I love this thread too. I went back and looked at my records and on average I am losing 4 pounds a month. It is hard not to compare that to the 1-2 that I think most of us expect. But I have lost 35 and I feel much better, and more confident that I can stick with it and if (when) I backslide I can overcome faster and learn the lesson. One of the best lessons I have learned this round is to come to this site and read valuable insights like this thread daily.
Last edited by BrokenAnkle; 02-19-2011 at 11:39 PM.
Reason: correcting typos
I lost fairly fast for this thread, average 1.3 lbs per week. But if I had based my expectations on what "everybody knows" of folks with 100+ lbs to lose dropping it quickly in the beginning, I'd have given up. But knowing that had happened with me in the past, I made decision to not get on the scale at all the first 12 weeks. I knew the scale would not reflect my perceived effort. So by the time I got on the scale after 3 months of dieting and saw "only" 10 lbs gone, I had already started establishing the diet and exercise habits I would need for the long haul so mentally was able to stick with it.
Gosh! I had to go back a ways in the forum to find this, but I am glad I did!
Just this morning I was telling myself it is okay my weight did not go down from YESTERDAY ("it's okay, it's okay, it's okay..." - lol).
But now I realize just how many women experience more than just a dreaded two week plateau, but slow and real weight loss due to various factors.
Everyone who has shared their story here it the EPITOME of patience. You all put me to shame, and are an inspiration!
I wish all of you the best and hope others find this thread, whether they are in the same boat and need to know they are not along, or if they are one of the fortunate ones who have an easy time of losing and just need a reality check.
I've stuck with this particular weight loss effort since July 22, 2009, and I've lost about 40-45 lbs in that time (so almost two years). It's the longest I've ever stuck with a weight loss effort. I just try to eat intutively, and I focus on not bingeing, which is my biggest problem. I want to have a healthy relationship with food, and I figure working on that will lead to weight loss. Which is has! But slow weight loss.
It's the only way for me to avoid that "all or nothing" mentality, which as others have said, gets you nowhere. I'm just going to keep plucking away, happy with whatever loss I can get!
People typically seem very excited for me when they learn how much weight I've lost . . . until they ask me how long it's taken. Yep, a 120-pound loss in 5-6 years. Not that it's been steady by any means; I typically lose in 30-40 spurts then maintain for ages in-between. I'm currently hoping I'm at the start of another spurt, lol.
But the awesome thing is that I no longer weigh 360 pounds! As difficult as it is to find clothes for my frame now, it was about a hundred times worse back then. I was always fatigued, I was very sickly, and I felt absolutely horrible about myself. And as slow as it's been, believe me, I've fought hard for every pound lost. Learning and relearning good habits. Fighting with myself mentally over my anxiety issues. And keeping the fight so I don't regain anything back.
While I still get utterly frustrated from time to time, the one thing that keeps me sane is knowing that I'm in no danger of reverting back to my highest weight; I know too much now. Even if it takes me another 5-6 years or even longer to approach my goal weight, it's sooo much better than expecting "perfection" and giving up because I'm not losing high digits every week. Had I given up ages ago, it's likely I'd weigh well over 400 pounds right this very moment. Instead? I now weigh less than I did in high school.
The first time I tried losing weight was just for a couple weeks a few years ago... I lost some, lost focus, then gained it back. That happened a second time.
March 2009, I got serious and went from 164lbs, to 148 by August 2009. Lost interest again, and gained back 9 of the 16lbs I lost.
January 2010, I became serious for real, and since then I've lost 30lbs. So that's... 30lbs in 16 months. There have been periods where I stopped losing because life was too stressful, or something got in the way, BUT I was able to maintain (or gain very little) during those times. I feel so happy. I would never have believed 30lbs in 16 months would be "successful" weight loss... especially when it appears that everyone else is dropping 5+ pounds a month. But I absolutely know I can maintain. ......I just need to work on maintaining an exercise routine
What a great thread! It's true that we all have hopes and even expectations of rapid weightloss, EVEN WHEN WE KNOW BETTER.
I've been at this for 6 weeks this go-round. 6 weeks. That's nothing. In that time I've lost 10.4 lbs. Not nothing at all! In fact, it's 1.7 lbs per week. Pretty impressive. And way faster than the 1 lb. per week I have planned on my goal graph. But because that weight came off so quickly right in the beginning, and my body took a 2 week break to adjust, I was getting frustrated. Not give-up frustrated, but discouraged. And I KNOW it's silly, but it's the way my brain works anyway.
This is the not first time I've attempted weight loss, not by a long shot. But I have a different goal than I've had in time past. Then, it was all about the goal weight. This time I've got a time goal too. Not a time frame in which I want to lose the weight (well, that too :O ) but I time that I'm going to keep at this, keep tracking my weight, my exercise, my food. Even if I go off the deep end and start gaining, I'm going to track it, because the only way to get to my goal weight is keep trying. So my goal this time is 90 weeks, enough time to get to my goal weight at 1 lb per week. And if I don't get there in 90 weeks, well, time to set a new goal
I'm on the slower side of things - 85 pounds in about 21 months, or a long-term average of just about 1 pound per week. It hasn't been as smooth as that, though - I've had months where it went slower and months where it went quicker.
Sometimes it's maddening - mostly when other people who are losing much faster start making posts whining about how slow their loss is. For the most part, though, I don't mind the pace. The time would have passed either way, so it's good to have spent it losing. I enjoy fine dining, and I've been able to make room in my plan for, say, one dinner a week at one of my favorite restaurants, and the occasional martini as well. I've been able to maintain when work got overwhelming for a month or two (as it is about to do again). And, I'm delighted with my new body - and I'm not even done yet.
It's a hackneyed old adage that "slow & steady wins the race" but look at that, it's really turning out to be true. I've never lost this much weight (of course, I've never had this much weight to lose...) or stayed on a plan for this long. For the first time I really feel like I've changed my habits for the long term. I'm sure it's better for me to have managed that, than to have lost twice as quickly ...
I also see some pretty great success stories. I too am trying to adopt the attitude that it's not how much you lose in the shortest time, it's the most you maintain for the longest time possible. You guys should be very proud-<3 I like the attitude that you all have!
So glad that someone directed me to this thread. I have been feeling pretty down because the wight is coming off so slowly. I have been at it for only two months (not long) and have lost 11 lbs. I know part of it is my age and wen you get older the weight does not come off as easlily.
Hopefully by the end of the year I can meet my goal. One day at a time and hopefully I will get there.
I LOVE this thread! My start weight of 245 pounds was on February 17, 2009, today I weight 177.6. That's 67.4 pounds in a little over 2 years. There are some reasons for the slow speed that are beyond my control (PCOS, an ankle injury that sometimes slows me down in the gym) and some that aren't (a couple of detours for 2.5 months at a time, refusing to give up holiday foods and occasional treats). The speed is not what matters to me. I consider it a major success that my detours were only 2.5 months and that even though I strayed way off of my normal plan, I did not go completely back to the way things were. If it weren't for this slow loss then right now I might weight 277 instead of 177 or 345 instead of the 245 I started at. That's success. My improved lab profiles are success. My sky high energy is success. I may not be in size 4 jeans yet, but the size 12s I'm wearing are so much better than the 22s I was in or the 32s I might be in if I had kept going the way I was. I'm not the slowest, I'm the the fastest, and it doesn't matter anyway. I'm going at me speed and I'm thrilled with it (most days ).
Last edited by FitGirlyGirl; 04-25-2011 at 02:05 PM.
Im on the slower side too. I started my journey on December 29th, 2008. Thats about 28 months. In that 28 months Ive lost 50 lbs, but I am still so proud of myself. I couldve given up a long time ago but Ive kept at it and Im gonna keep going. It might take me another 2 years to lose another 50 but I am ok with that. Be proud of every ounce you lose, its one ounce closer to your goal.
to everyone. I knew I wasn't the only one out there, PLEASED AS PUNCH to be smaller than a year ago, even if only slightly smaller.
