Feeling frustrated.

I don't know why but I am very frustrated with my sleeve today.  In the beginning the weight just fell off so fast.  It's still coming off but so much more slowly.  It's making me frustrated and impatient.  How do I keep my eyes on the prize and stay motivated.  Needless to say, I am not feeling motivated today.

I understand. The last couple of weeks, I've gone to losing about 3 pounds a week... which is not much more than I was losing on Weigh****chers, and then I was eating so much more lol.

The thing is, look how far you've come in just under three months! 55 pounds (assuming your ticker is right?) is nothing to sneeze at.

I think we all have days when we get frustrated. Tomorrow is a new day, and even the small losses add up to big results.

You're doing so great... keep going girl!

I'm feeling the same way.  I will lose 1 pound one week and maybe 2 the next.  I had one week where I lost 3 pounds which was exciting but I'm 9 weeks out.  The weight should be falling off and it's not.  GRRR.  I'm also hungry all the time.  Every 2 hours my little tummy is growling.  I was really hoping that I would lose my hunger but lucky me it's still there. 

Pep talk!

You might have your eyes on the wrong prize.  For me, "goal" is not the prize. It is another day of clean eating, going to bed knowing I didn't eat 2 lbs of food at the Chinese buffet, or a pound of peanut butter fudge, or that I didn't wander from Walgreens to Rite Aid buying whatever candy I could find or stand furtively in line at the bakery to buy 4 donuts that I would eat in the car on the way to work.  I know a lot about the incomprehensible demoralization of having food being in charge of my life.

My job is to make my peace with food and follow my food plan, imperfectly, every day.  Whether I am losing weight or not.  Because, for me, *that* is the point.  If I am eating well and doing what I need to be doing, the weight will take care of itself.

I'm just saying, maybe the journey is where we have to find our satisfaction rather than some endpoint.  Because after we lose all our weight, then what?  We'll be at "goal" but otherwise, life will be pretty much the same.  Food will be the same. What will we have to look forward to?  How will we keep motivated then?

Going backwards is not an option!  We've had most of our stomachs removed, and our old ways of eating aren't available to us anymore. 

So be grateful for another day of not abusing food, and celebrate what it feels like to do what you're supposed to be doing!  That is long-term satisfaction!!  You can do it!!  Rah!!

Happy - I am always so impressed with you!  Thanks for putting things into perspective!

wow, I like this VERY much.  it shifted things in my mind a bit.  I love this goal, to eat as clean as I can, get/stay healthy.  Not a number on a scale or size.  *like*

Word! 

Word word word!

And a heaping helping of YO!!

 Well this is pretty normal - the more the lose, the slower it gets.  You could either step it up (eat less calories/carbs, exercise more) or you can make peace with the fact that the less you have to lose the less fast you can lose it.

This is what I wrote up about "keeping your eyes on the prize".  It's the frame of mind that helped me get every pound off I wanted off.

For motivation - I think Happy's write-up is terrific.  How could you be demotivated?  Life is awesome, you're becoming healthy, smaller, agile, taking control of your life, proving success.  Oh don't get me wrong - I didn't like seeing those numbers slow down either.  But this is more than just the scale - it's a celebration that you're going to live life differently and stop doing those things you did before that contributed to a less healthy life.  Try to remind yourself of all your positive accomplishments - and record them in addition to your weight.  Recognize how you've been successful.  

For me, at least if my weight wasn't moving, I'd still be motivated by getting process on the physical side - in the gym or exercising.  

You have to look inside yourself and be honest about what inspires you, and then exploit it to entince yourself.

For me, my goal was happy, healthy, and whole.  When I get my behaviors in line then my weight follows suit. 

You wont *always* be on the losing weight side and so finding goals that arent all about the scale are going to help you stay sane-ish. 

Motivation is over rated.  It just cant/wont/doesnt stay the same all the time for ANYTHING.  I am not motivated to go to work or brush my teeth some days,  but those things need to be done.

I am not motivated to practice good self care some days (eating optimally, purposefully moving my body) but I risked my life and had a major surgery, so  my being motivated is kinda like a kiddo  who doesnt want to take a medicine that will save their life.  Some days it sure  would help if it was exciting a new (like the Love Boat!) but real life says - some things need to be done because they are a good framework for being excellent in the rest of  your life.

Caring for ourselves, this is something that if we learned was non-negotiable - that would make our lives so much  better.

Good luck finding your grounding.

Click on my username under my photo and scroll ALL the way down. You'll see my weekly weight loss numbers. They looks a little "meh" the last several weeks, but every pound adds up! Think about it! I've lost 147 pounds! BUT... I've lost that one pound at a time - sometimes one excruciating pound at a time. I fully expect the next 53 pounds to take at least 18 months to come off. I'm okay with that. I have time.

You'll get to that place. You're spoiled from it falling off. This is where the rubber hits the road and the real work begins (mentally and physically).

You got this.