I get very discouraged easily when the scale stagnates. One day I decided to figure out how many lbs. per year it took to gain all this weight. Interesting. I've lost 7 times the yearly amount of gain this year. Not where I had hoped to be, but it sure looks much better now. Motivation!
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I think of it in terms of everyday objects... If I reach a goal (5 pounds, 10 pounds, whatever), I will compare it to something, usually something from the grocery store. When I had lost 8 pounds, I compared it to a gallon of bottled water... I carried around the store for a while and thought to myself, "how did I do this every single day???" followed up with "I am NOT going back to carrying X number of water jugs, canteloupes, etc EVER".
My best friend's son is 40ish pounds... I picked him up the last time we visited and carried him around... Man, I was tired! and I used to carry 2 of him around on me all the time. Talk about motivation!
Good luck with your journey!
TIABITS9/12/2010 8:16:00 PM
When I think of it that way I would have gained 10-15 lbs a year over several yrs to get to what I weigh now. So losing 10-15 lbs in a year is very do-able!!
That is approx 1 pound a month....thinking of it this way makes it way less overwhelming! Thanks for the great tip!!
BILL_CLECKNER5/9/2011 7:55:00 AM
Thanks JEANIEMARIE1946. I absolutely love math. I think numbers can express things much better than words at times. The scale for me is too little information and too late to do anything about it. Being a numbers freak, I convert the number of pounds I have to lose into calories of fat. Most people have heard that one pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories. If I have 20 pounds to lose,that converts to 70,000 excess calories. So, if I somehow either consume 500 calories LESS than usual or burn up 500 calories MORE than usual (or a combination of both) each day, in a week's time it will add up to one pound of fat (-500x7) ! So here at Spark People, by tracking my daily calories consumed with Nutrition Tracker AND my daily calories burned with Fitness Tracker, I get a much more accurate picture of my progress and eventually the scale has to show the same results! Thanks.
PARALEE11/17/2010 12:16:00 PM
I love this suggestion and the first comment. I need to find a 40 lb. kid to carry around for a little while. :)
BLACKDELPHIN8/29/2010 4:09:00 PM
Change the negative and make it a positive!
SLADA698/21/2012 8:10:00 PM
This is most amazing thing I ever find to help me,I just love it first comment and thank you so much for comparing food with jar of milk or kids....WOW
5SHAN56/19/2012 12:13:00 PM
Love the first comment. My two youngest kids weigh a total of 50 lbs. That happens to be how much I need to lose. It's a good reminder of how much easier it will be to get around everywhere once I've shed these 50 lbs!
WALKINGJEANNIE2/14/2012 6:28:00 AM
Thank you for posting this by numbers! I carried into the house a 50 lb sack of cat litter and my husband said, "you should have told me to come get it for you!" and I replied "thank you, but I needed to remind myself what I was carrying around every day for over 30 plus years" and I need to remember this for the rest of my days! smile we can do this and we deserve to take care of your self each and everyday!
ENDORPHINES26/19/2011 2:55:00 PM
I like math and I especially like this math. It's encouraging to look at where you could have been if you hadn't made a positive change in your life. The goal may take time to accomplish but movements toward it helps break it up into small pieces - making it manageable.
DUSTYPRAIRIE6/7/2011 9:56:00 AM
I'm horrible at math but have to go get a pencil and paper after reading this thread.
Looks like I have the weight of a kindergardener to lose. i.e., the weight of my grandson.
GRADLY8/1/2010 10:02:00 PM
This is a good way to look at it.
PATSDIARY5/4/2010 1:08:00 PM
That is a GREAT idea! TFS!!!
WISLNDR4/13/2010 4:25:00 PM
Oh, I like that!
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