So Overwhelmed!!!

floridagirl7264

I feel so overwhelmed. I need to lose 100 lbs and every time I look at that number, it just seems so hopeless. I used to be around 140 and less. Then I had to take some meds that caused all of the weight gain. The meds caused such cravings and a feeling of not caring about anything that I just lost control. I've lost some of the weight but I have been stuck for the last ;year or so. I don't want to give up and won't, I just want to erase that number from my brain! How do others get passed that number?

dawnsjourney

What I do is a buy a pair of pants a size smaller than where I am and work my way into them. I did that from a size 36W to a 24W now. I have a pair of 22s in my closet right now waiting for me. While I am concerned about my actual weight, I am more motivated to keep moving when I can have smaller clothes!

khurrambutt

Forget the number and just start burning some fats and eat healthy

emdeesea

If it makes it easier and less of a hurdle, just focus on losing smaller amounts of weight - like 20 pounds at a time. Once you reach that goal, focus on the next one.

darrensurrey

A journey of a thousand steps and all that. Focus on just doing what it takes and not looking at the long term goal.

amcsouth

Break it up into smaller numbers! Like 10lb or 15lb... work towards them instead of what seems like a huge number! I personally set myself mini-goals and treated myself when I reached them (with new shoes, a haircut or something like that)!

tasha_rena

Make smaller goals and celebrate them (not with food, of course, but as real accomplishments.) 10% lost, 15% lost. Breaking it up into smaller goals help me to not feel overwhelmed with how much I had/have to lose.

sloane70

I set benchmarks for things that show I'm making progress other than via the numbers on the scale. I started out with wanting to do 45 minutes on the recumbent bike at level 10 or greater; I'm now doing 65 minutes at level 14. I started out wanting to fit into my clothes better; I'm now finding those clothes getting a tiny bit loose. I started out wanting to move more easily; I'm now not only moving more easily, I can walk up the two flights of stairs to my apartment with a 25 pound bag of laundry and 10 pounds of groceries without having to stop or passing out at the top. And in the course of that, I've lost about 14 pounds. Focusing on the little milestones makes it easier for me to stay positive.

Annie_01

I started with 100lbs to lose...too overwhelming to think about.

So...5lbs at a time.

My long term goals were set to 25lbs...working on my 50lbs currently along with reaching the one hundreds.

I yoohoo every 5lbs...yeah and clap my hands at every 10lbs...jump up and down every 25lbs...and when I reach the 100's I will treat myself to some new workout clothes.

Maybe childish but it distracts me from that total weight loss of a 100lbs.

cwolfman13

I'm with others...smaller goals. Also, big picture thinking...people get wrapped up in a number and forget that this is actually about being/getting healthy and fit...that is a process and lifetime endeavor and once you start to look at it that way, the number on the scale doesn't matter quite as much as being better today than you were yesterday and sleeping well in the knowledge that you will be better tomorrow than you were today.

Rock your nutrition and rock your fitness....over time, the rest just kinda takes care of itself. Remember there is no finish line...not 10 Lbs or 20 Lbs or 100 Lbs...there is NO finish line ever...your health, fitness, nutrition, and general well being are lifetime endeavors.

jeribuster

I totally agree. The number is what is frightening. When I lost 5 pounds I didn't think too much about it. My doctor told me to go hold a 5lb bag of sugar, and realize that is what i lost. It made a difference. Change your perception. Focus on one day at a time, one meal at a time.

EvaStrange

Chin up, that's only about 45 kilos!

MistyRose0424

If it makes it easier and less of a hurdle, just focus on losing smaller amounts of weight - like 20 pounds at a time. Once you reach that goal, focus on the next one.

AGREE 100 PERCENT WITH THIS YES!

debbynoelle

I am in the same exact position! I have gone an entire year with no weight lost at all, I am so discouraged! Of course, I know the right thing to do, eat well and exercise, but I am letting me excuses get in the way of my successes.

I am not waiting until January 1st to try and get back on track though, I am starting today with a banana and organic crackers :happy: Let's see what happens the rest of the day.

bdoermann

I would set a smaller goal like 20 pounds by a certain date. When you hit that goal make another goal until you reach 100 pounds lost. You can do it.

Andy_Chow

I like to think of it with time goals. I have a soft goal, an optimistic goal and a hard goal, and they all vary according to a time table.

Say you need to lose 100 lbs. Think of a realistic burn rate. Say 1 lbs/week. So that should take you two years to reach. Aim a soft goal of 1.5 lbs/week (but smile at that and realize it's maybe not realistic), an optimistic goal of 1 lbs/week (which is your goal) and a hard goal of 0.5 lbs/week (which you MUST hit no matter what).

Break down your target month by month. Like by the end of January you should be 5 lbs less. That's your goal. What ever your weight is at the end of January, note the difference and aim a similar goal for the end of the next month. If it turns out you lost 10 lbs, don't take it for granted and blow your goals out of proportion. Just aim to keep that weight until the end of February. You might weight yourself two days later and be 2 lbs more, but it doesn't matter, because your goal is to be 10 lbs less total by the end of February, not to be 15 lbs less.

I did this last year and lost about 85 lbs so far. Today I'm 200, my goal is for end of February to be 185 lbs. That puts me at a burn rate of 890 calorie deficit per day, which I find easy if I'm not training hard.

My end goal was always 177 lbs, based on my lean body mass, but at 285 lbs initial, I just couldn't imagine that. I thought I have to go down to 270, then 250, then I got scientific about it and measured my averaged weight loss fluctuation over time, and found out I could burn 2,25 lbs/ week effortlessly for a while. It eventually became not possible to sustain that rate, and I hit a plateau for a while, but it didn't matter, because I was staying within my overall goal time frame.

As long as you are tracking an average weight loss over time, measure it and adjust strategy accordingly.

Good luck.

Ready2Rock206

Break it up into smaller numbers! Like 10lb or 15lb... work towards them instead of what seems like a huge number! I personally set myself mini-goals and treated myself when I reached them (with new shoes, a haircut or something like that)!

This! 100 lbs seems so hard but you can totally do 10-20 lbs. And then do it again. And again until you get to your goal.

JesterMFP

I'm with everyone else - definitely smaller goals, and more varied goals. When I was losing, I had goals of "1 stone lost" and "2 stone lost" (if you don't do stones, then "5 lbs lost" or "10 lbs lost" works the same.) I also had goals of getting below certain round numbers. So, scale-wise, I was reaching a goal every few pounds, one way or another. There was also the big achievement of getting into the "overweight" zone of the bmi, then "healthy". I now focus on body fat % rather than bmi, but at the time, that was motivating.

Then, there were the goals of fitting into certain clothes sizes, or even certain items of clothing.

Then, I started running, and there were the goals of "finish week 1 of couch25k", "finish week 2" etc, run a mile non-stop, run for 10 minutes non-stop. Run further, run faster...

Then I started lifting weights, and there are tons of goals there.

Perhaps most importantly, there are the goals and achievements that are related to how you're actually living. Some people celebrate number of days logging on MFP, or number of days without binge eating, or number of weeks where they have exercised at least 3x a week. The way to really be successful is to make true changes to how you're living, and that happens by making habits and sticking with them. So, make new habits, and celebrate sticking with them for x days, weeks, months etc

Try not to look at your goal weight as the be-all and end-all. On the one hand, as has already been said, this doesn't finish when you reach your goal. On the other hand, if you never reach your goal, that doesn't make all this hard work meaningless. You've lost 28 lbs, so you've already taken massive strides towards improving your health. Lose another 28 lbs, and your body will benefit even more. You'll feel better than you do now, so it'll be worth it. Then, it'll be worth it to lose the next chunk.

In maintenance, there are far fewer things to keep you motivated - no changes on the scale, or really noticeable changes in your body. You have to keep going anyway. I feel good each day though because I'm hitting my protein target (which I struggled with for a long time), because I'm exercising most days (when I used to be sedentary, and many around me still are), because every day I am developing a better relationship with food etc. This isn't just about weight, not just about numbers. Don't look at it as how far you've got to go, but how far you've already come, and how you are actively changing your life.

Annie_01

I agree Jester...good post.

At some point for me it became more about what I could accomplish than just losing weight.

I started exercising which I had not done in many years. At first it was to aid in weight loss...now it is more about becoming fit...improving...doing more than what I thought I could do when I first started.

It is also about learning...I am worth it.

MINIRunner

Try not to look at it as 100#.

A way I help my clients take the sting/stress out of a big goal such as that is to think of the 100 as being the top of a ladder, or a really big hill. Each small step towards that would be a rung on the ladder. Some days you will go up a step or two. Some days you may step back, but overall - you are still moving forward.

Small changes - say one thing each week. When you have mastered each change, add on a new one, but continue with the first one. Before you know it, there will be all sorts of amazing and new healthy habits being formed.

YOU CAN do this. You want it, just remember that.

Awesomers

I have 140 more to lose and am looking at it in 10 lb increments. What also works for me is the fact that I am swimming in some of my pants. When the scale doesn't budge, I know that there's progress because I'm fitting into pants that I haven't seen in over a year. Feel free to add me. I'm in Florida, too!

floridagirl7264

Thank you all so much for the wonderful advice, ideas and encouragement. I wish there was a scale that doesn't show weight. Rather it would show percentage of weight lost, BMI and goal date. Wouldn't that be great?

floridagirl7264

I'm dredging this post back up. I wrote it about the same time last year, but now I am 50 lbs lighter!

carolinagirl543

That is fantastic!! Wow that's a great accomplishment. Congratulations.

LadyLots2Lose

Small goals are definitely a good start. I also found it helpful to reward myself for achieving each goal with something that wasn't food related. At 5kg lost, I'd get a manicure, at 10kg I'd add a pedicure or buy a new album. At 15kg, I bought myself a charm for my bracelet.
Another motivator is to match your weight loss with a dollar in a piggy bank. When you get to your goal you can spend the cash on a new outfit.

LadyLots2Lose

Great work on 50lbs lost floridagirl7264. That's a fabulous achievement.

floridagirl7264

Thank you. Yes, I have been treating myself when I reach a mini goal. My next one is to get my hair highlighted (a real treat). I haven't thought about using a piggy bank. I think I'll add that to my list of motivations.

nehushtan

Spend some time browsing the "success stories" forum. Plenty of folks just like you were able to make it work. Before you know it you will start to believe it can happen for you too.

enterdanger

I agree with everything everyone else has said. The other thing that helped me was just committing that this was my new way of life. I used to get discouraged because it took so long. Now that I'm in this forever I don't have the self-imposed time limit over my head. So if I don't lose for a couple of weeks I just keep plugging along. I'm down about 35 lbs and it's been 8 months. I haven't lost much in the last 2 months, but I ran a mile without stopping last week. Never, in my whole life, was I able to do that. I feel really good.

If you want to set a goal, I'm in a group on here called 20lbs by Christmas 2014 and we'd love to have you join. Obviously, 20lbs probably isn't realistic now since we are only 5 weeks out, but you could set a 5lb goal. 5lbs lost during 2 of the best food holidays would be awesome.

jmc827

floridagirl7264 wrote: »

I'm dredging this post back up. I wrote it about the same time last year, but now I am 50 lbs lighter!

OMG I wasn't paying any attention to the date of the posts and comments, when i saw this, my eyes started burning with tears!!

That is absolutely awesome!!! Congrats