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Is anyone really satisfied with their "success"?

revodrew

I know I should be. I'm not. I started at 312lbs and am at 227lbs now. I've been at it for almost 2 years. I take a progress photo almost every day and say to myself "some day when I get where I want to be I'll put them all together and make a time lapse and share it." Someone who has reached "success" and I mean you truly believe it, can you tell me/us about it.

Replies

c63004687

wow! SSoSSomeSSoSSomething wrong with aanyoNanyone who doesn't appreciate that bbobbody!!

(No I'm not ddrdrundrunk. Mfp mmummusmust hahavE "impimprimpimproved" sssome MMoRe ststuststuff)

claireychn074

It’s a good question. I guess it depends what you define your success as 🤔

I’m a (very amateur) strength athlete so success for me is getting stronger. But I have changing short term aims - shoulder rehab following injury, better technique on my lifts, eating well. I’m not sure there is an end point to success for me personally, and I’m okay with that. The constantly evolving targets and challenges are what keep me training.

As I get older, success will probably shift more to being the oldest person in the gym rather than the youngest in the nursing home 🤣

revodrew

So what you are saying clairey is "no I'm not satisfied either" lol.

I'm not complaining. I love fitness. I love the process, the gym, walking, hiking, diet, all the things that go into this particular....obsession, I guess. Addiction maybe. I just feel like when I started I thought if I got to a certain point I'd be satisfied with my success and it hasn't happened. "Success" just seems like something in the future to me.

claireychn074

I think being satisfied with my success means I’d stop. My training is probably 1/3 enjoyment and 2/3 grind. I can think of things which would be easier and more pleasant - but I do have aims in mind. I suspect that’s true for a lot of people, I guess it’s a series of successes and challenges on a journey?

Well done on your results to date BTW - great achievement!

revodrew

I don't know. Maybe the people who stick with it year after year think like this. True Success is an end. I don't really want an end. I do like the idea of a series of successes on a journey though. I actually refer to my weight loss and fitness as a journey. I think I'll adopt your philosophy. Thanks.

Thank you for the compliment. It's appreciated.

jimmydr5

@revodrew Hey. Great job. 👏

Am keeping you in my diary for my inspiration like many others. 👍
Don’t be so hard on yourself, you did great & are doing good too I think so. Just may be you have not reached your goal due to plateau or I don’t know.
But be patient, consistent & you will get there.
I am not saying it’s easy for those around 100 kgs to lose weight; but yes if they work consistently they lose faster. And the once anyone reaches near ideal like 70-80 kg etc etc ; then it gets difficult.
So, it’s ok. Just stay consistent. If you for sure, you have reached a plateau; change workout & diet too. See for 2 weeks and you will see result.

And Yes, am happy with my success but the milestones will keep on changing to challenge me. So some goals are met & some in progress. But for sure, I am now doing daily workouts & not struggle like before. May be rest day on Sunday.
Hope some of this helps.

lesdarts180

I'm happy with my successes over the last few years.

What I mean by that is that I am very happy that I successfully lost 22+ kg 7 years ago and happy that I have remained at a healthy weight since then. I am a little old lady (152 cm, 49 kg, 75 years old) and have successfully negotiated 2 surgeries (hysterectomy and hip replacement) in the last 5 years, came back to the gym after Covid closed them for 18 months and continue to work on strength training.

I don't expect to ever stop and say "that's it, I'm satisfied with my success" because that would suggest that I could then coast along without trying any more. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to regain the weight, lose fitness, lose muscle etc especially as we get older.

Never stop working at your health and wellbeing.

SearchingIntrovert

This is definitely food for thought as I start my journey, but I just wanted to tell you that your progress is absolutely amazing from an outside view. Very inspiring!

f8wyww52wv

Small wins don’t make noise—but stack enough of them, and they build something impossible to ignore.

_WILDECHILD_

So I’ve lost around 142 pounds and I feel like I should be happy with my success and to be honest I’m proud of my progress up to now am I happy where I’m at right now? Not really I still have loose skin and I don’t feel like I’m where I want to be to end my journey maybe when if I have loose skin removal surgery and lose a little more I’ll feel happy with my success but as of right now I’m not very happy with it even tho don’t get me wrong I’m super proud of my effort and where I am now in my journey I feel like a new man but I don’t feel satisfied where I’m at right now!

norisi9520

focus

norisi9520

nossmf

First, congratulations! Congratulations on your progress made to date, congratulations on sticking to the process for this long, congratulations on even starting in the first place! Congratulations!

Why am I using that word "congratulations" so many times in a single short paragraph? Because I am trying to impress upon you one simple concept: YOU ARE ENOUGH. You are good enough, you are valuable, you are worthy of friendship and love and admiration. Not "you DO enough" or "you have ACHIEVED enough" but instead "you ARE enough."

Your post has an overall tenor of "I will be happy when…" As my children have grown to become young adults, I have seen the same psychology in three of the four: "I will be happy when…" and then insert whatever their current dream may be…I'm older, I graduate from high school, I'm driving, I have a job…the list goes on.

But here's the rub: if you tell yourself "I will be happy when…" that implies that you cannot be happy unless you attain your stated goal. Doesn't matter if it's fitness related, monetary, or anything else. This psychology slants your world view into thinking, however subtly, that you as you are today are not good enough, and you will somehow attain that "good enough" status when and if you reach your goal, but not before then.

True happiness is not a future dream; it is trying to find something about yourself today that is worth celebrating. A person struggling to earn enough to pay rent can still be kind and honest; a person who feels they should lose weight for health reasons can have a great sense of humor. Enjoy having friends and family who care for YOU; celebrate simply breathing in a world filled with wonders like sunsets and small birds who can defy gravity to fly. My third child has learned this lesson to heart; she may want to make changes to her life which will make living easier, but she awakes each day with a smile, she laughs easily, she cares for the people in her life.

Am I satisfied with my life? Absolutely! Being satisfied is not the same as dusting off your hands and quitting; I still hit the gym hard, watch what I eat, wonder what life would be like if I had more money. On the surface, the person I am today is nothing like who I was twenty years ago. But I like who I am, I remind myself each day to celebrate the people in my life, even if we argue (you never know when they may no longer be around).

So congratulations on your remarkable progress! Enjoy who you are today, keep striving to lose more weight or get stronger or finish your degree or whatever goal you wish to focus upon. I am glad to have met you.

AnnPT77

I was trying to figure out how to reply to this, then @Nossmf brought some of the issues that were in my head into focus, more clearly than I could do. I agree with him, too, that you've done remarkably good things in your own life in these couplle of years - things you can be proud of.

Personally, I'm very satisfied with my success - healthy weight for 10 years post-loss, all health markers good that were once bad, decently adequate fitness. Those latter two are extra valuable, in a way, since they're statistically not typical in my demographic, I think (70F). But that doesn't mean I'm "perfect" or "done": I still want to pursue good nutrition, reasonable fitness, etc., further into the future.

If a person needs to achieve some form of perfection in order to feel satisfied, that's IMO simply not possible, so I think not the most mentally healthy orientation, if I'm honest. Health and fitness goals in particular are more of a trajectory than an end point: When I get to the goal, I can see more steps ahead, but that isn't "unsuccessful".

I guess I see "satisfaction" more as "feeling happy with where I am right now given my unchangeable history; and feeling I'm on a reasonable path forward from here". Satisfaction with my path is satisfaction in a dynamic sense. I can be satisfied, yet still have goals I want to accomplish.

I think some people believe dissatisfaction is the necessary trigger for further improvement? I'm not going to argue that point - other people understand their own personality and psychology better than I understand them. It's not my orientation, though. I feel like I can choose to move in a positive direction for my future benefit, without feeling dissatisfied with my current self or situation. (It probably helps that I have near-zero interest in my appearance: Thankfully, I don't need to look cute to be satisfied or feel successful. 😆)

Realistically, the only true end point is death. I won't reach perfection in any respect by then, I predict. While I think health, diet and fitness are important, I don't think my last deathbed reflection about life will focus on success in those things much at all. They're tools, more means to an end, rather than an end in themselves.

mbbost1

Similar stats 365# down to 210#. At it for 2 years of consistent training , diet , nutrition. Happy with my resting heart rate success. I'm in the 40's for RHR. I'm happy with my A1C blood tests, my cholesterol, fitness age and I celebrate the success of the fitness improvements in particular 98 out of 100 points on the Army Fitness Test two mile run time for my age group. Size 36 Jeans ( with stretch ) was size 48. Non scale victories are where I find the most success but the on scale victories are the sweetest victories.

You have visible abs beginning to show. That's a win. You look 15 years younger, that's a win.