Not losing as fast as I'd hoped...
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| Mon, 09-19-2005 - 9:53am |
Okay, I know they say that it is healthy to lose 1-2 lbs a week, but I’ve also read that if you have more to lose than you can safely lose up to 3-4 lbs a week. Since I have added weights to my routine I am not losing as much, but I also don’t feel like my clothes are much looser. My measurements aren’t going down much either, so I don't know if I'm losing much fat. I started on 8/25 at 225 and was 219.2 this morning. That’s only about 1.9 lbs a week. I am PMSing so I’m hoping that I’m just retaining water and will be down more next week. If I continue this trend I will still be at my goal weight by my vacation but I guess I had my hopes up that I could lose faster. I know I shouldn’t be complaining since I’m losing at all, but I feel like I’m exercising my butt off 6 days a week and I had hoped for more...
Did you guys find that your weight loss picked up at a certain point? My sister told me that she didn't lose much in her first 2 months but then lose much more quickly after. I'm hoping that's the case with me!

Every person is different when it comes to weight loss. If you stay focused on the scale though, you run the risk of hitting a brick wall when it comes to motivation. I, personally, have always lost very fast. My mother loses very slow, even if she sticks witha strict diet and exercise plan. What weight loss comes down to is calories in vs calories out. It's possible that you are either 1) Eating more calories than you think you are (this is very easy to do) or 2) Not eating ENOUGH calories for how much activity you get. If #2 is the case, you would need to increase your calorie intake to a more reasonable level for your activity level, or you could stall your weight loss even more as time goes on. This is the situation with my mother. She has always had exceptional control over what she eats, but because she underate for so long, it took her FOREVER to lose 12 lbs she gained last year due to emergency surgery, and that was with her only eating about 1000 calories a day.
If you track your food already, make sure you measure EVERYTHING for a few days and track EVERYTHING accurately to see how much you are really eating. If you don't keep a journal, try it for a few days and see how much you are really eating. This will tell you if you need to focus on eating less or on eating more healthy foods.
HTH
Staci
Susan
I know how you feel! Almost makes you want to submerge your head in the toilet for ten minutes or so....
I'm taking that nutrition class at Curves, and they're saying it's good to mix up your diet every week. So, one week you're eating almost all protein. Then, the next week you're eating only 45% protein. One week you're on 1200 calories, but then the next you can go up to 1400. I guess it's about making sure your body doesn't get used to one type of food? Not sure.
As for me, I'm trying to put in more protein this week, but will probably revret back again next. I am also going to put in at least 30 minutes of cardio activity on my off days from strength training, and take out some extra calories, bringing me down to 1200/day (Curves calls this their Phase I). You can check out my journal if you're ever curious as to what I'm doing.
I only lost 12 my first month, even though I know bigger people are supposed to lose faster. I'm happy to have lost something, though; I was only working out three times a week, and was eating 1500/day, so the fact I lost anything with such a lax schedule is cool, I guess. Still, more would be great.
The one thing I'm trying hard not to do is take any stimulants. I've even told myself I'm not allowed any caffeine. So, I haven't had coffee or soda in a long while. I want it to be all me doing the weight loss. If I hit a plateau, I'll just have to mix up my diet again. I think on Celebrity Fit Club they mixed things up, too.
Don't know how much help I was, but I know how you feel. :)
Hey Anna,
Are you on any type of medication that effects insulin levels? I used to be on Lexapro and i couldnt lose ANYTHING...i switched to wellbutrin and the weight is coming off MUCH better. My doc said that lexapro can spike insulin levels...which one of insulins jobs is to maintain the body's current fat level, therefore, if insulin is high you wont lose fat.
Everybody loses weight differently (that sounds like a cliche?). I lose very fast for a few weeks (first week on plan I lost 11 lbs). Then I stall for a while. Then start losing again. The stalling parts kill me and could be really frustrating and not motivating at all. But it helps when I look at the big picture and see that I am losing around 2-3 lbs a week on average.
EDIT: I'll take a slow PERMENANT weight loss anytime. I'd hate to lose weight quickly, gain it back, and have to go through all this again.
Mary
247/won't tell/165
Edited 9/21/2005 6:22 am ET ET by merry_ivillage