For all you chicks that have lost substantial amounts of weight...
I am struggling with staying accountable/motivated for my weight loss. I have been on and off WW so many times because I lose the weight and just stop after a few weeks. What motivates all you guys to keep going to goal? Do you weigh in somewhere every week (ie. WW) or just weigh in at home once a week? I think that I need to throw my scale away. I am obsessing over it and getting on it sometimes twice a day I'll lose like 10 lbs and then decide that I lost weight so I will reward myself -with food! How insane is that? I am in reasonably good health -I can run 3 miles a day if I found the motivation. I just need to keep going....

Kelligirl:
For me, I was able to stay motivated by (1) writing down everything I eat (in Fitday); (2) planning out my menus, making sure I try new foods and recipes; (3) including foods that I love (but that are "legal), such as fresh raspberries, real crab, asparagus -- even if they are expensive (I justify spending for them because I'm not spending on junk foods); and (4) tracking my weight, measurements, exercise, calories and carbs eaten in a spreadsheet (and in Fitday) so that I learned how my body deals with weightloss. For example, I will lose fairly consistently for a month, but then it will come to a screeching halt, during which time I will usually lose inches. Then the scale moves again. Once you understand your own body's pattern (which is different for everyone), you will be able to get through the "down" times.

You've already identified one problem -- and that's rewarding yourself with food. Find something else that will be a treat -- pedicure, new shoes, etc. -- and make that your reward.

I actually weigh every day because I want to understand my body, but for some that is too discouraging. If the success is triggering eating, maybe you should just hide the scale and go by how your clothes are fitting.

The last thing is to truly evaluate why you want to lose weight. I was not motivated by wanting to do it for family, or even to do it to look better. But I was motivated by the desire to live healthier -- and hopefully longer. With my father having developed type II diabetes, I could just see the writing on the wall for me if I didn't take control

Good luck with your weightloss journey.

I lost 54 lbs. I stayed motivated by:

* Keeping a food journal, knowing I was going to have to write down what I ate made it easier to stay on track
* Shamelessly bribing myself for successes - for example, if I worked out all 5 days, I got a new skirt I wanted (I *never* rewarded myself with food)
* Tracking my weight loss/measurements in an Excel spreadsheet and making graphs
* Keeping my "big" clothes and trying them on and watching them get bigger and bigger
* Rewarding myself for meeting weight loss goals (every 10 lbs) - new pair of sandals, massage, pedicure, fancy hair cut/color, new clothes (*never* a food reward)
* Looking at old pictures of myself when I was heavy
* Getting a tattoo that says something meaningful to me about my weight loss

What has helped me the most is reading The 7 Secrets of Naturally Slim People. I realized I had labeled foods as bad and good. This caused me to obsess about my reward or cheat meals which I can have 4 times a week. I wouldn't necessarily eat those 4 times a week but I would think about them. Now I pay attention to what my body wants to eat and give it that food. I'm not afraid of what will happen when I eat any food my body wants.

I don't weight myself. I don't even own a scale. I occasionally measure myself. I have no set time when I do that. Usually when I feel a difference in my clothes and then in the morning before I get out of bed.

My all time high weight picture is next to my computer. I look at that everyday and tell myself what a great job I've done so far.

I keep a food journal of what I eat, and weekly/monthly statistics of my weight loss and measurements, and I blog about it, too. Mostly, I know that this isn't a trip to an ideal weight, it's a new way of eating and thinking about food period. It's not a journey from size 24 to whatever size I get to - it's about living healthy, and being the person I want to be, and that person can't/doesn't want to be crippled by bad food choices.

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments!