giving up.

You look incredible. I took a look at your pictures and diary, eat a little more netting a little too less somedays. Be happy for what you have accomplished! Don't give up each day is another day to make a better choice.

Ranulph Fiennes ( possibly the best explorer Britain's ever known) says he hates exercising and a lot of the time he just doesnt want to get off the couch and go for a run. What he says he does is:

1) Stand up
2) Walk towards his training shoes
3) Put on the shoes
4) Walk out the door
5) Start walking
6) Start running

By concentrating just on the little bit at a time he can get his demotivated butt out for a run. So, dont look at you currently overwhelming ultimate goal, but just aim to get up and then put on your shoes and then go outside. If nothing else, the fresh air will do you a lot of good. Trust me, hardly any of us want to exercise or diet. Many of us would love to sleep or watch TV or play on a video game, but if we were happy doign that then we would never have found this place.

So...get up and get out... and take care of yourself.

love this.

As other people have said before: I can't believe you are saying this! YOU HAVE ACHIEVED A LOT & YOU LOOK GREAT! Don't give up, but above all you need to tackle this low mood and low self-steem! Cheer up and take care! :flowerforyou:

I feel the same way about my fat. Some days I go somewhere and I start freaking out about how fat I am and then I don't want to get out of the car. It's a crappy feeling but don't give up. I am using it as motivation to get the fire under my *kitten*. I lost 8 pounds and I eat 2000 calories a day. Set your calories to your BMR and don't eat less because it will slow your metabolism and make you store fat. Try to track your measurements instead of weight sometimes you put on lean mass and eliminate fat but the scale won't move because muscle is heavier than fat.

I have to agree with the awesome people here. You sound depressed, you are exhausted, which is only making everything else worse. Please talk to your doctor. You may not just need depression medication...it could be something as simple as a thyroid problem, Vitamin D deficiency, Low B12 (all of which I had together which made for a horrible mix). It could be any number of things, hun. I have to take 50,000 IU of Vitamin D a week and was taking weekly B12 shots. Plus I am on Welbutrin.

We are all here for you. Don't give up, that will depress you even worse! Trust me on this. Push through this plateau.

THROW THAT DAMNED SCALE AWAY!!! It's just putting you through torture. Don't use it and weigh yourself somewhere else on a regular basis. Please, trust us.....we have been there and understand what you are going through.

Let me ask you if someone else posted the same post...with all the accomplishments that you have achieved, what would your advice to them be? :indifferent:

I know you're venting and that's Awesome! You need to and that is what we are all here for! I might need you one day! Just vent and remember that you are beautiful, obviously very strong and determined, and that you aren't alone. Please just check yourself out with a doctor, you might've done some damage to your body not eating enough. Listen to the pros here...they have pushed through with so many success stories!

Please add me if you'd like. I know where you are coming from with the exception of the awesome 41lbs lost! Congrats!!

You look great and have acheived so much. VERY good advice from everyone. That kind of talk is more than just the results on the scales and it certainly isn't your size, you are beautiful. I agree with those who said it sounds very much like depression. Believe me I know I've been there. It could be hormone or vitamin deficiency and up those calories your giving your body nothing to work with.

So right now phone for Dr's appointment to get checked out, and then don't think about it just get up and go out for a walk. I know it's the last thing you want to do but believe me you will feel better for it.

Good Luck

In someone else's post she wrote 'I just keep my chin up and force myself to keep moving forward.' Not easy, but good advice.

Take Care we are all here rooting for you.

It's great that you can come this far with losing this much weight by calorie counting. I think your source of problem might be from your foods. I took a look at your diary recently and I noticed that your fiber intake is very low. Your green leafy vegetable intake is non-existent. You eat a lot of processed carbs from cereal to bread to the occasional cake. You eat mayo, which is pure fat. So I think you can get over your hump if you skipped grocery shopping in the processed aisles all together and bought only fresh food or the occasional bread or bagel but not load up for yourself on bagels, cereal, AND bread. Skip the mayo. You need vitamin B, it will give you more energy. Eating sufficient amounts of greens should do it and by vegetable I mean leaf, not roots or fruits. Squash, potatoes, beans are not as much "vegetation" as much as "plant produce". Try that, I think it will give you more energy and get you back on your feet. I had the same problem with not having enough energy and I added more dark leafy greens into my diet and it helped a lot. I hope this can help you try something different than what you are doing now, good luck!

The scale is a bad bad thing.

Mine hasn't moved in a few weeks, but my jeans feel better on & I have more stamina. My cholesterol numbers are looking great and my blood sugars are better controlled.

Just because the scale hasn't moved, doesn't mean you aren't benefiting from what you are doing.

Play with your calories, do a different workout, eat more protein, but don't give up. Chin up!!! :flowerforyou:

If it all due to your view on your current weight? As it sounds a lot like depression and you may need to go to your doctor and have some counselling and self esteem boosting, trust me, I've done it, I have suffered with depression for 8 years, I'm 23... I had weeks where I couldn't leave my bed for more than eating, I would put things off, ignore people, I lost a job because of it, got kicked out of college twice and I also developed agoraphobia, so I've come from quite a low level.

My highest weight was 16st, I've never had the 'fat vision' I've never belived I've been that big which has been a properly wall to get past as I fail at most diets and hover around 15st... I started calorie counting 1.5 weeks ago, have lost weight and am still keeping myself motivated but wait... gone off on one there... lol I had counselling in 2009, it didn't help my food problems (comfort eating) was I was concentrating on my anxiety and depression but sicne then I've had perhaps 2 weeks of depression in the past 2 years, having a job has helped me, are you happy where you work?

I think your opinion is doctor, doctor for why you've stopped losing weight and doctor for your depression. xxxx hope it lifts soon,

The scale hasn't moved for me in a month or so since I lost 19 lbs. I have 10 to 15 more to go and I'm not quitting. My clothes are much looser and I feel a lot better so something is working.

Just a few to read --

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss-plateau/MY01152
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/10-ways-to-move-beyond-a-weight-loss-plateau
http://www.oprah.com/health/Weight-Loss-Advice-Fitness-Plateau-Dr-Katz

Don't give up and please read before you up your calories. The math doesn't work out and defies logic. Check out a search for starvation mode and you will come across a study that explains that your metabolism does NOT slow down enough to warrant increasing your calories unless you are under 8% body fat.

You can work through this. Everyone reaches one and it might take a week or three but eventually your body will catch up.

We all have days like this. Wisdom from Dora: Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. (Hey! Maybe literally!)

thank you all for all your kind words and support. they are much appriciated. just to get to few questions.. i am 5'5" and 150 pounds. that puts me in the "normal" range. but on the upper end. i would like to lose another 25 pounds.. i do not feel that it is vanity weight. i see the fat on my stomach, thighs and hips.. way too much of it. I also relize i need to be healthy and that this is not a diet site.. but a fitness site. i exercise usually 3-7 times a week.. although the last 6 months have been on and off, due to knee surgery i had. I am still in daily pain, and i usually try to ignore it.

i am depressed. i am tired. even though i am married.. i always say, im a married single parent. i do everything. work, clean the house, make dinner, drive the kids around, homework and deal with the schools. along with all of the outside landscaping and hardscaping (last year i built a retaining wall in my back yard). My husband does little. (unless you call playing the x-box.. helping.. )

im just beat down.. the only thing i have under my control is my body. and it is not responding as i would like it to. last summer i was at 143 and ran my first 5k (well, it was the warrior). this year.. i just cry everytime i look in the mirror.

every time i see my reflextion.. expecially when im shopping or whatever.. i just want to curl up.. i really am embarrased. i know i need to work on that.. i am trying.. im just so tired.

thank you again for everything.. all the posts, notes and friend request.. means alot.. thank you all for your support.. hopefully i can turn this around soon.

You look beautiful, and the question I have for you is why are you embarrassed? You have nothing to be ashamed of! You said it your self your in the normal range.

Stop right there.

There is no upper or lower edge, adding extra words makes it sound unnecessarily worse. So many people today would do anything to look the way you do. I can guarantee you no one is looking at you and judging you about how fat you are, if anything they envy you.

From looking at your before and after picture, you have kicked-@ss at losing weight and getting fit. You deserve to feel good about yourself. As far as the relationship thing goes, I am not one to give advice because I am not an expert. The only thing I can offer up is communication is the key to improve any relationship.

But seriously. You need to go look in the mirror and be damn proud of what you have done and accomplished because you worked your butt off for it! I think everyone in this thread has made it blatantly clear how true this is. So please. Be happy for everything you have earned. You have done such a great job!!!!

You sound really discouraged and exhausted. I bet that there is more going on--stress at work or in other areas of life, not getting enough sleep, etc? My recommendation is that you commit to a couple weeks or month of NO SCALE! Hide your scale in your basement and throw away the batteries that came in it. ;P

Then during that month keep eating healthfully, but make it a priority to eat a variety of foods and do things that make you feel good. You could even write a few "feel good" lists.

A "feel good" list for me would be something like: "Sleep in for an hour extra, hang out at the library and pick out a giant stack of books to borrow (don't even have to read em all), take a loooong bubble bath." Then I try to hit those goals if I can, but no big deal if I don't. The point is to feel good, and there's always tomorrow. The reason I recommend this is because you sound like you're not really happy with yourself right now, but you've clearly done so much right. If you can take some time to be good to yourself and remind yourself about how you can feel great, maybe you will become happier with your progress and your prospects. But stop staring at the scale--take a break from that!

Also, try your best to catch yourself when you start thinking negative. Negative thought patterns that repeat in your head will eventually damage your overall mood, negatively impact your outlook and self-esteem, and change how you perceive and respond to everything. If you say something like "I should just give up," catch it, and say, "Actually, no. I'm very very tired. I should cut myself some slack and take some time to rest and recharge. Then I can come back to my goals when I feel ready."

It can be hard to catch those and turn them around especially when you already feel like utter crap, but every time you stop a negative thought counts, and every time you turn it around counts double. I started by simply noticing when I think negative thoughts and my mental response was simply, "Stop! Negative thought! Think about something else... Uhhh... the sky is blue? Cars are driving? Uhhh..." ...It didn't matter--I was training myself to stop thinking negatively.

Well, good luck. I don't think you want to go back to wherever you were at 41 pounds heavier... so don't give up! If anything, just take a break, and take care of yourself!

/novel

Hey, you've made some great strives. I don't know you, but based on what I've seen of your diary, you've been doing an awesome job. Of course we all want the same thing (mostly) get thin, get thin, get thin, but we have to recognize it does not happen overnight and that when we plateau we might need a change/switch up the routine a little. Don't give up, look at all the people giving you encouragement, don't let us down. U CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it has been 5 weeks of dieting and the scale hasn't moved. in fact today it was up nearly 4 pounds. Every day is a struggle just to get out of bed. i wouldn't even leave my house at all if i didn't have to go to work. i can't look anyone in the eye.. and feel like everyone is seeing how fat i am. my stomach will not flatten out. i always look like i have a big round belly. Im tired. and just want to sleep. I am embarrased to step out of my house looking like i do.. old, fat, i just want to sleep.
not looking for anything but a place to vent.
im just really frustrated.

I've been where you are--and I did give up. Now I'm back to the beginning, with an ADDITIONAL 30 pounds to lose. If I wouldn't have given up, I may not have lost more but I sure wouldn't be where I am now.

I also concerned about your fatigue. I'm sure plenty of people have already said it--have you thought about seeing your doctor? How about having a nutritionist take a look at your food diary? Your doctor could recommend one.