What nobody tells you about losing weight

Colderinminnesota wrote: »

It seems like only women are commenting here, and that's okay, but I'm going to make a comment from a man's perspective. It is truly delightful to look down in the shower and see more than your gut, if you know what I mean. And that profile you see when you're standing sideways in front of the full-length mirror. Wow! It's true what the urologists say. You will look like you have more when it's not surrounded by fat. It's not my intent here to offend anyone, but if you're a guy, you'll know what I mean.

A related observation is that my libido seems to be noticeably higher as a skinny person than as a larger person. (It's still nowhere near my teenage levels, which is probably good as I got very little done back then.)

They did tell me the last 10 pounds is the hardest, but oh my goodness! I never dreamed it would be this hard!

I'm 85 pounds down and 115 to go. Roughly. The biggest thing that I have learned is that your weight loss journey is uniquely yours. Don't compare yourself to others because everyone loses at a different rate and don't let others compare you to themselves. Just because they couldn't do it doesn't mean you can't.

I don't remember if I've said this before, but
When I first lost quite a bit, the outside of my thighs hurt, like bruises, but I never saw any bruises. I finally realized that I had lost fat in my upper arms and side chest. My arms now lay flat by my side instead of sticking out. When I walk, they brush my legs. Lol. A good problem!

lemonsurprise wrote: »

Wanted to make this thread for motivationial purposes more than anything but they don't all have to be super positive! More of what came as a surprise. I'll start..

- how much confidence it will actually bring, especially when strangers start treating you like royalty all of a sudden!

- Sitting (particularly in baths) and laying (particularly in beds) will become ever increasingly uncomfortable.

- how vain you will become! I can't walk past a mirror without checking how I look nowadays!

Your turn!

How scary it is when you FINALLY reach your goal. Im 1 pound away and it scares me. You work so hard to reach it, its consuming, then its like, well.. I did it.. so now what.

@springlering62 speaks truth. Maintenance is exactly the same plan as weight loss with the only exception that your calorie goal goes up by just a bit.

Scary? Perhaps. Maybe at first. Maybe the first time you see the scale tick up, because it will. Just like during weight loss, there will be up days and down days. You will be more in touch with those little fluctuations because they aren't masked by an overall decreasing weight trend. Scary perhaps also if you watch the scale continue to go down for a while. Don't stress too much, just pay attention.

Figure out a good calorie goal, then stick to it and OBSERVE the results. Keep tracking. Keep recording exercise. In a few weeks, see if you need to make any changes. You will get it dialed in. The bonus is if you fall off the wagon so to speak, your maintenance goal will get you back to maintenance at any time. It will of course be slower than going back to loss mode. You will have a good idea of what the goal should be.

It also might make sense to develop a goal weight RANGE. I have two; an absolute range and an ideal range. When I am outside of the ideal range, I know I need to make small changes. Like now. When I bump up outside of the absolute range, I have to remind myself to be a bit more aggressive to make sure that it doesn't keep going the wrong way. Vigilance! That's the trick. And - STICK TO IT.