Ideal goal vs. realistic goal

ideal: lose roughly 40lbs

realistic: lose more than 2lbs and keep it off

I'm attempting intermittent fasting for a month (although I might miss a few days and make them up at the end). As I said in another thread, I don't have a weight scale, but I can go down the street...whenever I'm invited/feel like going. Lately, this is once a month, at most, but I think I'll be able to go next week or week after. Gah! I hope to see progress!

Feel free to share your own personal goals, ideal and/or realistic. I'm going to continue this thread with my progress on my current goal.

argh! I'm getting so frustrated...looking in the mirror now, I'm seeing myself as fat. I was in denial for a long time. I really hope this fasting works because I'm running out of realistic options! I'm in a good mood today, but this is bumming me out. I mean, how can I still feel sexy and like disgusted at myself at the same time? weird. I mean, i don't know if I'm "disgusted"...it's just for a long time I thought my weight/appearance was fine...but recent photos, especially me compared to others (granted they are pretty thin, but still), I mean I look huge! I dunno. bleh!

Damn! I stayed up too late tonight, got too hungry and had to break my fast. Oh well, I feel satisfied right now. Ok, better scurry off to bed!

Hi GiddyKitty,

I dont think 40lbs is an idealistic goal, although I dont know you starting weight. I lost 50lbs and I need to lose 50 more. That's my long term goal. But my short term goals break down by month, week, and day. Monthly, I an trying to lost 8lbs a month. Weekly, I'm trying to run 3 times and do yoga 3 times. Daily, I try to manage portion control, record my meals and calories, and weigh myself for tracking purposes.

So I think a 40lb long term goal and 2lb shorter term goal is just fine. You should set some daily/weekly objectives to hit to help you reach either of those goals. And make sure they are attainable objectives.

And it's okay to slip up. Try not to give it a judgment value of good or bad. Think of it as a scientific research experiment where you are just trying to figure out what works and what doesnt for you.

Hope this helps.

Seesaw

Hi Seesaw!

Thanks!

Yeah, I'm not sure about giving my actual weight...I could probably stand to lose about 40 lbs but no more than that. I'm overweight by about that much but it doesn't account for muscle. A 10-15lb deficit would probably look best on me... Anyhoo

It IS hard for me! I've tried for like 10 years to lose and at most I lost about 10-15, then I gained about 20+ (rough estimates). So basically, I'm at my highest weight ever. Thing is, the increase started when I started medication...and I dropped one and lost a little bit, but now I'm stuck. I was pretty inactive, I'm still less active, but I have increased activity to average about 30minutes a day (some days I just do 10minutes, other days I do 60 or so). It's not as intense, but I seem to have lost ambition since the only place I can really do intense now is in the basement and that's concrete with short ceilings. It's very restrictive and frustrating. I mean, I could still lift weights...yeah, hubby keeps asking me to do that...but I just mentally haven't gotten there yet...not even sure why anymore! But yeah, like I haven't been able to keep 2lbs off for over a year now. :/

but, that's where the fasting comes in!

if that even works. I'm still not sure how much of a deficit I'm getting. It HAS to be a little more than before though! I like your idea of thinking of it as a scientific research experiment. I mean, that's essentially what it is! I just hate that what I thought I knew over the last ten years needs to be redefined because of these meds.

Omg! I looked back and I was actually 26lbs lighter about 2-2.5 years ago! About 10lbs short of my "ideal" weight, but these days, I can't believe I was that light. I mean, I hadn't weighed that much since high school or maybe even junior high!

So, if I could just start damn losing again...if I could just tap into the secret...maybe I could lose the 40lbs, or at least the 26. I'd be ecstatic! But damnit, I can't even keep 2lbs off these days...it's depressing...at the same time, I'm not giving up...just haven't found the resolve or energy or whatever to hit it really hard yet.

Hi giddykitty. I think you absolutely can lose that 2 lbs. You can do it! Retaining that lose can definitely be done, too, though I do know that often takes even more work. As for 40 lbs, I have lost 40 lbs in the past. I even did it in a 6-month period, but I will say that there were a lot of stars aligned during that period for me. I truly needed support to do it. I had it then. I don't have it so much now. That doesn't mean I couldn't seek out that support. Sometimes the key is a spark that really boosts motivation. I sometimes struggle to get that spark, and other times it is a gift that shows up. Of that 40 lbs I lost (about 8 years ago), I have managed to keep off about 20 of them. One could see that 20 lb regain as a bad thing (it's not ideal, for sure), but it is a good thing in that I didn't regain all of the weight, and more. That could happen. I have to be vigilant in many areas of my life.

My advice to you is that if you have your heart set on this fasting diet, do give it a fair shake. However, if this fasting doesn't work in the end, scrap that and move on to another diet that you think MAY work better. I won't judge "fasting diets" for other people, but I know I could never do that, myself. Over the years, I have learned what is usually most doable. I don't always even do that, but when I get support and a little spark of motivation, I can succeed for at least a bit.

Ideal goal: Someday get back to some level of working

Realistic goal: Increase my productivity, step by step, even if I have to stay at a next step forward for a while before adding another

ideal goal: remove all toxins from my life including people, places and things that make me upset

realistic goal: limit sugar intake, cigarette smoking and keep socializing to a minimum

Oh man!!! I just found out my intermittent fasting is all for naught if I don't get fat adapted first. And that means keto diet, for up to 21 days claims one YouTuber. So, I'm probably not burning any fat and that makes me very discouraged! My breakfasts are half carbs and half fats (Dr, third carbs, third fat and third protein). At any rate, cutting carbs completely just seems impossible to me! :/

Well, I'm 2lbs down now...just have to keep it off!