I know I shouldn't be discouraged but...

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  • MichaelWms
    MichaelWms Posts: 22 Member
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    13 pounds is freaking awesome!!! That is no small accomplishment. It's almost as much weight as a small child! Keep going, stay commintted and you will obtain your goal.
  • msshiraz
    msshiraz Posts: 327 Member
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    13 lbs is awesome!!! You started just a few weeks ago- here is what would freak me out, so think of it like this- what if you were to gain 13 lbs in less than a month? Sounds devastating right? You have to be prepared to do it right, you didn't gain the extra weight in 1 year right? You probably won't take it off that fast- and if you want sustained weight loss, or quick weight loss- up to you of course- I want permanent weight loss :)
  • CF4L
    CF4L Posts: 58 Member
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    One thing I have to warn you about is to put things in perspective. You will DEFINITELY not be losing 13 lbs every 3 weeks on the regular during your journey, it just won't happen. It comes off easier at the beginning because a lot of it is water weight.

    You should be aiming for 1 to 2 lbs loss per week if you are doing it right. Eventually you will start to see it follow this pattern.
  • marijasmin
    marijasmin Posts: 160 Member
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    Nice to know I'm not alone. I've lost a total of 35lbs but because I am so huge hardly anyone has noticed. I have because my jeans are looser. I'm glad, but it just seems like it's just a drop in the bucket compared to how much I need to lose. :ohwell:
    Slow but steady wins the race, I'll reach the finish line eventually.:wink:
    Whilst we are talking being on the road here to your ultimate goal. it is better to taken off 35 lb and taken off 166lb and put it all back on.

    that is 35 blocks of 1lb of butter......
    A part way to your goal and might i say the part which has the greatest impact on your health, the part which makes it possible to move, to exercise more. To choose nicer clothes, to sit in an aircraft seat, to stop the doctor tutting, to save your long life. The important part. That is the most dangerous part of the excess you carried. A great achievement.

    Jasmin
  • fastforlife1
    fastforlife1 Posts: 459 Member
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    I've lost 13#s since June 26 which seems very slow to me, but I am borrowing all that wonderful advice and support you've given to Leslelu and using it !
  • nibblets16
    nibblets16 Posts: 4
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    I set myself short term goals that mean something to me. My first goal is 245lbs, which will be my weight per baby. Then 230lbs, which was my weight when I was married. Then 220lbs, the weight I was when I met my husband. Then 199lbs to finally break the 200lb mark that I haven't been under in over 10 years! Each of these goals is small and much more easy to think about and obtain then the over 100 lbs I want to eventually lose. Thirteen pounds is a great start. Just keep telling yourself, this isn't a diet, it's my life!
  • jordanreddick
    jordanreddick Posts: 197 Member
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    You have to take it one day at a time! 13 lbs in a huge accomplishment, especially for 20 days! Don't cheat yourself. I went in 10 lbs increments, I knew I had 100 lbs to lose, but I motivated myself to get through each 10 increment. I weigh myself every day as well and I find it helps me to keep on track. I know how well I did the day before and what I need to do today based on my weight. With that said I also measure myself every Friday morning. I wish I had done that from the beginning, but have only done it since starting MFP in May, even then I have seen a TON of difference in how things shift and change. Keep at it, you can and ARE doing this! Feel free to add me if you like.
  • nlwilliamson
    nlwilliamson Posts: 225 Member
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    I'm taking my journey 10lbs at a time. for me In the beginning I had to loose 50lbs. It seems like such a HUGE number! I mean.. my dog weighs 50lbs! I have so far hit my first goals, 10lbs, then another 10!

    Maybe looking at it as "I have 10lbs to lose" then once you hit the 10 mark, "I have 10 pounds to lose" It makes it less daunting. If you look at it how I do, you are well on your way to your second goal! that's exactly what I do and it seems to work wonderfully.

    Remember, everyone loses weight differently, some will drop a huge number in the first few months and then it comes off much slower, others hardly lose when they start but then the numbers add up and it keeps falling off. For me, It's always been a steady pace. Congratulations on passing your first milestone! Keep your head up, you're doing just fine :)
    xx
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    Yes. Yes I have.

    And I got discouraged often, so I wanted to fight back. For every day that I spend discouraged, I have to spend a day pumped full of pride. And before I knew it, I had more gold star proud days on my calendar than green sad face stickers.

    Im talking Pride winning three times over.

    Accept that you will have days that you want to give in and give up.
    Accept that you will have days so badass that no one can contain your cockiness.

    and both are ok.

    and hey man you have less to lose than you think - here's why:

    the first two months are really important- if you can stick it out two months than I think you'll definitely not want to break that kind of strong start.

    your weight will jump up 4-8 pounds each month and it will go right away so dont freak out - its just your body's natural ebb and flow- I SWEARTAGAWD

    your weight loss speed will slow as you get closer to your goal weight BUTTTTTT this is balanced out because smaller amounts of weight loss will be MORE noticeable than higher poundage loss at the beginning. Cool right?

    Once you have about 30 pounds left to lose, youre going to be in a completely different headspace. Youre going to be loving all the little changes in your body and with your new energy levels and lighter body, youre going to be trying lots of new things and getting caught up in all of THAT fun. Maybe even running a 5K or something.

    Youll be hitting real plateaus (like 3-4 month plateaus) but will be leaning on other things like- I havent lost a pound in three months but I dropped another jeans size! kaching!!!

    Then you'll get pissed of at your scale for the last time when you are about 10-15 pounds from your goal and you'll switch to focusing on your body fat percentage, checking out the muscles moving under your skin in the mirror and stretching out naked on your bed and running your fingers over your hip bones and smiling and thinking - eff you scale... Im goddamn healthy.
  • kadenlechuga
    kadenlechuga Posts: 1 Member
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    Congrats to 13lbs, how about walking when you want to weigh yourself. I just started this new life style change and it's pretty hard because i'm a cook and i work at a place where we make all kinds of rich and fattening foods. I'm getting a bike today so i will start riding it on a daily basis. Good luck and keep up the great work. I need to lose at least 50lbs.:love:
  • megalin9
    megalin9 Posts: 771 Member
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    ummm...ditto



    I had the same mentality, OP. I lost 25lbs and thought, damn, I stil have 55 more to go! It was overwhelming and intimidating. So I changed my mentality. It became about reaching mini goals. I set a goal to lose 30lbs before I went on a trip to visit my brother and sister-in-law stationed in TX. I ended up losing 34 by the time I got on the plane! I set goals to wear a certain size jean...or run a mile...run TWO miles...etc., etc. etc. Now, my hard work is not so much about seeing the scale go down as it is about reaching for things I want to do, like run a 5K, do a pull-up - things that make me feel like Super Woman! Who cares what the effing scale says if I can run 3.1 miles without walking and if my arms are toned and I can see my collar bones again! Make it more about feeling a hellovalot better than you did yesterday!
  • raeleek
    raeleek Posts: 414 Member
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    I totally understand how you feel.

    I used to look at all the weight I had to lose and forgot to be proud of what I have lost. I does get frustrating.

    I am not even trying to pretend that I don't want to drop the pounds for vanity's sake but I'm learning that can't be the only way you look at it.

    I've started to look at it from a health stand point before a looks stand point. This is especially helpful on the days where you're pmsing or bloated or maybe you've plateaued. Looking at it like this seems to help me push through. I think that even if I'm not seeing the weight fall off I'm still making good choices for my health. Every good food choice and workout adds up and leads to better health in general!

    I still have days when I see weight loss success stories of 100+ lbs and in the back of my mind there is a tiny voice that says "that will never be you" but you just have to tell that voice to STFU and just keep pushing.

    :drinker:
  • justjenn1977
    justjenn1977 Posts: 437 Member
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    Thanks guys for all your responses! I know I have an unhealthy scale relationship. I even had my husband hide our home scale but I went and found it like a pyscho.

    I did make little goals for myself and each time I lose 5 pounds I'm buying myself a new lily & laura bracelet.. (my favorite thing to buy..and then I'll be able to count my weight loss in bracelets..haha).

    I'm just having trouble being excited about 13 pounds because I guess I feel kind of dumb (or maybe embarassed?) to celebrate numbers that pale in comparison to what I need to lose..

    When I first started this current journey I weighed 340#... My goal is 140ish#... that is daunting... 200... Just seems like an incomprehensible number... How in the hell could I ever ever loose that much?

    I quit making scale goals....at all... My weight is just a byproduct of my fitness goals.... My weight is a byproduct of my calorie goals... I can walk... I can bike... I can hang with the big boys and I have the endurance to outlast them... Every day/week/month I try to be more active than before...

    It has radically changed me...


    I used to have a goal of five pounds per month... If I didn't make it I would be pissed and hurt and binge... And gain six pounds... It was a horrible vicious cycle and it had to stop...

    That being said.. I still weigh... It helps me know if my calorie goals are accurate... I weigh once per day... No more... Sometimes a lot less (I might one week weigh fo ur times... I might the next weigh six... depends) the point is to stop letting those numbers define you
  • flyingpurplemonkey
    flyingpurplemonkey Posts: 105 Member
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    13 pounds in 20 days?!?! That is over half a pound per day! That is great!

    For me, when I decide to lose weight, I want it gone, NOW. So I understand that even if it is going at a good pace, it still is happening quick enough, and it may be impossible to lose at the rate that I want. You are making great progress, try not to lose sight of that.

    Also, something that I read on one of these boards, was something along these lines (I wish I remembered who said it to give them credit, sorry): I don't know how to lose100 pounds. But I know how to lose one pound. So I'm going to do that. One hundred times over.

    Keep up the good work, you're obviously doing something right!
  • justjenn1977
    justjenn1977 Posts: 437 Member
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    I wanted to add (my phone posted before I was done)

    There are still days when I look at what I have left verses what I have lost... I still want to lose ~120~... That still seems daunting... Then I go pick up my 12 year old (weighs 70#) and try to walk ten feet... Can't do it... No wonder it was hard to start!

    I totally second the recommendation to go carry a ten pound bag of sugar at the store... You will be amazed
  • pattysanderson71
    pattysanderson71 Posts: 21 Member
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    13 lbs is GREAT!!!! But I understand when you feel discouraged!! I have only been on MFP for about 2-3 weeks (4 lbs )but have dieted all my life. I started seriously excercising in June and I am only down 9lbs. I must say I am totally frusterated. I know all the in's and outs of healthy eating yada yada yada....and do fairly well. Had my bloodwork done and all my results were great....finally got my cholsterol down to a good # so that is a plus. However even on my worst days I usually don't go much over 2000 calories and this is rare and I still excercise! Point blank....I think for the way I eat and the amount I excersice I should be down a heck of alot more!!!!! I also know that I am the only one that controls all of this....but just needed to vent!!!!! I drink my water, I eat breakfast, I walk at 4 mph (5 km in 40 mins) 5-6 times a week, I work out at they gym for 40 mins 5 days a week plus I walk to the gym and back 6 mins each way, I get 8 hrs sleep. If it is this hard now....what's it going to take for the next 35 lbs to go?????!!!!

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