Weight Loss
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| Thu, 01-26-2006 - 10:05pm |
I am just curious, how long has it taken you all to lose say 10-20 lbs?
I am one that if I lose slowly I get discouraged. For instance i just started Monday but if I don't see results when I weigh in I am going to get discouraged.
I am exercising (walking 45 min on treadmill) and watching what I eat, trying not to eat so much fast food, or if I do pick better foods. I think I am doing good on my eating. How do you figure how many calories you should eat though? Ivillage says 2331 so I am trying to eat less than 1800 calories and exercise. Hoping to lose a pound a week at least and then drop it when I get to where I am not starving all the time.
Anyways, it appears I have lost 1.5 lbs already, probably just water weight but that is something. I have this neurosis of weighing myself all the time, and I REALLY need to get out of it. Will let you all know Monday if I have lost more.

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Don't get discouraged yet. Since you started on Monday, try your hardest to only weigh yourself on Mondays, and to get the most accurate results, do it first thing in the morning. I started my diet on Sunday(this one), so I'll let you know how fast it's really coming off for me. They recommended only a 1470 calorie diet for me, so that is what I've been following. You have to consume a minimum of 1200 calories a day, or you'll actually end up gaining, because your body will naturally store the food that you do eat, as a natural reflux. Don't get discouraged so easily. You may want to try the measurment thing, instead of hoping on the scale, that way you see the results in inches verses pounds. And remember muscle weighs more than fat, so if the lbs aren't coming off that fast keep that in mind, because you may very well be changing that fat to muscle. Good Luck.
Valerie
210/120
Um, are you my Alabama twin?
Lady Jewel
Well, each person is different, but if you have a lot to lose and are really working your program, you could lose 10 lbs in the first month. I too weigh myself every morning when OP, but that is what works for me. I have just had to realize that if one mornign is says I am up 1 or 2 lbs from the day before that it's not a real gain, especially if I've been doing good. You might want to take your starting measurements and do those once a week or once a month so that even when the scales not moving fast enough, you can see that those total inches are dropping. I do mine once a week, on my official weigh in day. Also, to give myself more wiggle room, I generally eat around 1500 cal a day when OP, even though according to most calculators I need over 2500. I like doing this because then I know I can indulge in one really good restaurant meal a week and still see a loss of 1 lb for that week.
Staci
Angela
Sorry. OP is On Program. Basically it just means following whatever eating plan you chose, be it South Beach Diet (SBD), Weight Watchers (WW), calorie counting or whatever you chose. I am a calorie counter, and, not that I am necessarily normal, but when I am strictly OP, I can usually lose up to 25 lbs in the first 2 months of my weight loss plan. After that it usually slows down more. I think that when you have a lot to lose, 10 lbs a month is not completely unreasonable, but 5 is probably a much more realistic goal. That way you are not setting yourself up to be disappointed when you *only* lose 1-2 lbs a week, which is to be expected. To lose more than that you have to cut a ton of calories, often putting you below what your body needs and backfiring on you. I can usually safely cut/burn 1500 calories a day and still eat 1500 calories a day due to my height/weight, but most shorter/thinner people cannot do that. Even though I could safely lose upwards of 3 lbs a week and often do when dieting, I usually set my goals at 1.5 lbs a week. I will usually pick an event 2-3 months in the future, figure out how many weeks away that is, and multiply that times 1.5. I completely understand about getting discouraged if the scale doesn't move fast enough, but I've generally learned to move past that. I love seeing the scale move, but more than that I love trying on my old clothes and seeing how much looser they are on me and/or if my skinny clothes are any closer to fitting. When my motivation is flagging, I'll pull out a favorite pieces of clothing and see how much closer I am to wearing it. Believe me, last year, knowing there was a sexy dress hanging in my closet that DF had NEVER seen me in sure motivated me to lose 35 lbs by our anniversary so I could wear it for him...and he loved it and my new found confidence. He must have, because I wound up getting pregnant the next month!
Staci
How tall are you?
I am 5'8.5" and have a large frame so no one believes I weigh 255 but I sure feel it. I also wear clothes that conceal exactly how big I am but I see it every time I look in the mirror regardless. My hubby even says I am not that big, but well, when you can't bend over to tie your shoes and breathe at the same time, you have a problem. I mostly need to to lose around my middle, I still look pg even though youngest is 19 months old. I am getting sore from my treadmill walks, still haven't started weight training but for now the walking is pushing the lung power anyways.
I always seem to lose the first 10-15 fast, like 1 1/2 - 2 weeks then stop losing at all. I don't know why. I did lose 25 lbs while I was pregnant, LOL. I have joked I need to have another kid just so I can lose weight, cuz I ate like a stuck pig and still lost weight. GO figure!
Angela
I'm about 5'10" and also have a very large frame--I wear a size 10 1/2 ring on my left ring finger and an 11 on my right and it's because of my knuckle size, not because I'm fat! It really sucks that you stall at 10-15 lbs lost. Do you think it's because of getting more lax on your eating habits (been there done that one, although mine's usually when I get to 240, no matter how much it takes to get there) or ?? How long do you usually get stuck for? Honestly, I'm horrible in that once I hit 240, I will usually get stuck at that weight for a few months before I start losing again because I just can't seem to stick to my low cal diet. I guess that's just my "okay" weight where I feel okay about myself, I feel sexier, and I don't feel the need to try as hard. Knock on wood, I've always had good luck with continued weight loss whenever I really try, though. But, that's usually when I start out around 270-275 and eat around 1200-1500 calories a day. I know I really do burn around the 2800 or so that most calculators estimate, because I can consume a lot and not gain, so that really does help out. What's your ultimate goal? I think after I have the baby in May, my ultimate goal is going to be 175 from an all time high of 275 pre-pregnancy. I carry my weight very well, too. Most people, before I lost weight previously, when guessing would put me at around 175, no one ever guessed 200 except a cop friend I have who is pretty good with weight/height due to his line of work, and I was 275! In high school I got down to around 185-190 and was about a size 11/13 juniors, and I looked good, so I figure if I get down to 175 I will be in a solid 11/13 and more than happy with that :). That still leaves me on the "overweight" end of the BMI, but I don't give a darn because I'm sure my body fat % will be well within the healthy range because even at 260 it's only at 36% now, which is pretty high, but not nearly as high as 260 would be on some people. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions/want any motivation, since I check my e-mail more often than I check the board :). My address is periwinkle69@hotmail.com .
Staci
Well I am usually stuck for a couple weeks before I go off diet or quit exercising although it is more due to I end up getting sick and can't exercise and then get frustrated. It is so hard trying to lose weight when you have breathing problems that prevent exercise, here I am not even a week into and my Hubby and youngest children have nasty colds and I can feel it trying to grip my chest and I just know that if it does I won't be able to exercise for at least 1 - 2 weeks. It really is aggravating, and frustrating. I have lost 4 lbs already and I am so stoked about it. I went to a Bday party today and only had a small piece of homemade cake and a few chips. I am trying hard, but it is like I told my hubby I can't eliminate foods or I am setting myself up for disaster, and past experience has taught me to cut fat more so than anything and I will lose. Not being able to exercise regularly I think is my biggest problem. I am praying that by Monday my chest loosens up and my breathing never gets worse so I can exercise next week like I did this past week.
My ultimate goal is around 165. When I met my hubby 7 years ago, I weighed about 185 and I thought I looked good, and wasn't lacking in the attention depart. so I must have been right, but I worked out almost every night then and was a size 10 or 12. So i guess you could say my ultimate goal is to be a size 10 again no matter what the scales say,to be able to play with my kids without almost falling over, and to be happy with my own appearance. Of course it would be nice to be a size where my 5 yr old doesn't think I am fat too. LOL
Angela
255/251/200/165
Angela
Angela, you're a lot like me. I lose quickly, then it slows down, then I get stuck for ages. First week OP, I lost 11 lbs. I've been on 216 lbs for over a month now. I even started exercising and still it doesn't help that much. But I've only been walking for 1 week, so maybe after being consistent for a couple of weeks, I can get things going again. It sure is frustrating not to see that scale going down. But it definitely isn't a reason to quit.
I also don't show my weight at all. I'm shorter than you and Staci (I'm 5'5'') and this is how I looked like 3 years ago
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4782/1970/1600/DSC00323.jpg
The picture is a big blurry.. can you guess how much I weighed?
Mary
247/216/165
I get discouraged so easily too...and weigh myself all the time which I know is bad.
So I can see where you are comming from but thats actually why I joined this community to stop getting so discouraged and it actually as helped a lot.
Just stick with it and in no time you'll see results!
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