I get discrouraged when I look at my ideal weight....

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  • stevenleagle
    stevenleagle Posts: 293 Member
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    Roz. Some good advice in the other posts. But also think of it this way: you have made the most important step already. The realisation. The aha moment. You have decided to change. That's the best thing you could have done for yourself. Think of all the people who simply accept their situation and give up. Not you. You have begun the good fight. Don't give up. As others have said - set yourself small meaningful goals. Don't give up. Once you have reached your goals, keep conquering. It may take you 6 months, it may take you a year, maybe a few years. But the great thing with mfp is that you have the tools to keep on track. Personally I have found the journey to losing weight a great one. So much so that I wonder what I am going to look forward to once I am at target weight. Make this about THE JOURNEY. Enjoy the journey. Re-discover things about yourself as you go along (just as you would exploring a new country). Believe me if the GOAL seems daunting, learning to take pleasure in the JOURNEY will make it a lot easier. Good luck. I think you will be fine. Just stick with it.
  • MzBeckie
    MzBeckie Posts: 207 Member
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    I felt the same way whenever I thought of how my goals was to be at least 150 lbs. I would see how much weight i would have to lose and that number seemed like Alot to me and I would feel like giving up. But I have broken my major goal down into minor goals of losing 10lbs at a time. Think of losing 10 lbs was easier for me than seeing what I wanted my weight goal to be.
    Just keep at it, take it a day at time and you will get there. :) Whenever I see changes (like clothing sizes), i get more motivated.
  • QuietRain
    QuietRain Posts: 157
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    Stop looking at how far you have to go, look at how far you've come.
    You'll get there eventually.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    What helped me was to set the MFP goals to like 20 lbs or so only at a time. I hated looking at that huge number I still have to lose. Hope this helps you :)
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    I get discouraged when I think about my end goal, too. So, I choose not to think about it much. Celebrate each victory as it comes. I celebrate every 5 lbs with a pair of earrings, and every 10 lbs with a slightly larger reward.

    Break it up into small goals, even if your goal is to get through the day or the next meal. Don't think about the long term. Think about today, otherwise you could easily get overwhelmed and discouraged.
  • fredf2112
    fredf2112 Posts: 110 Member
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    Change your goal (for now). Make it say, 250. Change it so your ticker shows 250 is your goal. Heck, that only a little over 50 pounds and you've already lost 10. You're practically there. Once you get there (and you will before you know it) set a new goal of say 225. Shoot, only 25 pounds? No sweat. Make these your goals, small increments to focus on.
  • kmw899
    kmw899 Posts: 41
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    If I think about how much I have/want to lose, I definitely get overwhelmed and discouraged. Instead I'm focusing on making smaller weight loss and health/fitness goals for myself and then making new ones once I reach them.
  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
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    Have faith! It can happen faster and easier than you think. When you combine the right diet style for you with the right determination it can and will happen.
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
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    I started at 249. My first goal was to be under what I was when my son was BORN. That's 228. I"m 227 now, so goal met! And it feels amazing and sooo incredibly motivating. My next goal is 214, as that's what I weighed when I got pregnant with my son. My first BIG goal is to make 199 by July 14th when my mom visits from out of state. Anyways, this is just an example of how I do it and it makes it so much less overwhelming than saying "OH I weight 227 and the ideal weight for my height is 147 max so I need to lose 80 more pounds?!" and then go cry in my water. I would NEVER lose this weight if I looked at it that way. But a few pounds at a time, one day a time, week at a time? Totally doable, and I WILL and you can too :D
  • AmberleyAngel
    AmberleyAngel Posts: 160 Member
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    I know exactly how you feel. For a long time I had no idea where to start or how to do it. I am aiming to lose 56% of my body weight, and that won't even bring me to "healthy" range. It's just something you have to do and count every day as a successful step on a journey. As others have said, having multiple small goals is crucial to achieving a lifelong change. A house is built on nail or one brick at a time, and so weight loss happens with every ounce lost. Every bit that leaves is a more healthier you.

    I've so far lost 29.5% of my weight, so I am over half way ( I joined MFP partway through my loss so my ticker only shows progress since I joined). I have lots of goals - things to mark my progress. Here are some that might give you ideas - to fit my engagement ring again, have to throw out my favourite trousers because they're too big, etc. And just this past weekend I fitted back into a pair of jeans I last wore in 1998. Find small objectives which mean something personal to you and that don't revolve around the scales (scale goals are good too but shouldn't be the only way to measure progress).

    Congratulations on your loss to date. Stay strong, keep at it, and enjoy the journey.
  • MinimalistShoeAddict
    MinimalistShoeAddict Posts: 1,946 Member
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    Take small steps! Weight loss is not a race. Set small goals along the way if the ultimate goal too far away. You will get there in time. Don't worry about the duration of your journey. Just take small steps one day at a time. You can do it!
  • paruls86
    paruls86 Posts: 188 Member
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    I am as high as you are and started at 172 and had no clue how to get to 150 which it says is the highest limit for my height. I am currently 1 Kg away from my healthy BMI goal and it took me a year to get here. Had i been diligent and disciplined I could have reached my ultimate goal of 55 KGS or 120 lbs.
    there will be a lot of ifs but believe me u will get there... its not 100-150 lbs u need to loose u need to loose that 1 pound first take it one pound at a time. the time u will take to get to 136 will be filled with so many achievements NSVs that will make it all worth it.
    Kepp going and u'll be there before u realize.
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
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    It *does* seem monumental and discouraging. No matter what the goal ultimately is. But listen to these people. We've all been there. We've all fought our insurmountable battles. You will win this.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    I felt the same when I first started but as your pounds lost total grows you'll get more confident that you can do it.

    My advice would be to reset your ticker just for the first 50lbs. When you reach that, add another 50lbs and you'll find you're already half way along. It gives you a sense of reaching a goal sooner and before you know it you'll have your end goal in that ticker and you'll be romping towards that.

    The other thing to remember is that you make the decision on your end weight. I'm not aiming for my perfect weight and may well stop when I get down to 'overweight' rather than obese. Depends what I decide suits me best.

    Don't be despondent, you're going to do great this time!
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
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    Set small goals goals for yourself and write them down. Here what some of mine will be:

    Get into a size 20, 18, 16 etc is not directly correlated with weight but still a great goal
    Move BMI classes I write down the weight I will be at each onr. Recently moved to obese class 3 to class 2 :)
    then just lose 5 10 25lbs and so on amd you can make those as small or large as you want. Every 5lbs even if you want
    I also have a few measurement goals like this measurement waist

    Don't let yourself get you down, I think about losing weight as a slow walk not fast for it
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
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    It literally is about a long term average. Every day consistent good choices is why lifestyle changes succeed and "diets' don't. It's also why one binge day out of let's say 40 days of clean eating isn't going to mess you up. The only thing you should complain about is how much $$ you're going to spend when you succeed and you want to flaunt that **** with fancy new clothes.
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
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    I have never cared for the number on the scale. For me, my focus has always been getting healthier, being more fit, and staying off the numerous meds I used to take. Focus on the little things. How clothes fit, fitness levels, how YOU feel. The number on the scale is just a small piece of the puzzle.
  • jadethief
    jadethief Posts: 266 Member
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    I started out with 100 lbs to lose and that is daunting. When you first start out and your ticker shows you've lost 6 lbs it seems like you're never, never going to get there. So instead, I take it one day at a time. My goal is not to lose 100 lbs.........it is to stay within my calorie allowance and to do some sort of exercise each day. I know if I do that, then the weight is going to come off.

    Make sure you spend some time reading the forums, especially the Success forum. You'll see everyday people who stuck with it and have the lost the weight. Hang in there and you will succeed too!
  • zaxaz
    zaxaz Posts: 32 Member
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    Congratulations! You're way ahead of me when I first started - self-realization!

    I got started when a friend gave me a 20 lb challenge, and I thought I didn't need to lose 20 lbs, maybe 5 or 10. I reluctantly started, when my friend started telling other people that we had a 20 lb challenge.

    Well, I am now on my fourth 20 lb challenge (down 64 lbs since last Feb). I feel a lot better healthwise, look a lot better, and feel a lot better mentally and emotionally. The best part is that I no longer I have those days when I felt "blah" and ended up eating all kinds of junk food, whatever was in the house.

    My target weight isn't so much a number, it's more of how I want to feel (or look). But I translate it into a number so I can measure it on the scale. You need to measure things to see progress.
  • kittykay57
    kittykay57 Posts: 3
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    All good advice, listen to it and believe it. It really is one day at a time.

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