How do you do it, especially those who have lost so much

It is much easier being fat, eating whatever you want and being lazy.

I think it's about realizing that it's *not* easier being fat. It's hard, it's sad, it's frustrating. It leads you to dislike yourself. It can strip fun out of your life. Speaking for myself only, I avoided social events, hated shopping, didn't have the energy to enjoy my life and have fun with my family. I lived knowing that any day my health could fail, that my weight might catch up to me. I avoided going to the doctor to avoid stepping on the scale, so who knew when I'd develop diabetes or high blood pressure.

Losing weight was easy compared to all of that.

I made an inviolable deal with myself in the beginning: You will not quit until you've lost 40 pounds. I figured that would only take 4-5 months and I know I could do that. If I still decided being fat was preferable to counting calories and exercising, then I could quit. But not a day before 40 pounds gone.

It worked. By the time I'd lost 40 pounds, there was no chance I was quitting. I had more energy. I felt great. People complimented me. I was doing things in the gym I never dreamed possible. I was actually *happy*.

Other tips:

- Log on here every day. No exceptions. Even if you're not logging your food, log on here as a reminder that you are living a different life.

- Develop a support system. I still, 805 days later, love the cheers from friends when I log my exercise.

- Set tiny goals. If you have a lot to lose, seeing a ticker with 100 pounds to go is a buzzkill. I set my goal for that 40 pounds when I first started, then gradually changed my target weight whenever I hit a new goal. 20 pound increments worked well. I didn't think I could lose 120 pounds, but I knew I could lose 20 pounds 5 times

- Lose the all or nothing approach. Lose it NOW. So you slip up and eat chocolate for breakfast? Don't you dare let that be an excuse to binge all day and start new tomorrow. Log it, adjust your day, and move FORWARD. You have a family reunion and want to enjoy the food? FINE. Enjoy that one meal, or one day, but don't let it turn into two days. That has a tendency to turn into three, a week, a month. You are in charge, promise.

- Accept that weight fluctuates naturally. Accept that your hard work, your perfect week, will not always show up on the scale when you want it. But know this: hard work is always rewarded. You might not see it this week, but next week will be killer. I dealt with this by tracking my weekly losses over the long-term. Then if I worked my tail off and only lost .5 pounds, I could look back and see that my daily average was more than 2 pounds a week still, that my losses always show up, but they might take some time. If you enjoy a meal out and weigh yourself the next day, you might see a 4-5 pound gain, but remember that it's not fat, or better yet, don't weigh yourself for a few days.

- Exercise. I know you'll read all kinds of BS here about how exercise isn't necessary to weight loss, but in my opinion, if you truly want to change your life, it requires activity. Do what you enjoy...walking, weights, group classes. Just move. It will change your relationship with your body which will, in turn, change your relationship with food. Discovering my inner athlete is one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and I mean that seriously.

- Don't make any changes you're not willing to keep for a lifetime. For example: Don't exercise two hours a day unless you plan to do that forever. Don't cut carbs unless you're willing to live a life without cake and french fries (I'm not!). Don't restrict to 900 calories unless you'll be happy on celery and rice cakes forever. A series of small, permanent changes will make all the difference.

- Don't make the mistake of thinking that life that doesn't begin till you hit goal weight. I remember thinking, "I won't hit my goal weight for a year and a half! That is so long. Why even bother." What a silly thought. The entire journey to lose weight was a reward in itself. Along the way I had so much *fun* that hitting goal weight was fairly anticlimactic! I didn't feel like seeing that number on the scale was the end goal anymore, because it wasn't....the new life I had created for myself, THAT was the goal. It took 15 months, but you know what? Those 15 months would have passed regardless.

The week I started, I hung up a phrase on my computer at work:
"A year from now you will wish you had started today."

That phrase still hung there a year from my start date, except I was 120 pounds lighter.

Time passes whether we do something with it or not. I chose to do something. I hope you do too.

Good luck

i had tried to lose weight so many times in the past, id lose 20lbs feel better with myself and before i know it the diet and exercise had been phased out, and i had gained the weight i had lost, and then more. I would always say "this is my last takeaway" "ill start the diet tomorrow" but surprise surprise it never happened. it was only after visiting friends that i realised that everywhere i looked and everywhere i went i was always the largest person in the room, it was after the trip i went home brought Slim in 6 and reinstalled myfitnesspal and i havent looked back. i still have the occasional takeaway as a treat and log it as best as i can. i havent denied myself anything as if i stop myself from eating it thats all i can think of. so instead of a large chocolate bar, i have one or two squares so i get the taste and get it out of my system while counting the calories. for me its all been about moving more and paying more attention to my portion sizes. When i started, i didnt think i would get this far take it one day at a time and set small mini goals so they are easier to achieve and so you always have mini victories.

I don't think I'm in the 'lost so much' category... yet... but I can relate to how you're feeling. I need to remind myself on a daily (hourly..., minutely..., secondly!) basis why I want to lose weight/get healthy. Lots of the time I listen to myself... Sometimes I don't. What others say may help inspire me and keep me going or get me back on track, but it's me who has to do the hard work of making good choices. And it is hard. But the more often I listen to my own good advice and the good advice of others, the better results I see and the better I feel. And that helps me to persevere.

Lessons I'm constantly reminding myself of in my daily challenge of getting healthier (and hopefully thinner):

~ It's a damned slow process. But I didn't get this way overnight so shouldn't expect to undo it all over night. 1-2lbs per week is a reasonable expectation for me. If that means I only lose 5lbs in a month, I have to be okay with that, and pleased with my achievements. There is no such things as a magic pill.

~ Whatever I do has to be sustainable forever. If I 'diet' by cutting all sugar, or all baked goods, or if I live on just white and green foods, I will lose weight. But as soon as I re-introduce the no-no foods, I'll gain the weight back. And probably a few extra lbs too as my body's way of saying "Take that for depriving me!". My new normal way of eating (reasonable portion sizes, lots of water, much lower amounts of 'junk food', a lot more healthy foods, within a specific daily calorie limit) has to be something I can do for the rest of my life.

~ Tracking my food and exercise makes me a lot more aware of what (and how much) I'm eating. It also makes me think twice about how I'm going to spend my calories. Yes, I think of my daily allotment like an account with limited funds in it that I need to make last for the whole day! Being accurate is very important. Overdrafts are costly (to my goals and my self esteem). For me, no foods are off limits, but if my goal is to be healthier, I will reach that faster by making better food choices. I'm more likely to make bad choices on days I don't track my food and exercise (or more likely to not track if I eat poorly or don't exercise). So tracking is important.

~ While weight loss is 90% about what I eat, exercise will help make me feel better. And if I feel better, I'm more likely to make better choices. But, again, the activity I do has to be something I enjoy, something I can do easily. Otherwise it's too easy to talk myself out of it. It's nice to exercise with a friend, but I can't rely on friends for my motivation. I have to motivate me and make a commitment to myself in order to reach my goals. If I can help friends at the same time, yeh!

~ While I'm entitled to have a stern word with myself when I mess up, I can't beat myself up and use it as an excuse to give up. I have to do my best to learn from my mistakes and then put them behind me and start over again.

Persevering to achieve a weight loss goal is difficult because it's hard work. Change is almost always hard. Even change for the better. But when that hard work starts to pay off, and your changes are paying dividends, it's sooo worth it!