I think the thing I have always found the most frustrating with weight loss is that it feels more like an art than a science.

Yes there are common sense aspects like eat clean, whole foods in moderation and exercise, etc.

But on the other hand - there is no one answer for me, much less for everyone, that can just be explained by even the best doctors, nutritionists or weight loss specialists.

I am constantly adjusting my plan (total cal intake, % of carbs vs fat vs protein, amount and type of exercise) and also constantly working to overcome the mental side (food addiction, binge issues, etc).

And even day to day the scale just seems possessed! I ate the exact same foods, worked out the same, hydrated the same for the last 4 days and was losing a little here and there until this am when the scale was UP 1.6 lbs. No its not my TOM. I realize its not fat, but that doesnt mean much when its noticeable in the way my clothes fit. Plus it is just demoralizing to feel confused.

I know the only thing to do is to fight the good fight. My health is my priority and a big component of that is to eat to maintain my ideal weight and not give in to the food addiction/binges. I try to adapt, to roll with the punches. But I guess I am just venting a little in this post.

Yep, it's all a mystery.

But we have to keep working on figuring it all out.

I understand and sympathize. I went through the same things.

I couldn't let the scale get me down, because feeling like a failure when the scale would go up would make me just give up (many times!!!!!!).

One day, it clicked on for me that this was about health. I had to stop giving the scale so much power. Even if I wasn't losing weight, the fact that I was eating healthier was making my life expectancy go further, my organs are thanking me, my skin is feeling great, my brain is working properly, my blood pressure was doing great, my heart was happy, all those things that had nothing to do with the scale or measurements or clothing sizes.

I still think this way even as I have lost weight. Sure, I know tons of people that could have lose the weight I needed to lose twice in one year. But I'm doing it slowly but steadily.... it's about health, it's not a race, there's no finish line, there's no wedding or party or anything at the end.

By taking such a long-term view on it.... it took away some of the pressure to lose weight. NOW.



It isn't a science. We don't know how weight loss really works in each of our bodies, we just have studies and experiments and suggest ways that it might work.

I try not to pay attention to the scale because there have been many times in the past when i've been overeating for weeks or months, and don't gain weight. So i think, "hey, i can actually get away with this...or maybe i am burning all these calories." But no...all of a sudden 3 months later i gain 6 pounds in a week. The scale just sometimes takes time to catch up, for some odd reason. So the same can be true of losing weight.

I am convinced it's a conspiracy between your stomach and the scale!

I'm up 4 lbs DESPITE being on track and feeling thinner today- what the heck is up with that?! Yes I did travel and have TOM last weekend but come on!! I know tomorrow the scale will probably be back to normal.

I don't think it is a mystery at all. While there might be ~some~ art involved for the most part it is science.

The scale moving up and down is water balance. You know it, I know it, we all know it but yet when we see it we all do the same thing.

For me it is a process.

1) WTF how did I gain 3 lbs?? PANIC
2) Realize based on how I am eating it is impossible I gained 3 lbs.*
3) Calm down but remain in a steady state of minor anxiety until scale returns to where it should be.

*3 lbs of fat would represent a 10,500 caloric excess or my body to break the laws of thermodynamics neither of which is remotely possible.

I think you're a normal person, yes, the studies might indicate that there is a science behind it.

But I don't think we know enough of how it really works.

My body is an example of it and yes, we can argue that because I have a metabolic issue, that I am not "normal" and therefore an exception to all of this.

But I think there are more abnormals that normals nowadays and why people can get frustrated when the math doesn't add up.

I don't lose weight by having a caloric deficit of 3500 every week. For me, it is an art of the quality of macro-nutrients, the ratios, the exercise, and the calorie (portion) counting.

It isn't water weight. I've been doing this too long, too steadily for it to be water weight. So, I lose slowly and my math shows me that I have to be on average at a daily 1000 calorie deficit (lots of exercise) with the right macros to lose weight steadily (0.5 lbs/week).

Not a precise science by any means.

thanks for the support everyone!

and Rana, amen.

You have already seen great success! You are an inspiration to me! It is not a science... but staying on top of it and adjusting when you need to be seem to be things that all those with successful weight losses do.

If it all made sense, there would be no diet books, no Dr. Oz, no calorie counting or carb watching. No water weight or TOM gains or dry carb refeeds or whatever the **** else.

If it all made sense there would be no 3FC, and then where would we be????