[cincimini]

Congrats on your 25 lbs!!!

I'm very close to that milestone myself (2 lbs left!) and still have nearly 100 lbs left to lose, so - I hear ya! However, I think the key is to give yourself those small victories along the way. Try not to focus on just the weight and if you do, go 'short term' with your goals.
Here are a few things I get excited about:
- lbs losses in small increments (5lbs, 10lbs, getting to the next "decade", 2lbs in a week, etc.)
- dropping a clothing size or finding that shirts/pants fit more loosely
- work-out mini goals (e.g. 5k in less than X minutes)
- dropping that BMI (e.g. I get excited about every 0.1 drop )

Also, these might work for you:
- Totally love the "your lost weight in objects" idea - will do it myself later!
- I have a measuring tape that I shortened to 120 cm - one cm for each pound I have to lose. Whenever a lb is gone for good, I cut off the last cm - it feels great!
- Graph your weight loss in Excel. I did this last week and I got so excited to see the steady downward trend, even if there were some bumps in the road .
- Get a jar and put in a marble for each lb you've lost. You can mark "mile stones" on the jar and reward yourself when you reach them

Anyway, I know you will reach your goal and you deserve to feel good about it on the way there as well. Keep fighting on!

[carter]

Originally Posted by Rosinante

I Do consider that I'm On A Diet. It's what works for me. It means I DON'T have to make good choices on a choice-for-choice basis, I just stick rigidly to my rules. No disrespect whatsoever to people who do it differently but I need Laws to help me concentrate!

I don't take any disrespect, what works for me and my own quirks isn't necessarily going to work for everyone.

But I don't think these two approaches are mutually exclusive. After all, even for someone who focuses on each choice when it happens, rules are needed to guide that decisionmaking process. The choices aren't made willy-nilly, they are made according to a specific set of rules and principles. That's what makes it a plan. And the flip side of that is that having rules and laws doesn't help you unless you abide by them - and I'm not sure how you would do that other than by making a series of good choices according to them! Whether you think about it in those terms or not.

My point about taking it choice-by-choice was not that it allows me to avoid big-picture thinking - it does not. Rather, it was emphasizing that *for me* numerical goals are really beside the point. I can't just will the numbers to go down; I am trying to control my behavior. So setting a goal of "My goal is to lose X pounds by Y date" isn't helpful at all - it provides no framework for decisionmaking and no guidelines for changing my behavior.

If instead, I have a goal that directly translates into behavior - "my goal is to DO certain things a certain way" - the numbers follow from that on their own.

[caryesings]

Here's the cool thing now that you've lost 25 lbs, and that is the math of adding the additional losses to it. I'll try to explain:

When I first started losing, my rate of @4-6 lbs per month seemed pretty "drop in the bucket". But somehow after the 25 lbs were off, adding 4-6 lbs each month was coming up to a "serious" number. I hadn't ever lost more than 30 lbs in my life so suddenly being able to say "31 lbs down, 35 lbs down" seemed like very big deal numbers. Even now when I only drop 2-3 lbs a month, when I tack on that number to 100 already gone, it seems pretty cool, rather than "only" 2-3 lbs.

[lazylioness]

Originally Posted by TheBunneh

Find something that weighs 25 pounds and pick it up. That'll put into perspective how much extra weight you've taken off of your body! I was shocked at how heavy 50 pounds was when I tried to move it.

You've done a great job! Even the fact that you're doing this, regardless of progress, is something to be proud of! Just stick with it. The days are going to pass by whether or not you're losing. So you might as well keep going.

Wow! Great Idea!

When I think of it like that, like I have lost 5 bags of sugar, it just seems like a LOT more.

I am struggling too,three months into my new lifestyle, trying not to get into my head too much today. One minute at a time I guess.

I am going to go home after work and do this. Get some perspective.

[starbrite]

Originally Posted by cincimini

Congrats on your 25 lbs!!!

I'm very close to that milestone myself (2 lbs left!) and still have nearly 100 lbs left to lose, so - I hear ya! However, I think the key is to give yourself those small victories along the way. Try not to focus on just the weight and if you do, go 'short term' with your goals.
Here are a few things I get excited about:
- lbs losses in small increments (5lbs, 10lbs, getting to the next "decade", 2lbs in a week, etc.)
- dropping a clothing size or finding that shirts/pants fit more loosely
- work-out mini goals (e.g. 5k in less than X minutes)
- dropping that BMI (e.g. I get excited about every 0.1 drop )

Also, these might work for you:
- Totally love the "your lost weight in objects" idea - will do it myself later!
- I have a measuring tape that I shortened to 120 cm - one cm for each pound I have to lose. Whenever a lb is gone for good, I cut off the last cm - it feels great!
- Graph your weight loss in Excel. I did this last week and I got so excited to see the steady downward trend, even if there were some bumps in the road .
- Get a jar and put in a marble for each lb you've lost. You can mark "mile stones" on the jar and reward yourself when you reach them

Anyway, I know you will reach your goal and you deserve to feel good about it on the way there as well. Keep fighting on!

All of the above - absolutely second the mini-goals it has really helped me. I have lost 89lbs and 56 to go. We can do this !!

[readytobeme2010]

ALOT of great advice here. Thank you for posting this. We have ALL been there. Look at me, starting ALL OVER....ugh..but I know how you feel. We are about the same size/height....

25lbs is 25 lbs and it's ALOT of work to loose that MUCH weight it's ALOT no matter what....

Keep your chin up...and Thanks again for posting this...Very encouraging just to know were not alone

[Aislin]

First go to the grocery store. Then....

Go hold a 25lb turkey...feel how heavy that is. THAT is what you lost. Tell me that is insignificant to your joints. Then go over to the butter...stack (yes I know people will look at you funny lol) 25 of those 1lb rectangles....that is how much fat is off your body. Your heart thinks that is very significant.

I find when I have an actual visual of what I have skimmed off my body, makes it easier to carry on to melt the rest off me.

Congratulations on getting rid ( I don't say lose because that infers I want to find it again) of 25lbs. This is a fantastic start and you should feel VERY proud of yourself.

[JackieHollow]

25 lbs is cause to celebrate! So CONGRATS!!! I have 153 lbs to lose... so I know totally how you feel. I can only reiterate what others have said. I look at the small goals. I refuse to think in terms of where I have to go. I think in small goals. I'm at a place that's exciting right now.... I'm looking forward to ..

50lbs (that's a goal in and of itself!)
51 lbs (that puts me 1/3 of the way to goal!)
and 54 lbs (that puts me at needing to lose LESS than 100 lbs!)
weighing 249.8 (I'll be closer to 200 than 300!)

I get to celebrate 4 times in a (HOPEFULLY) short period of time!! This keeps me excited. I love seing a new "decade" on the scale.. I haven't seen these in such a long time. LOL

other things that are fun are finding new clothes shoved way back in my closet that fit. It took me 30-35 lbs to really be able to find any. But it's still exciting and I find more and more that fit. It's not daily but I don't check daily. LOL once every couple weeks go through some smaller clothes (if you have any), and see what you can find that fits.

Also are you measuring?? That can be a big motivator.

I like to think of it as how far I've come.. not how far I have to go. 25lbs out of 125 lbs is 1/5 of the way. That's 20% of your journey. That's a huge feat!!! Be proud of that.. celebrate it. And when you think about how far you have to go, pull out a picture of you befor eyou started losing, and see how far you've COME.

[katkitten]

I definitely felt that way and still do sometimes (now it is: I've lost all this weight and I'm still far from goal). But remember that 25 lbs is 25% of 100 so you are 25% of the way to losing 100 pounds!

*Edited to say that you are 1/6th of the way to your goal weight! You've already done 1/6th of the work! Crunching the numbers always makes me feel better.

[Oh_Canada]

Originally Posted by TheBunneh

Find something that weighs 25 pounds and pick it up. That'll put into perspective how much extra weight you've taken off of your body! I was shocked at how heavy 50 pounds was when I tried to move it.

that just amazed me... i felt the same way i lost 22 lbs this month and same as you i still have a looooong way to go.... so i went and picked up 2 20lb bags of potatoes.... HOLY SMOKES THEY ARE HEAVY,,,,,, that much less weight on my hips,knees,,,,etc.... it may be a start but it was a darn good one

[moon safari]

Um, so I took the advice given here and filled a backpack with what I thought was 25lbs. I just shoved in a ton of magazines. I could barely carry it down the hall and when I weighed it, it was like 19lbs! So I went and started loading up books. Finally I made it 25lb and my plan was to put it on my back, walk around, and think about what I was carrying around. It was so heavy that I didn't even want to put it on my back.

I am seriously shocked. That thing was HEAVY.

[carter]

Originally Posted by moon safari

Um, so I took the advice given here and filled a backpack with what I thought was 25lbs. I just shoved in a ton of magazines. I could barely carry it down the hall and when I weighed it, it was like 19lbs! So I went and started loading up books. Finally I made it 25lb and my plan was to put it on my back, walk around, and think about what I was carrying around. It was so heavy that I didn't even want to put it on my back.

I am seriously shocked. That thing was HEAVY.

Nice work!

[Aislin]

Awesome! Hard to believe you carried that around daily eh? Keep up the great work!