down to 146 lbs because I've never weighed below 163 (and that was only for a matter of weeks after 3 months of serious food restriction).
Thinking about it now, it seems like quite a silly way of thinking...but until I'm much closer to goal I think it'll always feel like an impossible target. Not in a negative or demotivating way, I guess I'll just need to see it to believe it.
Last edited by dayoneagain; 03-08-2010 at 03:59 AM.
Yeah, mostly because my goal doesn't even sound possible. I haven't weighed 150 since 4th grade, so it's just really hard for me to believe that I can make it back down there again. I have failed a few times in the past because of this, that's why I started taking it on 10 pounds at a time and not worrying about my goal. Will I get there someday? I hope so! But for now, I just want to make it to 230. Then I'll tackle 220, and so on. I can't believe how much more effective that is for me.
When I do think about maintenance, I get nervous. It's hard to leave old habits behind FOREVER, the idea makes me just want to give up now, but I'm staying focused and I know when I get there I will not want to gain it all back, so I just have to accept this is a life change not a temporary fix.
Sorry for the ramble, it was kind of hard to put into words.
At first I was a little bit afraid of reaching my goal because it was so foreign to me and I had gained smaller amounts of weight back several times in my weight loss efforts. Like some of you, I hadn't been my goal weight since maybe 5th or 6th grade.
As I got closer and closer and eventually past my goal weight, my fear turned into not knowing when to stop. Not ever being satisfied. And while this is helping me not give in to my old ways and gain any weight back, I don't want to forever be in the weight loss mindset. I want to relax at some point and just have this weight and this lifestyle be part of who I am, not something I am constantly thinking about.
I'm afraid to get back into dating. I know it's such a horrible cliche, but I was kinda doing the 'fat as a shield' thing. And it will hurt to always wonder if the guys who hit on me after I've reached goal would've ignored me at my highest weight.
Maintenance is also a really big fear. I'm trying to focus on running as a hobby in and of itself, rather than as a weight loss strategy, so I'll have something to keep me motivated. I've accepted that I'll be weighing myself at least bi-weekly once I'm at goal. I think part of being formerly obese is that you have to accept that the scale will be a regular part of your life, even long after the weight loss goal is reached. The idea used to bother me, but now it's actually a comfort in a way. It's a pain to regain 20 or more pounds and have to lose it all over again, but stopping at a 5 pound regain and losing it is a **** of a lot easier. Deciding to stick with that philosophy makes the scary monster REGAIN a little less intimidating.
Anyone a little afraid of reaching their goal?
