Do any of you remember your first three months? I'm a numbers nut and I think I need to see a typical trend. I know once people hit goal they say things like "I averaged 10 pounds a month" or 7 or whatever. Obviously that's pounds lost divided by the months it took, some more, some less. I also know weight loss is supposed to slow down. Well, my first month would be 17 lbs lost in a month. With my second it averaged out to 14 lbs a month. And now I'm down to an average of 11 lbs per month. My average just keep falling.

I guess I just need to know I'm normal.

So if you don't mind, could you please share your month by month progress as you remember it?

For me:
Month 1: 17 lbs
Month 2: 11 lbs
Month 3: 4.2 lbs (with 10 days to go)

I don't have my numbers in front of me. But I don't need them to tell you that you ARE normal. Whatever normal is .

When it comes to weight loss, you really can't compare yourself to others. In fact you can't even compare yourself to you. What I mean is that even if in previous weight loss attempts you lost so and so much for a period of time, doesn't mean that you will get the same results THIS time.

Keep plugging away. Keep on tweaking that plan, making it more doable and comfortable and livable. Keep on finding new foods that you love, finding coping techniques, tricks and strategies to keep you on plan, keep on increasing your physical activity - making this your LIFESTYLE. Keep on keeping on - CONTINUING - not stopping and the weight will come off.

Amen.

I made a point of not weighing in the first 72 days so I wouldn't get overly encouraged by the initial big losses and then discouraged by the inevitable slow down. First weigh in at 72 days in was 24 lbs down.

Another Amen. I don't know my exact numbers right now, but I have 2 sets of first 3 months. I started in February, gave up in April, and then started again in July with no giving up ever. I know that my February, March, and April numbers are not the same as my July, August, September numbers. I can tell you that both times there was a gradual slowing. It is perfectly fine that you are slowing down. This isn't biggest loser and most people's bodies can't keep up with weight loss that rapid without doing some damage. There may even be times your loss stops (I've been 182.6 for almost a week now), that's ok too. As long as you keep doing what you know you need to do, the scale will eventually cooperate. Some people are regular as clockwork, if they do what they need to they lose 2 pounds/week or whatever, other people may stall for a month and then lose 10 pounds in a week. This soon into it there is no way to know which kind you will be this time. I say this time because you may not be the same kind you were other weight loss attempts and the kind you are may change part way through even. It doesn't matter though, all that matters are the choices we make day by day, meal by meal, workout by workout.

You are normal and you are doing great.

Of course I know you're right.

I knew adding exercise was going to be hard for me. I went from losing a ridiculous amount of weight with no effort to losing practically nothing with a lot of effort. That's a really hard thing to wrap one's brain around. My biggest battle right now is to keep myself in check and make sure I'm not doing anything that isn't sustainable, like too much exercise. My diet is spot on and I know it's sustainable. That part is not hard at all. I'm really fortunate that dieting is not hard for me and never has been, outside of the first 3 days, or three weeks with the calorie counting. It's the exercise that becomes a problem. I get such a rush from the accomplishments I make that it seems like I can do more, more, more. For instance, yesterday was supposed to be a day of rest for my poor arms. But I was on the Wii fit doing the free step while watching TV, just for fun, mind you, because I'm a nut. But it was too easy so I grabbed some arm weights and did all kinds of crazy things with them, all the while telling myself I shouldn't be doing that, my arms needed a rest. So today my arms are killing me. And that's not good because I'm trying to do a 100 push ups challenge the real way with my toes on the ground. My arms need to rest if I'm going to accomplish that goal.

Blah! Thanks for listening.

I feel you on that one. I'm doing the push-ups challenge too, yet last night when I was stepping in place watching Supernatural and the night before watching TBL, both times I grabbed weights. I grabbed my smallest ones, but still.

I agree - at first I had some big averages - now I am way down - I am doing good to get a 4 lbs a month weight loss. I keep going over the foods and the exercise and *sigh* just don't get it. I don't think I will make my goal by the middle of March like I had hoped.

Here's where I may differ from most, well ONE of the ways I may differ from most .

I DID exercise more than I knew would be sustainable for me in the long term. I wasn't willing to eat less, but I was willing to move more for a bit if it would get the weight off of me faster. But that's just me. I didn't start out that way, I kept increasing as I went along, but by the end of the weight loss portion of my journey, I was exercising over 2 hours a day. I knew there was no way that I could keep that up indefinitely. No way.

I'm not saying that any one SHOULD go that route, but thought it to be the right decision for me at the time.

My first 3 months I will never forget cause I lost 33 pounds Between the 3 and I was age 33 And a mother of 3 children~LOL~All kinds of 3's
Anyways I lost 13 my first month then 10 a piece for the next 2 months. Then I started dropping to 8 ,7,6,5,4 pounds monthly ~So Now I average 4 to 5 pounds a month After 14 months of losing.I have lost 96 pounds in 14 months & 20 days.

Robin - me too, I'm up to about 100 - 110 minutes most days right now, some days are a bit under, some a bit over. There are days where I eat 1200 calories, but not many and I am not willing to make myself eat less than I want. I'd rather be tired than hungry.

I don't remember my exact numbers but just know that if you keep doing what you are doing it'll happen

I don't know my numbers for my first 3 months (started Oct 08), but they were off anyhow because I wasn't really trying. These are my numbers for last year:

Jan: -6
Feb: +0.6
Mar: NWI
Apr: -12.2 (this is the month that I recommited and started taking my weight loss seriouslyl)
May: -1.6
Jun: -2.4
Jul: -4.8
Aug: -5.4
Sep: -4.4
Oct: -0.8
Nov: +0.6
Dec: -1.6
Jan 2010: -8.6

What I can tell you from these numbers is that my weight loss doesn't have much to do with how long I've been on the program and has everything to do with what's going on that month (vacation, holidays, birthdays, gave up, re-commited, etc)

I'm reading a book by the doctor from the Biggest Loser. He says 2 hours a day of intense exercise to lose, and 1 hour a day to maintain.

Even 1 hour is not that always realistic for me, but for those who have the time, I don't think more time exercising will be detrimental to meeting your goals. If you have the time and enjoy it, go for it! And on the days you can't, you don't.