Addicted to losing weight?

HellieCopter

Gold Member
I took ages to think of a title for this thread. I could have called it ‘Worried About Maintenance” or “When to Stop Losing?” or something else along those lines!
I will explain the ramblings in my head:

Over the last week or so, I have been told a few times that I’m “thin enough” and don’t need to lose any more weight. I have 6lbs to go, but friends have said things over the last week like “I can’t see where you’d lose that from,” (hello? I am by no means stick thin!) and “you’re in danger of getting too skinny”.
Now, being an advocate (and having advised others here the same) of ignoring what others say and knowing yourself where you want to get to, I am not really paying too much attention to those commenting on my weight.

However, it’s got me thinking (always a danger). When I get to my target of 9 stone 7lbs…will I actually want stop losing weight? Will I start thinking about lowering my target again? And if I do, what would be my motivation for this? Is it because I really need to or because of something else? Could it be that I’m addicted to losing weight/getting slimmer/seeing the numbers go down/getting smaller size clothes? Or scared of maintenance?! In my head, I’m still a bigger girl and I think I’ve still got weight to lose. I've worked flipping hard to get where I am and there have been a lot of ups and downs. I have 'failed' at dieting (by that, I mean, not got to my target although losing some weight in the process of trying to get there) so many times before, that I don't think I ever really believed I would get to target this time! Now it's actually in sight and I am in danger of actually achieving what I set out to achieve...I think I'm panicking! LOL!

I love, love, love getting lighter and slimmer. I don’t know how easily I’ll be able to slip into maintenance mode.
I am a sensible girl – I have no fear about getting too thin, stopping eating or doing anything daft. I am definitely a bit worried about how I will handle staying the same – going up one week or two weeks…and down again, hopefully!

Sorry – this is a lot of waffle, isn’t it! It’s just what’s rattling round in my head this morning. I should probably get therapy ;)
 
I can see where your coming from and can understand how people get 'addicted' to losing weight.

Maintence shouldnt be scary! It should be a time to celebrate! You will slip easily into maintence mode (im a long way off :)) but if you do put 1lb on you'll know how to get that off.

Only you can decide if your ready to maintain, ive never been slim and so i wont know what i want until i get there, so once i am there i can decide to maintain - if that makes any sense!!

Well done on your loss so far!
xxxx
 
Congratulations on your weight loss, just wondered if you are now working as a consultant for slimming world to pass on your wealth of wisdom to others and maintain your own sucess with the plan??
 
I'm pretty scared about how well I'll do with maintaining. I'm just so worried I'll slip back into my old ways. While I'm on my journey to my target weight I have a very clear focus on exactly what I have to do and I'm very committed. However, once I'm at target, I know I'll be able to relax a little. But how much do I relax? I relaxed (a lot) over Christmas and put on 6lbs. Will I still be able to go to a buffet lunch and just have a bit to eat or will I go mad and eat loads. I'll be able to carry on eating SW meals at home, but it's going out and snacks that worry me.

I know that I will have to watch my weight closely and if it starts creeping up again I'll have to go back on plan 100%. I intend to carry on going to weigh ins and hopefully that will help keep me on track.
 
Thanks!

No - I'm not a consultant. It's something I'd quite like to do, but it's a considerable investment, both financially and time-wise. I have a very time-consuming hobby so I couldn't give consultancy the time I'd like to be successful at it! You're right that being one may help with maintaining weight loss though, however I am so thrilled to be where I am now that I really can't see myself gaining it back.
 
Although I'm far from target sometimes when I see posts on here about people trying to lose that last 5 or 6 lb I think - if I got to withing 5/6 lbs of target and thatw as the lowere end of a healthy bmi - I wouldn't be too concerned if I could maintain that weight.
I have lost a lot of weight in the past and I was obsessive about it and it took me a long time to adjust to the difference.
I still saw myself as a big person.
My sister has lost over 6st in lighterlife and she gets constant positive feedback and attention about it and we were talking about how that can be a little addictive...........maybe almost an anti climax when people get used to her weight loss.
 
Fabby thread hun.
Firstly, as you well know from reading my diary, maintenance is not easy. You'll still have to "diet" from day to day and, depending on how you choose to maintain, you may carry on as you are Monday to Friday and have those little indulgences over the weekend without worrying about it.

As for being addicted to losing weight, I think you've hit the nail on the head really. I am. I love losing, I hate being a few pounds over my target and losing weight again makes me feel in control and better about myself. I love to see the scales going down so I know exactly where you are coming from.

Think about how you want to handle maintenance. Do you want to have the extra HEX's or do you want a day off each week? Don't worry about losing more, relish a little bit of freedom after reaching target. You deserve to.
 
I'm pretty scared about how well I'll do with maintaining. I'm just so worried I'll slip back into my old ways. While I'm on my journey to my target weight I have a very clear focus on exactly what I have to do and I'm very committed. However, once I'm at target, I know I'll be able to relax a little. But how much do I relax? I relaxed (a lot) over Christmas and put on 6lbs. Will I still be able to go to a buffet lunch and just have a bit to eat or will I go mad and eat loads. I'll be able to carry on eating SW meals at home, but it's going out and snacks that worry me.

I know that I will have to watch my weight closely and if it starts creeping up again I'll have to go back on plan 100%. I intend to carry on going to weigh ins and hopefully that will help keep me on track.

I put 6lb on over a relaxing christmas. I still fall head first into the buffet sometimes and eat too much and I sometimes pick the wrong thing when we go out, sometimes I want a panini not a salad.

It's the weigh ins which will keep you on track Teresa because when you've had that panini or buffet, you will be good for the rest of the week because you have to get weighed. If we stop going to WI once at Target we stop having weekly treats, they become more frequent and the weight goes back on!

Good luck getting there :D
 
I am so glad someone else feels the way i do. I have been trying to lose my last 7lbs for months now & dont feel like I am getting anywhere but hate the thought of giving up as i feel i will have failed. When i tell people i still have weight to lose they tell me the same things as you get told.

Losing weight is addictive & like you I am very worried about setting my target as I dont want to start thinking 'oh eating that wont hurt'. I sometimes feel losing the weight is easier than keeping it off.

However you should do whatever you feel happy with and if you want to lose the extra 6lbs you go for it. Aslong as your eating healthy and not getting to thin you will be fine.

Well done on your great weight lose and i hope you get to target soon. x
 
I find maintenence even harder than I expected. At first it was great, I had set my goal weight at 11 stone 7lbs and was a small size 12. But I kept losing after I got to goal, and couldn't seem to convince myself to eat more. Then I got the flu and lost 7lb in a week which surprisingly stayed off. So I was down to 10 stone 7lbs and a size 10. Eventually my ww lady convinced me I had to either get back up to my goal weight or set a new goal. I had no choice really but to set a new goal so I went for 10 stone 10lbs. I gained a couple over xmas then randomly one week gained 3.5 for no apparent reason and still haven't shifted it! So I am 4.5lb over goal. Its doing my head in, and as hard as I try I just can't seem to shift it!! I have been very stresses with work - which I am dealing with at last - so I am oping that will help.

I also feel the ww lady shouldn't have rushed me into dropping my goal when she knew I lost so much through illness. IT took a long time for me to et my appetite back properly, so the gain I had could well have been from me losing so much when sick, even though it was weeks later.

Anyway my point is, yes its very hard to stop losing - I still see myself as fat - I have dropped from a size 24 to a size 10 - and haven't adjusted at all.

However I am only 6 months at goal, I am hopeful my mind will soon catch up. I lost the weight relatively quickly - in a year - so perhaps it will also take a year to adjust!!

Finally I would say DO listen to others - people you trust that is. Because chances are what you see in the mirror isn't what others see. I find photos help - I actually get shocked at how slim I look in pics cuz I can't see me as slim in the mirror.
 
I really like the 'milestone' motivation of weight loss, and little stickers and tickers really mean a lot to me. This is one of the things I worry about for when I get to target- that everything is just about staying the same........forever!

I guess it is hard to motivate yourself to just stay at the same point, so what about giving yourself some mini goals of once at target you will reward for every 1/2/3 months you stay within 3 lbs of it. Anniversarys of getting to your target could be the new milestones of your weight loss journey? It also gives you a psychological target to aim towards.

Well done for ignoring the 'you've lost enough' comments, too. I know people think they are helping, but it can be a bit tedious
xxxx
 
I'm very newly at target and I've had to be really strict with myself to increase my food intake because it's almost easier to keep on losing weight.
I've been at target several times before and have never stayed there because I never learnt the skill of maintaining weight, but I could lose weight or put it on!
I expect maintaining to be a pound or two on and a pound or two off all the time, but I really want to maintain this time, not put it all back on.
I read the other day that maintaining is just dieting with more food to worry about, and I confess to being very worried the last few weeks, since getting to target.
Good luck on setting a target and on staying there.
What we really need is a maintenance thread so that we can all stress out/ celebrate/stress out together.
 
I worry i'll be a bit like this. I'm worried that even when I do get to target i'll still see me at my fattest! And i'll want to continue losing...Far from that stage at the moment so will have to wait and see!
 
I'm very newly at target and I've had to be really strict with myself to increase my food intake because it's almost easier to keep on losing weight.
I've been at target several times before and have never stayed there because I never learnt the skill of maintaining weight, but I could lose weight or put it on!
I expect maintaining to be a pound or two on and a pound or two off all the time, but I really want to maintain this time, not put it all back on.
I read the other day that maintaining is just dieting with more food to worry about, and I confess to being very worried the last few weeks, since getting to target.
Good luck on setting a target and on staying there.
What we really need is a maintenance thread so that we can all stress out/ celebrate/stress out together.

Going off track here, but how long did it take you to reach your target? xx
 
Hellie - How tall are you? I can see from your stats that your starting weight wasn't much lower than mine & your target is the same as mine, I went through all of this when I was nearly at target, loads of people telling me I needed to stop before I got too thin - I just think that some of them were jealous of how well I had managed it, I also was like you, not sure if I wanted to make it any lower or maintain, I decided to give the maintaining bit a go and to be honest it is harder work than trying to lose, it was 6 months last Wednesday since I reached target & just recently I had been feeling like I had no motivation to maintain, you know, no goal etc so I decided to give myself two more goals, one is to exercise at least 4 times per week (something I would never do normally) and the other was to finally quit smoking & not put weight on, anyway the first few days have been bloody hard but tonight is the first weigh in so we shall see. Whatever you decide to do it will be right for you - and that is what matters - no-one else really should have a say, unless of course you become obsessed and start to get to an unhealthily low weight but you are sensible enough to figure all of this out yourself, I say as long as you are comfortable then give maintenance a try for a while, set yourself a time limit and see how you feel then.

Good luck with whatever you choose though!
 
Thanks Julie. I'm 5'4" Good luck with stopping smoking, it'll be such a massive improvement to your health!

It's really interesting to read experiences and opinions. Thanks all.
Having a different goal to focus on other than weight might be a good idea. Something fitness related like running a certain distance/time or clocking up a number of miles walked....so I'm still aiming for mini goals that are health-related but not exactly weight.

Hmm. Interesting thoughts. Thanks. It all helps me get my head round things...I think?!!
 
The thing which always worries me is the fact everybody has seen your weight loss and I sometimes think they will be looking out to see if you put it back on! So I always feel Im trying to prove alot of other people Im not going to do it rather than just do it for myself, when in reality they probably dont give a toss about my figure. Its all down to insecurity, nobody ever seems to be happy with their figure. I got to my goal 10 stone was happy then months later wanted to lose more now I am 9 stone and I dont feel any happier than I did when I was 10 stone!
 
Hey Hellie :) I think I'm in exactly the same boat as you.

My starting weight was the same as yours and my goal is the same as yours! I'm a bit behind you though!

Originally, as I didn't actually think I would do very well, my target was 2 stone lighter than my start weight. I did decide fairly early on that I would change that though (although I actually haven't at group yet). I'm still wondering if it's going to be enough.....

Maintaining scares the living daylights outta me!
 
Its all down to insecurity, nobody ever seems to be happy with their figure. I got to my goal 10 stone was happy then months later wanted to lose more now I am 9 stone and I dont feel any happier than I did when I was 10 stone!

That's so true! I'm almost 2 stone lighter and don't see a single difference.... But everyone else does.... I know I'll be the same at target too :(
 
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