Feeling like it will take forever! How do you deal with impatience?
Hi you guys!
I have Autism and thus my capacity for patience is incredibly low. I have a long journey ahead with 138lbs to lose, this is my 5th or 6th attempt to do this and I am coming to terms with the fact that it might take years to do. This alone makes me lose heart a little bit! How do you guys deal with this, if you feel the same? What techniques do you employ to make it easier? It feels like everything is going in slow motion to spite me...! The more I think about it, the more it looms...
I'm sure once i get past the first week I'll feel better...
I have no clinically definable conditions that affect my patience, and I still have a very hard time being patient about weight loss. I think it's just part of losing weight, at least for me.
One thing that helps me is to realize that the time will pass anyway, and I can either spend that time losing weight or gaining it. I'd rather lose it.
Another thing that helps is to set mini goals and reach them to bolster your confidence. It helps keep your overall goal from getting overwhelming.
It sometimes helps to tell myself, "Just for today," and focus on one day at a time.
Find things you like about weight loss. Be it exercise, trying new foods, noticing that you feel better, etc. If you enjoy it more, it'll be more likely to stick.
My biggest help was to concentrate on smaller goals. Instead of the focusing on the whole thing, I break it down in to much smaller steps. Ten pounds at a time, which takes me about six weeks to achieve. Bigger celebrations every 25lbs. When I hit 100lbs gone, it's gonna be a party, but I'm not worried about that number, just concentrating on the next 10 lbs.
I have Autism and thus my capacity for patience is incredibly low. I have a long journey ahead with 138lbs to lose, this is my 5th or 6th attempt to do this and I am coming to terms with the fact that it might take years to do. This alone makes me lose heart a little bit! How do you guys deal with this, if you feel the same? What techniques do you employ to make it easier?
Weight loss should be done in baby steps and not thinking too far ahead. Don't think of number of years it would take to lose weight. Make specific plans and stick to them. Write down why you failed in previous 5 or 6 attempts. It will help to figure out what you DONT needs to do this time.
Find enablers internally and externally. Take it one day at a time and with time going by so fast (for me anyway) it will be 04.03.2016 before you know it. Feels like yesterday when i started my WOE back in August 2013.
"Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying"
Last edited by TheSatinPumpkin; 04-03-2015 at 04:44 AM.
I have Autism and thus my capacity for patience is incredibly low.
I just finished reading "Brain over Binge," and one of the author's main points is that what we believe is how we behave. If we believe we have an addiction, we don't exercise self-control. If we believe we have fatal flaws, we find corroborating evidence and behave accordingly.
It may well be true that you don't have much patience right now (a trait that I share), but don't let that belief limit you! Can you feed your brain with a different version of yourself?
F.
Last edited by freelancemomma; 04-03-2015 at 10:12 AM.
I started off with 110 lbs to lose, so I understand the feelings you're having. I tell myself that I'm going to be on this journey for the rest of my life because you're pretty much doing the same things in maintenance as you are during the weight loss phase. So really, what difference does it make if you lose the weight in 6 months or 6 years?
Another thing that helps is knowing you'll feel much better long before you've lost all the weight. I started noticing positive changes after about 20 lbs.
And remember, the time is going to pass anyway! It's kind of like learning a new language - you don't expect to know it fluently in a few months, but over time, it becomes more a part of your world/life.
I have 150 pounds to lose and I've been on my weight loss journey for a year now and I havent got lower then 279 so I know how you are feeling. Just make mini goals instead of focusing on the overall goal.
Patience! I know, it's the age of google, and instant this and instant that!
Reality is, not everything is instant!
What might work for you, might not work for me.
So, patience! It's a "lifestyle" change, that is a "marathon", not a sprint!
The big thing is, you need to commit to patience, and tracking, food, mood, ups, downs, cravings, bad days, good days, whatever. What you will get from that is DATA/INFORMATION!
When you take the emotional side out of the data/info, it's just what it is. It gives you, what you need, to take the next step.
Don't get me wrong, it took me from 21 to 53 to figure it out! I finally had a talk with myself, and said, "self" you need to define, what you want to be "normal". Is it your health and a healthy lifestyle, or the alternative?
This is not an easy journey! BUT, it is SO worth it!
One thing that helps me is to realize that the time will pass anyway, and I can either spend that time losing weight or gaining it. I'd rather lose it.
This, very much. It's the biggest (maybe the only) thing that's helping me with staying patient. The time will pass regardless... but at the end of the year I'll have something significant to show for it.
Feeling like it will take forever! How do you deal with impatience?
I have a long journey ahead with 138lbs to lose, this is my 5th or 6th attempt to do this and I am coming to terms with the fact that it might take years to do. This alone makes me lose heart a little bit! How do you guys deal with this, if you feel the same? What techniques do you employ to make it easier? It feels like everything is going in slow motion to spite me...! 
The more I think about it, the more it looms... 
