Surprising Weight Loss

Jinxy23
Jinxy23 Posts: 33 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys and gals.

So i'm sitting here and reading through the forums about people hitting plateaus and having problems losing weight but has anyone ever been surprised by sudden or unexpected weight loss?

For example, last year i struggled with my weight but managed to get down to 131lbs, my lowest in six years but then due to a heath scare everything i had lost came creeping back and by January of this year i was almost up to 154lbs, which made me feel tired and prone to colds all the time.

So end of Jan i decided it was time to pull myself back together and get on with it. My aim was to get back to 131 in time for a comic con in May. Weight loss was slow and steady and as i go closer i began to reassess my target, telling myself that 133 would be good too.

However my weight loss never stalled or plateaued, although i was sure it would as i lost more weight. I smashed through my target of 131 a few weeks back and i've lost another 2lbs since!

I was completely shocked. Plus i still have 2 weeks until comic con.
I've had to reset my target and i plan to go onto maintenance after my weekend at the con as a reward before trying to see if i can get back to my lightest ever weight of 126lbs! (5ft 42" female btw).
I'm fairly sure a change in medication helped with this slightly but still...

I'd love to hear if anyone else has experienced something similar or any other tales of unexpected weight loss and the joy that it brings :)

Replies

  • kpodaru
    kpodaru Posts: 133 Member
    yes - when i cut out grains, i lost more inches which was not my original intent/goal. i started the no-grain thing to fix my skin and sensitive gums so this was a very pleasant surprise!
  • Sweet_Heresy
    Sweet_Heresy Posts: 411 Member
    I dreaded weighing in on Monday cause I waaaaay overate all weekend. Was very surprised to still have lost half a pound.

    Honestly most of my weight loss is surprising weight loss lol. I know I'm eating at a deficit and working out, but I guess I'm just surprised at how easy its been.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    People who hit long term plateaus are eating too much. Why they are eating too much is always hard to tell because their food and exercise logs always look like they should be losing weight. Most likely, they are eating things that they aren't logging, or they are misreading the label on some packages, or their portion sizes are off.
  • cjtrigg
    cjtrigg Posts: 2 Member
    Yes! My story sounds similar to yours! Back on the wagon after Christmas after about 18 months of not really making much effort and deciding that I just wanted to find a way to eat better, move more and lose a bit of weight. I didn't have a particular goal (although we booked a holiday at the end of January for June, so it because a bit of a goal) or a timeframe - I've been here before and know the pitfalls, know that everything takes time, know that some weeks it won't happen and sometimes life will get in the way. I just wanted the distance run to be about being better/lighter/fitter/healthier.

    I started at 143lb (4'11, 33yo woman) and as of last weekend I am now 118lb! My tentative assumption was that about 122lb was roughly right for me; just within BMI but historically a weight I have got to before and been reasonably happy about. I am absolutely startled that I've gone through that like it wasn't even there, and I think I'm still losing. Like you, I'm sticking with this loss plan until our holiday in about 3 weeks' time, and then when we're back and I've shed any holiday weight, I'm going to look at maintenance although it seems a bit scary!

    Big congrats to you! :smile:
  • astralpictures
    astralpictures Posts: 218 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    People who hit long term plateaus are eating too much. Why they are eating too much is always hard to tell because their food and exercise logs always look like they should be losing weight. Most likely, they are eating things that they aren't logging, or they are misreading the label on some packages, or their portion sizes are off.

    I think it's because they are still eating a similar diet to what had been working all along for weight loss, without realizing that our metabolisms naturally drop the less we weigh. I know MFP adjusts accordingly to the weight loss by dropping our calories limits, but I think some people don't really drop what they consume in relation to what they're supposed to.

  • sgthaggard
    sgthaggard Posts: 581 Member
    It happens. I hit maintenance and 4 days later I was down another 3lbs. <Woosh>
  • ruggedshutter
    ruggedshutter Posts: 389 Member
    I'm always surprised with large daily drops of 1+ pounds. I had one yesterday where I was sitting at 182.8 then 181.2 the next day...had to reweigh myself a couple of times just to make sure my scale wasn't messed up. :D
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    Honestly every pound I've lost has surprised me. I never really thought I'd lose 78 pounds, though I'd hoped.
  • Jinxy23
    Jinxy23 Posts: 33 Member
    It's awesome hearing so many people experiencing the same, brilliant and often unexpected feeling :smiley:

    I've got to admit, i'm often shocked that i've lost anything, let along 22lbs because i don't forgo anything really. I still have the occasional bottle of cider in the sun or piece of chocolate or even a cooked breakfast. It hardly feels like dieting at all, which i suppose is what makes it all the more surprising lol. :smiley:
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Not in the same sense as you. I did stall, and decided to give up, but ended up losing the weight I should have lost in 3 weeks all at once when I went into maintenance. Definitely a nice surprise.
  • stormgirl13
    stormgirl13 Posts: 1 Member
    I stalled for a month.. and then inexplicably lost 5lbs in the last 2 weeks without changing anything... In fact, the only terribly minor thing I did was start to add back in some good fats like avocado and nuts, but kept the calorie intake/calories burned at the same level. Go figure...

    However, my entire weight loss to date I attribute to massive cut back on added sugars (except for dark chocolate - not giving up my serving a day!) and portion control, and its been hugely beneficial as for the first time, I've lost stomach fat - significant stomach fat. Very happy with that!
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    edited May 2015
    I tend to go several days without losing, or even slightly gaining, then pow! a pound is gone. Repeat. Sometimes more than just several days, then pow! three pounds are gone. I fell off the wagon in April due to illness and then a tragic death in the family and didn't weigh myself at all. When I finally did the first of May, I had lost a pound since the first of April. Complete surprise to me.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,592 Member
    Jinxy23 wrote: »
    So i'm sitting here and reading through the forums about people hitting plateaus and having problems losing weight but has anyone ever been surprised by sudden or unexpected weight loss?

    Yeah, right from the beginning.

    For 10 days I didn't lose a single thing and figured that was pretty typical. I was going to give it a full 2 weeks and then quit because obviously I'm too old, and my metabolism is too slow, to lose weight.

    And then all of a sudden it started and I've lost 11 kg in 11 weeks. Way faster than I had anticipated.

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