Losing my safety cushion.

[bettie3351]

Hey everyone! I'm a 24 yr old female living in Chicago. 5'6" and 156 pounds. This is the lowest weight I can remember being and I'm very excited about it!!!!

I've been struggling with my weight my entire life which has actually given me somewhat of a great advantage at this point in my life. I've been very good at gaining and losing the same 25-30 pounds but usually I reach the low 160s and either get stressed out, depressed, or unmotivated and gain weight back. Now though, I finally feel like I'm in a place where I'm ok with losing my "safety cushion" of weight.

I don't know if anyone else has dealt with the psychological problems of weight loss. Every time in the past where I started losing weight I would become really insecure with new thinner body. It's kind of backwards I guess. I ate a lot in junior high to avoid having boys like me. I don't really know what my problem was... I just couldn't really mentally handle the thought of my body becoming more interesting than my brain, I guess.

This is all very personal, but if it helps anyone I thought it would be good to share.

I guess the changing point for me was that at my heaviest point about a year ago I was suddenly attracting male attention left and right and I came to realize that it isn't really about my body at all but about confidence. So, as of right now I really just want to be in shape for myself. Yeah, that's kind of cheesy to say but it's true.

My goal weight since I was 14 (14 YEARS OLD!) has been 145 pounds. I think it's about time that I finally accomplish what I set out to do 10 years ago. And I'm so close too

If anyone else is going through the same sort of issues, I'd love to chat!

 

[aal718]

I can 100% relate to you. I've been stuck at 180 (after losing 50) for the last 2years. Every time I get into the 170s, I freak out and all of a sudden I'm back in the 180s. It's frustrating and crazy but I think I'm finally at a point to get beyond this damn plateau! I've been back on track for one week now and I feel really good, I started at 184.8 and am now at 180.6. Of course this 180.6 number has me stressed so I committed to not weigh myself all week. I usually weigh myself daily and overanalyze, think about and stress about the number. That's when I gain! So, I am following my plan completely and not weighing myself until next Monday. Good luck to you and know that if we keeping pushing, we can push through this mental block!

Alison
stuckat180.blogspot.com

 

[bettie3351]

Yeah, sometimes it's best not to weight in. I didn't step on a scale for 3 weeks over Thanksgiving because I was afraid that I had gained and I ended up losing 2 pounds. That was a pretty nice surprise

I think over-stressing can sometimes make the scale not budge!

 

[aal718]

I agree! I think trying to control it only works up the stress and then I just want to give up. I have enough to worry about!

 

[bettie3351]

Ironically, I just came across an article at random from Oprah.com about the "phantom fat" phenomenon. I have definitely experienced this. I'm down 30 pounds but I haven't really adjusted to the new changes in my body. It's funny because everytime someone tells me I'm skinny or fit I don't really believe them.

Anyhow, if you're interested in reading the story it is here: oprah.com/article/omagazine/200801_omag_body_image


I don't really know how to overcome this problem. It's really hard to get the "chubby girl" feeling out of my head since that's how I've felt since I was a kid.