Being Patient

... is something I am not very good at =P
Point of this post is simple enough: share any tips for how you are patient with weight loss.  Would be greatly appreciated.

I'm new at being patient with weight loss, and when I originally signed up on this site, it said that I could realistically reach my goal weight by Nov. 2008, which seems really far away.  However, I believe I may have lost 2lbs. this week, which is a start in the right direction.  Reading others' success stories on this web site has helped me greatly.  I am amazed at people at high weights on this web site who have lost tons of weight.  So I guess it is possible, and I had read another post/thread where someone talked about appreciating the small victories, which I found meaningful, even if that small victory is that I lost a 1/2 inch within 2 weeks, and no one else notices but me.  Also, finding other things to look forward to or focus on seems to be helfpul for me also.  I don't know if this is helpful, but in summary, others' encouragements and success stories as well as appreciating those small victories seems helpful. 

I have to be patient because I have no other choice... I know that this is the right way to do it and it isn't going to happen fast. Meanwhile I have things to do, school, people, projects, papers. If I make the right decisions around mealtimes then I can lose weight while I'm doing other things... pretty cool if you ask me.

I remember that the weight did not appear on me all at once, but gradually. So it should come off gradually. I realize that slower is better, because the health issues of rapid weight loss aren't worth it (extreme loss of muscle, heart problems, etc.). I'm content as long as the weight goes down, and I do what I can to continue the progress, no matter how small (in my estimation) it is.

For me, I kept trying on a pair of pants that caused me to diet in the first place.  I couldn't fit into most of my pants and I refused to buy new ones. So week after week I kept trying them on and eventually they fit!  Now they are baggy.  Now my goal is to fit into a pair of pants I purposely bought one size smaller than those pant.  Of course trying on all the summer clothes that were snug last year and are not now has been fun too.

Patience? 

I gave myself a lot of short term goals to achieve so I wouldn't have to wait so long to celebrate an accomplishment.  It sounds silly but it works for me.  It also keeps things interesting, especially when the goals weren't only weight related.  One week I challenged myself to not weigh every day.  Another time I challenged myself to do an extra set of reps in my exercise.  All these things helped with my losses (or self esteem) but weren't necessarily putting my attention on the scale.

My current goal is to acheive a certain amount of minutes worth of exercise for the month of April.  Another goal, which isn't as time restricted is to get ready for a new updated picture when I reach the next BMI level.