How many people find it hard to lose weight

bubbly2157

Losing weight

springlering62

There’s a famous saying: comparison is the thief of joy


Don’t compare yourself or your journey to others. Instead of finding the whole thing to be frenetic and hateful and freaking out over gaining weight over a large holiday, or losing it quickly, take a deep breath, step back and make plans.

If you’d done this last September when you first posted, you’d probably have been near to or at goal weight by now.

How can we help you slow your thoughts down and do this reasonably and methodically- and for life?

Floor is open for questions , honey. 😘




And btw, I found it difficult to learn the app and create habits for the first 90 days. After that it was FAR easier to lose weight than I’d ever dreamed- and i was in the dreaded “oh you can’t due this because you’re postmenopausal” category.

So NOT true. It was easy, and I actually enjoyed the process of learning all kinds of stuff about myself.

Do you have 90 days in you?

xbowhunter

It's hard to move 300lbs.

It's easy to lose weight if you have a good mindset.

venrizz

Hi, I just started 6 days ago. I lost weight then gained it back. I am restarting again and don't want to start over again. I would like this to be my last losing weight era, when I reach my goal, I would like to maintain it. I think the hardest part of losing weight for me is self-discipline. That's what I want to work on right now. I think everything will fall into place when I have self-discipline.

springlering62

Instead of self “discipline” which sounds like you’re beating yourself up, turn it into self kindness, self love, self “ability”.

What can you do to make the process better, easier, smoother and creat the habits that will stick.

For years wet to sale seminars that talked about goal setting. I never got it until weight loss. I broke my larger goal down into smaller, achievable micro-goals.

Hey! I lost three pounds! That’s so close to five!

Hey, I lost five! That’s halfway to ten!

Sounds silly, but that was very effective for me.

Same mentality when I get in the pool planning to swim a mile and feel like I can’t do it. I break the laps down into sets of four. I’ve done 50 yards time to change the stroke, repeat, repeat, bam! I’m a quarter mile in and that was easy!

Can you set up a reward system? I found a tiny dress and hung it sideways in the closet. I had to move that dress every time I got dressed in the morning so I was constantly having to move it to get to my clothes. We had quite the conversations, me and that dress. I was always aware it was there watching and encouraging me.

After I lost my first fifty, I was TIRED of plain black leggings. I rewarded myself with a new pair of vibrant colored leggings every time I lost five pounds. After the next 30, I gave all those to a friend on MFP, and repeated the process. I have a whole drawer full of leggings now and am known for my crazy colored workout gear. Little do folks know, it was a reward system!

Focus on making it fun and interesting and not a stressor.

AnnPT77

venrizz wrote: »

Hi, I just started 6 days ago. I lost weight then gained it back. I am restarting again and don't want to start over again. I would like this to be my last losing weight era, when I reach my goal, I would like to maintain it. I think the hardest part of losing weight for me is self-discipline. That's what I want to work on right now. I think everything will fall into place when I have self-discipline.

If it took self-discipline, it wouldn't have happened for me.

Sure, discipline is a good thing for those that have that tool in their tool-kit, and well-honed. It ain't me, babe, as the old song says. I'm pretty much a hedonistic aging hippie flake. I'm not good with discipline, motivation, willpower, or any of those other noble things like that. But I'm in year 8 of maintaining a healthy weight anyway, after about 30 previous years of overweight/obesity before loss.

For me, what worked was experimenting and finding new, reasonably happy habits - or at least tolerable and practical ones - during weight loss, things that I could keep up long term almost on autopilot when other parts of life got demanding (because they will). It was like a fun, productive science fair experiment for grown-ups, which appealed to my inner science nerd.

Different tactics work for different people. If self-discipline works for you, that's great. But that's not the only way, IMO.

I can't guarantee that I'll stay slim forever, but so far, so good, in year 8. One thing that helps me (as a hedonist) is that I feel so. much. better. as a thin person. The quality of life improvement was huge. Calorie counting is perfect for me, because it lets the Ann of Today eat every single delicious calorie she's earned, but still allows Ann of The Future to have those quality of life benefits. Balance!

If you want to keep weight off long term, I recommend giving that serious thought (and some action) all through weight loss. Personalization of tactics is key, IMO. Plan how you'll maintain way before you get to goal weight, and practice those habits until they're your daily default. Other people can give you ideas to try, but only you can find the methods that are easiest for you, that fit your personal preferences, strengths, challenges, and lifestyle. Think about how to make weight loss easier, rather than trying to make it faster.

Best wishes: The results are worth the effort!

Hobartlemagne

Well, a great man once said "The waiting is the hardest part".

I myself fall into this category. I imagine there are countless people who gave up just because they were tired of waiting.
Just remember- the human body is designed to survive.
Gaining weight fast and losing weight slow makes us last longer when there's starvation .