How long has it taken you to lose your weight?

maureensimmons92

I have been getting rather discouraged lately as I dont see the weight coming off as quickly as I had hoped. Today will mark the 20th day that I have been on roughly 1200 calories, and trying to get as much exercise as I can. I usually ride my bike for about 30-45 minues a day and the bike doesnt have gears so its quite the workout for me. I also try to walk as much as I can, the problem is that I am a bank teller so I spend most of my days either sitting or standing for eight hours a day. I have only lost about 7 pounds, and i am starving, I dont know that else I can do to make the weight come off. I know that you are only reccomended to lose 2 lbs a week, and that means its going to be a slow process. My starting weight was 186, current weight 179, goal weight it 140, and im roughly 5'7''. Im wondering if those who lost over 20lbs, how long did it take you, and should I be doing something differently?

maureensimmons92

I also forgot to add I am a vegetarian, I dont drink soda or sugary drinks, and I avoid all artificial sweetner except stevia.

HeidiCooksSupper

I'm about at the 20 pound mark. An extra pound snuck back on yesterday and I know what I did to make that happen.

I've been here about 100 days and am losing fairly steadily at 1.4 pounds per week. I have determined a calorie figure by averaging 4 different TDEE-80% with the MFP lose-one-pound-per-week figure that I aim toward each day. I do not systematically eat back exercise calories as a balance for the dreaded LNS (late night snacking). I am trying to increase the former while decreasing a tendency toward the latter.

I am in the process of losing half my body weight and figure it will take between two and three years.

You say you are starving and discouraged yet you have lost almost 3 pounds a week. This is unsustainable. If you want to keep off the weight you lose, consider readjusting your ideas about time to weight loss and eating so that you are not starving and discouraged.

You should feel healthy and encouraged. If what you are doing to lose weight rapidly is making you miserable, no change in scale number will overcome the feelings of illness that your eating and exercise have caused.

cwolfman13

I think you need to have a come to jesus moment and re-evaluate your expectations. 20 days...lets say 3 weeks and 7 Lbs...that's roughly 2.34 Lbs per week...which is, I'm sure what you told MFP you wanted to do. Really, it is nearly impossible to lose more than 2 Lbs of actual fat in a week...when you see people having huge losses over the course of a few weeks or a month, understand that much of it is water...this is science...to lose 2 Lbs per week requires a deficit of 7,000 calories per week in your diet. More than that is potentially dangerous and can be counterproductive to your goals. What you're doing is working...you just need to re-evaluate your expectations.

It took me about 6 months to lose 35 Lbs. These last 10 are going very slowly...but that's because I want to go very slowly to preserve what muscle mass I have...plus it's summer and I like beer.

chadraeder3

I started in February and am 40 lbs down now. I will say that I lost about 15 pounds when I was sick for 3 weeks which was not the way to loose the weight but I did not have a choice.

Think about how long it took you to put on the weight I am guessing more then 20 days, don't expect the weight to come off faster then you put it on. I would plan on 1 1/2 times longer to take it off then it took for you to put it on if you are dedicated to the loss and work at it.

maureensimmons92

Congrats on your weight loss. What are you doing in reguards to exercise? Everyone here is right, i guess i shouldne be complaining as long as I see the scale move. Ive got to remeber that slow and steady wins the race!

rosemaryhon

I've lost 24 lbs in about 120 days. During the 70 days I'm on MFP I lost 12 lbs. I think a reason I've been able to stick with it these past 4 months is that I don't let myself get to the 'starving' point. Are you eating back your exercise calories?

ashlbubba

I'm almost at my 10 month mark and I'm down 34 pounds from 232-198...Goal is somewhere in the 160's for now... I have major motivation problems.. I'll lose some weight then maintain for months.. then lose some more. It sucks.

majica8

260 days for the 46-47 pounds I've lost so far. While the weight loss has slowed down recently, I'm pretty happy with that. Especially considering 1 year ago I was the heaviest I've ever been and extremely unhappy.

welly5

Seven pounds in under a month is huge!! You just need to re-adjust your expectations.

If you are feeling worn out and hungry, then increase your calories and let the weight loss go a bit slower. It will still come off and you'll feel better and be able to do it for longer.

I lost my first 25 pounds over the course of a few months, then maintained that loss for over a year. Now I've been losing this second 25 pounds since feb. Taking it slow means it doesn't all just come right back and it's not a chore. It felt great to decide to lose some more weight and realize that I had kept my initial loss off for so long.

Edited to add: while I was maintaining the 25 lb loss for a year I wasn't eating a calorie deficit or trying to lose weight, so it wasn't just a plateau.

determined_erin

I lost around 10 lbs per month. I've lost 50 lbs so far this year. So, I think you losing 7 lbs within 20 days is very normal.

GurleyGirl524

I lost 66 pounds in 9 months just by changing my diet from junk to lean proteins, fruits, veggies, and cutting out fried food and refined sugars. Because of a special needs child at home and everyone's different schedules my workouts were very few and far between but I did the best I could. So 66 pounds in 9 months was great, then I got lazy and managed to put 20 of those back on in about a year. Mentally I am back where I need to be to make this happen and the scale is once again moving down.

carmencc26

You are actually doing really good. Don't get discouraged, I am only losing about 1lb-1.5lbs/ week and I thought I was doing great. I gave up on thinking I should be losing 20 lbs in a month, that my friend, is not realistic. And if you feel hungry, EAT. You are working out a lot and your body needs energy to keep going. I am on week 9 of my weight loss journey and have lost 10 lbs and went from a sz 11 jeans to a sz 7 jeans, so that means I have lost FAT and gained muscle. Don't concern yourself with the scale too much but take measurements.

DawnieB1977

In 2 weeks I'll have been losing weight for two YEARS and I have lost around 65lbs in that time. Pretty slow huh. You should be pleased to lose 7lbs in 20 days!

When I started back exercising/losing weight I had a 7 week old baby and a Iot to lose. I started on 1200 calories a day and gym 5 times a week. I think I lost 3lbs in the first month.

Now I aim for around 1600 calories a day and workout lots. I'm rarely hungry as I eat enough and I'm still losing, although I don't have a lot to lose now.

cwolfman13

I'm almost at my 10 month mark and I'm down 34 pounds from 232-198...Goal is somewhere in the 160's for now... I have major motivation problems.. I'll lose some weight then maintain for months.. then lose some more. It sucks.

That's actually a nice, healthy, and sustainable way to go about it. If you're maintaining for months, you've obviously learned something and are doing something right. A lot of people lose, then gain, then lose, then gain like a yo-yo. If you can lose some...then take a break and maintain...then lose some more, etc...kudos...you're doing it right.

eep223

I've only lost twelve pounds over about three months. Most of it came off in one big chunk, and I've been floating around the same couple pounds for a couple weeks, though my inches are shrinking.

Honestly, I think it's different for everyone and depends on how you are approaching it. Don't get discouraged. Anything you are doing is helping, you just need to stick with it.

chadraeder3

For exercise I am able to get more physical activity now that the weather has warmed up most of mine is working on the family farm, I do some walking after meals just to get my blood sugar down, a little dumbbell lifting and that is about it for now. As summer goes on my physical activity increases with camping, music fests, and Renascence fair. I am not one for traditional exercises but when winter starts back up I am going to need to figure out something.

carolinedb

I've lost about 60 pounds and it's taken me two years to do so. I've had some backslides and some plateaus, but I also have gotten very concerned with preserving lean muscle mass. That means I eat more. I only put myself in deficit to lose a half pound to a pound a week, simply because it's much more sustainable for me. I tried eating at 1200 calories a day, and even eating back exercise calories, I was constantly starving! I find I can work out harder and have more energy in the day to get everything done if I scale back my expectations, eat a little more and focus on the quality of my food, and take the weight loss nice and slow.

jennsmithers

It sounds like you're not getting enough calories. Particularly if you're as active as you are. Also, a healthy weight loss is 0.5 to 2 pounds per week. It might be that you're body is holding on to calories as you're exercising a lot of not eating enough calories.

maureensimmons92

I try to eat back all my exercise calories. Usually ill make a smoothie or something i deem as "Healthy" problem here is the amount of sugar in the fruit. Though i consider it not as too bad because its not refined sugar.

Espressocycle

First of all, 7 pounds in 20 days is a LOT. It's probably water weight if you are just starting though, so expect it to slow down. You should really aim for losing 1 pound a week. And expect some fluctuations of several pounds from time to time.

Lacyleffel

I have lost 75 pounds in 9 months. I work in IT and also sitdown all day on a computer. I changed my diet and eat a lot of vegies and not pork no beef I exersice about 3 to 4 hours a day so that really helps. You have to commit to completely changing your life style.

Colombianchick29

Everyone is different. You just have to figure out what works for your body. For me, I found out that I can work out all I want, but if I dont eat right then I wont lose weight at all. I have to keep my calories at 1200. I tried to up my calories because I as working out, but gained weight. So far I lost 20 poinds in about 3-4 months. Just worked on my eating habits at first and then integrated work outs, walking, hiking...mostly walking and hiking. I stalled for about 2 months, but realized it was due to my weekend eating out sessions. I cut that out and finally lost the 3 pounds I had been gaining and loosing for the last 2 months. I am now 5 months in to my journey and have lost 25 pounds. My first goal was to loose 30 by July, and im only 5 pounds away.


mY advice is just keep at it, try different things till you find what works for your body. Take your time, dont get impatient...this is something you want to do right, that fits your lifestyle and something you like & makes you feel good, so you can maintain it!

And I agree with everyone above me, 7 pounds in under a month is amazing! I go months with out a loss and even gain a pound or 2 back. I lost big like that in the beginning, then it slowed down.

Lalasharni

I have been year since Jan 1 2013. In that time I have lost 60+ pounds, some of it quickly but now its more slowly. That's ok - a pound a week is good for me.
Just remember, the slower it comes off, the more likely it will STAY off.
Make sure that your proteins are complete as you are veggie. I eat a lot of vegetarian recipes myself, so I know that you are getting good tasty and nutritious food.
Set small goals, first 10, 20 and then 30 lbs etc and dont set time limits. You can get discouraged if things slow down.
I see myself here for at least another 7 months losing, and then ad infinitum maintaining.
Good luck!

diannethegeek

It took me a year to get rid of 55 pounds. 7 pounds in 20 days is terrific progress! That's more than 2 pounds a week.

It's a cliche, but you have to look at this as a marathon rather than a sprint. This has to be a lifestyle change. It's going to take some time, you're going to have good days and bad, and sometimes the scale isn't going to cooperate despite all your hard work. But taking it off slowly is going to help you out in the long run. You won't put it all back on with extra when you stop and you'll be learning healthy tips along the way so you don't return to your old habits when you reach your goal.

dominiqueruns

agreed

davemunger

I lost about 30 pounds in 6 months. I wasn't on MFP and just tended to starve myself if I was getting toward the end of the month and hadn't hit my goal. Then I kind of gradually lost another 10 pounds over about 5 months when I trained for my first marathon. I'm back on MFP now with a goal of losing 10 more pounds. These last 10 have been the hardest but I'm trying to do it the right way, staying fit, lifting weights while keeping up my running. I've lost about 7 pounds in two months. Hope this helps!

HappyElizabeth

20 pounds in 4 months, and I still have ~10 pounds to go. I did the 1200 calorie thing for a while, but found that I didn't lose weight any faster, and my sleep was off. Most of the time I stayed at about TDEE-20%, but now I'm doing TDEE-~10% because I don't have that much to lose and I don't want to compromise muscle.
I would love to have lost faster, but short of doing something unhealthy, this is simply the rate at which my body feels like losing.

staceypunk

Congrats on your weight loss. Seven pounds in that time frame is impressive. Hopefully these comments will help you come to that realization. I lost the bulk of my weight in 5 months. I started at 177 and passed my initial goal of 150 relatively quickly. I ate as MFP recommended, for me it was 1200. I bought a heart rate monitor and entered my calorie burns and ate back 90% of those EARNED calories. I did 30 Day Shred (lost 15 pounds) and then Body Revolution (lost 22 pounds). Those programs just work!

jamiecrick3582

I'm down from 195 in January to 173 as of Friday. I'm close to the same size you are - 5'8". I'm eating 1500 calories a day plus exercise calories. I've been at a pretty steady .5 to 1 lb loss and I don't exercise regularly. You just need to find something you can stick to. I couldn't do 1200 calories a day nor was I losing weight that way. As soon as I upped my calories, I started losing more regularly. Good luck and congrats on your loss so far!

howekaren

I started losing weight in 2007, and I've gotten nearly 90lbs off, but it hasn't been a steady loss by any means. I've lost 50, stalled for a few months, lost another 30, gained back 20, lost 20, stalled again for a few months, lost 20, gained 20 again, recommitted myself and lost 30. Now I'm stalled again for the past few weeks. I am determined this time to keep it all off, and to lose a further 15-20 pounds as well. My downfall is the food aspect. I've been very good about the exercise, but tend to lax a bit with food, especially during the summer months. However, my periods where I fall off the wagon and indulge are getting shorter, and I'm getting better at making healthier choices. It's been a long progress, but slow progress is better than no progress.

You shouldn't be starving. That's not the way to convince yourself to live a healthier lifestyle. That's a way to quickly shed but then regain when you decide you can't take it anymore. This is not a race. Everyone wants to have it gone as quickly as possible, but there are no miracle cures. 90% of weight loss is what you eat. 90% of your health is how you treat it, including exercise. Do it the right way for long term benefits.