Buy Walking VideosWhat Will I Be Like When I’m At Goal?
When I reach my goal weight, what will my life be like? I’m so close to my goal right now. I only have 28 pounds to go after losing a total of 76 pounds. It’s hard to imagine that those extra 28 pounds will have as profound an effect on me.
It’s that kind of thinking that can derail me.
I have made so much progress and my life is so much better that I think that I can’t possibly have an even better life when I finally get to my goal weight. I’m totally wrong and I know it.
The benefits of weight loss are exponential. Losing 76 pounds to get where I am today feels amazing. It feels like I have more freedom. I feel as if I have been released from those looks and those opinions that people have about fat people.
I KNOW that getting to goal will be even better, and here’s why:
I finally conquered it! After years of trying and failing, I will have finally made it! I have been fighting this battle ever since I was nine years old and watching Richard Simmons on the television every day. Finally getting to a healthy BMI has been my goal since before BMI was called BMI. When I finally get there, I will have reached a point I have never hit before. I will have NAILED it! I can’t wait to achieve that accomplishment.
I will feel like I belong. Even though I’m healthier now, I still feel uncomfortable at the gym. I don’t want people to look at me. I just want to get in and get the job done. I know I deserve to be there because I get in and workout as hard as I can while I’m there. I just don’t feel like I belong there. It’s not the people at the gym, it’s strictly my mindset.
If I thought being able to fit into Lucky Jeans was great, just think how great those size fours will feel. I have never really felt worthy of good clothing. Once I know that I’m at my goal weight and I’m staying there no matter what, I will be able to enjoy the best clothing. I won’t have to shop at thrift stores anymore because I’m finished losing weight and I will be at this size for longer than the clothes will last.
Intangible Benefits: I don’t know what they are, but I’m sure that I will be surprised with benefits that I can’t even imagine right now. That’s wonderful. I’ll take those surprises and run with them, whatever they are.
I realized today that thinking that my life couldn’t be much better at goal than it is right now is just an excuse. It’s one of those thought patterns that tries to convince me to keep things at the status quo because I’m scared of the future.
Believe it or not, getting to goal is scary for some people. I refuse to live in fear and I’m going to look forward to the benefits of being at a healthy weight.
If you have been telling yourself that even when you get to goal, you’re still going to be dealing with the same problems, take an hour for yourself. Write out all your fears and all your hopes of what life would be like when you get to goal. Refuse to believe the fears. Just release them in your mind and imagine them floating down the river, far far away from you. You have no need for fear in your life. Enjoy the prospect of your life being better when you get to goal and you’re that much closer to getting there.
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February 3rd, 2006 at 5:31 am
Laura You are unstopable, you have come so far, when that goal is reached you will be even more wonderful than you are now. You have the momentum on your side, remember you have done it this far you can do a all the way. Your a winner, a thinner winner too
Thanks for the inspiration, Jeff J
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:54 am
Laura,
I keeping having the same thoughts, over the last four years I have lost 130lbs and I have 20lbs to go, this last 20 is the hardest, but I know, I will not be satisfied until I reach my goal. That what it is all about, GOALS, you set a goal for yourself and it seems monumental, look how far you have come! The finish line is within reach. I can imagine the satisfaction you will feel. Every goal that I have obtained in my life has been gratifying and I can’t wait until I lose that 20lbs. Then I can be onto my next goal, MAINTAINING. Good luck! Keep your eyes on the prize.
February 3rd, 2006 at 8:48 am
“Finished” loosing weight. I have never heard that sentence in my life. I would love to reach that goal this year. I want to see what life is like not having to worry about loosing weight. Thank you for this article, very good.
Sharmin 39 – Virginia
February 3rd, 2006 at 9:06 am
One distinction that I constantly work on in my own mind is the difference between happy and satisfied. Getting to goal will not make me happy. I am happy right now. I’m happy about the weight I’ve lost and I’m happy that I’m in much better shape and healthier. I choose to be happy even when I hit a plateau. But I will be satisfied only when I reach my goal.
February 3rd, 2006 at 1:23 pm
I think this is an example of different strokes for different folks. For me, I find it encouraging to realize that life won’t change dramatically if I’m at a certain weight. The benefit of that thought for me is that I don’t wait to enjoy life. Everything that I want is right here, right now. There is nothing I have to wait for or fix. Full disclosure: In practice, I am waiting to buy really nice clothes until I’m at that “certain weight.” I’m going to stop that right now, and buy myself a nice outfit that fits me really well just as I am now. More full disclosure: I used to weigh over 200 pounds and completely not worrying about my weight and doing what I wanted to do is how I released the extra weight.
February 4th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
You go! pushing through your fears and self-doubts to reach your goals. Inspiring to anyone reaching for any kind of goal.
You are not any more or less deserving of nice clothes or trips to the gym now than you ever were. Very clever, though, paying less for decent clothes when you know you are going to be shrinking out of them soon.
February 5th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
Hey there ! WOW you are an inspiration to me. I am just starting the prosess of losing my weight. I too have always been overweight. I lost 45 pounds before, and I know I can do it again. I’m having alot more trouble this time tho, maybe it’s my age? I think as long as you realize that this is never truly over,& that it’s a life long commitment to ourselves, than you’ll be just great! You’ll be the same great lady with the same great thoughts.
March 28th, 2006 at 10:32 am
You can do it, the people you love will appreciate you looking after your health to look after them.
Summer is around the corner, your looking great.
April 24th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
Once you reached your goal, you will be no different from the person you were yesterday, however, you will not be the same person you were when you started your diet. I am not sure if “fear” is the correct word to use but maybe “caution”. There must be a sence of caution once you reached your goal because according to statistics the majority of people that lose their weight put it “all” and “more” back on again.
This is said not to inflict fear but reality. This fact has helped me during my process as well as after. Weight Lost/Weight Gain….I don’t want to be apart of this statistic like I have seen so many family members, friends, and co-workers.
When you reached your goal, your smile will have an extra meaning. Wishing the best for you !
July 12th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Congrats! Your weight loss is similar to mine — however, I have 25 to go, which means I’ll still be about 10 lbs overweight, but I can live with it. If I got that extra 10 lbs off, I couldn’t maintain it, because my metabolism is so messed up. This is the the third or fourth time that I’ve had a huge weight loss, and since I’m 57, it better be the last one, because I can’t do it again. Today, I reached one of my goals of being less than 200 lbs — granted, it was 199 on the scale this morning, but it’s less than 200, and 70-75 lbs ago, I didn’t think it was possible, because it was such a long road. I started in August-September, so it’s been nearly a year, and I really don’t know how much I weighed to begin with, because I didn’t even weigh until I had behaved myself for about two weeks. So, there’s no telling.
I, too, am a weight loss specialist. I just couldn’t keep it off. I even was on TV because I had lost so much weight on a “program”, and still put it back on. I’ve changed my attitudes about food now (I hope), and the food industry is helping alot by helping us make smart choices, so we’ll see how it goes. My BP was 148 over 90, and now it’s 121 over 68, so that’s got to make me keep on target.
If I weren’t as tall as I am, I’d never get away with the weight I’m carrying, and 175 is still too heavy, but if I ever get there, I’ll see how it goes. If I could just get there before the end of the year, then I would just try to “coast” for a while, and see if I can maintain that.
Congrats! Please come back and fill me in on what kind of progress you’ve made. I’m happy for you and thank you for the article you wrote. It helped me today, when I hit 199!
December 4th, 2006 at 10:14 am
Congratulations Laura! It seems that most of us are in the same boat. I am also trying to drop the last 10 lbs. after having lost 57 lbs. I started my journey with the hopes of looking better and with the goal in view I am thrilled with the way I look and more importantly I feel 20 years younger! My issue has been that the goal has been in view for over 6 months and for some reason I have not moved towards it. I don’t know why. I start with the best intentions each day and yet at the end of the week the scale is the same. I am now starting a blog with my thoughts and feelings to see If i can find the common denominator. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy with where I am (9 months and counting), but I have not reached my goal yet.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I am at the beginning of my weight loss journey. Everyone who has had to deal with losing weight has been here, where I am now. It’s a real inspiration to me & will hopefully keep me on track, as I have ups & downs on this journey ahead of me.
April 25th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Ok, I know this thread is totally old, but this is what I have been thinking about this week!!!!! More specifically, I’ve been trying to think about what I will feel like when I reach my goal weight. All I could think was that I really don’t know why I’m trying to get to my goal weight, but after reading your list, I’m starting to form a list of my own!!! I’m reading “The Secret” and am trying to “visualize” my slender self, as if I’ve reached my goal, and couldn’t figure out why I was even trying to lose the weight. Bizarre-sounding, I know. Anyway, thanks so much, Laura, for sharing yourself with the readers!!
May 4th, 2007 at 11:07 am
yeah, very old thread but… i did make goal, years and years ago. and i will tell you how it feels different from the first 70 pounds. it feels SKINNY. it is WONDERFUL. “not so heavy” is cool and great. but skinny is amazing. i’m very healthy, i eat beautiful foods, i work out, i have no eating disorder, and i am WAY skinny. i decided to just keep going until i was at a weight i had thought ridiculously unattainable. then i stopped. i look good in anything i try on. i run, and running gets me high. skinny is fun. it is completely possible. (then you get old and then you die so you don’t have to turn into a body obsessed moron, but it’s just a cool project and it’s… possible.) and that is worth the last lap.
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:36 pm
The thread seems to be getting not so old. If you can put a number on how badly you would feel if you gained 50lbs tomorrow, on a 1-10, it’d be a 10 right? You’d feel tired, week, depressed, hopeless and what’s the point. Losing 50lbs is a 10+ on the total opp side of the scale. Alive, awake, strong, powerful, happy and hopeful. You have more hope and happy than you know what to do with it. AND THEN… you give it out to others. Imagine if everyone was so full-up on hope and happy! You owe it to yourself and the people who love you to be, not so much skinny but I know what bekka means, but fit. I feel I was given this body, one body, it’s my job, to make it better/great. I don’t love running, treadmill, etc. but I love when I sit down at my desk knowing that today my butt will spread no further bec I already ‘did my stuff’ today. I was pretty good at cheating too. Well if 30 min cardio is good then 25 is fine. Oh, and this song is over on my ipod, I’ll just stop now. I’m tired today I’ll go at half speed. bla bla bla. Bekka’s right, once the reasonable goal is hit don’t become a pod person and obsess. Is my butt going to be the size it was in high school, maybe, but that’s not my goal.
June 29th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Good job heading towards your goal…you can do it. Don’t lose sight of it. My story is somewhat more complicated. I was 186lbs at the beginning of 2006 (I was 32, so still young I think) and I needed to get down to a goal of 135ish. So, I changed my diet, learned about food and started to exercise regularly. By the end of Feb 2006 I had lost over 20lbs….then I had a stroke. Seems I had a hole in my heart that had probably allowed a blood clot to get up to my brain. I’ve since had the hole in my heart patched so this should not happen again. Its been really hard getting over the stroke. I was off work for over 4 months but I’m 99% okay now. Rest assured, I believe the stroke would have been 100% worse if I had not lost the weight and it had happened when I was 50. So, I’m back to eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly and I’m currently 142 lbs (thats a loss of 44lbs in 18 months with a stoke in the middle)….so close to my goal and in the best shape of my life. So, take it from me…..you only have your health, stick with it.
August 14th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
The reason, for a lot of women, that reaching goal is scary is that, often, 1) other women see you as a threat and they are mean, mean, mean and nasty to you, both at work and in your personal life, and they often do some serious damage, and 2) it also then attracts men and for women who have been hurt by men it is scary to have to deal with that again.
There are lots of reasons to be afraid of reaching goal. I don’t think either of these reasons listed should stop anyone but you might need some extra psychological support to overcome it.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:24 am
I have lost 45 lbs, and I haven’t really picked a goal weight. For me, weight loss is about good health. I tend to think of the alternative, not loosing weight is very unhealthy, and that’s very scary. I think about loosing another 65lbs, but I am so reluctant to fixate on a goal weight. For me, weight loss is about better physical performance. I look forward to running a marathon or cycling across America. Those are my goals. As I achieve them the weight will naturally follow. The way I see it, there is always work in life. Work is a constant, however, you get to choose what work you do. You can work at being morbidly obese or work at being a healthy weight. I know the work of being morbidly obese, feeling fatigued, tired, huffing and puffing around, straining to do the physical activities required in life and dealing with all the social and emotional discomforts associated with obesity, or I can do the work my body requires of me to be a healthy weight, healthy lifestyle. Both states require effort on my part, however, being healthy will be a whole lot more fun. I’m already having a lot more fun. I cycled across Iowa this summer. to do that I trained daily and cycled a total of 1000 miles to get ready. So, I choose to do the work that leads to a healthy weight for one good reason. I get a whole lot more pleasure out of life when I am healthy. So, obtaining a goal weight doesn’t scar me at all, not obtaining it does. I am worried about plateaus along the way and how I may end up feeling defeated. To manage that I plan to focus on setting and obtaining exercise goals. I am beginning to develop a year round training plan that will help me prepare for the the things I want to do. One thing I know is I need to stay physically active as long as possible, I’m 53 and I imagine I will be need to exercise well into my 80’s. I hope these thoughts help those of you concerned about reaching your goal weight. I suggest you reframe the whole concept.
October 6th, 2007 at 6:04 am
I AM WORRIED THAT WHEN I REACH MY GOAL AND BECOME A LIFE TIME MEMBER THAT I CA’NT STAY WITHIN THE 2 LBS TO MAINTAIN IT , I WAS 20 LBS. FROM GOAL AND NOW I AM 30 BECAUSE I GAINED 10 BACK, IT IS A LIFE TIME COMMIT MENT, SO I WILL KEEP ON TRYING AND NOT GIVE UP. I LOVE THE WEB SITE,,,,,,BONNIE