does anyone else that is actively losing weight wish that time would fly by a little faster so that you could reach your goal already?? some people think im just paranoid but i just cant belive i waited this long to start losing weight, if i would of just done it sooner, i would have already reached it.

lol, Im like that some days. but like they always say "good things will come to those who wait". So im just taking it one day at a time.

Oh honey do I ever feel ya!

I did this once before and was in ONEderland, and I just can't believe I gained it all PLUS a ton more! I would never have believed I would reach over 300....I was devastated when the scale read 321.

But ya know what...everyone has their mountains in life, fortunately ours can be "cured" with exercise and healthy eating. Not everyone has it that good. I always think about those with Cancer...no cure yet...all they can do is wait and go through treatments that may hurt a lot and not do anything to help. They have so much hope though, and most of them are so joyful even through their trials.

We have a hard mountain to climb, but we can do it....even if we stumble a little along the way...we WILL overcome! Keep your chin up..you have come a LOOOOONG way....I hope to be where you are in 6 months. we're here for ya babe

I'm like that some days too. I started again in February of 2006 and am down 42 pounds. Of course, I took a few months off here and there so I'm really the only person I can blame for that!

thank you browneyes.

I aboslutely feel the same way, which is kind of how I came up with my screenname. I kept thinking "I wish I had never gotten this heavy, I wish I'd lost weight years ago, I wish I were already in shape, I wish this weren't so hard!" etc. etc. And the title of my blog is "I don't just want to be a wisher anymore," because wishing doesn't get me anything.

Sometimes depending on my mood I think this whole weight loss thing is going so painfully slow, other times I think I'm cruising right along. Right now unhfortunately I'm of the "painfully slow" school of thought because I'm stuck just barely above ONEderland. *sigh* I'll get there eventually!

One thing to keep in mind - the process of losing weight and learning what works for us is teaching us what we need to know to KEEP it off! You're training your body and your mind how to be a healthier, happier you - if you were to wake up tomorrow suddenly at your goal, every bit of excess fat gone and magically a size 6 or whatever would be right for your body, would you even know what to do with it?

You've lived your life in a way that brought you to your highest weight. And you've now been changing your habits and your choices to alter that, and learning about yourself and your body along the way. In the last 10 months and 85 pounds, I'm sure you've learned a lot about how your body works, what eating and exercise methods make you feel good and look good, and what aspects you'll be able to hold onto when you reach your goal to help you stay there.

There are a lot of options open to us - crash diets, liquid diets, surgery, food delivery, liposuction, residency programs, etc - which will take the weight off. What they won't do is teach us how to be healthy, how to live in and keep up the smaller body we'll have in the end.

The number on the scale when you reach goal isn't the end of the journey. Or, at least, it can't be if you want to stay there. If you were to never lose another pound, aren't you happier and healthier in your body now than you were a year ago? Focus on the journey, the process, and all the lessons you've learned about yourself and your body in the last year.... you'll get where you want to be if you keep working on it. And learn to enjoy the journey - it's not going to change when you reach ### pounds.

Rock Chalk, that was so inspiring. But yes...i wish i were already at goal. I know that would not make my life perfect, but it would be one less thing to worry about. I am so mad at myself because this time last year i was at half my goal and i lost my gym membership. then i gained back 7 of the 33 pounds i had lost. Now, i am finally starting to see some progress again and i am just so excited. I am just wanting the fat to melt away. but it will come i know. unfortunately, we have to be patient. but i do know what you mean and how you feel.

I wish I had lost the weight and kept it off ten years ago. Heck, I wish I had lost the weight and kept it off twenty years ago! But I didn't get it back then, that losing weight doesn't mean I get to go back to eating the old way I used to.

I wish I was already at my goal! But, it's one day at a time.

Jay

I know how you feel - I'm angry with myself for letting the last few months slide, so that I'm STILL 10 pounds from goal when bikini season rolls around. Time to hop back on the wagon...

Well sure I wish I was at goal. I also wish I had never ever gotten to be 287 lbs. I wish that the something that "clicked" in my head this time would have clicked 2 decades ago. But ........ that's just not the case. I really try hard not to dwell on what could have been and the only ifs. It's too aggravating and too sad and it gets me nowhere. I've got to deal with the here and now.

When I started my journey back in September I set no time limits for myself, but I did want it off as fast as I could possibly control it. I just knew, I mean I really, really knew that IF I stuck to my plan religiously that that would be my best chance for getting it off as quickly as possible. However long it takes.

And though it's been a long journey and not always easy and it's nowhere near over, it really has been quite enjoyable. I have been feeling (and looking) much better for months now, though not yet at goal. So I really don't think you need to hit that so called "magic" number to start reaping the benefits. And I have learned so very much, about myself and nutrition and other people as well.

Pinupdreams you have done an amazing thing for yourself. You've lost 85lbs!!!!! You should be so very proud of yourself. I know that you are already reaping some of those benfits. Stick with the program and you will get to your goal. Though perhaps we could have started out sooner, at least we started when we DID and didn't push it off any longer.

I'm dropping 100. That's the plan. If I did that at a nice, healthy rate I'd go bonkers. I know that my personality necessitates immediate visible improvement in order to maintain my interest and inspiration. Plus, I really don't want to operate at or near the 300 lb. mark any longer than is absolutely necessary.

My solution was to gear my overall plan into 2 segments. Part One should get me half way there in a hurry. That will create some visible results, etc. Part Two is the long-term, lifestyle thing.

In any case, I'm impressed by those willing to get the job done little by little over months and months and months. That takes a certain mindset and patience.

Steve

Oh yeah! My fantasy is to go to bed fat and wake up thin, so far it hasn't happened.

This has been a long-time aggravation for me.

I want EVERYTHING right here, right now. I am very impatient... driving, waiting in line, etc. So of course dieting is no different. In my head, I KNOW that losing weight takes time. It didn't come on overnight, it won't fall off overnight. I know that healthy eating habits & exercise is THE WAY to do it.

Yet still, I occasionally fall victim to the fad diet of the day, or do something stupid like not eat breakfast or lunch, & then try to have a small dinner in hopes of losing a pound or two. Of course, then I get RAVENOUSLY hungry & pig completely out. DUH!

What really bugs me about it is that I KNOW that's NOT the way to do it! But every now & then, I just get so darn impatient.... last December I was read to spend $7000 to get full-body lipo. Thank goddess my know-better-ness took over!!!

I used to have that fantasy too, that the Thin Fairy would come during the night and wave her magic wand and I'd wake up thin.

The problem is -- I would have eaten a bag of Oreos to celebrate.

Rock Chalk is so, so right about how losing weight is practice for keeping it off for the rest of your life. Trust me, losing the weight isn't the hard part. Most of us are good at losing. Keeping it off is the challenge. The losing phase is the warm-up for the real fight -- maintenance.

Now is the time that you're putting together your tool box of skills and strategies for weight control. You'll be using it every day for the rest of your life. Every day that you're on plan is practice for the rest of your life.