Motivation for Losing Large Amounts of Weight

[eddie150]

I was wondering if I could get some feedback. I have been "morbidly obese" all of my life. In first grade, I weighed 130 pounds! After creeping up to an all time high of 350, I decided to change my lifestyle and get to a healthy weight, something I've never experienced. Now, I have my own motivating factors - better health (I'm prediabetic, suffer from high blood pressure and painful knees/back), looking better, feeling better, being able to be more active - many of which many of you share. But I was wondering what everyone else who has large amounts of weight to lose might use as motivating factors for a daunting task. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the large amount of weight I have to lose and was just wondering how others deal with this and what helps motivate them. Any and all responses welcome.

[April]

I started at 352 pounds.

That's large.

What helped me through the times when I could only weigh myself on the freight scale at work, because I couldn't find a scale that went that high, was just this:

Ten pounds.

If you think of it that way, it's a snap. I said, "April, you've only got ten pounds to lose. You can lose ten measly pounds."

So, I did. And by the time I lost ten pounds, I said, "April, you lost ten pounds! You could surely lose ten more!"

And, I did.

And so it went. I just took it ten pounds at a time.

You can, too.

I lost over 150 pounds. That's a lot of weight when you think of it in an entire number. But when you break it up into 15 numbers.....well, it's only ten pounds.

[Goddess]

edde-i'm with april on this one. "don't think, wow, i've got over a hundred pounds to lose!" you don't. it can be 10 pounds you think about, or even one...after all, you always only have 1 pound to lose-the one you're working on now! you lose them one pound at a time...

some things that helped me: charting my progress, taking measurements, recording clothing sizes, stuff like that. i used a program to do it, but however you do is fine. the idea is that you need to be able to see your progress. when i'd feel a little down, i'd go, "hey, look how far i've come!"

i also took pictures every 10 pounds. sometimes they were just face shots, but it took about that much to be able to tell a difference for me. i looked forward to those pics because they were tangible evidence of my progress.

i bought clothes that were a little too small, on sale or at the thrift store. (and get rid of the fat clothes when you in-grow them!)

i journaled a lot, too! as you lose, your self-image changes and you find things happen psychologically. that helps process the changes.

and no matter what, alway always always focus on your progress! congratulate yourself for every step you take in the right direction, every accomplishment, not only the 1/2 pound lost, but the good chocies at lunch, or the extra water you drank, or the new carb-friendly snack you came up with or the 10 minute walk after dinner or whatever. focus on the positive. feeling good about yourself and how you're doing makes a world of difference.

in fact, changing how i thought was as important as changing how i ate. i wouldn't have made anywhere near the progress if i hadn't gotten seriously positive about how i approached it. makes a world of difference.

keep coming here. the people are great and it's a shot in the arm of encouragement whenever you need it. good luck and peace out!

[Felonee]

Hey Eddie! I was thin until adolescence, and I just kinda kept growing from there. My mommy died at the age of 58 from a heart attack that we think was caused at least in part from being borderline diabetic. I got pregnant right after that, and I feel like I constantly have this knife hanging over me... get your weight down, stop eating carbs, exercise, or you'll never see your son grow up.

My DH started out at somewhere over 380... not sure exactly, because our scale only went up to 380 and it took a couple of weeks for him to get to 379. Both his Daddy and one of his Granddaddy's died in their early 50's from heart attacks.

Both of us want to be here to watch our son grow up, graduate from Texas A&M, and go on to a pro football career (only partially joking here), and to see him marry a nice girl and have some babies. I want to be here to hold those babies.

I have a lot of days where I look at how far I have to go and get a little discouraged. But I try to focus instead on what I've accomplished so far. I've lost 30 pounds of the 125 or so that I have to lose. That's almost 25% of my excess weight gone now. I like numbers and I keep playing with them (percentages, fractions, whatever) until I find the thing that sounds the best and then I just keep repeating it

[Rob]

eddie - It can get overwhelming if you don't break it into segments. Personally I never looked beyond my next weekly weigh-in. I aimed for 2 pounds a week and if it was more - great! If less - that was okay too. Since I looked on this WOE as a WOL it was never a question of someday this "diet" will end. This is the way I will be eating for life with some modifications when i reach goal. If you enjoy the foods you're eating and they cause weight loss then it's nearly effortless, Isn't it?

[eddie150]

Thank you everyone for your input. It certainly is helpful. I have taken measurements and set up a program to track my progress. And I really have been looking at the "just lose 10 pounds" idea. As I progress on this WOE I know it will be easier, but right now I'm still battling the long term vs short term goal problem. I guess since it's been hammered into my head for so long that I have x amount of weight to lose, that's the way I've been conditioned, and changing that way of thinking takes a little time. I will continue coming here though. You all are already giving me a lot of support that I need! I'm on day 5 of Induction and I'm already feeling better!

[QueenMama]

Great going, Eddie. I started at 347, and it's been very slow going for me after the initial 50 lb loss. It's much easier to maintain small goals as far as your weight loss; however, have your primary goal be feeling better and regaining good health, whatever the scales read. Keep it up!

[Goddess]

the other thing to remember is that every bit of progress you make is leaving you better off than before, long long before you get anywhere near your goal. it's moving in a positive direction. sometimes we have a tendency not to "count" it until it's all the way wherever, but the journey is really what there is, not just the goals. you know?

it ALL counts, baby!

[babybluejay1]

My mom just started eating healthy and has a bracelet she buys charms for every 5 pounds that she loses. She has 5 charms so far and when she feels down she can look at her charms and see how far she's come. I wish I would have thought of that.

I'm with goddess on throwing away all your fat clothes. When they get even a bit to big get rid of them! I've had 9 shirts in my closet at times for church, everyday and the gym. Goodwill is staying in business because of me now! You deserve to be healthy sweetie so keeping those old clothes is saying that you may fail.

When that scale is telling you how your day is going to go - get rid of it! You know how your clothes are fitting and how healthy you are feeling so get rid of it! Something I've just learned recently. If you have problems with over eating once you've had that first bite they try not to take that first bite of something that you don't feel is on your food plan that moment. I'm rooting for you sweetie. Get rid of any food that will sabatoge your effort and don't keep cash on you, if possible, so you're not tempted to buy fast foods. Last of all, keep coming here! This place is so full of encouragement as you know.

[eddie150]

Wow, I really needed these words tonight, Goddess and Heather. I've been down a little today because I had a binge this afternoon that came out of nowhere. I'm trying not to beat myself up over it; rather, I came home and reread portions of DANDR. I got back on the bandwagon this evening - I didn't throw in the towel for the day, I know better than that. But the whole incident has been bothering me. I think my binge today was more psychological than physical - I was frustrated at work, went to get water, and there were high carb goodies in the kitchen. Before I knew it I had a bagel, two pieces of cheesecake, a piece of coffee cake, and a piece of pie! Yikes! I wasn't even hungry! So I know now, after a lot of reflection, what at least one of my psychological triggers are . . . now I have to find a healthy way to vent my frustration rather than feeding it with high carb comfort food, or preferable, without food at all. So tonight I had a healthy dinner and am viewing it as restarting Induction. I'm still in there. I'm not giving up! Too much is riding on my promise to myself to change old habits. And I already feel at home here thanks to all the wonderful people and support, so I'm definitely coming back!

[texanflowr]

Eddie, be proud of yourself for not throwing in the towel for the rest of the day after the indiscretion. We all have had those moments in time where we have eaten something off plan. What is important is that you never give up the fight to be healthy! I wish you much luck. You can do this

[babybluejay1]

I'm so glad that you are jumping back in after a binge. I know that before I would binge one time and give up. We're different now and determined to lose when we fall and pick ourselves back up! Yea!

[BrattyChelle]

Can't add much more than has already been said.

I take mine 10 lbs at a time...and before you know it, you're at 60/70 lbs. gone! Then it really hits you how far you've come. The one thing I wish someone had told me was not to expect people to notice or to feel much of a physical change as quickly as those who have less to lose. I think it took me a good 60 lbs. gone before anyone noticed and I could start throwing away clothes (granted I still hang on to some of my fat comfy clothes LOL).

You can do this!!!+

[Goddess]

when you have something like the "breakroom incident", rather than letting it throw you off, you USE it for your advantage. you're already starting to do that by breaking it down and asking yourself, "what's the real reason i made those choices?" it wasn't hunger. and congrats to you for seeing that, and realizing it wasn't an excuse to "throw away" the day! that's a good start in making it past the inevitiable issues that may come your way.

and the other thing to note: the food didn't leave you feeling better! right? ANYTHING you eat under those circumstances, you will not enjoy anyway. it won't give you the relief you're after. so why do it? next time, call on this experience and ask yourself, "what do i really want?"

even if your a not generally a dr. phil fan, you might want to take a gander at his "7 keys" book. while i just breezed over his nutrition chapter, the stuff on the psychological issues for folks losing weight rang very true for me, and as someone who'd been significantly overweifght most all of my life, i should know!

how you think is every bit or more important than what you eat, in my not so humble opinion. the difference between success and lack of success here is NOT in perfection of the successful ones. people who are successful just keep going no matter what. that's IT. very simple secret, and it looks like you're already getting it.

i tell you, eddie. i've been around these boards for a while, and have seen folks come and go now. and after watching people, there are some clear differences between folks who seem to struggle and drop out, and those who do well. the number one difference i've been able to see is NOT eating behavior or having just a little to lose or anything like that. it's ALWAYS the attitude. forgive yourself when you make poor choices. (and it's ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS a choice. don't kid yourself otherwise.) better, LEARN from them.

and no matter what, keep on plugging away. you do that, you're going to be sitting here in a year, writing to some newbie on the board, telling them to forgive themselves and keep on going or the like.

peace out and keep the faith, hon. you ARE moving in the right direction, so don't you forget it!

[babybluejay1]

A nutritianist that I saw last week said the same thing Goddess. She said that those who do well with eating are those that have a positive attitude! I thought that was great and am going to do my best to be like that from now on.