It is unlikely that you will lose weight consistently (i.e., weight loss is not linear)

diannethegeek

Sleeper1968 wrote: »

Why is this not in the 'best posts' section?

It is part of the "must reads" stickied at the top of the General Diet & Weight Loss section: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest

NotSoPerfectPam

jeepinshawn wrote: »

I had pretty much the opposite experience. My weight loss was incredibly linear. I consistently lost an average of 2lbs a week. I think there was only 2 weeks where I lost less then a pound. Now that I'm in maintainence my weight had fluctuated alot more. Although it appears in the last month I have lost about 3-4lbs . That's going from 280lbs to a trending weight of 171.3.

I think that this poster is not average..... at least I hope he's not!

jemhh

NotSoPerfectPam wrote: »

jeepinshawn wrote: »

I had pretty much the opposite experience. My weight loss was incredibly linear. I consistently lost an average of 2lbs a week. I think there was only 2 weeks where I lost less then a pound. Now that I'm in maintainence my weight had fluctuated alot more. Although it appears in the last month I have lost about 3-4lbs . That's going from 280lbs to a trending weight of 171.3.

I think that this poster is not average..... at least I hope he's not!

He's not. He's very fortunate to not be representative of average in this case

diannethegeek

Bump.

ALG775

I woosh 3-6 pounds and then go up and down by a pound or two for 3-5 weeks and then I woosh again. The woosh is nice (even though I know it's not all weight loss) and the gaining a pound isn't nice (even though I know I haven’t really gained weight)

MissMonicaC4

Great read. Thanks!!

lisaisso

Practicing patience. Great post.

ari7l

williams969 wrote: »

+1 on the "focus on FAT loss, not just weight loss." My first 20 lbs (took 5 months) gave me a decrease of two pants sizes. The last 4 lbs lost (took 4 months to do so) gave me ANOTHER two pants sizes lost. Yep, I changed my focus to fat loss/maintaining muscle mass, and maximized my results beyond what the scale tells me!

Wow! How did you do it? Diet and exercise? If yes, please give us an idea of what type of diet/exercise

lasirena624

New & learning about weight loss this post was perfect for me to read. I have lost 15lbs and it has not been linear, but not having an understanding of that led me to question myself on slow or no loss weeks. Continuing on with this knowledge along with a lot more I am learning about intake, output, measurement etc. motivates me.

tishball

Great post, and it will help me to stay away from the scales,

okungbowa

I needed to this information, I get so disappointed when my scale give me one number and MD give me more

PaulWilson907

Here is my weight loss chart for one year, definitely not linear. http://m.imgur.com/pZj1y6v

Lounmoun

bump

Losewtforlife4him

jemhh wrote: »

Here we are, in mid-February. A ton of MFPers started this year out on a new path, trying to become healthier and trying to lose weight. Great job! But now it's 6 or 7 weeks later and you are getting frustrated, maybe discouraged, because your weight loss has slowed down. It stinks, right? Who wants to restrict their calories, maybe sweat a bit more, and not see big progress on the scale? Nobody, right?

Well, I'm sorry to tell you, but you are being unreasonable. And I mean that in the nicest way so think of me as telling you this as we sit down to tea in a cozy little room with doilies and pretty teacups and maybe a white fluffy cat lounging on the rug. Unless you respond better to tough love, in which case you can imagine me walking up to you, smacking you upside the head and saying it. Whatever floats your boat.

But yeah, you are being unreasonable.

Why is that? It's because weight loss is not linear. That's the answer you'll see posted to the "I'm not losing any weight!" threads. But why? Why can't we see that number go down on the scale every time we weigh ourselves? Well, because there are a multitude of factors that can affect your weight at any given time. To name a few:

• a difference in the conditions in which you are weighing yourself (time of day, clothed vs. naked, well-hydrated vs. hydrated, etc.)
• what you've eaten recently (eating more carbs and/or sodium than usual will generally cause you to hold additional water weight)
• hormonal fluctuations (women, especially, are prone to seeing water weight fluctuations due to their monthly menstrual cycles)
• inaccuracies in measuring food, logging food, and calculating your daily caloric needs
• inaccuracies in calculating your activity level (both exercise and non-exercise activity)

And the list goes on from there.

The bottom line is that it is highly unlikely that you are going to see your weight decrease at a consistent pace throughout your weight loss journey. Over the course of 2014, I lost 52 pounds. That averaged a pound a week. But did I actually lose a pound a week? Absolutely not. Looking at my weigh-ins, you can see weeks where I lost several pounds, a fraction of a pound, no pounds, and even where I gained weight. The overall trend, though, was downward.

So, getting back to you. You're stuck at a certain weight. Or you think you're stuck at that weight. Where do you go from here? Here are a few ideas:

• Review your food and exercise diaries for inaccuracies.
• Review your expectations for reasonableness. Most of us didn't gain our excess weight rapidly and shouldn't expect losing all of it to happen rapidly either.
• Pick a goal or two other than weight loss. Maybe you want to be able to walk a mile without stopping or you want to be able to comfortably lift bags of mulch this spring. Whatever the goal, find a way to work toward it and then do just that.
• Focus on fat loss rather than weight loss. Consider doing some sort of strength training and eating an appropriate level of protein in order to maintain as much muscle as possible while losing weight. This will give you another aspect of fitness to focus on and is may help you get closer to the physique goals that you may have.
• Measure your progress by other means--use a tape measure to measure your waist, hip, thigh, etc. and then track the changes.

Most importantly, though...BE PATIENT. I know, it's hard to do. But most times in life the hard thing to do is worth it in the end and being patience builds character so you'll be stronger in the end.

Good luck, you all. I'm rooting for you

Thanks! I needed this!

jmonts2016

Wow, this was my first time ever posting anything anywhere, what a lot of great feedback, also glad to see it was meaningful and helpful to others as well. Based on there's responses I will stay the course and be more patient. Thanks you!

AuroraGeorge8393

Such a great post. I'm giving it a bump.

diannethegeek

BiggDaddy58

techreyes wrote: »

I am only a few weeks into this particular journey but this one post has really put things in perspective at the most crucial moment. Its the moment of the first time a child on a long journey says: "Are we there yet? When are we gonna get there?". I have decided to be patient. I am also going to bookmark this post for when I want to ask those same questions again. Great words. Thanks.

Excellent thoughts..too often we , in general. always look to the end result, instead of enjoying the journey on the way.

diannethegeek

Needs more bumps.

Lounmoun

Bump

elishatony

I started my fitness journey about 4 weeks ago now. I been weight training for 6/7 days a week with 30 minutes of cardio per session. The scales have gone down only a kilo or so, but my clothes fit better and I feel great. Having been used to losing kgs quickly on traditional diet and cardio alone, it has been confusing not seeing the differences on the scale. Will my weight eventually decrease by doing weights and cardio? Or is better to lose the kgs and then step up the weights. I just really enjoy lifting and hope you say no. Thanks for the article though it has helped me realise I need to look at other ways of measuring success.

jemhh

Keep doing what you are doing. A new fitness program usually causes some water retention, which can be slow to go and mask fat loss, which is still happening. The fact that your clothes fit better is a good sign.

Lounmoun

I think some people need this thread this week.

queenliz99

Good thinking Loun

kristikitter

Gonna bump this and share on my feed - I love this.

diannethegeek

Could use a bump.

try2again

Bump.

CafeRacer808

This post should be a sticky (stickified?).

SueSueDio

CafeRacer808 wrote: »

This post should be a sticky (stickified?).

It should, and it is... it's on the list of the most helpful posts at the top of this forum section.

diannethegeek

Just a holiday bump. Don't mind me.