The first couple of months I was losing about a pound a week, sometimes more, sometimes with a little gain. The last 4 week I've lost .4 pounds each week. But the scale is moving in the right direction.
I've also upped my yoga practice lately. Getting so much stronger. And even though the scale has slowed down, smaller pants that I bought a month ago that fit me are now bagging (and they had just come from the dry cleaner so I thought they'd be snug!) A smaller pair of jeans was bagging over the weekend (so annoying!) and I found I could just pull them down without unbuttoning them. These were jeans that fit me perfectly 3 weeks ago.
So, I'm going to embrace this slow and steady plan, take my measurements again next week and hope to be up in handstand by May!
I lost 56 lbs losing at a rate similar. You can lose 20+ lbs a year doing that. And you will make lasting changes that will help you keep the weight off.
Don't get discouraged. You seem to be doing well. Good luck.
If the scale is moving in the right direction, then I think you're doing just fine. Especially if it's so consistent each week.
And, as you've also pointed out, the yoga is making you stronger and you are obviously losing inches.
If anything, I feel like if you drop weight super fast, you're more likely to gain it back. This, I think, will help you keep the weight off, because it's become more than just the number on the scale, since it's so small week to week. Instead it's about making healthier choices and doing the exercise, regardless of how much you're losing.
Location: Smack dab in the middle, Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 668
S/C/G: 203.4/170.4/140.0
Height: 5'0"
Yeah, I keep hearing from everyone that "slow and steady" is the way to do it. I keep getting kind of frustrated sometimes because my weight is coming off, like, 1.5 pounds at a time, when the last time I was doing WW (in 2004) I was losing about 5 pounds a week. Then again, I was seven years younger then! *L*
But think about it this way: if you lose it slowly, you're less likely to get complacent about it. I know that back in 2004, when I was experiencing big losses week after week, I got really slack after the first fifteen pounds, and started thinking that even if I wasn't as careful about my food choices and exercise, I'd still lose.
I was wrong. *L*
So I'm taking the slow and steady route this time, because I know that having to work hard to lose even a pound and a half will keep me working hard!
Any movement in the right direction is great! Keep at it.
A smaller pair of jeans was bagging over the weekend (so annoying!)
Are you kidding! lol! I kill for this day!! I wore a pair of pants yesterday that used to be sooo tight and fit alot looser! Embrace it! I've been losing slowly and at a plateau at the moment but refuse to give up! Remember, a loss is a loss good job!
I know that back in 2004, when I was experiencing big losses week after week, I got really slack after the first fifteen pounds, and started thinking that even if I wasn't as careful about my food choices and exercise, I'd still lose.
Oooh, yeah, I think that happened to be the last time I did WW. I was doing really, really well, the weight just kept falling off without me needing to do any excercise (so, of course, I didn't, because I hate exercise), but then after about six months things started to get a bit more difficult. I never hit a plateau, but my weight loss slowed way down and I got frustrated and I was lazy and didn't want to start exercising because I'd gotten away without having to do it and, yeah, I gained it all back. Which, of course, is why I'm here again!
So, yes, I think slow and steady is the way to go and to definitely celebrate those Non-Scale Victories.
Last edited by Tudor Rose; 03-31-2011 at 10:49 AM.
Doing yoga is really going to build your muscles which weigh more than fat. So the 1/2 lb you are loosing is most likely all fat! I remember when I began WW, and I lost .6 or .8, I was so disappointed. But then I changed my perspective and realized it was a LOSS! I was focusing on the size of the loss not the fact that it was a loss.
Now I embrace it all! I just noticed my jeans were a lot looser than I realized and I was so excited! It's finally paying off! I also like that I am on the slow and steady pace, and I don't feel deprived! I know this is something I can keep up and not get burned out on. Keep up the great work!
Location: Smack dab in the middle, Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 668
S/C/G: 203.4/170.4/140.0
Height: 5'0"
Non-scale victories are a big thing for me now. During the two weeks when the scale didn't budge for me at all, I was starting to get really frustrated and I was tempted to just throw in the towel (because after all, I was doing all this work and nothing was coming off! What the ****?) So one night I was cleaning out my dresser drawers (which I tend to do when I'm mad, lol) and I came across a pair of really nice knee-length shorts I bought two summers ago and was *never* able to wear (I could get them zipped, but even the act of walking strained the seams.) So I was going to put them aside for a yard sale. Just out of curiosity, I tried them on....and I'm still going to have to give them away, because they're TOO BIG. Like, I can actually roll them all the way up to my upper thighs, that's how baggy they are. And as for the waist...well, the only thing keeping them up are my hips. LOL!
That's when I realized that this weight loss thing is more than the numbers on the scale. I know I'm losing something because, well, if I wasn't, those shorts still wouldn't fit. I may have lost "only" 15 pounds so far, but I've lost inches, too (even though I have no idea how many, because I've not measured myself, and even if I did at this point, I have no idea what my measurements were at the beginning.)
I seem to have written a book here, but the main upshot of it is that this time around, I'm learning that the numbers on the scale aren't the be all and end all of this whole journey. If you feel better, and you're making better choices in terms of food and exercise, and your clothes fit better....you're doing something right, regardless of what the scale says.
For me, slow and steady has a lot of positives and only one negative.
It takes time to change the eating patterns that have been in my life so long. This needs to be forever! I need to learn, relearn, learn again the right relationship with food. It has given me the time to help me find my way in the diet world and practice, practice, practice all the things that work for me. It better for my health to lose more slowly. I am getting all the macro/micro nutrients I need to get as healthy as I can be. It causes less pain and injury when my workouts build stamina and strength slowly.
The negative is of course how frickin' long it takes to get where I want to be!!!
I need to get used to this mindset too. Even though I have averaged 3 pounds a week, I know that won't last...it already seems to be slowing down as the scale hasn't moved in about a week.
I think NOT looking at this as a diet is key. I've done this before so many times...lose all the weight, celebration time, then complacence time and gaining it all back.
I'm going to try not to focus so much on the numbers on the scale, because it really doesn't matter whether the number went down this week. I have to keep this up anyway as a forever change or it's all for nothing.
I also need to step up my yoga practice. That has been my go-to form of exercise for a decade or more but being as big as I am now it is definitely more difficult. Just can't get into those poses properly with all this flub in the way. Slow and steady towards that too
Slow and Steady Is The Way To Go, Right?
Keep at it.
