Question For Anyone Who Has Lost 100+ Pounds

How did you keep your motivation up?

Typically, I do really good for the first few months, then I start slowly slipping back into old habits. Im feeling myself doing this again...

I was going to put in my goal weight, but I sometimes feel like that makes me feel defeated before I even start! I have about 170-180 lbs to lose. I started CC in April at 362 and have lost 24 lbs so far. I know it could have been more had I been stricter, so that makes me frustrated with myself.

I know I dont want to give up, yet part of me just feels like screw it, Im never going to lose all of this weight. Ive even changed my goals, trying to tell myself things like "I want to get down to 300" because 62 lbs seems easier than 180. But still, old habits are creeping up. Old mindsets are coming back. If I give myself a little break from being strict, I run with it and use it as an excuse to eat everything Ive been avoiding.

In April my doctor told me that my blood sugar & cholesterol were high. It scared the shit out of me to be honest. I thought, I dont want to die early because I cant get my weight under control. And I didnt want to have to take yet another pill(s) for something prob caused by my weight. So she gave me 3 months to see if I could get the levels down. ANd I did. And I quit smoking during that time too. But now its like, Im not as scared, so Im not as focused. And Im having a hard time getting focused again.

During the weekday its fine, I bring all my own food in and eat healthy foods. Ive only gone out for lunch once since April and then I chose steamed veggies and rice from Panda Express. I gave up my several a day mountain dew habit. So some things Im still sticking with and doing good with. But for the past month or so, its the nights and weekends that get me. Im eating out more often. Snacking on poor choices etc.

I know I have to do this. Im tired of being this overweight. Tired of feeling this fatigued, unattractive and unhealthy. But mind over matter isnt working right now.

I would appreciate any stories of your accomplishments AND struggles, how you overcame the challenges of losing over 100 lbs and how you fought all the messed up food issues.

Thanks =)

Hi Kerry,

First, pat yourself on the back for getting healthier. You have stopped smoking, improved your cholesterol and sugar levels, and lost weight. Wow, that is fantastic. You have also found this wonderful site.

Let me tell you about my experience. I have lost almost 100 lbs, around 95 by this point. It has been quite an exerience. A few years ago I could not believe I would ever do this. I thought that it was impossible for me and that I needed to just accept my situation. I knew I could never lose weight until I knew it was time, and I thought that time would never come.

What happened to me is similar to you, where I got scary medical news and topped that off with having a friend die unexpectedly. This scared me, too.

I decided to have very small goals. I asked myself what weight did I feel a bit better at and could be satisfied living at. I figured I just wanted to be healthier and thoght I would never be a "perfect" weight or even thin. I realized that if I could lose 25 lbs I would feel better, and so that was my first goal.

When I acheived this goal, I found I was on a roll and commited to myself to lose another 25. One day at a time I did this and then went for the next 25 goal.

I still want to lose about 19 more. This will still be a higher BMI than the recommended, but I feel this weight will be healthiest and more importantly, hopefully maintainable.

Exercise has been my godsend. I could never have done this without moving my body. I started off doing water exercise, as it was cooler and supportive. I am now also lifting weights and doing other aerobic exercises. I have become an exercise junkie and need it to feel happy and relaxed.

Now hear this. This is not the first time I have lost weight, though I never was as large as my start weight or have lost this much. I am 52 and have been fighting with my weight for most of my life. I just found the motivation and was ready at this point. I have no guarantee I will be able to maintain these changes, I hope so, but my history of keeping it off is not good. One day at a time is the way I have to approach this.

Hope this helps. Change is a process and changes take practice, failing, trying again and again. Good luck. Don't be too hard on yourself and always come back.

Thank You Fatdoc =)

*bump*

hi Kerry, I lost 150 pounds through diet and exercise. My start weight was 301 pounds. I saw it this way...I had 2 choices at 301 pounds. I could either lose weight or keep getitng bigger and bigger. I was feeling unwell, lethargic, ugly, gross..all those horrible feelings I had felt for 5 years. My resolve did waver whilst I was losing the weight, as I expect it would with anyone with awhole person to lose off their body. I cut my portion sizes, reduced my fat and sugar intake andexercised like a demon. Walking helped me lose themajority of weight, I could not advocate it enough to anyone with weight to lose. My motivation was kept up by my reducing size, improving fitness, improving body image and mood generally. I call is self perpetuating!

I am nowthe fittest I have ever been in my life, my once high blood pressure is excellent and I weigh a healthy 150 pounds (I am 5'8")

Kerry stick with it, I know you have a long road to travel but you will build momentum and confidence as your weight reduces. WTG for losing what you have already.

I wanted to share a brilliant strategy that one CC member, motivateme320, came up with. (She doesn't post much anymore so I thought I'd jump ahead here...) She set herself sequential goals of 10% of body weight. She started at 320, so her first goal was to lose 32 lbs aka reach 288, then the next goal was 28.8 lbs (rounded to 29) aka reach 259, then lose 26 more etc... She'd give herself the structure of reaching one of these goals every three months or so.

It's too discouraging to focus on the total road ahead. By having 10% goals (by the way, losing 10% of body weight is proven to lower diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk, so each goal really does mean something, medically!), the next success is only a short while away, and every pound DOES mean something.

You can do this!!

Kerry,

I have not lost 100lbs but want you to know I support you in this effort as I have about 95 to lose now.  I joined weight watchers about 4 weeks ago and am down 13.8 lbs.  I too have motivation problems and am hoping you will inspire me.  You've already lost 24 lbs and that is so impressive.  Good luck stay on plan and do the best you can.  Remember if you go off plan you don't have to use it as an excuse to eat whatever else you are avoiding. (I think I may be talking more about me then you here)  Keep trying we will get it eventually.  BTW wanted to tell you that WW also has the 10% mini goals so that we do not get do discouraged. 

Good Luck I know you can do and (I am hoping I can too:-))

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far...Ive said it before, but I cant say it enough...this site is truly a godsend.

I know I have to stick with it, its just real hard sometimes. I think once I see a noticeable drop - 50 lbs or so, may that will inspire me more. Also, my son was gone all summer. Now that hes back I want to continue to set a good example of healthy eating and exercising (hes even been to the gym a few times with me this week).

And the 10% goal is a great idea...I forgot about that from my weight watchers days! Im going to change my goals right now!

Thanks again everyone...you dont know how much I appreciate it.

I lost 168... but gained back 75 because my mindset wasn't right when I lost it in the beginning... it is now... and I've lost 21 of the 75 regained. 

The thing is when you look at the end goal.. it IS kind of devastating... it seems like it will NEVER get here fast enough...

....but the thing is this... You're going to FEEL so much better the whole way down... and yes, maybe it will take you a YEAR to get there... but you can be right where you are now (or worse)... OR you can be healthier in a year.  Not just in a year but EVERY DAY of that year

and, yes... the END goal is a long way away... but do you think you'll be unhappy with yourself when you have 50 more pounds to lose?  You'll be feeling like you're lookin' pretty good!   Honest!  Wearing clothes that you didn't know you could wear... and yeah.. by that time it'll still take you six months to get to your goal, but it won't matter as much because you won't feel as fat.

Use charts/graphs for motivation... watch your little line go down... make sure you log your calories ALL of the time...The more places I write things down the more it helps me

...and my most recent "revelation" is that no one was meant to eat carrot cake until they get full and feel sick.  You CAN have a bite... a sliver... and say... mmmm that's good... and STOP!   You can... REALLY!

and this place is GREAT for motivation.

I added you as a friend... Feel free to add me as yours.  I started CC in June at 253 (after I had been as low as 175 in recent years)... and since June I've gone down to 231... that's all well and good.... but I honestly DON'T care that much.  I'm living healthy now, and it's for real... and it's forever... and I get it.

I'd be glad to be your buddy along the way... email me at any time... find me on a board... because I know exactly how you feel... I know what it feels like to not even be SURE if you want to do it... because frankly you don't want a SLIVER of cake... you want the whole piece.. .and seconds if there are some left... and then to pick up the rest of the frosting with your finger... and if you commit to this... you can't do that.

I really mean it when I say you won't want to anymore... I really really do.

I'm sorry for the rambling... but your post just touched me... because I"ve been there before.

Thank you so much for your post TT. I sent you a PM also =)

Hi Kerry -

My motivation, most recently, has come from health concerns, much like yours.  My mother passed away in 1996, from health problems aggrevated by "morbid obesity" (the doctors estimated she weighed over 700 pounds).  As a kid growing up, we did the Weight Watchers program and lost weight as a family (all of my siblings - two sisters - also got mom's fat genes).  Then life happened, I grew up, went thru college, and all of a sudden it seemed one day I discovered that I weighed 412 pounds.  That scared me.  So about five years ago I had a gastric bypass.  Wow!  It helped!  I lost from 412 down to 252, which was still high for 5'11" but tremendously better than I had been --  I had lost 160 pounds!

Then, old habits started to creep back in again.  And so did the weight.  I started to "not have enough time" to go at least take a half hour walk every night, but still found time to sit in front of the computer for 2-3 hours every evening. I slowly put on weight again, not as fast as before it seemed, but steadily over about three years.  All of a sudden, I was back up to 355 pounds again.  And the blood pressure problems came back with the weight, and now I'm hypoglycemic too, just one short step away from a full blown diabetic. 

My husband is diabetic too.  He had a gastric bypass procedure done about a year and a half ago, and has lost right at 100 pounds.  And then he plateaud and started to gain back 3-4 pounds, and started having issues with his blood sugar spiking again.  And I noticed that the kids (ages 13 and 14) were starting to put on excess weight too.  Not a lot, but starting to, nonetheless.  Did I want to sit and watch the kids end up with the same lifelong struggles with their weight that their dad and I have been through?

NO! I decided.  I will NOT go back to where I was before!  (and a good butt chewing by my husband's doctor helped too).  So I decided we were really going to DO something about it! 

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results :o).  So we did something DIFFERENT.  No more excuses about "we'll buy that for the kids, cuz the kids need a treat" like every other time we had tried to diet.  No more fixing basically two meals all the time of what we can eat and what the kids can eat.  No "well I'll just stop buying "bad" stuff and we'll use up what we have cuz we can't afford to just throw away all the groceries in the cupboards".  There are some things that are worth more than the cost of a basket full of groceries.  A good cleaning of the cupboards, a large food donation to a friend who have kids (and no weight problems) got the temptation out of the house.  And since I'm the primary grocery shopper, I have learned to love to read labels.  Its almost a game, seeing what I can find that really is healthy and low carb and lacking in refined carbohydrates (the primary caloric concern for diabetics and pre-diabetics).  I think of refined sugar and carbs as poison to my body, and it makes it easier when I think of it that way to say "no thanks" to the box of donuts in the break room that someone brought in to share.  I've even started retaliating by bringing in healthy snacks once in a while to share with the office :o).

And I found this site too.  I have not been a member very long, but really like what I have experienced so far.  I have started my regular exercising again (at least thirty minutes every night BEFORE I allow myself to get on the computer --  I think of it as "earning" my computer time), cooking healthier meals, and teaching the kids about what is or is not ok.  I tell the kids that the exercise is my homework before I can do my "fun" stuff, and they love asking me, "did YOU do YOUR homework?" :o) We are doing it together as a family. 

 So far, I have lost 13 pounds in four weeks (part of that was water weight I'm sure), haven't had any more hypoglycemic crashes, and am not mad at myself anymore.  Its a real downer to always be mad at yourself every morning when you are trying to squeeze into your clothes that don't fit right anymore, knowing that "I should do something" and yet not doing it.  I AM doing something - again - but something different this time.  I know I still have a long way to go, but every journey starts with one step.   And my jeans are already fitting just a little bit better :o)

And I'm hoping this feeling I have lasts.  This time DOES feel different to me, not "I can't have cake until I lose 150 pounds" but rather "I don't think I want cake ever again because its a caloric poison to my system".  I felt like I just had to get to a point where I was really and truly finally ready.  I'm 35 years old, and my mom died when she was 54.  I do not want to believe that I am headed down a road where I only have 19 more years to live.  I know I am the the only one who can truly change that, and I am finally accepting that responsibility.   Sorry for being so wordy but I felt I had to share after I read your post.  I really understand and empathize with where you are at and what you are going through.  Hang in there!  We CAN do this!  One good day, one good choice at a time!

I guess I'm not really who you wanted to be posting here (I had 80ish to lose, 100 only if I were overly ambitious) but most of all, I recommend using self-love, not self-hate, as a motivator. Don't attach moral values to food or fat - the tools to use are reason and self-love (aka the desire to be healthy, mobile, energetic, and long-lived). I really believe that the moral judgments we make on ourselves over food and fat are what make it so hard to get back to healthy eating habits after a period of overeating - we are so hard on ourselves and feel so lousy, like we don't deserve to reach our goals. It isn't a question of deserve - it's a science, you get out what you put in, that's all. 

Don't expect miracles of motivation along the way, sadly. Some of the major challenges: (disclaimer: these come from my experience with my new life, your mileage may vary)

-plateaus: they make you want to just chuck it all. But look at it as a period of adjustment, your body needing time to "get over" its loss of pounds (your endocrine system, blind and stupid, yelling "ack! I won't live through the winter!") before continuing downwards. A time of calm and a time to reflect on the weight you've lost, on how much healthier you are from when you started. Think about the "plateaus" we had on the way up (they tend to be at the same weights, too).

-going from "big" to "big". i.e. Sure, you are down two dress sizes, but no one notices. That's what CC is for - people who understand and will cheer you on for every little victory!

-overeating days/meals. Necessary for sanity in some ways, and part of this lifestyle - which, remember, is now nothing less than your new life. (All this is permanent, after all). It isn't realistic to say you'll never eat something ever again - if you love doing it, there are ways to do it properly, like TT says. On most of these "overeating" days it's possible to keep the calories under maintenance level, so it becomes a maintenance day, which is actually not a problem at all. It's good practice for actual maintenance, and can keep your metabolism guessing.

But on rare special occasions, even that can go out the window and that's OK: you don't have to feel like a freak at the BBQ restaurant by ordering only a small salad - your healthy lifestyle will make your stomach shrink and you won't even be able to finish those huge meals anyway. Order what you like, don't eat too fast (I always used to), savour every bite, stop as soon as you're full - and don't fret about it. You can't go back to previous habits of eating till it hurts, or making yourself finish your plate - but you can live like the average non-obese person; they go out for dinner at those same restaurants, on occasion. You give yourself a rough overestimation (i.e. that couldn't have been more than 5000 calories or whatever) and you adjust your weight loss schedule accordingly - and you DON'T let yourself feel guilt or shame. In the words of Natasha Bedingfield, today is where your book begins... the rest is still unwritten. Look ahead and not back.  Some days will not go as planned - and that's fine. A day won't hinder you all that much and is not something to get upset about - think about what you can do next time (like, at the start of one of those endless carb-cycling days, eat a few hundred cals of pure protein to fill you up and stop the cycle)

An addendum to this is not freaking out when the scale jumps drastically - I remember +9 lbs after one weekend away - but six of it left within 24 hours of returning to my healthy lifestyle, and two more were gone 48 hours after that. So sure, I stalled my weight loss for about a week - but that weekend was SO worth it in joy and memories.

-feeling like it's too much work. like this won't be possible. It's not work, it's science - your life habits determine your weight, your weight is the dependent variable and not the independent one. So what you are changing is not your "weight", it's your lifestyle. The weight change is just a consequence of the lifestyle change. And that means that your current weight isn't your barometer of success either - if you are living a non-obese lifestyle, you will be non-obese eventually, no matter how long it takes. So focus on incorporating that lifestyle into your psyche and making peace with it - it's yours forever, now.

Big hugs to all my big friends with big hearts... :)

Kerry,  I hope you're still checking back and looking over these posts.. the information here is invaluable...  fatdoc, trustwomen, reinak gave you the kind of motivaitional "tips" that ONLY people who have IT figured out could understand.

Someone told me (I'm SURE quoting someone else!)  That BAD habits are easy to make... but difficult to live with.

GOOD habits... are HARD to make... but easy to live with.

Remember, it's not a race... there is no "finish line"... and you don't have to hurry to get to a certain place... You keep plugging away... doing it right... and science will take over... It's all very simple... You eat less calories than your body uses... and your body will start using its stores... Sometimes it takes it awhile to show on the scale, but it hasn't stopped.. it's just adjusting. 

Oh, we are all so friggin' awesome I can't stand it!!! 

I was wondering if there is a problem with umm... 'extra' skin after loosing allot of weight. Or is that just when people lose it to fast?

Yes, Ive been checking this...and I cant even tell you all how much I appreciate your words here. They are so helpful and I thank you all!

I think the "extra skin" thing depends based on all the people who have posted on here... I think SEVERAL factors exist

most important factor:  luck

how much weight you lost

how long you were at the heavier weight

how much actual STRETCHING occurred (stretch marks)

how fast you lost the weight

how much exercise...especially toning... you do on the way down

My theory is skin is elastic... but like a rubber band... if you stretch it WAY far out for a very long time... it won't go back the way it was.  (Mine is really floppy... ).  The good news... you still feel MUCH better than you did fat... Look better (dressed anyway) and you are definitely much healthier... other good news... it CAN be fixed... it takes plastic surgery, but it can be done (it costs about the same as a new car... but ultimately, I've decided it's more important to me than the car.)

I agree TT...I dont like my body right now, in clothes or naked. Once I lose all this weight though, I will at least like it when its in clothes, which is most of the time =)