I feel so discouraged

rpkg62

I have been working really hard, and have logged over 100 days in a row. I have lost only 15 pounds (GOAL is 40 lbs at least). I've been over-weight/obese since the 4th grade, nearly 14 years ago. I first started trying to actively lose weight since the 6th grade.
I have tried to seriously loss weight several times. Sometimes I have been successful, but only briefly. I've been in the same range of 20 lbs for the last decade. I'm at the lower end of that range again. I've been down this road before, I've been this weight before. Not only has this weight loss been painfully slow, I'm scared I won't be successful in the long run...again. Everything about my weight loss this time around feels like before. Scared. I want to keep going. I want to be done with this journey, and be successful.

usmcmp

100 days is about 14.5 weeks, so you've managed to lose a pound a week. How can you be discouraged by progress? Use the knowledge that you've made progress to keep pushing on!

As far as what happened in the past you need to stop letting it hold you back. I want to point out that your problem is likely exactly what you said in the last sentence. You will NEVER be done with this journey. There is no end, no finish line, no stopping point. You'll reach your weight loss goal, but you will then have to keep working to maintain that. Your previous efforts failed because you see weight loss as a race where all you have to do is cross a finish line.

You need to start thinking about this as a long term thing because what you do now is what you need to keep doing to keep the weight off (although you get to eat a little bit more). You'll never get to go back to how things use to be because that's how you gained the weight and that's how you will gain the weight back again.

lorrpb

Congrars on your logging success! With 40 lbs to lose, you should target 1 lb per week, which you've achieved. With 20 lbs left, you would target .5 lb per week. It will take longer th as needed you "want" it to, but as long as you make progress, it's all good. You will never be "done" with this process. Weight has always been a challenge and likely always will be. After you reach your goal, you will need to find ways you maintain successfully. It doesn't just happen. I say this not to discourage you, but to encourage you to set realistic expectations & develop good eating habits for life. It's all about portion control.

KimCarbdashian

usmcmp wrote: »

I want to point out that your problem is likely exactly what you said in the last sentence. You will NEVER be done with this journey. There is no end, no finish line, no stopping point. You'll reach your weight loss goal, but you will then have to keep working to maintain that. Your previous efforts failed because you see weight loss as a race where all you have to do is cross a finish line.

All. Of. This.

When I accepted that a healthy lifestyle is a long term effort and not a short term fix, the goals became easier to manage. It's important to build habits that you can sustain for many years to come.

Personally, I think losing 1lb per week is fantastic. That is my current plan. I'm still eating foods that I enjoy every day. In the past I would insist on following a crash diet with an extremely large deficit. No treats, or no carbs, or no fat, or no taste. They failed every time. This method has not. I don't feel as if I'm denying myself of anything. And after 8 months, I'm down 55 lbs.

Just keep swimming. Good luck!

stevet621

usmcmp wrote: »

100 days is about 14.5 weeks, so you've managed to lose a pound a week. How can you be discouraged by progress? Use the knowledge that you've made progress to keep pushing on!

As far as what happened in the past you need to stop letting it hold you back. I want to point out that your problem is likely exactly what you said in the last sentence. You will NEVER be done with this journey. There is no end, no finish line, no stopping point. You'll reach your weight loss goal, but you will then have to keep working to maintain that. Your previous efforts failed because you see weight loss as a race where all you have to do is cross a finish line.

You need to start thinking about this as a long term thing because what you do now is what you need to keep doing to keep the weight off (although you get to eat a little bit more). You'll never get to go back to how things use to be because that's how you gained the weight and that's how you will gain the weight back again.

Well put! No need to elaborate further, she's right.

Losing 20 lbs is an achievement!! And even if you don't believe it, you are going at the perfect pace.

Take photos along your journey, you may not notice the incremental changes until you reflect back.

fiddletime

I'm here also to lose about 20 pounds for the umpteenth time. My third time on MFP and I'm finally learning that the work never ends. I lost ten pounds then in the past month I've gained a pound. Not bad as that is called "maintenance". I'm now ready to work on the rest and if I need more maintenance practice I'll do that. My version of maintenance is eat a bunch of good stuff on the weekend and toe the line during the week. Now that I see what I really can live with, it's easier to imagine maintaining for life.

crowed1993

Add me

88olds

Great thread. As noted, it's working. Yet that voice in your head says "Not good enough."
It's that voice that keeps you overweight. You have to fight that voice, and win.

Nobody can tell you exactly how to fight it, because the pushback has to be true to you. These are some things I thought up to fight that voice in my head. I see we have had some of the same issues.

-What happened last time I tried to lose has nothing to do with this time. The past does not control the future.

-I deserve to succeed. I have a right to determine for myself how I want to live.

-That # on the scale this week is a point I had to pass to get to goal. Even if I lost .4 or .2 for the week, it was weight I had to lose.

-This is all new to me. If I stay on a downward trend over time, it's working. It feels weird because I've never done this before.

-What I want is to keep losing until I achieve my goal. Telling myself I have to lose X lbs by Y date, is a way to turn success, loses, into failure, not fast enough.

Like I said, pushback. It's working. Look in your own head for the truth. Recognize success. Good luck.