[Born This Way]

Hi everyone

I'd love some advice on a reasonable time frame to lose weight. Here's the thing, if someone is looking to lose 30+ lbs, those first few lbs come off faster than the last few. Since I have a "relatively" smaller amount to lose, I have kind of been making excuses for myself as to why the weight is coming off so slowly.

I lost 5 lbs over a month, then lost nothing for about a month now. I'm at 132/133 now, and looking for my final weight to be around 116 (I am very short haha).

Thank you for your help!

[Hopeful8]

The smaller you are the slower it takes for the weight to come off, period. If you go over to the Featherweights forum you'll find lots of others who are in the same weight loss mode as you. Everyone in there has a small amount of weight to lose.

[niafabo]

It's hard to say with featherweights. The first month of any weightloss journey you will get a boost because of a loss of water weight. It will probably take you awhile but if you stick with it and you are honest with yourself and remain committed I don't see why it would take more than 5-7 months.

[Horo]

When you're starting from a lower weight, it really depends. I, too, only have a bit to lose at this point and I'm going at a loss of about 4 lbs a month lately. I think that's a reasonable rate, but there are many factors that are going to make it vary for the individual.

[Hopeful8]

Originally Posted by Horo

When you're starting from a lower weight, it really depends. I, too, only have a bit to lose at this point and I'm going at a loss of about 4 lbs a month lately. I think that's a reasonable rate, but there are many factors that are going to make it vary for the individual.

I remember when I first started my weight loss journey and I was dropping 4lbs per week, and just like you I'm lucky if I'm dropping 4lbs a month--and when I do I'm jumping for joy

[kaw]

As others have said, the closer you are to goal weight, the harder it gets. Your body burns fewer calories as it gets lighter. This makes it harder to create a big caloric deficit, and so weight loss levels slow. Leptin levels change, too; leptin not only controls hunger, but is involved in all sorts of other processes at the cellular level that affect the body's willingness to surrender fat.

The human body is amazing in many ways, but one of the most amazing is how it has built-in mechanisms that evolved to allow humans to survive biologically (where that means reproduction) in periods of famine. Thing is, our bodies didn't evolve to know the difference between a famine caused by a drought or other natural decline in the availability of food, and a famine caused by a desire to look better in a swimsuit.

The good news is that the laws of thermodynamics don't change. If you are burning more calories than you are taking in, eventually your body will let go of fat stores. Unfortunately it will catabolize muscle tissue as well, which is why weight training is especially beneficial for dieters who are relatively lean to begin with. (Obese people lose muscle tissue as well, but proportionately less, and some of the muscle they lose is just the "extra" their body developed in order to help move the excess fat.)

Sorry for the mini-lecture. As you can tell, I find the physiology behind dieting absolutely fascinating. More fun that dieting itself, for sure.

//b. strong

[indiblue]

We have similar stats and my first 4 lbs came off quite quickly. The last 8 or so lbs I have to lose are coming off about a rate of .5- 1 lb a week.

Come on over to the Featherweights forum to talk more. Like others have said, there are different needs and issues going on for individuals looking to lose only a few pounds, or individuals at the last few pounds of their long weight loss journey.