First off I weigh myself every other day. Which is bad. Second off I feel deprived from food. I mean I wasn't the type a person who loves fast food and junk food. My problem is portion control. When I first stared loosing weight I was so strict, now I'm just like whatever if I loose a pound good, but now i want to change that. My goal is to loose 60 pounds by August, but for some reason It feels impossible. I know I can do it, but I'm not feeling so confidant about it. Every week when I weigh myself the number looks exactly the same. I want to be in the 270 range, but its taking forever. I know this is a slow process, but I feel stuck. My next weigh in is on Sunday. I hope to see 278 or 279. I want big numbers but I don't see it happening. Also I'm in school and that takes up my life, It doesn't give me time to exercise. Can some one please help me?

First, congrats on losing 26 pounds!! That's great!!

Now, don't take this as a slam, but it sounds like you really aren't committing yourself to this process. If you really do want to lose weight, you have to commit to changes. Sounds like you know that. The good news is, you CAN do it.

First, I think you're scaring yourself by looking at such as large weight loss!
You may or may not lose 60 pounds by August, but I think setting deadlines, while they can be motivating, can also be defeating. Of course that number looks really big and may be overwhelming. I would recommend a change of mindset.

Instead of looking at all the weight you have to lose, look at your behaviors. The main two are food and exercise. It was unclear from your post whether you have a handle on your food or not. Do you know what you're eating? If you really want to lose the weight I recommend you take charge of this process again. I write down evertything I eat. When my doctor recommended it I was VERY resistant, but it has been a great tool. I use nutridiary, but many people like fitday.

Second, exercise. Again, don't take this the wrong way, but saying that school gives you no time to exercise is an excuse. First, there are all sorts of ways to add in extra movement into your day. Walk up an extra flight of stairs! Jog in place while the water heats for the shower. Be creative. You don't have to carve out 30+ minutes at a time to exercise. That being said, I wonder if it's really true that you couldn't do that -- 2 or 3 times a week -- if you really wanted to. When I really examined my behaviors I realized I did have the time, but it meant watching less TV. I don't miss it.

You CAN do this. That's the good news. It requires commitment and changing habits. But don't do them all at once. Make baby steps if it is too overwhelming. And post and read here. Ask lots of questions! Make this your home!

If you want to find others with a lot to lose, check out the 300+ and ready to try again forum: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=124 or the 100 pound club: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=55

Thank you wyllenn. I feel everything your saying, but I'm really not making excuses about exercising. I would like to add more exercise in, but I'm really busy. I walk, I take the steps instead of the elevator, I dance(one of my favorite things to do), but It doesn't feel enough. I wish I could do a lot more, but I don't have the time. I've been getting discouraged because the scale doesn't change. So lately I've been having this negative attitude about loosing weight. I don’t want to give up, I mean I've been getting compliments about loosing some weight, so I want to continue, but sometimes I feel lonely. I'm trying my best to reach my weight goal, but your right I should take baby steps instead. There's more I would like to say, but I decided not to type everything out. I will check the forum out though, thanks for the advice.

26 pounds is awesome, hon!
That's a great post by wyllenn. It sounds a little harsh to our delicate little ears, but it rings true. It really is all about just getting down and DOING it!
You know, there are a lot of us who don't want to do stuff...like journaling their food and counting calories, for instance. I am one of them. But I do it. I hate it, hate it, HATE it, but I do it, because I know that's the only way I'm going to get a handle on what I'm eating.
Same with exercising. How many people really LOVE exercising? Personally, I feel great afterwards, but the thought of having to do it makes me want to crawl into bed with a book and a big bag of chips.

I think that the majority of us look for excuses for not making life-style changes. We're too tired, we're too busy, we have some health-related problem...
There's a quote from George Sheehan (he was a great runner, but he groaned and "Oh, God"ed throughout his runs) that I really like...
“There are those of us who are always about to live. We are waiting until things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we get a promotion, until we settle down / until, until, until. It always seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we begin living.”

I hope my post didn't sound harsh. We really want the best for you, hon, and at the same time, we're trying to motivate OURSELVES!
Big hugs... you can do this!!

I missed your last post!
It sounds like you're doing great fitting in exercise, so maybe it really is all about the calories. The weight WILL come off... don't give up!

Let's get some perspective here.

I don't like the words "good and bad" I like "helpful" and "not helpful"

Some people weigh once a week, some weigh once a month, some weigh every day. You do what works. Personally I couldn't live with weighing every day. But if its helpful for you, do it.

Secondly you didn't get to the weight you're at now overnight. You're not going to lose the weigh over night. The safest way to lose it is a pound or two a week. It's annoying, slow and frustrating. But that's how it is for most of us.

Thirdly, the scales only tell some of the story. Sometimes (as happens all the time in my case) scales will not move. It doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong, it can just happen for whatever reason. So try and have other measures.

Fourthly losing weight is more effective if you exercise. We're all busy. I work 8 hour days and have a three to four hour commute every day. So count my 8 hours sleeping, that's 19 hours a day taken up already. I still do one hour exercise 5 days a week. Sometimes, and very often, its more than that. It's not always in a one hour block, sometimes I'll do half an hour before work, half an hour at lunch and half an hour in the evening, it depends.

I live by a schedule. I hate it, resent it, deplore it at times, but that's what's lost me 64lbs, and that's what I need to lose the next 50 or so.

Concentrate on what you can do, which is change your lifestyle. I made the mistake of setting goal weight targets and not meeting them through no fault of my own, and just getting depressed. If you are doing the right things the right way the weight will come off, but it may not do it to your schedule

Just a note, I posted this when your first post was the only one!!!! Ellis, Wyellyn and myself must all be talking to you at once, lucky girl

I'm really not good with calories. I'm suppose to eat 1500 calories a day, but I've been eating more, I feel so hungry towards the end of the day. I'm going to write what I eat down in a journal. I remember my doctor telling me to do that, and I did, but I only did for like a week. I think instead of using a journal, ill just make a blog about it. Thanks for the advice, and I know wyllenn is trying to help. That’s why I love this forum.

Yay!! We're all on the same wave-length!!
Come on, girls... we can do this!! All it takes is doing things we hate!! Maybe someday, we'll come to love them! We'll certainly love our new-found bodies.

I agree that you have set your goal too high. I'm not saying you can't get there, but it is too daunting. I say get rid of the August goal for now. If you must have a weight goal with a date attached to it, make it a weekly or monthly goal. And try to take the whole journey one day at a time, you'll get there.

congrats on the encouraging loss! oh, maybe u shouldn't focus too much on the scale's opinion~ it may be saying that the fats have been eliminated, so the muscle (extremely good tissue in raising metabolism & burning calories!)replaces it, *although* the scale may stay the same number! try measuring body parts instead =) inches may have come off! all the best & hang in there!

Kykaree congrats on loosing 64 pounds. I use to weigh myself everyday but that just drove me crazy, so now I do it weekly, and I'm still not happy about it, the scale is not my friend, but today I decided to change my attitude about loosing weight, and take it slow. Forget about making these huge weight loss targets I will just take it day by day, and hopefully I'll reach my goal. Thanks for the advice and good luck.

Hi motivation86 , I am pretty new here. I understand how you feel I work anywhere from 9 to 10 hours a day plus the full hour traveling then the getting ready for work so on and so on. But I have found that when I brush my teeth I am doing squats (becareful not to jam to the tooth brush on the top of your mouth, that hurts) heheeh. When I am in the car I suck in and out my tummy (not sure if that is doing any good) and when I have to go somewhere I park far away. I believe every little bit here and there helps. I have two goals for myself. One small goal and one big goal. I want to lose 20 pounds before June 10 and a total of 40 (or more) pounds by christmas 2006. I know I need to get more excerise in but right now I feel something is better than nothing. I have been putting every little thing into my fit day journal. I have also set a goal for myself to take 20 min out of my busy day to take a walk. So what 20 min of less sleep. I maybe able to do it.

I did WW and found out I am a carb person. If I do not eat my carbs during the day I am hungrey all day long. Some people are protein people. You need to find out what keeps you going all day long. Snack inbetween your meals. Like for my snack today, I know wierd, is Cold green beans. Don't ask I know I love cold green beans. I have been thinking about getting proetein shacks, vegan kind, but have not had the time to get to the health food store to look for them.

Here is my advice take it or leave it, remember I am new to this, right everything down you eat, I mean everything do not leave the coffee out, then write down what you did stair insead of elevator parked further away today stuff like that and then write down what time you got up, what time you got into the shower what time you left for school what time you went to class what time you got out...... then for a week you will see where you might be able to get a 20 min or a 30 min excersie in or be able to look at your schedule and see where you maybe able to change something. Of course when the semester changes you will have to do this all over again.

I love this little says and remember everytime I want something.

"You are not cheating on your diet you are cheating on yourself"

You are taking a step towards losing weight that to me is a great thing.

((comes in copys and pastes the words "You are not cheating on your diet you are cheating on yourself"and slides out to put them somewhere she can look at them alot........)))

I will echo Wyllnn's thoughts on this.

I will add that when you have a significant amount of weight to lose, you may find it helpful to NOT step on the scale so much. I started with 80 pounds to lose. The first couple months, I didn't even think about losing weight and didn't go near a scale. Once I had gained the courage and committment, i still kept a safe distance from the scale. To me, 2-3 pounds on my obese frame wasn't enough progress. My satisfaction came from waiting a period of time in between weigh-ins and seeing a more significant difference in numbers. Let's say I weighed in every 3 weeks. Within that 3 weeks, I thought I could be successful and work my *** off, or I couldn't and waiting 3 weeks to check my progress would be useless and a total waste of my already precious time. I am also a fulltime student and work (and try to have a life), so I know where you are coming from. But putting in the effort to drag my tired butt to the gym became a top priority. I wanted it SOOO very bad and I'm glad I made that choice.

Sooooo, if you have fully committed yourself and know that you can consistently keep at at, give it a whirl. If it's just going to make you forget waht you are trying to do, maybe not. BTW, 26 pounds is amazing! Don't feel like you haven't made progress!