I've never lost this much weight before, and I figured that us bigger girls will lose faster in the beginning...I've lost 50 lbs in just under 4 months, which I figure is pretty fast... but the last 5 have come off much slower. I was just looking at my stats and the last two weeks, I've only lost 2 pounds. I know that 1-2 pounds per week is normal, but up until now, I was losing much faster.
I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea that this is going to be the new normal, but that's interspersed with moderate freak outs, and I've noticed that my new size 18s, which I bought a little snug, now make me feel fat, even though, I know logically that I'm actually slimmer and that the pants are snug because I'm wearing a smaller size.
On top of everything, yesterday was the first day in four months that I went well over my calorie limit, and it was for the dumbest reason... I ate too much rutabaga, not realizing how many calories was in it, and I mean, I like roasted root vegetables, and it was pretty good, but dang-- if I was going to go 400 cals over plan couldn't I have had a piece of cake???
You and I are the same height, and I started out a lot heavier than you. Proportionately you are losing a lot faster than I am, and I have been extraordinarily strict with myself. You are doing great.
I started out at 370 and lost 30 lbs the first month. 60 lbs total the first three months. 100 lbs total the first six months (you see it gets slower and slower). 120 lbs the first YEAR. So, that averages out to be 10 lbs a month for a year, which is about 2.5 lbs a week (well within the safe range). But it didn't come off that regularly. I stalled and plateaued and stalled, on and on, but I didn't give up. I just kept on doing what I knew would work.
Just stay on plan and don't obsess over the scale. If you stay on plan, the weight WILL come off. You can't dictate how fast, just accept it and enjoy the ride.
As an aside, even though my scale didn't move regularly I did drop a size about every six weeks, give or take, so I used that as my key measurement. That has slowed though and it now takes me about 8 weeks to drop a size. But that's OK, it seems like moving into the smaller sizes changes your appearance a lot more than moving into the larger sizes did. I.e., there seems to be a lot more of a visual difference between an 18 and a 16 than there was between a 30 and a 28, if that makes sense.
Weight loss is never linear. You may lose 3 lbs next week and then nothing the next. You could try switching it up by dropping your calories or increasing your activity or both.
You and I are the same height, and I started out a lot heavier than you. Proportionately you are losing a lot faster than I am, and I have been extraordinarily strict with myself. You are doing great.
I started out at 370 and lost 30 lbs the first month. 60 lbs total the first three months. 100 lbs total the first six months (you see it gets slower and slower). 120 lbs the first YEAR. So, that averages out to be 10 lbs a month for a year, which is about 2.5 lbs a week (well within the safe range). But it didn't come off that regularly. I stalled and plateaued and stalled, on and on, but I didn't give up. I just kept on doing what I knew would work.
Just stay on plan and don't obsess over the scale. If you stay on plan, the weight WILL come off. You can't dictate how fast, just accept it and enjoy the ride.
As an aside, even though my scale didn't move regularly I did drop a size about every six weeks, give or take, so I used that as my key measurement. That has slowed though and it now takes me about 8 weeks to drop a size. But that's OK, it seems like moving into the smaller sizes changes your appearance a lot more than moving into the larger sizes did. I.e., there seems to be a lot more of a visual difference between an 18 and a 16 than there was between a 30 and a 28, if that makes sense.
Thanks DC...
I'll admit you are a little bit of my weight loss idol... since we are similar in height... but I know you must be uber-buff because I can't even imagine fitting into a size 14 any time soon....
As I was getting out of the car this morning, I told myself to just keep doing what I'm doing and let time pass, but that is just so hard. Sometimes I get little glimpses of what it really means to make a permanent lifestyle change-- that I'll just keep doing this and doing this and the results will come when they come...
But I'm a really intense goal-driven type and it's hard for me to be so zen about it...
But I'm TRYING to learn and though I'm a bit of an old dog, I'm always looking for new tricks to learn!!!
And thanks Nelie... I KNOW this stuff in my head, but the fat voice, though quieter now, is always hiding in the closet ready to jump out and yell BOO!
First of all, it is MUCH better to go over calories on healthy foods then - cake. Think of all the added nutrients you received having eaten the rutabaga then had you eaten cake. And that cake would have made you crave-y for weeks on end perhaps and made your journey that much more difficult.
The best you can do is to stick faithfully to plan. And then the weight WILL come off. It may not be in the time frame you've got in mind, but it WILL come off, rest assured. Now I think you may want to take away time frames. Don't focus on the whens. FOCUS on those behaviors. FOCUS on getting your plan down pat. FOCUS on finding strategies and coping skills. FOCUS on finding healthy and delicious foods to eat. You're in this for life, right? No stopping when you get to goal. So really what will change? And it's not like you've got any control over it anyway. Your body will do what your body will do. FOCUS on getting those behaviors down pat and making this your new way of life.
BUT - don't be surprised if you still see some larger week losses. I know I did. No rhyme, no reason. Upon doing the same thing week after week after week, I got totally different results. Really all over the place results. 1/2 pound one week. Two pounds the next. 1 lb the one there after. 4 lbs the following. No rhyme. No reason.
You'll get to your goal, provided you stick with the program. And in the end it won't make a difference if it was a little sooner or a little later. Keep up the great work.
First of all, it is MUCH better to go over calories on healthy foods then - cake. Think of all the added nutrients you received having eaten the rutabaga then had you eaten cake. And that cake would have made you crave-y for weeks on end perhaps and made your journey that much more difficult.
The best you can do is to stick faithfully to plan. And then the weight WILL come off. It may not be in the time frame you've got in mind, but it WILL come off, rest assured. Now I think you may want to take away time frames. Don't focus on the whens. FOCUS on those behaviors. FOCUS on getting your plan down pat. FOCUS on finding strategies and coping skills. FOCUS on finding healthy and delicious foods to eat. You're in this for life, right? No stopping when you get to goal. So really what will change? And it's not like you've got any control over it anyway. Your body will do what your body will do. FOCUS on getting those behaviors down pat and making this your new way of life.
I need to print out the paragraph above and memorize it!!!!!!
You are SO RIGHT and I am really trying to do all those things...and sometimes I get little glimpses of what that really means... like last night when I was feeling kind of edgy and stressed, and my impulse was to take the dog for a walk... I didn't even think FOOD. And then, last night, when I realized I didn't have time to go to the gym, I got on my treadmill in the basement....and then, this morning in the car, I stopped to think over the fact that I'm feeling stressed and anxious right now, and about some of the new things that I do to make myself happy: like the sauna after I swim, and shoe shopping, and spending more time outside...
So, now I kinda realize that you're even right about the rutabaga... I should have looked up the calories instead of going from memory. I should have measured a portion instead of treating it as a "free food"... but one rutabaga, in the grand scheme of things, isn't going to change whether or not I make a permanent lifestyle change whereas cake would have been a serious mistake...
Don't be so hard on yourself- I have been on 3fc almost a year now and I still haven't lost what you have! You are doing well, 50 lbs for your body in a few months is dramatic and it's probably in freak out mode like OMG is there a famine?! Just keep it up and it'll eventually go down, I mean you are still going down right? Slow but steady wins the race
I plateaud for a few months before the weight started to come off again last month- it was very frustrating but I REFUSED to give up
I have been losing on a good schedule as well and it seems slow to me, some days. In fact, I just blogged about this frustration just the other day!
I just have to accept that I KNOW I am doing well and the scale WILL reflect that, but I cannot control my body's losses, I can only really control the input - the food and the quality of it. Whenever I get in the mindset of 'I ONLY lost a pound or so this week, darn!' I remind myself that the alternative would be me staying at around 250 or GAINING a pound here and there, instead of losing.
Since gaining is not an option for me anymore, I just have to make peace with the process of shedding my old self and becoming who I want to be. My body is a beautiful creation and functions amazingly, I know if I am responsible for MY end of the deal (the food) that this vessel I was given WILL respond in time.
Weight loss definitely isn't linear - I lost nothing last week and 3.6 pounds this week, after maintaining a steady calorie deficit BOTH weeks. But I just have to trust that my body loses in this pattern for a reason, and that it is probably to my benefit that my system likes to stall weight loss and slow it every few weeks so I can adjust without starvation, horrid cravings or long plateaus.
It is kind of a zen thing, but I just try to keep my eyes on how far I have come and how close I am getting to my goal, rather than my rate of loss. I end up a lot happier that way
Uber-buff, ha. Well, if I had liposuction on my upper arms, thighs and lower belly tomorrow, maybe. Well, actually, yeah. Even with all the fat on my arms you can still see the muscle, in a Larry-the-Cable-Guy kind of way. My dream is to look like Xena Warrior Princess when I reach goal, because I will never be one of those tall, willowy, slender blondes you see out there. It's crazy how heavy I am for my size...but we're all different. I had my picture taken with a friend on Saturday who is a size 0, who's the same height as me, and both her legs were the same size as one of mine...but the compensation is, I have great muscle tone and she can barely pick up a dining room chair to move it.
Thanks! I'm not heroic at all, but that was very nice.
Well, actually, yeah. Even with all the fat on my arms you can still see the muscle, in a Larry-the-Cable-Guy kind of way. My dream is to look like Xena Warrior Princess when I reach goal, because I will never be one of those tall, willowy, slender blondes you see out there.
You and me both, babe. I look at my daughter now who is built just like me just not quite as tall. Boy what a difference thirty-something years can make.
She weighs 160 pounds of solid muscle and bone and she throws the shot put and is proud of it.
No body image issues for her. She knows she's stronger than other girls and can kick their butts.
I wish that way back when I was a 160 pound athlete I had had Xena the Warrior Princess as a role model!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!
Oh Uber.. you are doing great!! 50 pounds in 4 months???? That is amazing!!!! Yes, the loss will slow some (or even a lot!), but look how far you have come, and how much further you are ahead in the game from your super amazing start.
Uber you are doing awesome! My weight loss has ssslllllooooowwwweeeedddd... since my whole gall bladder thing but the measuring tapes, clothes and pictures tell a positive story. Things are moving, changing and shrinking. I'm losing about 9ish lbs a month where I used to lose 15. It's slower but it's STILL HAPPENING and that's what I focus on.
Uber you are doing wonderfully! Keep at it, it will come off. I lost 50 pounds in the first 3 months and then it took another 3 to lose the next 25....each week getting slower and slower....As you get to a lower weight the fewer pounds are bigger percentages of your body weight and make a big diference. You can do this!
Is it normal for pace of loss to slow?
