Question for all the Success Stories

I agree and identify with just about everyone! Self-confidence/self-image: Sometimes I still see the 270 lb girl in the mirror with giant thighs and a poochy belly, preparing meals for myself/my husband: He's not always thrilled with my dinner choices, but at least he will still eat it!

The biggest one for me is jealousy, I guess (me of others and others of me)... Almost all of my friends are married/engaged/in serious relationships, they have all put on weight and I did the opposite. I sometimes feel like they make fun of me for eating healthy. Yet when we're all out to dinner, I am jealous that they get to eat burgers and fries, and I eat fish and veggies or a salad! I'll never forget the look on my best friend's face last summer when I was helping she and her husband with painting their new house. He offered to buy my lunch for helping, he said they were going to a local burger place... She ordered a bacon cheeseburger and chocolate shake, I ordered a salad with low fat dressing. Cue the death stare!! :grumble:

Hi, Ive lost 40 lbs PRIOR to MFP and 30 lbs SINCE MFP..

My biggest struggle has been believing in myself. At 265 I had no self esteam. And thinking that I had 120 lbs to lose was something I never thought was possible. How I've over come that is I focused on 10 lbs at a time. I got the inital 10 lbs off then I would think ok im at 255, now just gotta get to 245, then Id get there then think ok now just get to 235 and so on and so on. Today I am 195!! I have 50 left to go but im just focused on getting to 185, then Ill change focus to the next set. When you tell yourself, "just lose this 10 lbs", it works out so well.

Im so gonna do that! THANKS....... on average how long did it take to lose 10 pounds?

"Have a bite of cake, it won't hut you"

HATE that one!!!!

I love that one because it's true. A big slice of cake every day, not so good for you. A small slice of cake a couple times of week, is fine. So is a huge slice every once in awhile.

I haven't deprived myself of anything I've really wanted to eat yet. I just don't eat it as often. Sometimes I eat a small portion, sometimes I eat a huge piece and savor each nibble (yeah, I nibble, I make it last). Sometimes I balance it out by eating a bit less for a few days afterwards and/or doing a bit more exercise. Sometimes I don't.

But a bite of cake shouldn't derail you from achieving your goals. So, go ahead, have a bite. It really won't hurt.

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To answer the OP:

The only thing that has been a struggle for me is hitting my macros. I rarely get in enough protein. Even adding protein powder to yogurt, glasses of milk, etc. I don't know why this is such a challenge for me but it sure is. Other than that, the benefits of being slimmer and stronger with more endurance far outweigh (no pun intended) everything else. It's great to have energy, the physical ability to do things I hadn't been able to do for a long time, to not get fatigued/winded doing relatively simple things anymore, to wake up with a smile, to no longer be clinically depressed, to know that I have total control over what I do/how I do it, and to realize I have an active, healthy, happy current and future life instead of the more negative outlook and life I was previously living.

I think changing mindset so this doesn't feel like a struggle but, rather, a fun journey is key. I don't know how I made this mental switch but I'm sure glad I did. I think a big part of the reason why I was able to flip that switch has been because of embracing flexible dieting. So, yeah, I can have that cake. Heck, I just took 9 days off of exercise because I had been overtraining and was severely fatigued from it, ate what I wanted (including several 3000+ calorie days) and a lot of it was junk food, and am now back on plan with renewed vigor and focus. I don't see this as any kind of setback because it's what I chose to do. And now I've chosen to get back on the program. My choice. Nothing forced on me. No struggle.

I think severe restriction leads to frustration and deprivation and that's what makes it a struggle. So I avoid that. I think being flexible helps makes this a lifestyle and not a diet and, thus, no struggle. Hope that makes sense.

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I do that as well, especially while talking on the phone.

maintenance is difficult for me. I always seem to self sabotage myself right before I hit my goal weight and gain some of it back..then work on losing it again. I thought maybe it was because once I got to my goal weight, I wouldn't have anything to "obsess" about anymore. still working on that right now! trying to lose 10 that i gained back!

My primary hurdle was getting started, and I had to dig deep to find the motivation to want to do it. But the primary thing that helped me was finding a way to work out that I liked. I found a great boot camp class that I really enjoyed and I made friends there. It is hard to do it alone, and it is hard to do stuff continually that you don't enjoy. Find something that you do enjoy and find people you enjoy doing it with and it will make it much easier. And once I could see the progress (on my body and on the scale), how could I stop?

During and after the holidays I kind of plateaued, but I was happy with where I was at and I maintained. However, I set a new goal for myself and have been making progress towards that goal. I'm at my final weight, I have a little bit of redistribution I still want to do (more muscle, less fat), but at 9% body fat at 41, I've reached my final scale victory and I'm just looking for new NSVs to keep me on track. I think that is another way to do it, keep setting goals, make them small so that you can see the end and don't get discouraged, but immediately set a new goal once you reach one!

The mental aspect of it is the hardest. It stopped being so hard when I stopped being so hard on myself.... once I realize that all the pressure I felt was self-inflicted. It doesn't matter if I lose one pound a week or a half pound a week or no pounds a week... I'm still making better choices than I was when I was a couch potato eating an entire bag of Butterfingers in two days. It's not a race or a contest and there is no deadline.

In particular, I stopped getting hung up on weigh-in days. I used to make sure my sodium was low leading up to it, so I wouldn't retain fluid, and made sure I pooped before I weighed myself, and then I realized... I wasn't on a "reality" game show where they'd send me home if I didn't make my numbers. And now, a year later, it doesn't matter if I dropped five pounds last April or three.

Looking at the big picture helped. And doing the math. Realizing that it would take seven slices of pecan pie beyond my maintenance calories to gain a pound, so eating one slice that fits in my calories isn't going to hurt. And that enjoying life, even if it means the occasional caloric splurge on a weekend or holiday, isn't going to put me on a tailspin. At worst, it might have delayed the day I reached my goal weight by a week or so. Big effin' deal.

Mine was I didn't have to do killer work outs to lose it. Just change my way of eating and do more age related workouts.