Down 37 pounds but don't feel successful?

You are doing some great things. First, you're down 37 pounds which is amazing. You could be floating around that point where all of a sudden you will tell a difference in how much better you look..sometimes it happens within a few pounds. But it will happen.

You are also a realist and realize that you need to lose more. Don't you see those people on here who lose some of their weight and think they look good and you think.."keep going.. you're doing great…but you're not there yet!"

You also have great drive and are anxious to get to goal. you want to celebrate the loss..but you want to be done and at goal. That is a good sign that you will get there.

You are well on your way..that 37 pounds is a healthy loss.. your heart is beating better…and you look better than you think.. keep it up!!! You can do it.

I often struggle with the same feelings, but I remind myself of that cliche but useful saying, "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

I feel just as large today as I did when I started. My mind knows I've lost weight, my clothes know I've lost weight and the scale tells me I lost weight! but I don't 'see it' maybe one day my head will catch up to my body. You are def not alone!

You are not alone. I've lost 21lbs, at 235 now. I'm still wearing the same clothes, no size change. And that has been pretty much my feelings. Not really feeling it as of yet, although the loss is what it is.
I've tried to think about 10lb mini goals, but that hasn't really brought about a satisfying feeling. Its more of an acknowledgement. I think if I fit into the next size, I might feel some accomplishment . .. but parts of me think that will be about the same as the 10lb increments.
Maybe as others have stated, the mind set takes longer to appreciate the accomplishments you've made. And maybe the trick is that we shouldn't make to much or rather expect too much with mini goals as ultimately we still have a long way to go to the ultimate goal.
Who knows maybe we shouldn't make to much of the weight loss as we go through this process. Maybe if we make so much hoopla over various mini-weight loss goals we're setting ourselves up for feeling a failure when we don't.
Maybe it is okay to not feel successful in the sense of celebrating so large. Maybe we should appreciate the weight loss as what it is . . . and its a process toward that ultimate goal.
I don't fret over it. I somewhat like the thought of not making the lifestyle change a big deal. It is what it is.
We are all so different in how we motivate and how we pursue our goal in being healthier. Just wanted you to know you are not alone.

Please go out and buy a dress,nothing expensive but flattering.trying on much smaller clothes will lift you up,no doubt.
Take care and keep going strong

Hehe take a look at my ticker. I'm in worse shape than you and yeah I totally get it. What helped me was to have clear goal points so that I could see my progress. My first goal point I have already passed. Being able to do squats and star jumps. My next goal. Which I am getting pretty close to is being able to do a genuine push up. Those made me see real progress and kept me hanging in there. After I can manage a push up my next goal will be to be able to do a pull up

You have done an awesome job! I know how you feel - on one hand, you've lost so much weight, but on the other hand, there's still so far to go. Looking at the big picture can be overwhelming, but I try to focus on meeting smaller goals. Those smaller goals break up the big goal into manageable pieces.

You've lost the amount of weight of an average 3-4 year old child. That's a lot! You've done so well, and I know you can keep going!

Totally feel the same way. As of yesterday, I hit my 100# loss mark. I still have 38# to go to meet my "rough" goal. But I too am having a hard time being proud of what I have accomplished. Just becuz I am disgusted with myself for LETTING myself get to this point in the first place. Especially since about 7 years ago, I had lost weight on South Beach and got down to about 10# more than I am right now, and due to some emotional/other stuff in my life, put it all back on. This time I know I can do it, and it's all under control, but still it's definitely a "head" thing and I realize that even after the weight issue is under control and I DO meet my goal, I'll definitely have to deal with a mental issue that will probably take even longer than it took to lose the weight. But it'll come, I know it will. In the meantime, I feel SOOO very much better, look better, my whole outlook on life is better. So it's all good. And with time, it'll all meld into one. That's my take on it. And ya, I have to do the picture thing. I've always hated pix of myself, so didn't do that. I did do the measurements, and have had to buy new unders 5 times during this journey and totally buy new clothes twice, so have a pretty small wardrobe right now. But the measurements tell it all.

You go girl!! You can only get to your goal by losing SOMETHING!!

YES! I know all too well what you're feeling. I started at 240. Strangely, I felt "fattest" throughout the 190s-170's range. The best way I can explain it, is at 240, I was fat all over and it was proportionate. But once I hit onederland, my arms and legs thinned out, but my torso and hips were still heavy - so I looked disproportionately "fatter" in those areas. Which was a huge buzzkill when I should have been revelling in my success of a significant, fast loss. Because let's face it, you & I both started in January (or so says your profile), a year apart, and a 30+ loss in that time is quite a drastic change.

All I can offer you is to focus on where you're going; not where you came from. Patience, dedication and perseverance. Keep at it, and DO NOT GIVE UP. Set yourself smaller, interim goals because this next part is where it's a grind. Add in an exercise goal as well (if you can) to keep yourself motivated. What worked for me was adding a secondary goal of a 500 daily calorie burn.

And yes, there are days that I'm ashamed that I let myself get up to 240. WTF was I thinking? Why didn't I do anything earlier? However, I can't go back in time to fix that, and I'm not going to allow myself to be pessimistic and beat myself up over something I can't change. All I can do is move forward, and make sure that I NEVER allow myself to start that slide again. I'm within a pound of my original goal weight of 160. Which I'll likely pass and reduce to 155. So that in the future, should I see 160 on the scale again - early warning system alarm bells will go off, and I'll immediately take steps to correct it BEFORE I find myself at 240 again.

And finally, you should also congratulate yourself that you realized you needed to do something at only 263 lbs. It could have been a lot higher had you done nothing for another year!