[mandypandy2246]

I have lost about 20lbs since mid October in a healthy way. I am 5'9, started at 292 and now am at 272. For me, 20lbs is a huge deal as most diets failed around 12lbs (normally I would plateau, get frustrated, give up). I finally feel like I have a healthy life plan I can stick to. Even though the weight is slowly coming off - its very frustrating that I don't see any results yet. My clothes don't seem to fit better, I don't notice a difference in the mirror, etc.

I keep reminding myself of the papertowel metaphor - when you have a full roll, the first few papertowels don't make a difference but as you get smaller and smaller each paper towel makes the roll look much smaller. So I know at some point, I am going to start noticing/seeing results ... just not there.

I'm frustrated and wish the weight would come off more quickly - that said, I won't compromise my health and will continue losing slow and steady while eating healthily. With all that in mind, when you aren't getting positively reinforced by great results all the time ... what are the things you tell yourself to keep you motivated? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. When I think about how long its going to take to lose the weight I feel sort of hopeless.....

[alaskanlaughter]

I like to reward myself for hitting exercise goals because I can control them more than I can control the weight loss...For example my goal in September was to run 2 miles every workday (or 5 days a week) for the whole month and then I'd reward myself with a protein shake from the gym - which makes amazinggg but spendy protein shakes. ...or if I work out 5 workdays then I can use the gym's hot tub on Sunday...things like that...

[mandypandy2246]

Those are good ideas- thanks!