I've been slowly but steadily losing weight. And I'm getting frustrated by how slowly its coming off. I have been good on my diet, I have exercised daily, I drink plenty of water. And yet this week (and last week) I've only managed to lose 1 pound. I've dieted in the past and gotten down to 145. And it didn't take anywhere near as long as it has his time...
It's taken me over a month to lose 7 lbs. I don't know what to do! I normally don't exercise and just diet...and the weight just comes off faster. i thought adding exercise would help melt the weight off faster...not slower!
I realize that muscle weighs more than fat-but how do I know that my lack of weightloss is due to muscle growth and not just my body holding onto the fat? Measuring is too inaccurate for me...how do I know where to measure from? Am I being unrealistic to expect: 1) more than 1lb weightloss a week; and 2) the same rate of weightloss I've had in the past (when I was younger)?
During my first two months of running, i was dieting and no weight was coming off at all. But my body was looking better and i was sore every day. Now, my body has gotten ised to running and e weit is coming off. I jeard that as you get closer to goal, the weight will come off slower because you have less to lose. I would say yes, celebrate your slow loss and think about the steady. Honestly, its awesome that the weight is coming off at al versus the alternative- giving up and not losing or gaining it back.
You have very unrealistic expectations. Your weight loss is in the healthy range. How long did it take you to gain weight? What's the rush with losing it. Diets DON'T work but making healthy lifestyle changes does and that takes time.
Your rate of loss is GREAT!! Losing 1-2 lbs a week is the MAXIMUM most people can safely lose. Losing at that range suggest you are losing what you want to lose: fat. Losing faster often requires loss of lean muscle... which you don't want to do.
I do want to caution you though regarding your assumption that you are gaining a lot of muscle. Most women are unable to build more than a FEW (1-5?) lbs of muscle a YEAR, and that is not from cardio or machines, but from HEAVY weight lifting... like, a heavy, serious weight lifting regimen.
I'm saying this just because it's helpful to keep in mind the truths about exercise and weight lifting, not to be discouraging. You are doing GREAT at your current weight loss. Keep exercising to stay healthy and lift to protect your muscles as you lose weight. You are doing everything right!
First, congratulations on your continued weight loss! I know its not nearly as exciting when you're only losing one pound at a time, but you are still headed in the right direction!
I'm also 5'7" and around the same weight you are (assuming your ticker is accurate!), and I'm losing about a pound a week, too. I totally understand feeling frustrated, because it can be hard to feel successful when you see other people losing 2+ pounds a week, but I do think that we have to expect weight loss to slow down as we get closer to our goal weights...And speaking for me, the weight had been creeping back on so steadily during my "failing to maintain" stage that I do still feel really good about the fact that I'm at least moving in the right direction again!
If you're losing 7 pounds in a month, you're doing it right. You can't lose weight like they do on those reality shows because they nearly kill themselves doing it!
I lose about 7 or 8 pounds a month now, and my loses seem to be slowing even further.
Like the others have said, you're being unrealistic. Your weight loss range is totally normal, and very healthy. If you lose weight at a rapid rate, you're more likely to gain it all back and then some.
Instead of looking at the big goal, make yourself smaller goals to focus in on. When I think about the fact that I want to get to 150lbs (which is still a bit large for my height) I get discouraged.
Some people set little goals. For me, even that is too much. I focus on weekly goals. At least 1lb a week and I'm happy. Most times I exceed that by an additional pound, but I find that being set on 1 lb a week I'm less likely to fail, which keeps me motivated.
I realize that muscle weighs more than fat-but how do I know that my lack of weightloss is due to muscle growth and not just my body holding onto the fat? Measuring is too inaccurate for me...how do I know where to measure from? Am I being unrealistic to expect: 1) more than 1lb weightloss a week; and 2) the same rate of weightloss I've had in the past (when I was younger)?
From my understanding, a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. Only difference is how much space each takes up. You may be slow at losing the weight but your measurements may have decreased. Why not stay off the scale and measure yourself and see if you have progressed or not?
Like other said, you're being unrealistic when it comes to your speed of weight loss. I understand how you can want your body to reflect all the changes you've made in your life in terms of diet and exercise BUT it takes time, sometimes lots of time. As long as you still see a downward trend that's an amazing achomplishment!
Just to give you an idea this past year I've probably lost on average 2-3lbs/month. Lately it's gone up to about 4lbs/month and I was THRILLED. I think I'd would pass out from excitement if I were losing 7lbs a month.
Like others said, you're also already at a healthy weight so realistically you just can't expect anywhere near the level of weight loss that you'd see on reality tv shows.
I appreciate all of your responses. I have to say part of my disappointment stems from the fact that I've been at this weight before and lost weight faster. Last year I got down to 145 lbs...and then I had a really stressful semester at school and a stressful summer and gained it all back. Last time the weight DID come off faster. At a rate of about 2 lbs a week. So I'm disappointed that my rate has slowed down from that...and disappointed overall that I let myself gain the weight back.
But you're right I have to keep plugging along and hope that I see and feel the results later.
I can identify with having lost faster in the past. Welcome to that club - there are millions of us.
The calorie level it now takes to maintain my weight, once netted me 5 - 8 lbs per week loss. My "records" in the past were three weight loss attempts totaling 60 - 70 lbs - all of which I did in a few months to a year.
It's taken me 7 years to lose 98 lbs. (Five years if you don't count the two years I tried and lost nothing - but I maintained a 20 lb loss, so even those years are cause for celebration).
You can be disappointed that you're not the you, you used to be - but that's only going to make giving up more temptiong.
Maybe you'll never lose more than seven pounds in a month (I haven't yet). You'll lose it as fast as you lose it, and if you get too worked up about the speed, you'll drive yourself nuts, and you'll quit because you'll feel like a failure when you didn't fail, you succeeded.
Seven pounds per month is amazing weight loss. And the speed of your past weight loss doesn't change that fact.
My current average is less than 25 pounds per year, and I'm finally getting to the pound or two a week point. When I started, I was losing less than 1 lb per month.
It was really hard to adjust to a loss of only 1 lb per month on 1800 - 2200 calories, when on the same calorie level, I used to lose up to 11 lbs the first week and 5 - 8 pounds most weeks.
But I'm not that person any more, and if I let myself be disappointed in that, I might as well give up now. I'm glad I didn't though. And I really wish I hadn't given up all those hundreds of times I did, because I wasn't satisfied with the speed of my loss.
Heck, every diet I've ever quit (always because I felt like I was "failing" with slow weight loss) I quit losing faster than every bit of my success this time.
In essence, I've "failed off" almost 100 lbs.
It's tempting to think that because I'm losing slower than many people, and because I'm losing slower than "the old me" that it must mean that my rate of progress sucks compared to almost everyone else, but I'd be wrong.
I just won "best loss for the quarter" in my TOPS group (Another girl tied with me). We both lost 6.5 lbs.
At seven pounds per month, you're actually losing far more than the average. So you're a cheetah, not a turtle, just because you've seen others lose faster (even yourself) doesn't mean anything in the scheme of things.
My doctor told me this when I was losing only 1 lb per month. I was complaining that I should be able to lose more "like a normal person," and my doc pointed out that "normal" people don't lose 1 lb per month. They lose nothing, or they lose fast and gain even faster - just "staying in the game" puts you at the head of the pack.
I've said it many times, but weight loss is like a marathon. We see the 5,000 people ahead of us and conclude we must be in last place, only because we don't see the 20,000 people behind us, wishing they were us.
I really encourage you to joing a TOPS group (taking off pounds sensibly) because the gains and losses are read every week, and you get to see what "real weight loss" looks like. Studies have found that TOPS is as effective as Weight Watchers, and it has the advantage of being much cheaper, and you get to really see what "normal" weight loss looks like. You'll probably see folks losing faster than you, and you'll definitely see folks losing slower than you, but you'll get a more realistic idea of "normal."
Because the TOPS weight recorders announce the total gains, total losses, and "net" gain or loss for the week, you get to clearly see that even 1 lb per week is extraordinary - because most people don't make it.
For example in our club, when there's a net loss it averages about half a pound per week. We've had net gains the last two weeks (I'm guessing the cold, fall weather is playing a role - and all the fun harvest fests that are going on), so just the fact that I lost when "most of the club gained" was cause to celebrate.
And it's not like my group is a bunch of slackers. However, the average age in the group is older, and the older you get, the slower your metabolism and ability to lose weight quickly (which may start to decline as early as a person's mid-20s).
I've been dieting for 40 years (since kindergarten) and it definitely was in my early to mid 20's that I started noticing that each diet took more effort, and resulted in slower loss. At first the difference was small, but now it's insane. It's almost inconceivable that the difference could be this big. I mean going from 7 lbs/week in my early 20's to 1-3 lbs/month in my 40's- at the same weight, at the same calorie intake?
It does make me wish I had listened to all the women telling me (since I was 5 years old) "lose it while you're young," but that ship has long sailed.
Disappointed with rate of loss...
