I knew I shouldn't have....

ghoti_fish

This morning I weighed myself for the first time in ages
I have been a bit of a yo yo~er since university and have lost and gained the same 2.5stones a few times. 18months ago I gave up on mfp after losing 3 stone and restarted about 2 weeks ago but didn't dare weigh myself until this morning and...i`ve put on 27lbs since my lowest weight!
I worried it would make me feel bad about myself and derail my motivation...I was right!
People who have lost a lot of weight slowly: how do you keep going? I tend to give up after about 1 yr, even though i`ve got way.more than 3 stone to lose! Motivation needed today please :-)

cheshirecatastrophe

I think that how you view the process plays a really big role in success.

The word choice is "lifestyle change" versus "diet," with the idea that one is permanent and one is a temporary fix. This, to me, is a big deal, and makes the difference between "changing back" (which sounds like a big deal) and just "giving up."

If you set MFP's calorie target to .5 lbs per week, it gives you a target deficit of 250 calories per day. That's an extra Clif bar after a bike ride or a third donut at breakfast. For not much sacrifice, you're *basically* just starting what you're going to be doing for the rest of your life. It makes it less intimidating and takes some of the pressure off.

And I'd also say, it's pretty awesome that you caught yourself when you'd only regained, what, less than 2 st? And now you've experienced that initial bad shock of the number on the scale, and you can get down in the dirty of watching the frustrating and hilarious daily fluctuations or weekly progress (if you react harshly to the numbers, weekly might work better for you) with the rest of us.

I also like having people with similar goals--in my case mostly fitness-related--and a sense of humor on my MFP newsfeed. It keeps me checking in for the humor value, which keeps me going on logging.