my (sorta) success story

i weighed 200 pounds. i am 5'3". i had just broken up with my boyfriend and 3 really important people in my life died.

january 1st i said i was going to lose weight. january 6th i was mad at myself for eating so much. i wasnt going to lose weight.

but i finally realized how mad at myself i was. and i started to be healthy. i made the 190's, 180's, 170's, 160's, 150's, and now the 140's, almost 130's. all this year. i had a great year, did a lot of fun things. i didnt feel deprived. i may have gotten a little obsessive at times, but who doesnt.

but i am still not happy with my weight. does anyone else look in the mirror (even after an over 50 pound loss) and still see the same person?

124 is my goal, and i am know i will see the difference then. 18.5 pounds to go. but these pounds seem like so much more than those i already lost.

i am trying to convince myself that i did accomplish a lot and trying to find myself beautiful now.

That's a lot more than I have lost. I started out at 185 in January, and I'm still at 155. I would love to almost be in the 130s. Congratulations!

I think that you survived all that with aplomb and managed to get your life together is more than a "sort of" success story. Weight, schmeight (and even that's fairly impressive.) just keeping your head up is great.

I don't know if you're looking for reassurance, but heck, I'll hand it to you anyway.

You're amazing.

Wow, you are A CHAMPION and don?t think anything differently.  It was so hard for me to lose compared to you ?only? 18 pounds.  I want you to play and sing the song from Queen, ?I am a champion? over and over until you believe it.  I?ll start :o  (I?m singing it, please join me).  Remember, you've got to sing it until you believe it. :D

Withwings, I know exactly how you feel. I was 173 and now 135. My ultimate goal is 125. When I was 173, I was like, man when I get 150 I don't care to loose any more. So, I got to 150 and was like, man if I get down to 140 I don't care to loose any more. But  now it's like: I really need to loose this wieght cause I'm FAT!!! I think it's all a mind thing because you have accomplished alot. Just know that now that you have gotten down to the 130s it is gonna be a little harder. I have been trying to hit the 120s for 3 months now. I haven't gained any wieght but just kinda maintained. I think it also has a lot to do with muscle wieght too. Don't give up or get discourage just remember; 1 + 1 is gonna always equal 2 unless you change the equation. What I am saying is try something different that you haven't been doing before like lowering your calorie intake or even exercising more (something I haven't tried ;-) and I am pretty sure you will loose some more pounds. I am gonna start working out 5 days a week vice my regular 3 times a week. Good Luck :-)

I think you need to celebrate your victories. It's not so easy learning how to live comfortably in our own skin. You might find that even if you were to weigh 124 you would still not be happy. So my suggestion is to make some new goals that are not weight related. Like maybe one of them would be to achieve a certain level of endurance at one of the exercises you are doing. That way you won't become discouraged.

My other suggestion is to learn to love yourself and see your beauty no matter what weight you are. Focus on the things you find attractive about yourself. Maybe your eyes, your butt, feet etc. Do things to pamper your body (facials, messages, pedicure etc)  Buy some special makeup products, clothing, shoes. See yourself as special.

You'd be suprised if you start practicing the idea in your head eventually it will become second nature. And when you think about that... wouldn't it be great to feel better about yourself?

Your weight loss success is FANTASTIC!  But even better than that has been your ability to get over the bad things that happened and to carry on. 

I'm going to echo ninav: Spend time and effort into loving yourself as you are.  Tell yourself that you are beautiful.  Say it out loud.  Tell yourself you are strong.  Say it out loud.  List all the things you've done and then TELL yourself what you've done. 

I just think that if you can't love yourself as you are, you are never going to be satisfied with whatever you weigh or however you look and you'll end up harming your body in the end. 

Tell yourself that you're a success. You stood through the break up, you kept yourself together through the deaths of loved ones, you are a fantastic success.  And through all that, you're 18 lbs from your goal. 

GO YOU.  Congratulate yourself.  You deserve it.