100 Pound Down and I feel like I have accomplished nothing

Sounds like you're kind of depressed right now. My best advice is to take charge of your thoughts and intentionally focus on what's good in your life and don't dwell on what isn't. You look fantastic. You've accomplished something few people have, and your cat is also very proud of you

YES!! I feel the same way, I'm down 83lbs,have 52 to go.I thought I would feel different about losing this much weight,when I got to 199 (something a year ago I would never thought possible) , I saw the number on the scale,nothing,no emotion,no confetti falling from the sky, just me and the scale.I'm not even sure when I hit my goal weight that I will be all that excited.
That being said,sometimes when I pass a mirror, or try on a new outfit , I can't believe it's really me, when I look at my before pictures there is no doubt I have lost alot of weight,and still some people whom I haven't seen since I weighed 274lbs, don't say a word;othersare shocked when they see me. Maybe it's a good thing we don't get too excited about goals and loss's being met,maybe,just maybe this has become a new way of life,and is not as much of a struggle as in the beggining,and we know somewhere deep inside we will accomplish our goal, and maybe just maybe we are no longer that "been there. done that" girl,we are now the one who people see here and ,find the will power to do what we're doing, life offers no fan fair for personal accomplishments. It's up to us to be proud of what we've done,don't sweat the lack of excitement in all this,just know there are people reading your post,seeing how much you've lost and they are excited about their future.

I'm going to take a guess here.

If you were browsing the forums and saw a thread by a lovely young woman who was saying that she couldn't the changes in her weightloss and was feeling discouraged...you'd boost her up and offer her support and tell her that you're proud of her. You would certainly NOT encourage her to continue feeling bad about herself.

It's so much easier for us to praise others, than it is to praise ourselves. But we deserve it too. Praise yourself, be proud of yourself, be kind to yourself.

I have lost 52# - while my pants size has subsided, I can't get rid of the upper body and protruding stomach!!!! I still wear a lot of the blouses I wore at 221. I look in the mirror and while I do see progress and have lots more energy and stamina and a lot less pain, I tend to zero on the parts that aren't going away. So I completely understand what you're saying. However, please don't minimize your AWESOME ACCOMPLISHMENT. or the fact that you are doing it in a healthy way.

You know to lose 1 pound takes so much effort and change in eating habits. You lost 100, you are way lighter, you are a walking miracle.

Hey MaryJane,

I don't know how to make you feel better about it but from someone who's travelled your path, I assure you, you've done great work. My suggestion to you would be to just stay the course, because in your head, you know you're doing well. You KNOW it, I can tell from what you read. But you don't FEEL it yet. Give yourself time.

In the meantime, try doing some things you know you couldn't have done before. Pay attention to those small non-scale victories, and just try to be positive. Hang on, good times are coming your way!

-David / BootJockey
-257 pounds

Like many of you, I too am having the same issues. Actually, if it's possible I'm pretty sure I'm more judgmental of my body now than I was before. Some days I literally feel like I haven't even lost a pound. I guess it just takes time for your mind to catch up?

I've lost right around 100lbs and feel the same way... I'm surrounded by people that have quick loses from fad diets so I feel like losing weight slowly, for me it's been over a couple years, isn't something I can feel proud of. I'm more critical of my body now, less comfortable in it I guess... I'm glad to hear that others are going through the same thing, I just hope our minds catch up eventually

Hi...first, let me say congratulations on such a huge accomplishment. Losing 100 pounds is no easy feat....I have been there and felt the same way you are describing. On one hand I was happy the weight was moving in a positive direction, but on the other hand, I was not truly registering my new body profile when I was looking in the mirror. To top it all off, I also went shopping and though I could easily fit into "normal" sized clothing...it just felt like everything I tried on either made me "see" myself as still really heavy or I just wasn't comfortable with how much of my new body silhouette the smaller size was showing. After all, I was a very large person 100 pounds heavier and I wore a lot of over sized clothing to just balloon over my very round figure....so trying on smaller clothing meant actually getting my head and my eyes used to seeing my smaller frame in clothing that actually fit, and not just hid, my body. I had a lot of stress over trying on smaller clothing and thinking I still had weight to lose...all I saw was a still overweight body.

Someone here mentioned losing 100 pounds is like losing an entire person...it is true...and psychologically, for me, that 100 pounds protected me from having to socialize, wear normal clothing etc....it served to insulate me from the world...like a constant companion. Losing the 100 pounds felt like losing another person...literally...my protection/insulation from the world was gone...I had no more excuses...I had to get out and socialize, stop hiding behind that 100 pounds and actually care about wearing more fitting clothes. But I didn't give up...I continued to lose the rest of the weight and working out to help maintain the weight loss and re-sculpt my figure.

What I discovered during the six years I kept the weight off is that transitioning from carrying around such a large amount of extra weight to a much smaller body doesn't happen over night...it is a huge emotional journey and a continuing physical one. Emotionally I had to start dealing with all the things I used my extra weight to avoid dealing with...including how much I had hated looking at myself in a mirror...I had to teach myself how to look in that mirror and not judge myself based on all these old negative feelings and perceptions I had about being overweight and I had to stop judging myself by all those negative voices from each person who thought it was ok to torment a "fat" person. I'm not talking about loving myself...that came at a much slower rate...I just had to teach myself HOW to truly see the person in the mirror without hate and disgust in my heart. It took time, but eventually I started to see the smaller me and I became far less judgmental about it; buying clothes became far more enjoyable.

One other thing I remember from that time period...even though it may have taken a long time to lose all that weight it still took a much longer time for my body to really start showing the results of working out on a regular basis. The human body is just so incredibly amazing...think of it...we are able to over load it with all this extra weight and it still has the remarkable ability to recover from all the abuse we put it through...our bodies are innately far more forgiving of what we have done to them than we are to ourselves emotionally. Trust in your body...it will eventually catch up with all that weight loss and you WILL see those changes.

Sorry this turned into such a long-winded reply...as they say, take what is useful to you and throw the rest away.

When you are feeling as though nothing has changed...you are not required to feel anything...just breathe,be kind to yourself, keep moving forward and it will come to you. Just keep in mind...the vision that you had when you started on this journey to take better care of yourself may never manifest in the way you'd hoped....just keep that space open because something more wonderful is there...taking the time to discover that is part of this amazing journey. Life changes and shifts so very much and in so many beautiful ways...if we just relax and let it.

Congratulations again and thank you for being so honest with sharing your experience and for being an inspiration to others.

Geeze, now I feel guilty for celebrating the loss of 10 pounds! Arg! I am envious! You look great...sorry you aren't feeling it!