Trying to hold up 15 pounds lost in two months next to 123 pounds needed to hit my goal makes it seem impossible to get there. I need a way to succeed within 2-3 months. How do I do that? I lower the bar. So rather than looking at it as "I need to 123 pounds someday" I see it as "I need to lose 5-10% of my starting body weight within a 2-3 month period." That's something attainable. Even if it takes five months, it's still something I can do. It's a reason to celebrate. What happens after I hit that goal? I set another goal equally as achievable. The small battles add up to win the war. It also keeps the morale high. The only enemy here is the excess weight. Don't let yourself get caught up in the crossfire.
I just wanted to be active. For too long I loafed around all day drifting in and out of sleep. I stopped trying to be active because I hated the feeling of getting winded. Everything made me tired. That's no fun. Using the same method that I used for eating and weight loss goals, I started setting the pace at an hour a day walking. After a few weeks that was easy so I set a minimum of 2 miles a day walking. Then I got a gym membership. I stepped on the elliptical and walked a mile in 30 minutes. I set the bar a little higher. I got down to a mile in twenty. Then I started the Frank to 5k running program. Today I ran a mile on the elliptical in EIGHT MINUTES and FORTY SECONDS! Three months ago I couldn't fathom moving at a pace like that. I set small goals and worked my way up. When I'm done with the program on the elliptical, I am going to start all over again and do it on the treadmill. The goal is to ween myself off of the gym machinery to being able to jog in the real world. Then I'm going to attempt a 5k run. Followed by a 10k. If I fail, then I'll try again until I succeed. The purpose of becoming active is to able to do what I want with no restrictions placed on me by my own self. Jogging builds endurance. It will allow me to partake in other sports like swimming, kickball, dodgeball, football, surfing, and any other sports I'd like to try.
So what I'm saying is if you are looking to loose weight, be it 20 pounds or 200 pounds, start small and work your way up. Break things down to the very basics. Set goals that are realistic for you! Time will continue at the same pace regardless of what you do so there's no point it trying to rush through to the end. Enjoy the ride! Soon I'll look back on these days and smile as I recall how a thought- a dream really- became a reality from crawling one inch at a time and spanning miles in the process!