You wrote: "In my mind, I kept thinking “it’s not enough,” but I realize that even though I am not yet at my goal weight, I am still making considerable progress. I weigh a lot less than I did a year ago this time, and that’s what counts right?" and I'll suggest a corny and only a bit annoying book called "The Gap and The Gain" that helps with thinking about how far you've come instead of how far you have to go to some idealized form. It's a quick read (repetitive, a bit, I skipped a fair bit) but there are some nuggets in there that made me think about how I judge myself, so it might be something you could grab from the library (I'm not sure I'd spend a bunch of money for it) to get some of those nuggets for yourself!
In case you want to get obsessive about learning about habits, there's another book called Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg I think you would like.
Being an academic, he took a little too long to publish his book and the Atomic Habits guy was first to market and got a lot of acclaim.
But BJ is a true expert in behavioral science (he's sometimes criticized for teaching all the silicon valley developers how to get people addicted to websites - look up the term "persuasive technology" - but that was never his intention, he is straight up a really nice guy) and his book explains how to build habits that last.
You wrote: "In my mind, I kept thinking “it’s not enough,” but I realize that even though I am not yet at my goal weight, I am still making considerable progress. I weigh a lot less than I did a year ago this time, and that’s what counts right?" and I'll suggest a corny and only a bit annoying book called "The Gap and The Gain" that helps with thinking about how far you've come instead of how far you have to go to some idealized form. It's a quick read (repetitive, a bit, I skipped a fair bit) but there are some nuggets in there that made me think about how I judge myself, so it might be something you could grab from the library (I'm not sure I'd spend a bunch of money for it) to get some of those nuggets for yourself!
In case you want to get obsessive about learning about habits, there's another book called Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg I think you would like.
Being an academic, he took a little too long to publish his book and the Atomic Habits guy was first to market and got a lot of acclaim.
But BJ is a true expert in behavioral science (he's sometimes criticized for teaching all the silicon valley developers how to get people addicted to websites - look up the term "persuasive technology" - but that was never his intention, he is straight up a really nice guy) and his book explains how to build habits that last.
Check it out