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Old 10-18-2006, 02:25 PM   #1  
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Exclamation Hanging on the side of the wagon...

Hey everyone. I just needed to come here to vent, and hopefully get some support and suggestions. I started with my weight loss at the end of last month (although i've tried many times before, I came back to 3FC after not coming here all summer). So far I've only lost two pounds, and I'm pretty sure it's mainly water weight. Yeah my clothes fit a little different, but not much. I've been exercising every day, and trying to watch my calories. I use FitDay and everything.

I was doing fine for a while. If you look at the October Fitness Challenge in the "20-somethings" board, I've been exercising almost every day, which is more than I have ever have. However, the past week and a half, I've been starting to lose motivation. I don't know if it's because I'm ovulating now and my hormones are whacky right now and I'm craving things or what. I've been going to fast food places almost every day the past few days.

When I see how fast some of the people on here lose weight, it's really discouraging. Some lose 5 pounds in a week, and here it's been almost 4 weeks and I've only lost 2...maybe. It keeps going up and down a few pounds. I know it's because I don't have a LOT to lose, but it's still REALLY frustrating. I just want to start seeing a difference. I'm impatient that way I guess. I know the key is to be patient, but I'm sick of being patient. I've been as patient as I can be for the past 4 weeks, and still nothing.

Do I need to increase my workout intensity? Do I need to eat more/fewer calories?? The thing is, I don't want to add calories cuz I'm afraid I'll start to GAIN weight. I did that once, and yeah I gained about 3 pounds instead of losing.

Is anyone in the same position? How do you stay patient...or more to the point, how do you START losing weight. I feel like I've tried everything, but it hasn't paid off.
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Old 10-18-2006, 02:38 PM   #2  
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How many calories do you eat per day?
Are you strength training?
Are you doing different exercises, so your body doesn't get used to one particular workout?
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Old 10-18-2006, 03:00 PM   #3  
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Womens Nutrition Health Guide

That is what i go by. Good luck!
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Old 10-18-2006, 03:09 PM   #4  
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I am losing weight slowly...and it can be 6 weeks before you notice anything happening. I know it sucks but keep up the good work. How much cardio ?strength training? for example I eat between 1400-1600 calories a day. I do 40 mns cardio and 20-30 mins of situps, leg and arm exercises etc...
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Old 10-18-2006, 03:13 PM   #5  
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Quote:
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Womens Nutrition Health Guide

That is what i go by. Good luck!
I just what I should be eating and wow it says 2287 I eat 1400-1600
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Old 10-18-2006, 03:36 PM   #6  
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You have most likely gained muscle mass as you lost fat weight so you aren't seeing a huge change on the scale. BUT... studies show that most women dramatically underestimate the number of calories they are eating. If you are not being 100% accurate in your calorie count (a bite here or there?) you can be off by enough to keep the scale from budging. Also, try to remember that you are in this for the long haul. It is a lifestyle change! And LITTLE efforts every day add up to BIG results. So don't give up. DO NOT GIVE UP! Try re-focusing your energy on the healthy lifestyle and healthy routines you want to live with and wait to weigh in for a few days. You'll definitely see results if you just persevere!
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Old 10-18-2006, 03:41 PM   #7  
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Quote:
I just what I should be eating and wow it says 2287 I eat 1400-1600
Canadian mom, then that is good. It sounds like you have a deficit of 600-800 a day.
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Old 10-18-2006, 05:22 PM   #8  
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The less you have to lose the slower it goes...I maybe lose 2 lbs a month-but's it's going and that is the key. Do you write down the calories of everything you put in your mouth? You might be going over and not knowing. I do about 1200 a day, with Saturday and Sunday off, plus I workout 6 days a week. If I didn't go off Saturday and Sunday it would probably come off a lot faster but it's what you can stick too...slow and steady wins the race.
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Old 10-18-2006, 06:50 PM   #9  
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Quote:
So far I've only lost two pounds, and I'm pretty sure it's mainly water weight. Yeah my clothes fit a little different, but not much. I've been exercising every day, and trying to watch my calories. I use FitDay and everything.
First, losing 2 pounds in a few weeks is probably what you SHOULD be losing. After all, you don't have well over 100 pounds to lose. Remember, at 150 pounds, 2 pounds is over 1% of your body weight. When I started at nearly 300 pounds, I lost on average around 2 pounds/week -- less than 1% of that weight.

On so many levels, you can't compare yourself to other people -- it's like comparing apples and vacuum cleaners!


Quote:
I was doing fine for a while. If you look at the October Fitness Challenge in the "20-somethings" board, I've been exercising almost every day, which is more than I have ever have. However, the past week and a half, I've been starting to lose motivation. I don't know if it's because I'm ovulating now and my hormones are whacky right now and I'm craving things or what. I've been going to fast food places almost every day the past few days.
Second, that "time of month" causes many women to crave foods AND gain temporary water weight. Maybe you'll lose a little when it's over.

Finally, you say you've been eating at fast food places every day, but then said you've "tried everything, but it doesn't pay off." It sounds like you're saying your plan doesn't work, but it also sounds like you aren't following your plan (if I read you right).

My advice is to be patient with yourself, and with the scale. In my experience it takes a long time to get a new lifestyle down pat! And, most of us aren't "perfect" about it. As for the scale, give it a chance too! It's a poor measure of FAT loss, as it measures fat, muscle, water, and other things (you know, bone and all). More than half of our weight is water, so while you are looking for fat loss, your tool (scale) measures so much more and is highly affected by water!!
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Old 10-18-2006, 07:57 PM   #10  
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Wyllenn - I couldn't agree with ANY of what you said more.
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Old 10-18-2006, 08:49 PM   #11  
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I started exactly where you are at and I also lost weight very slowly. I never lost more than a pound per week and there were a lot of months where I was lucky to lose 2 pounds (esp. towards the end). I started my exercise program in August 05 and started counting calories in November 05. From the time I started in August, it took me a year to lose 30 pounds. And it was sometimes frustrating and discouraging to read posts from other people who were losing twice as fast as I was (or sometimes even faster). Seems like there are some people that lose 30 pounds in a month!

What really helped me was to set a long-term goal. When I started counting calories in Nov 05 I told myself that I would stick with the program until February 06 and if I hadn't made any progress by then, I would do something different. I picked February because I had a vacation to Mexico planned then and I new the whole diet was going to h*** that week anyway. So either I would go on the vacation and then get back on the calorie counting program when I got back or I would start over with a something new. I'm not sure what I would have done if I'd had to come up with something new (South Beach, maybe?), luckily it never came to that.

I think it took until the end of December for me to lose 5 pounds, but by the time February rolled around I had definitely made progress and, even though I wasn't at my goal yet, I was noticeably thinner and wearing at least two sizes smaller in clothing. My friends who met me in Mexico for the vacation were amazed at how much thinner I was! Having the long-term goal really helped me get past the short-term stalls.

Also, here are a few sayings I recite to myself when I am feeling really frustrated with how slowly I lose weight:
- Slow and steady wins the race.
- I didn't gain this weight overnight, I'm not going to lose it overnight.
- I am more likely to be able to keep the weight off if I lose it slowly.
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Old 10-19-2006, 10:38 AM   #12  
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Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate the support. I'll definitely take into account what everyone has suggested, and I think I'm going to do what you suggested BlueToBlue...I'm going to think about a long-term goal (I'm thinking Valentine's Day - February 14) to just keep doing what I'm doing and stick with it, and if by then there is no progress, I'm going to try something different.

Thanks again for the advice everyone. It's really appreciated.
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Old 10-20-2006, 04:43 AM   #13  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by canadian mom View Post
I just what I should be eating and wow it says 2287 I eat 1400-1600
psssst the guide will tell you an approximate amount to eat to maintain your current weight

And as far as the weight loss, LaBonita, yours really sounds normal, and you're doing great! It's normal to lose less per week (and especially during that certain time of month) when you aren't very much over weight and it's kinda hard to say that you're eating too few/too many calories without knowing how many you are eating, and what sort of exercise you are doing....

I stumbled upon this when trying to figure out what I should be eating, and found it to be a really good guide.

http://weightloss.about.com/

The above is a general page, very interesting, and below is a formula for figuring out how many calories you need to maintain your weight, and how many you need to lose weight (and the amount you will lose based on how many calories you cut back).

http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsm...lcalintake.htm

If you're really stumped, talk to your doctor, the article is just a guideline
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Old 10-20-2006, 11:45 AM   #14  
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isthatreallyme: thanks! I checked out the second site, and I think I'll go by that. The problem I have is there are so many different formulas out there on how much you should be eating to maintain (the my pyramid site says I should eat more than 2000 calories to maintain my weight...i don't think so), it's just so confusing on which one to use. The site above said I should eat around 1800 calories to maintain, so i subtracted 250 and got about 1500-1600 a day. That sounds much more realistic. Thanks again for those sites!
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