Any luck with speeding up your weight loss?

  • I've lost quite a bit of weight already and I'm pretty proud of myself for that. That being said in most of 2011 I've been losing at a rate or 2lbs/month. It's steady weight loss so I'm happy about that and in many weighs I prefer that it's not too quick because I don't want to calorie count but rather really focus on changing my habits so when I do get to maintence it won't be as hard.

    That being said... we want to TTC in the near future (around Christmas time) so I have about 5 months before that happens. Now if I keep losing at my current rate that would put me right at my prepregnancy weight for my daughter. I gained 65lbs last pregnancy and it's taken me over 2 years to take that off so I'd love to be down a lot further than that before getting pregnant. Add to that that both my mom and MIL gained 50lbs+ with all of their pregnancies so there could be a genetic component to that too (MIL is not someone who has ever struggled with her weight) because big babies are common on both sides. On the other hand, I DO know way more about health and nutrition now and hope to really watch what I eat this time around so hopefully the gain won't be as bad (but again, some gain is definitely to be expected!).

    Now, if I lost 5lbs/month then I could be down 25lbs before we TTC and that's almost into the healthy BMI range! I'm going to drop all sweets for the time being to see if that helps some and am also contemplating doing the phase 1 of the s. beach diet for a bit to see if that could help. Thoughts?

    PS. Calorie counting is extremely, extremely stressful for me. I do it every now and then for a few days to get an idea but I almost always overeat compared to what I normally eat. I do make myself aware of portion sizes and the number of calories in items but adding it all up makes me a crazy.
  • One thing I did was to cut all my normal meals in half, portion-wise, then eat twice as often. So you're eating the same daily amount, just more frequently. Also water, water, water. I've gone from a size 20 to a size 14/16 in less than 2 1/2 months doing this.
  • As a calorie counter, I can't give you any real good advice since you adamant about not wanting to do that. But I will tell you that what I did to get over a 2 month plateau/extreme slow down was reduce my intake and add a significant amount of exercise. I am back to losing 2 lbs a week again after having only lost 5 lbs total in May & June.

    Try to cut back by maybe having a very light dinner, and then add 2 hours of exercise a week?
  • I'm doing a low carb/low fat plan and I don't have to count calories or carbs. It's called the Dukan Diet. It's got some similarities to South Beach although it's actually a bit more restricted than that, but for me, it's been the easiest diet to stick with that I've ever tried. And I've been thrilled with the results - I lost almost 30 lbs my first 10 weeks. Granted I have a lot more to lose than you do at this point, but I have a whole bunch of friends who are more your size and they are all losing pretty steadily at about 1 lb a week.

    This is a good overview http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...loss-plan.html
  • Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I do drink quite a bit of water so that's covered already. Cutting back on dinner is actually something I've been working on in the last couple of weeks by eating a later breakfast and so far it's helped some (I've lost about 1.5 lbs in 2 weeks, which is better than my average).

    I've heard others mention the Duncan diet, wow, that's a lot of meat! I think I'll try the S. Beach Diet Phase 1 first simply due to cost reasons (meat and dairy is very costly here, I can only afford one tub of cottage cheese per week, for instance ). But if that doesn't work maybe I'll try it for a bit.

    I actually had to cut back a lot on my exercise this past month just due to sickness and injuries. I'm easing back in it a bit but am trying to not increase too quickly before I see a doctor first. However, I've been trying to do simple things like punches at my desk at work/taking DD outside more on the weekends and run around with her a bit etc.

    Anyways, thanks for the help! I would love to hear other stories from anyone who was able to speed up their weight loss well into their journey!
  • Well, I'm down another pound today so I think just what I've done with changing up my meal times and cutting back at dinner was enough to pick up my rate of loss. Hopefully I can keep this up for the upcoming months!
  • If you hit another plateau a consult with a nutritionist or dietician could be very much worth the $$ (and sometimes it's not expensive!). Esp. if counting calories item by item triggers you (I totally understand that!). They can develop an eating plan to ensure you're getting good nutrition, list portion sizes, ect so that it's a no brainer. Many also are wonderful if you explain your food budget as well (call first to see if they are good with that) so they're not going to set you up with a really expensive meal plan or one with a ton of weird stuff on it.
  • Quote: If you hit another plateau a consult with a nutritionist or dietician could be very much worth the $$ (and sometimes it's not expensive!). Esp. if counting calories item by item triggers you (I totally understand that!). They can develop an eating plan to ensure you're getting good nutrition, list portion sizes, ect so that it's a no brainer. Many also are wonderful if you explain your food budget as well (call first to see if they are good with that) so they're not going to set you up with a really expensive meal plan or one with a ton of weird stuff on it.
    Thanks! I actually have found a nutritionist that my insurance covers! I haven't made an appointment yet because she was on vacation last month but I might very well do that soon. Now I could totally go by a specific meal plan (and have done something similar in the past) so if she were to make one out for me I'd be very happy with that. That's not a bad idea if I hit another stall.