I am so frustrated! I can't seem to lose more than a 1/2 a pound a week. This past week was .2. What the **** am I doing wrong? I am 46. I weigh 256.6 as of today. I have been doing WW and totally staying within my 30 points. Very little alcohol. Nothing white. Eating whole grains, fruits, veggies, you know the good stuff. Drinking at least 100 ounces of water a day. Exercising everyday for 1/2 to 1 hour. Exercise varies from WATP videos to Zumba. I have been tracking in Fitday the last few days and do see I am high in carbs (even though they are good carbs). How do I increase my protein? What would I eat for snacks instead of fruit? I am at my wits end. If I don't see some progress soon, I know what is going to happen, because I am already thinking it. I could just cry. My husband on the other hand, is 48, has only cut down on his eating (still eats everything white) and NO exercise and he can lose AT LEAST 2 pounds a week, sometimes 3-4. I just want to kill him. Can someone help me??????
You're not doing anything "wrong". You're sticking to plan, and you're losing weight. That's great!
Some people just lose slowly, that's how it is. You can't control that. You just have to trust your plan and try to be patient. You can't compare yourself to your husband; men are notorious for having a much easier time with weight loss than women. I could produce some evo-bio hand-waving about life on the savannah but I'll let somebody else do it. The point is that you are not wired for quick weight loss, and he is.
What's your big hurry? It looks like you first joined this board in 2004. Your tag line says "This is the Last Time!!!" That suggests you've done this before. I'm in the same boat. The great thing about this being the last time, though, is that I have the rest of my life to do it. It's not a race. Every week that you don't gain is a better week than you'd have had if you were not on my plan. Every loss is something to celebrate, no matter how small. If you stick to your plan, you will lose.
With all of that said, some people here have said that they lose faster when they reduce carbs. You asked how to increase your protein and reduce your carbs - I'm not sure why that's mysterious, just eat more protein and fewer carbs. A larger portion of fish or chicken at dinner instead of sweet potato. Eggs instead of oatmeal. Yogurt. Edamame. And so on - unless I'm missing something about your question, I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Maybe one of the people who eats lower carb can help with that.
Try eating lots of small meals through out the day that really helps me for some reason. Drink plenty of water preferably with lemon. Do 20 minutes of strength training followed by atleast 30 minutes of cardio or walking atleast three days a week. Incorporate artichokes in your diet (increases bile function and helps the liver) and drink a cup of coffee about two hours before you work out (increases metabolism slightly and allowed you to push yourself harder). I was having the same problem but then I followed these rules and finally found my right calorie range so I started losing 2-3 pounds a week. everyone's different so WW may just not be for you.
I couldn't agree with Carter more. This is where that commitment to goal comes in. I would not have lost all this weight if not for committing to being on plan for a year NO MATTER WHAT. You're in the "no matter what" stage I faced each and every time. I always wondered what would happen if I just pushed through and kept going. Are you curious?
I've never done WW, but maybe 30 points is too high for you?? I don't know. We're all different. I know I require fewer calories than a lot of women.
You can help create more of a calorie deficit with longer, sustained exercised and I suggest lifting.
What is your weighing schedule? Weekly? Monthly? Daily? If you are weighing only weekly, there's a possibility you are losing during the week but you don't see it on the day you're weighing due to normal fluctuation. It helped me tremendously to be able to see my weight loss fluctuation daily. I seemed to always gain water weight for the weigh in on a weekly schedule.
Hang in there! You are losing and that's good so be proud of that! Some people naturally lose more slowly than others...it doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong it's just the way your body works. Also, not all the changes occur on the scale. Even if the numbers aren't going down as quickly as you'd like your body has to be healthier on the inside because you're fueling it with much healthier food.
Have you taken your journals in for your WW leader to look over? Is there someone else in your meeting who is consistantly successful around your age and weight? Ask them to have a look. Do you still weigh and measure?
Maybe none of that will help, but maybe someone will see something you've missed. Someone in my meeting had lost 100 pounds. She said for her, when she stopped losing she went back to her WW guidelines (not just points, but the actual guidelines), made sure to get her milks, and started using measuring cups again.
You should be proud of yourself for sticking with it!
Slow weight loss is still weight loss. I have to tell myself that alot. I feel like I am the slowest loser on the planet sometimes but I am still going down and so are you!!! Take a deep breath and believe in yourself, you can do this, you ARE doing this!!!
You've lost over 20 lbs. Don't be so blinded by the road ahead that you forget to look around at the scenery and the pictures of what's behind you.
What are your options? Go off plan and regain those 20+ lbs...or stay on and continue losing slowly. Drop your calories. Add exercise. Mix up what you're eating. Make sure you journal everything if you aren't already.
Slow and steady wins the race and all that. Even if it is only 0.2 lbs in a week... it's the right direction! It took me the last year to lose the last 25 lbs I've lost. That is barely half a pound a week... but when I think of weighing even 25 lbs LESS than I do now next year... That will be AWESOME!
Stupid men. It's the testosterone that helps them lose fast. Something about women being made to hold on to weight for having babies and such. Blah!
Are you eating all 30 points, plus the 35 flex points per week? I find that if I am under the points then I lose slowly. So make sure you're getting them all in! Congrats on your weightloss so far! Keep it up!
I don't know if your body is the same as mine - but when I joined a few months ago I was allotted 30 points and I kept to the 30 points, and promptly gained 8 pounds. Now I'm back to calorie counting. Think about it - WW yogurt, or the 1 point bars are 1 point - but they are also 100 calories. If I ate 30 of them a day I'd be on plan - but its 3,000 calories....you can't lose on that. I think I was choosing foods that were higher in the calorie range for the points. Theres 1 point items that are 50 calories. So even though I stayed in the points I think I got too many calories - maybe thats whats happening to you. I weigh almost the same as you and I am losing on 1,700 a day and you can get plenty of food for 1,700 calories. Not sure how many points that would be....
Slow weight loss is frustrating, but you have to hang in there. You will find bigger drops some weeks. Weight loss is a complicated thing and you are making positive changes even when the scale is slow.
Relax. You are losing weight. You didn't put it on at a rate of 2 pounds a week, and it's not going to come off at that rate. This isn't a TV show, it's your life.
You have made great changes. Count your calories for a couple of weeks while you do WW just to make sure you aren't eating too many or too few. Mix it up with the exercise, start lifting some hand weights.
And stop looking at your husband and thinking you should be where he is. People's bodies are different.
.2 pounds/week is still a lose. And it adds up. And will last a lifetime.
For the love of god, how can I lose 2# a week?
