Did you have fears to overcome?

Fear of rebound. That kept me running all last winter. I'm still running.

For example: Fear of failure is what keeps a lot of people from even trying to lose weight. But that's not really a fear; just an excuse in disguise. (What's the point of trying? It's never going to work, yada yada). Once someone is determined to lose weight, all the fears (disguised as excuses) fly away.

I didn't fear not being able to lose, I have done that repeatedly over the years. I did have some fears about maintaining, but through educating myself and acquainting myself with people who have been successful at maintaining I feel more confident. Unreasonable fears kept me from losing before. Reasonable fears about my health is what is motivating me to get lean and fit and stay that way.

Fear of failure and fear of discomfort. I just turned 30 today, so I'm still pretty young. I've been obese since I was 11 - the same age I started my first diet. I would lose 20-30 pounds here and there as an adolescent. In the last 10 years, I have lost a grand total of 370 pounds. That's counting my current loss, one 75 pound loss, one 125 pound loss, and one 90 pound loss - from starting weights that have a range of 120 pounds from the low end to the high end. Guess which end of that range I started at this time? (Hint: Not the low end). Yeah, I have lost a good chunk, but I am still morbidly obese right now.

That's a hell of a lot of yo-yo right there, and I don't know what that says about me or what it means for my future, but the people who find out about my weight history are usually horrified and baffled about the regains - thus I only tell real life people with a legitimate reason to know. As for how I am doing right now, things are simple. This is easily going to be 100+ lost territory. Beyond that, I can't tell you. One day at a time. I'm loving going clothes shopping again, though the sizes that I am thrilled by would make many women cry, lol. I see things a lot differently because of my experience with all of this. I have my neuroses, but I also have some zen.

I've got nothing to lose. It's either I do it or keep myself under that dark pit.

There was a little bit of fear that helped to get me started. Several things came together that prompted me to sign on here, but one was the fear that if I stayed overweight much longer, I'd have to deal with loose skin and saggy-ness. I'm not getting any younger, things are starting to sag anyway ... so ...

I was a bit concerned about how much effort would be involved. So when I started, I decided to sign on for 3 weeks. At the end of 3 weeks I would decide what to do next, but I figured I might have lost a kilogram or 2 and would quit. However, during those 3 weeks, when I discovered how simple it was, I decided to keep going.

I wasn't very confident that I would lose weight just by logging my food and watching my calorie intake. I thought it would be tedious and I would quit. My expectations were maybe I'd lose 5 lbs and then stall and quit. I never thought I would actually come to enjoy logging my food and lose more than I've ever lost before.

I had to overcome fear about stepping on the scale. Starting out I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes as I stepped on the scale. Now I know that even if I don't see a loss that day it doesn't mean I am not on the right track over time. It isn't the only measure of progress.

I feared failure, most definitely.

It got to the point where I just *knew* I wouldn't fail as I wanted to reach my goals so badly - but I often had that niggling voice in my head saying "What if you decide to give up?!". I had to really believe in myself and stay strong.