I haaaaate that I have so much weight to lose. Every victory right now just reminds me of how far I have to go.
I've lost so many inches, and so many sizes, but it's all still so HUGE. I posted a pic in my gallery of a 3-shot - photos of my tummy/hips taken on November 25, December 5, and December 12. (Really small in the gallery... you have to click on the pic to make it large enough to see)
Now, since it's my body and I'm paying such close attention to it, on the one hand I feel such a huge victory. In just 20 days, by eating healthy foods and exercising, I've made a big change. I look down when I'm buckling my seat belt, amazed that I didn't have to pull that belt out so much farther... I see almost all of my thighs when I'm belted in now (my tummy still covers the very top part, but it used to cover farther down).
But on the other hand.... UGH! I'm so tired of looking at my fat. I want to be thin now. I feel good now. Why can't I look good now? arrrrrrrrrgh. I don't want to wish my life away and wish for time to pass more quickly, but I wish this all didn't take so much TIME. Someone else looking at me (really anyone but myself, since I'm the only one who looks at my own body so closely all the time) would just think "FAT girl. VERY fat girl." and wouldn't see how much work I've put in.
If you've lost a lot of weight in that short time you should feel very good about your success and it should encourage you to stay with the plan. I have finally realized that it takes a long time to change one's body. Stay positive....and hopefully someone will say to you "hey...did you lose weight?". Once that happens it should embolden you to try even harder to stay on a plan. Also...accept the fact that you're on the plan for life. I used to think of a diet as a temporary weight loss episode in life. It's not because unless you accept the permanent change the weight will come back.
Awww.. but isn't it natural to feel the impatience?, don't be so concerned about *time*.. it is very subjective and if it seems slow that has more to do with watching it than living it... you know "time flies when you are having fun" and a "watched pot never boils"?
I think if you use this program of counting calories and analysing your eating habits until you get a good intuitive feel for what a good days eating is, then you can feel secure that by establishing a new and better eating pattern it is all you need to stick to. The future will unfold according to the patterns you set in motion now and once you set them, that the best thing you can do is get on with enjoying the other things in your life besides food that absorb* your interests.
Once good eating habits are established and you know what and how much you can eat based on your lifestyle, then it is time to move on to what you enjoy doing, the weight should contnue like a mathematical certainty to drop off on its own... just be good ;-) you sound like you are making a lot of progress in a relatively short time. Commit to and get on with living, enjoy other things now... let your newfound eating pattern do its thing, get busy and have a look every now and then to see what kind of progress you are making but avoid obsessing... and impatience, the key is to slow time down, life is too short in most cases ;-)
hope that helps.
Original Post by miket53:
If you've lost a lot of weight in that short time you should feel very good about your success and it should encourage you to stay with the plan. I have finally realized that it takes a long time to change one's body. Stay positive....and hopefully someone will say to you "hey...did you lose weight?". Once that happens it should embolden you to try even harder to stay on a plan. Also...accept the fact that you're on the plan for life. I used to think of a diet as a temporary weight loss episode in life. It's not because unless you accept the permanent change the weight will come back.
You're right, you're right. And it's actually been longer since I made the change than 20 days - I just started taking pics 20 days ago. And I do love my new lifestyle.
It's just taking sooooooooooo long. :/
Just a thought..... Weight-control is something you're going to be doing for the rest of your life. So you have to set the dial to thinking 'long-term'..... getting into good healthy eating habits and good exercise habits that you enjoy enough to do, not simply to lose weight but a long time into the future as well. Otherwise you'll just yo-yo back to where you started and that's an absolute killer.
If you're enjoying your new lifestyle, that's excellent. Sit back, relax, enjoy the ride and the time will just fly by.
hi there,iv only just this minute joined this site and on reading other peoles posts i was drawn to yours,i know exactly how you feel and the thing is its taken me so long to actually admit that im slowly killing myself with food,everyone keeps telling me the fact iv admitted this is the 1st step or rather a very good step in the right direction,only thing is im not really sure were or how to start?i have an addictive personality and i used to be addictd to herion infact i used for 8 years,well i had my daughter who saved my life and iv now been clean for 4 years which is a great thing,but i feel like iv now replaced that addiction with an addiction for food,i know deep down i cant keep on like i am going from day to day with little glimers off posativity to get motivated then that soon fades away and i find myself eating or rather hoovering up food,any food as long as it fills me up i dont mind,but i do have a taste for sweet foods.who dosnt???unfortunetly my partner who is my daughters daddy he passed away 2 years ago and i know alot off my comfort eating has alot to do with feeling lonely,but i need to take action and try and get back in controll off the food i eat and when i eat as i want my daughter to grow up knowing her mummy,well my 32 and i weigh 235 lbs which is 17st and 1 lb and my bmi is 40.4,i have the facts but i need to get started and get controll back off my eating and my life,so can anyone please advise me on the best ways i can help myself get controll back and were to start on this long jurney,sorry to all readers that this is a long post i just needed to get it all out and be honest with myself and all other posters,thanx for your time
You need a plan and you need support. By 'a plan' I mean some kind of structure to work to... making it easier to eat well than to eat badly. Relying less on eating on the hoof or grazing as you go along. Comfort eating isn't actually a big problem... food should give pleasure... what you choose to comfort eat is what makes the difference. Support comes from friends, family, us (!) your daughter, your doctor even.... never turn down help.
First step.... physically remove from your home anything and everything that you feel the need to 'hoover up'. If it's not there you can't eat it, plain and simple.
Second step..... jot down a menu of three square healthy meals and some snacks for the next three or four days. Plenty of vegetables with the meals, grilled meat/fish rather than fried, wholegrains rather than refined starches, home-cooked food rather than convenience meals, fruit and yoghurts to snack on. Don't worry about the calories for now - eat plenty but eat healthily. Then go to the supermarket and get just enough to cover the meals. If you're going to obsess about something, obsess over your plan.
Third step.... Get moving... Make time in each day for a brisk walk.
Hope something in there helps you take control.
In the mean time, watch this and please learn to love yourself. Don't beat yourself up about who you are, or rather, what you think you are. Change for yourself and your health if you like, but YOU are more than just your body. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUTJQIBI1oA
Live, love, and laugh... :)
weight loss is a process, NOT an event. these are changes you're going to have to live with for the rest of your life if you want to sucessfully keep the pounds off.. so why are you in such a hurry? just be happy that you're making healthy choices everyday that are taking you one step closer to your ultimate goal. acknowledge how far you've come, rather than how far you have left to go.. and be proud of yourself!
Weightloss is like debt relief.
The more you have to lose, the longer it will take and the more commited you have to be to getting yourself where you need to be.
If I could pay off my debts off today, I would. If I could do some super exercise and food I could eat and be thin, healthy, and without any sagging skin in a day, I would. But none of this stuff is quick or painless.
These two subjects are so alike. They start innocent enough but spiral out of control over the years. But looking back and seeing 20 pounds gone. 20 is a big number to me. Heck 10 is big. Every time I go from one digit in the 10's to a lower digit in the 10's ... it's a milestone. There's nothing like looking at 220 one week and seeing 218 the next week. It feels good. Am I still fat, sure, but it feels good to look down and see that my stomach isn't hiding as much of me.
It's natural, IMO, to feel the need for this to go faster. But every pound or 2 pounds lost is a great feeling. IT all adds up. Just like every 100 or 1000 or whatever in debt that's paid off. That you are no longer feeling the consequenses of that added debt or weight.
So stick it out. Look back not forward. Yes you have much to go, but look where you were! Look at that and wave goodbye! It's so liberating to let the weight (or debt) go and the bad habits that went along with it.
Original Post by shandykat:
In the mean time, watch this and please learn to love yourself. Don't beat yourself up about who you are, or rather, what you think you are. Change for yourself and your health if you like, but YOU are more than just your body. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUTJQIBI1oA
Live, love, and laugh... :)
Saw that VIDEO, and Loved it!!! Be happy with who you are, and not who others think you are!
Share the positive attitude, and don't tell others to do something they are not willing to do!!!
Do what you think is right for you, because you have no one else to blame but yourself - and you have no one else to be proud of more than you are proud of yourself.
Be you!!! Not what others think you should be.
And with time taking so long, who's measuring it anyway but you? It is only taking long if you say it is, so please try to think positive and think that it is just flying and that you are closer to your goal now than before you read this reply!!!
Lots of luck.
I feel the exact same way sometimes!! I have lost about 20 pounds in the last 5 months..and still, I can see a difference but UGH why am I still not thin in my own eyes?? I just have to constantly remind myself that I gained the weight gradually and I will lose it just as gradually (if not more gradually). I love that I care about my body so much not though and I really take pride in the fact that people notice. No, you can't just look at me and tell I plan my meals ahead of time and workout like crazy but one day...it will be more apparent.. 
You just keep doing what makes you FEEL good in your own skin and everything else will follow. (I promise) And I'm sure we will both eventually look in the mirror and think, "DANG, I LOOK GOOD!!" lol
I love what night said here... for me weight loss is a lot like debt relief. lmao, too much like debt relief.
Modified there has been so many times I literally get pissed about my weight loss. Yes you have made progress, blah, blah, blah... but I have tried so hard!! Why can't I look like those stupid supermodels already!!! lol, yeah it's frustrating. Going from 210 to 175 was easy... 175 to 160 damn near killed me... then I just stayed put for like a year... eventually I got to 150, then 140, then 135 which I have been at for a year (but I lost about 22 inches in the same year just maintained weight). So it'll go girl... it just literally took me like 3 years from 175 to 135. 
Just keep your head up, persevere, keep posting your frustrations, and keep the anger if it helps, lol! It actually can turn into fuel for your fire of wanting to be healthier and thinner :).
You're gettin' there girl!! Just don't give up, and if you need to be mad, then be mad... sometimes it's just the way it is right?
