I started out at 220 at the beginning of July and I weighed myself this morning and the scale says 209 so a rational person would say "I have lost 11 pounds." An irrational person, for the sake of argument let's say me, would say "have you really lost weight? maybe it's just water? maybe this week at weigh in it will say 220 pounds again?" and so on.
Has anyone else had this problem? Is it a mental block that I will hopefully get over? Part of me thinks that when the scale gets to a number that I haven't seen before (or at least haven't seen in the last 12 years) it will feel more real to me.
There are a couple of spots on my body that I can point to and say "that looks different now" but obviously at only 11 pounds it's not like I have a completely new body yet.
Maybe I just have a mind/body disconnect. I ignored my body for so long it's like it's a stranger anyway. Has anyone else experienced this?
I kind of get what you mean. I bounced back and forth between 250 and 235 for years. Everytime I got back down to 235 I felt like that's when I was really even starting. It's also obviously harder to see the weightloss when we're bigger. I think it starts to sink in when you can really start to see the changes. That's only happened recently for me so I'm starting to feel like I'm finally losing weight.
Last edited by TooManyDimples; 08-08-2011 at 11:47 AM.
I know what you mean. But water weight (for me anyways) fluctuates around 3lbs. Losing 11 lbs is wonderful,
and you should be proud of your self. Maybe you can try not getting on the scale so you are not so focused on
the numbers. Weigh in once a week, or less if you think that will help you. Take your measurements, and pictures,
and Keep track of your progress. You are doing great, don't let the number on the scale try to throw you off. I know
it does me sometimes and I think "I work so hard and I have only lost 6lbs?!". And then I remember my husband telling
me I am doing a great job, and he can see a difference. Then the number doesn't matter. I feel good working out, at
least I am not sitting on the couch. I know I am taking the steps to get healthy and *that* is what helps me to keep
going. Good Luck.
11 pounds is a great start for just a month! It was a much more noticeable difference to me when my clothes started fitting looser though. One morning I put my underwear on and it fell back down... lol...
I also started noticing that I looked different in photographs.
It took me losing the first 10% to start really seeing and feeling a difference. Before that, I felt like I didn't look different at all and didn't really notice that much difference in my clothes despite the change in the number on the scale.
Now I am seeing the changes more quickly - it's only another 5 lbs lost on top of that first 10% but I am starting to see a big difference in my clothing and am wearing things that didn't fit just 5 lbs ago.
So hang in there, 11 lbs is a GREAT start and you'll start to really see and feel it soon.
Last edited by April Snow; 08-08-2011 at 12:42 PM.
Thanks. I know it's completely irrational. I am on WW and have been very consistent with tracking and I have been riding my bike every day to work and back (about 40 minutes) plus leisure biking in the evening - so weight should come off. I think part of it is that two years ago I started with a personal trainer and managed to go from 224 to 209 over a year and then stalled out. I worked out hard, a lot and the weight coming off was like pulling teeth. I discovered in March of this year that I am hypothyroid. I am on meds now so it should be okay but I guess part of me still thinks that it will all grind to a halt at some point.
I guess I just needed a sanity check! Thanks for providing that.
Honestly, I am not sure when I believed that I was losing weight. Yes, I know I have lost weight, and I can see the difference in before and current pictures. I never looked in the mirror and really saw myself at my high weight, I saw a thinner version of myself. So now when I look in the mirror I am happy with what I see, but it is not really that much different then how I always saw myself. I still go to record my weight and I write a number 20lbs higher than I am now a couple times a week...crazy huh?
Last edited by envelope; 08-08-2011 at 01:33 PM.
Reason: Clarify what I meant.
I believed it when I lost closer to 15% of my starting weight.
Nothing fit. Nothing. Like not even underwear. LOL When I realized that every single thing I own doesn't fit (belts, bras, pajama pants, etc.) I knew it was for real.
GREAT JOB on 11 pounds...you have to start somewhere and that rocks!
Envelope, I do the same! I'm in the 250's now but I keep typing 260. Lol it's silly. I still can't really tell a difference. I still wear the same pant size. But they don't feel as tight when they are fresh from the dryer. And after a day of wearing them I can take them on and off without undoing them. So far that's the only difference I can tell.
Not until I'd lost about 20 pounds! The 30 pound mark is when I really started to feel good, and not afraid that the weight would just come right back in a day.
Once I got close to Onderland (I joined 3FC at about 225) so around a 20lb lost did I really believe it was happening. Like you I had gone down before (to 204) so I think once I got under that I really thought I was going to make it.
I have to admit, though, even after 40lbs lost in a year I still have a hard time beleiving it. Sometimes I feel like people will think I'm crazy when I'm shopping at smaller stores or trying on smaller sizes, insane, I know! I heard once on here that it takes about a year of maitence to really accept the weight loss.
It really wasn't until recently that I really felt like I was losing weight. For some reason my brain hasn't quite caught up with my body. Even now I can't get over the fact that I can shop in "regular" stores and fit comfortably in junior's sizes. Even though I'm too small for plus size (unless they have 12s that run very small! ) I still find myself venturing to those stores out of habit. It doesn't help that my mall just got a few new cute plus size stores catering to the younger crowd that I feel like checking out! I need to march myself over to forever 21 instead!
When I hit 15lbs, people commented, but I just thought they were being nice. At 20lbs my clothes were getting a little big on me but even then I still didn't feel like I was REALLY losing weight. I thought maybe they stretched out and I just needed to shrink them. Well..shrinking them didn't work!
Once I hit 30lbs and I saw numbers on the scale I never EVER remember seeing, I said to myself "ok, you're losing weight, everyone around you isn't crazy or just being nice!"
at 35lbs, people comment on my weight loss ALL THE TIME. Especially if they haven't seen me in a while. At the gym, people ask me for my "secret," my fiancée's family comments all the time, and people who never comment on ANYTHING are commenting. I STILL can't quite believe it nor can I believe the sizes I have to buy in the stores. Torrid just had a big clearance sale and I excitedly went to their site to check it out...before realizing I'm too small for that store now. I removed myself from their mailing list...just one step toward realizing that yes, I HAVE lost weight.
When did you believe that you were losing weight?
I heard once on here that it takes about a year of maitence to really accept the weight loss.
