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U is for Unattainable

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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23 Comments

  1. Karla @ Foodologie

    I’m on the same page as you. I’m supposed to weigh 120lbs but that is pretty much impossible for me. I tried for a really long time to get there, but I found that weight is just a number. I think it’s more important to build healthy habits and have non-weight markers of success. I know weight is very important, but it’s not the end all, be all.

    Weight loss is attainable, as long as you have a clear attainable goal 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Well said! –> “Weight loss is attainable, as long as you have a clear attainable goal”

      I agree, having something other than a number is better.

  2. Kelly @ Finding a Skinnier Me

    I have found that the more that I dive into losing weight, the more that I just want to feel better and be healthy. That is it. Whatever weight my body feels good at is the weight I want to be. So well said. I love this posting!!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I think that’s a good mindset to have. After I lost a lot of weight, I changed too. I didn’t want to eat low calorie processed junk, I wanted to eat real food and feel better instead!

  3. Carbzilla

    It’s certainly attainable for me since I’ve done it. I think it’s the maintenance that’s hard. Plus it’s a bit of a moving target because our systems change so much (trying to lose weight after 40 is very very different than losing weight in my 20’s). A plan is a great place to start. I’m in my second week of Fast Metabolism Diet which is a plan I think I will follow even if the scale doesn’t budge (it’s moving slowly).

    Most people lose a significant amount of weight by incorporating exercise. I’m convinced that’s essential, as you’d probably agree. If you’re not willing to do the work, then you get the results you get.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I’ve noticed that it is harder to lose weight the closer I am to “goal”. Before the pounds came off easier. Now it’s so slow!

      I agree, exercise is an important component! It will increase metabolism too!

  4. Andrea@WellnessNotes

    I think having realistic goals is important. Also, when I was losing weight, it helped me to have 5-pound goals at a time. In fact, I didn’t have a certain “goal weight” in mind, but once I reached a good weight for me, I knew, and it’s the weight I can maintain by eating well, exercising, and having a treat once in a while.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I agree. Having smaller goals takes the pressure off!

  5. Carla

    YES in weightloss and fitness and life.

    Ive lamented something lately —but I really “cant” since Ive not yet tried.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Yes, I’ve done the same in other aspects. It’s easy to get into the mindset of “Cant”

  6. Mary @ Fit and Fed

    Congratulations on keeping the weight off for that long, you look great! What helps me, when my weight has crept up and I need to lose a few pounds, is keeping a food log with calories, and sharing the log with a fitness buddy. The sharing part is crucial, otherwise it is hard for me to stay motivated.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Having accountability makes a huge difference!

  7. Yum Yucky

    I’m going to scan my brain’s database and search for any “I cant’s”. I know there’s still some in there. They are a virus that must be removed.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I agree. It’s easy to say I can’t, it’s hard to STOP saying it.

  8. Karen P

    Yep!!! Telling myself I knew I could do it and that I WOULD do it was at the cornerstone of my thought process when I was 70+ pounds overweight. I did not know how I would do it, the how part came in time. I just knew that others did it and I could too!

    Great topic, Lisa. 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Me either honestly. Seeing results helped me think for positively!

  9. Biz

    I don’t even recognize the old you! You should be so proud of yourself! 😀

  10. Roz@weightingfor50

    I’m standing and clapping (in my mind) for this post. Thank you for your words and your wisdom Lisa!!!

  11. bethh

    This is a timely post! I’ve generally stayed in the same 15-pound range of weight, which I tell myself is better than yo-yo-ing, but I think I’ve used it as an excuse to never get really serious about weight loss either. I’ve managed to do events like Cycle Oregon even with 20-50 pounds more on my body than is probably ideal. My lowest CO weight was something like 184, but I’m 5’6″ – just think how much better I’d feel on those hills if I weighed less than that!

    I’ve now been using an app (loseit) to track calories for the first time ever. Before this, my dieting was either doing WW for a little while, or as a side effect of various changes to my diet. I’ve never liked tracking calories because it’s a little too real, to be perfectly honest, and also because it’s really hard to calculate calories when eating out. But, I’ve been doing this since early February and it’s going pretty well.

    So far I’ve lost 15 pounds – I picture three five-pound bags of sugar and am SO GLAD I am not hauling them around every day. I’m doing Cycle Oregon this fall, and have signed up for my first-ever run, a 7k in Vancouver WA in early August. I have no idea if I will enjoy running but it’s time to give it a try. I also want to start swimming in the next couple of weeks (I’m recovering from some medical stuff so will hit the ground running, biking, and swimming in another week or so).

    I’m a little worried I’m biting off way more than I can chew, but I’m also trying not to analyze it too much, but just grab the enthusiasm and ride that wave as long as I can. Thanks for your posts – they really do help so much.

    1. bethh

      (I should clarify – I’ve lost 15 since the beginning of the year, and 5 of that was related to the medical stuff I’ve had going on. I have definitely lost about 10 pounds due to my own efforts since early Feb.)

      1. Lisa Eirene

        Great job on the 15 pounds! It’s fantastic that you are seeing results from your efforts.

    2. Lisa Eirene

      I think it’s so cool you’ve done Cycle Oregon! Way to go!! That’s a lot of miles.

      It’s great you are finding that you enjoy doing these physical activities. I don’t think it’s biting off too much. I think variety is good! Cross training!

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