Think of a slow loss kind of like compound interest, in reverse. Even a fraction of a percent weight loss per week *is* a reduction, and if consistently applied over time, it does accumulate over the long haul.

What probably frustrates many people is that the little ups and downs that can take place during the week disguise this slow progress. For example half a percent of 240 pounds is 1.2 pounds. Yet I have found that it's easy to lose two pounds of water on a long walk, or gain two pounds eating a salty burrito and drink.

Slow progress is real, and it also instills a beneficial maintenance mindset. You can't just "quit" the plan... because basically you followed something close to maintenance all along... instead you simply relax the reigns a smidgen near the end. People that crash diet and then reach a goal, are not as likely to have developed that sense of where the maintenance level really is.

I've not lost anything for four months now. New doctor put me on metformin 10 days ago and told me my PCOS and IR are really a bigger problem than what my last doctor told me. This thread is giving me some hope! Thanks ladies.

I was just reading over the success of another member on the board who had lost a little more than 100lbs in 10 months. It's so difficult not to get green with envy sometimes, or, worse, disappointed in myself because surely I could have done at least a little bit better.

I don't even see how that's physically possible! It's maddening. Yet I hear fantastic success like that all over the forum, and said like it's no biggie. Rawr.

I feel the same way. I can't help but be envious of the members for whom weight loss seems to come comparatively fast and easy.

It's really not fair.

Darway - Where'd you make your awesome chart? I was trying in excel but not having much luck. I used to have some software when I was in college way back when, but I'm sure they don't make it anymore.

OK, first of all I LOVE YOUR BUTT ANALOGY!!!
and 2ndly, I really needed to hear (read) those two last sentences. Thanks Kap! - you always say something that really rings for me.

This is the best thread! I'm generally really happy with the progress I've made. I feel like a whole new person, with much more energy and more comfortable in my body than I have ever been. I told my mom that I'm almost happy I had gained weight, because I always felt fat even when I was normal, and now that I am (barely under overweight according to BMI), I feel thin. But it has taken a long time (20 months) to get this far (46 or 47 pounds, depending on the day), and during the winters the scale hardly moved at all. It's slowed down to less than a pound a month as I'm getting closer to where I think I should be. I've tried every trick I know, but my body seems to have a mind and timetable of its own. When I started this, though, I decided it wasn't about reaching a magic number, but finding a sustainable way to have a healthy life, food and activity-wise. And I'm there. I see no reason to change anything at all.

This is a fantastic thread and I really appreciated reading everyone's stories. Here is mine; I definitely qualify as a slow loser.

• In 2005-06, I lost 19 pounds in 10 months (from 185 to 166), all the while closely tracking calories and exercising (cardio and/or strength) most days of the week. My calculations had me in a deficit and I should have been losing 1-2 pounds per week, but as you can see, it was more like 1-2 pounds per month.

• In June 2006, at 166 pounds, I injured myself and stopped exercising. Was burned out on the the calorie counting and stopped that. I regained all the weight and then some until I was at my highest ever by January 2008.

• During 2008, I tried half-heartedly to lose weight by making better eating choices and succeeded in losing 9 pounds that year to get me into the mid 180s. I continued to sort-of try to lose weight and was stuck in the 180s for two years.

• Last July, I was told I have elevated fasting blood glucose, so renewed efforts to be healthy and lose weight. I went from the low 180s to 168 by the end of 2010. At nearly 2.5 pounds per month, this was extremely fast for me!

Today I am in the mid 160s (164 this morning), so still going very slowly, with a goal of about 145-150.

As many have indicated, we are making progress! And I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel like my long-term attempt to lose weight since 2008 has really taught me a lot about myself and what certain foods do to me. I believe I will succeed when I get to maintenance.

Ooh, this is another one i can relate to, what with the PCOS and all...

I thought I was in a six-month long stall before I looked up my old weight records (I am a statistics freak with my weight loss, so I keep an excel sheet *blush*) and realized I have actually dropped a couple of pounds sloooowly.

I do agree, though, that I will probably be masterful at maintaining once I do reach my goal, since I am getting so much practice along the way.

It took me a year to lose 30 lbs...I did everything right initially and the weight just took its sweet time coming off. I have friends who lost 30lbs in 4 mths!

Now that I am eating at maintenance, I ma still losing weight at the same pace..go figure!

I love this thread. I wish I could staple it to my forehead.

I have not read this whole thread but I just want to say "thanks!" I needed to read it!! sometimes I feel like the only freak show out there; from March to Nov 2009 I lost around 40 lbs, since then until about 20 days ago NOTHING. In fact I even put on a few pounds during my vacation in March and just prior to that I quit Weight Watchers all together (have been a member since 99, hit goal 2001, maintained 3 years, long-story-gained-it-all-back and took me years to get started again). I've been to doctors, had all the tests run, 2 dietitians, a sports doctor and the result is = fit as a fiddle, just overweight!!!

I started counting calories (and anyone who remembers me here knows I'm kind of against it) and I'm seeing the scale move again. who knows for how long - perhaps once I'm at that number I got stuck at again the same thing will happen.

I think the most important thing is that we never give up on ourselves, right?

This thread is awesome! I've lost 40 lbs in 15 months. I always do things in a roundabout sort of way, so it shouldn't surprise me that weight loss is the same. I don't envy people who've lost 100 lbs in less than a year, but I do envy people who have more resolve than I do. I've sometimes lapsed this last year, but because I've changed my eating habits (ie not eating white flour or sugar) my regains happen less often than I expected (twice!). Those regains are usually ~4-5 lbs, half of which ends up being water weight. It makes me happy that I've turned my diet around so much, and it took only a few months. I'd much rather lose weight slowly and keep it off than to easily lose and regain it just as quickly. I'm not saying those are the only ways to do it, but if I was very strict with myself I'd end up rebelling sooner or later. Probably sooner...

I also have PCOS, and I know it slows things down a lot. Combined with my casual approach, I don't expect to reach my goal for a couple of years. Maybe it's not as headline-worthy as someone losing 100 lbs in 6 months. Whatevs. My way works for me.

Ouch!
Which way would it face?

Towards me, of course! So I could be reminded every day.

OP, I thought I would chime in not about slow loss but about the exercise and apparent weight gain.

I started working out again in January after a medical setback in the fall - a serious workout schedule - and also was appalled to see the scale go up and up and up about 6 or 8 pounds. And stay there.

It stayed for a month or so, and then it evaporated. I am not losing quickly as my body is doing a lot of reshaping, but it does go eventually. The workouts are more important than the scale right now, as you've noted, so just keep on keepin' on and you'll be fine.