My very first month or two I didnt see any results on the scale because I was at Uni during semester and had no access to one.
It wasn't until I had been eating healthy and exercising for about 3 months that I went home for a holiday and jumped on the scale which to my very pleased and surprised eyes read a loss of 5 kilos or ten pounds!
I'd convinced myself my clothes were getting baggier because they'd stretched lol.
How did you stay motivated?
What were your thoughts as you lost your first 1-5 lbs? and so on...
How long before you saw results, felt results?
Just interested in your story and trying to stay motivated?
I am pre-diabetic so one big motivator for me was no longer suffering from sugar drops (no sugar fluctuations in almost 3 mths!)
I really felt results within the first month. I walk for exercise and each week I kept adding additional steps and going faster.
I've lost 21 lbs on a 5'10" frame so I'm seeing some small results now. My double chin is gone and my neck looks slimmer. Clothes wise I was wearing a tight 20 or loose 22 and now comfortably fitting into most 18's. My friends are starting to notice at this point too and I'm getting lots of compliments.
I didn't have trouble staying motivated in the beginning. I had made my plan and set my start date, and I was very determined to do this. I felt that I had no choice but to get the weight off, and I was just absolutely going to stick to my plan.
One thing I did to help myself was to get all the tempting foods that trigger overeating out of my house, or otherwise made inaccessible. I also did not for a minute think I could "get away" with eating fast food at all. Because I count calories, I would look those foods up and be shocked by how many calories they contain!
It was harder later on, after the first month or two, because let's face it--it is tiring to stay on a weight loss regimen. Also, my plan included exercise 5 or 6 days a week. But I had made a commitment, so I just kept doing what I said I would do.
Sometimes my loss would stall even though I was "being good." I just kept going, knowing that sooner or later, I would have to drop! And I did.
I'm doing maintenance now, but in the next month I plan to restart weight loss again. I needed a rest, and we were moving. Maintenance is just like my weight loss plan, but with more food (and slightly less exercise. slightly). I still count calories every day--I know how much I eat. This is a change I'm making for life!
How did you stay motivated?
What were your thoughts as you lost your first 1-5 lbs? and so on...
How long before you saw results, felt results?
Just interested in your story and trying to stay motivated?
I stayed motivated by remembering my formerly thin self and knowing I had a whole closet full of clothes that I could look great in if I could just fit them! I also had a clear vision of what I'd look like when I hit goal that made me want to stay on plan to get there.
When I lost my first 1-5 pounds, my thoughts were something along the lines of, "WHOA! Is this really happening? Am I really losing weight?!" Then, "Bah, this is all I've lost? I have SUCH a LONG way to GO! I started really seeing results when I hit 160 and no longer wore double digits, since I could fit into 8's. When I hit 165, I became happy, though, knowing that I only had ten more pounds to lose before I was no longer overweight.
Trust me, losing weight and staying motivated gets easier and easier with the more weight you lose. The closer you are to goal, the more you want to make sure you stay on plan to lose those last few pounds. And once you see that you are, indeed, losing weight, you want to make sure that you don't do anything to mess it up! At least that's how I am!
For me I always lose fastest in the beginning so my biggest obsticle is actually sticking to a diet plan for those first couple of days. The first thing I did was to start drinking water (that's one of the first things I let slide when I start falling off the wagon) and once I did that I saw a rapid decline in weight--I retain water like a camel! That gives me quite a little jumpstart and that's enough to keep me motivated in the beginning. I count calories and that helps keep me accountable. I weigh every day also for the same reason, just to keep me on track.
I've already started seeing results and it's only been 2 weeks -- I've lost 9 lbs! (remember, water weight is a big part of that, but I'll take it! ) I can finally fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes (it's been over a year now, so it's about time!) and my face is thinner.
Of course this board is quite motivating as well, it helps to see all the before and after pics so many have posted--it proves that it CAN be done and that if they can do it, so can you, kwim?
Great thread, I look forward to reading everyone's stories.
I had zero problems staying motivated in the beginning. I made the decision to lose the weight, once and for all and that was that. I couldn't wait to start dropping the pounds. I was looking forward to being healthier, more active and energetic. I was looking forward to looking and feeling better. I knew that if I stuck to my plan, that there was no way on earth I wouldn't lose the weight. Having made the decision and the commitment to change my life was very exciting to me. Very.
I started seeing results on the scale immediately, which propelled me even further. My clothing took a bit longer, since I was soooo very large to start out with. I started feeling better within 2 weeks of elminating the junk and adding in healthy foods.
The motivating factors are always there - good health, being active and having energy, feeling good, looking good, wearing great clothing etc... Although, it is sometimes hard to remember those factors when faced with tempting foods. The longer you do this though, the less tempted you will be by those so called tempting foods. It's a wonderful cycle. And then of course there are the times when all those good habits fly out the window or want to fly out the window - luckily that's where good old Mr. commitment steps in and takes over (usually). I've commited to a healthier life and this is what I do now. Motivation aside, it's the commitment that will lead you to your goals and keep you there.
I didn't see any loss for the first month. I had gone to the doctor's and she told me that I had PCOS and that's why I had so many problems with my ToM and that I was at risk for a whole slew of other nasty things like cancer and diabetes and infertility, but it'd make things better if I lost some weight and exercised. So I decided I liked not having cancer more than being lazy so I hit the gym, starting on the ellipticals and eventually hitting 8 miles in an hour within a month, which made me very proud of myself, considering when I started I had to get off after twenty minutes or face collapsing, but I hadn't lost any weight. I was scared that this was the PCOS symptoms manifesting, meaning that I'd have trouble losing weight. My doctor called back around then and said the blood work had come back saying the PCOS wasn't as bad as she thought. When I told her that I'd been working out for a month straight and nothing had happened, she asked if it weren't my diet. I thought my diet was just fine, especially as I had been cutting out the junk food starting four months prior, but I joined weight watchers just to be sure, and when I started losing weight with that, I'll tell you, I was pretty darn relieved. After about a month and a half of that, I started getting annoyed and bit burned out from all the effort, but I knew the important thing was to just keep trying and not to give up and I worked through that stage, and I've worked through the other lows of the journey, and as long as I keep working through them, I'll keep hitting the highs.
Location: Ireland - The green green grass and the grey grey skies
Posts: 374
Height: 5ft 11"
motivation was hard. i remember when i was just starting, i could always find some insane logic on which to blame my eating. i was like "well i have only done day of dieting so its not a big loss if i eat today" or something really ridiculous. after i had done about a week, i simply couldnt go back. the one thing that keeps me going is the weighing up of the feeling you get from losing weight to the feeling of eating (and the feeling after you have eaten badly) and there was only ever one winner.... Once i started to lose weight, i was not for going back, no chance.. no food tastes as good as it feels to lose weight
My health conditions prompted my motivation. I was told that I had PCOS/Insulin Resistance also. I was told to do a Low Carb plan by my Hepatologist. I started my "diet" with the very next meal. I lost 16 lbs. the first 2 weeks of induction and I was hooked. I finally knew I had found a way for me to lose the weight. Of course, being put on Glucophage for the PCOS helped too. I started with simply walking for exercise, logging my food down every day in my journal and drinking lots of water. I wish I had known years ago that it wasn't that dang difficult, I was just making it seem like an unsurmountable task and it wasn't.
I did have periiods throughout my weight loss journey that I didnt feel as motivated. But, even a 5 lb. gain still puts me in a panic and back to induction mode.
As far as results seen, after 3 months of "dieting", I was down 35 lbs. and down from a size 20 to a size 14. Basically health reasons got me going, but vanity reasons kept me going even after my health was improved.
Oh man, in the begging, I was invincible. I lost 20 pounds in about three months, but the first two months, I was completely dedicated to my eating plan (I wasn't even exercising at that time). My motivation was just there, and the numbers on the scale were continually dropping.
It's been the year since that first loss that motivation's been hard. I've been struggling. In the last year I've only dropped another 10 pounds, and most of that was at the beginning of this summer. I'm back into re-motivation mode, and trying to tackle this last bit of weight. ("Bit" meaning about 20 more pounds ). It's much harder to keep myself inspired to just DO it now that it was then...
I guess writing things down, logging into 3FC if I'm feeling weak, and generally just talking about it with whomever will listen help me stay motivated.
Well, like most of the others here, my beginning motivation was jsut that i was sick and tired of being fat and I was determined to change that. In the first week alone I lost like 6 lbs or something crazy like that. I'm positive it was water weight, but hey, i count all of it lol...Like Jay said, there is no option of cheating, period. Last night at church I had a bitesize almond joy and a bite size reeces cup, but all 170 calories are counted on my plate. I just don't let it happen. Now I've been at it for 1 month, I started on August 13. I've lost 17 lbs, and I can definatly feel it, all my clothes fit much better. i'm still in the same size, but they fit like they're supposed to now lol. I know I'm going to have my days where I go over my alotted calories, but I'll just dust myself off and get back on the next day. For me like many others this isn't "just a diet" its a lifestyle change...Good luck!!!
Wow 20 lbs in a month, keep it up girlfriend!!!
Robin- you are rockin' for real, your pictures really motivated me to join this site! I lost 1.6 lbs this week so far, but how do I udpate my tracker.
What is POCS? Is that like "borderline" diabetes?
I lost the most the first three months. 10, 10 and 7 pounds. After that it was about 4-5, and now 1-2.
Staying motivated wasn't too hard. The switch just went on in my head. I decided I had had enough and so I started to make changes, but changes that I could live with and grow with. And I started doing several 8-10 minutes spurts of exercise a day...and played music. Made it fun and boosted my mood. I've said before that I have not found losing weight to be a miserable experience. Yes, sometimes frustratingly slow but I am not forcing anything on myself I can't handle or don't want to do. And I even enjoy exercising. I didn't think I would, lol.
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What were your thoughts as you lost your first 1-5 lbs? and so on...
When I dropped 10 lbs the first month, and then the 2nd, I thought, wow, that was faster than I expected. I also thought, yes, I can do this. I adapted myself to some things, and I adapted some things to me and it was all good. I'm not on a timeclock. The weight will come off when it comes off. There's both room for improvement and room for the occasional indulgence, and even then I don't binge.
I "felt" the results before I saw them. Clothes getting looser, fitting into a smaller size, stamina for exercise increasing. I'm told by people almost every day the last few months "you've lost so much weight"...and I sort of sometimes see it but not to the extent other people say they do. I've fluctuated between the same 1-2 pounds for about 2 months now and people still tell me I'm losing so much weight, lol.
So I guess the major motivations for me, besides wanting to look and feel better, were that I could enjoy doing it and having fun with it.
Your first month or two losing weight?
I have SUCH a LONG way to GO! 
I started really seeing results when I hit 160 and no longer wore double digits, since I could fit into 8's. When I hit 165, I became happy, though, knowing that I only had ten more pounds to lose before I was no longer overweight. 
That gives me quite a little jumpstart and that's enough to keep me motivated in the beginning. I count calories and that helps keep me accountable. I weigh every day also for the same reason, just to keep me on track. 
