The Emotional Side of Losing Weight

Just take it one day at a time. It might take a few weeks to see initial results and then it might be slow or stuck at times. Just stick with it. Get a good trainer for at least 30 mins a week if you can afford it. Once you start seeing results you will want to continue. Friend me for motivation

misst3687 wrote: »

Not sure why I was banned but I am back now. Thank you for your responses so far

Sorry about that, it was a glitch in the system but we fixed it.

Breaking it down really does work. You will feel so good just getting to those smaller targets. I've lost 95 so far (100 or 105 is my ultimate goal), and just losing the first 10 and then 30 made a huge difference and then the next 10 and so on, however you like to think about it. Also, starting to feel like it works and you can do it will be motivational, and setting and achieving non-weight-related goals, like for me activity things and later doing races and so on.

I am a goal-setting person, but I found it hugely helpful to map out a bunch of goals starting long term (one year) and then 6 months, 3 months, 1 month, this week, and planning in more or less detail depending. I included weight loss goals because I found it inspiring to think that if I keep this up I could be 30 lbs down by X, but would do that only if you won't be bothered by missing the goal if it happens (I'm not, while finding it motivating). The bigger things were achievement and process goals. For 6 months run X many miles or do a race or be working out 5 days/week or some such. And then for the very short term pick a specific thing to work on, like "this week I will meet my calories every day and cook 90% of my meals" or "go to the gym 3 times" or whatever." My focus changed as I got something down and started working on something else.

I mapped out goals for every 10 lbs lost and rewarded myself every time I hit a goal. I wanted so badly to get down to a certain weight, but I didn't believe that I'd actually get there. I surpassed that "goal" by 8 lbs. I believe a key to that was not thinking that I needed to lose 70 lbs to be in a healthy weight range for my height. That felt too overwhelming and made me want to quit before I even got started.

Get yourself a strong support system and never, ever give up. Every single day is not going to be good. Some days you will weigh a little more. Take pictures and measure yourself regularly. NSVs (Non-scale victories) will become something that makes you extremely happy. Good Luck

By concentrating on what can be done now. I had 100 lbs to lose, I lost 50 over 4 years, and the last 35 have been thanks to MFP over the last few months. I'm 15 lb from my original goal, but now my goal is shifted and I nowwant to lose about 30 more pounds. Instead of concentrating on my big goal, which cannot be obtained in a month, I concentrate on what can be done.

I can lose 4-5 pounds in a month, I can lose 1-1.5 pound a week. I Set my goal for the week and I work as hard as possible to check it off my list. If I don't meet my goal, I review what I did over the last week and see if I can locate the problem. I don't add the weight I didn't lose to the following week... Each week it's 1-1.5 lb... For now.

For me, it makes it less overwhelming. I can handle a week. I can't handle fixating on the end goal. I thought my end goal would be 215 lbs, but it turns out it wasn't. my body didn't react like it did when I lost the weight the first time in my early 20s. So instead of worrying about it, I'm just focusing on the end result of each week. I failed to reach my goal last week, but it was my 10 year anniversary and decided to have a lavish dinner, champagne, and some cake. This week is a new week and the goal remains to be 1-1.5 lbs.

I also used the 5 lbs mini goals. They helped me to stay focused in reachable goals instead of trying to beat this whole XX lbs monster. It can be overwhelming.

Also, focus in the non scale victories. When your everyday clothes start to fit more comfortably, or when you can fit into that piece of clothing (even if barely) that you absolutely couldn't a few weeks ago, realize those ARE victories too. I had my closet half full of stuff I couldn't fit or would look not flattering on me, now I can proudly say I had beaten each and everyone of those little suckers and everything (MY GOD, EVERYTHING!!!) on my closet fits great (3 years and 53lbs after ).

As for rewards, I personally don't like the idea of rewarding yourself with food. Instead, when I reached a mini goal (scale or non scale) I would go to work in a skirt or blouse I hadn't wear in a while because it wouldn't fit, get my self all prettied up and indulge in the nice comments from friends and coworkers. Ego can be your dear friend if you now how to use it in your favor...

You can do it, just make baby steps at first and get more "aggressive" as you feel like it. Have a great weight loss journey

Mini goals (every ten pounds) & rewards help a lot.

Exercise helps a ton as well! In the first few months, I could see and feel physical changes practically daily due to my workouts.

I started almost ten months ago with 82-100 pounds to lose (82 to fall several pounds under the obese lines and 100 to just above a 'normal' BMI for my height). I am currently down 56, so definitely over the half way line!

It's not easy to see how far you have left to go, but the longer you remain dedicated, the more progress you have to look back on and less to regret not doing sooner.