HELP not losing weight. Losing motivation

BigBangBeliever

Good morning! I have been on this app for 30 days, logging my diet religiously. I have not lied and I've done my best to measure correctly. I'm trying to lose 50 pounds. I have a goal of 1200 calories a day. I go to the gym 1 to 3 times a week. After 30 days I have only lost 5 pounds. I feel like I'm doing all this work for nothing. How to I lose more weight?

WBB55

You've lost 5 lbs in 4 weeks and you think you're doing it wrong? It sounds like you're doing it absolutely perfectly. Congratulations!

But maybe you need to readjust your expectations of how quickly weight comes off of someone who isn't already obese.

malibu927

You've lost five pounds in a month, which is a great rate for what you have to lose. Keep up the good work!

queenliz99

Five pounds is great!! You don't want to go any faster.

cathipa

Weight loss should be 1-2 pounds per week depending on how much you have to lose. I would congratulate yourself on losing 5 pounds in 30 days! How far are you from your weight loss goal?

kcn2bluesky

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm curious as to how much you expected to lose in 30 days? You've done a great job to lose 5 pounds this month! Keep your momentum going because you are doing great!

BigBangBeliever

I was expecting 2 pounds a week which I figured was about 10 pounds a day. I am a 22 year old female at 5'1 at 175. I started at 181 and my goal is 130. Technically 130 is still "overweight" if you go by bmi. Right now I'm in the "obese category".
Thanks guys, I just feel like I should be losing more.

itsthehumidity

kcn2bluesky wrote: »

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm curious as to how much you expected to lose in 30 days? You've done a great job to lose 5 pounds this month! Keep your momentum going because you are doing great!

I'm guessing she has seen a lot of those magazines at the grocery checkout lines that all have the same type of headline: lose 3 pounds a day! Shred that belly fat and be 15 pounds lighter in a week! Etc.

malibu927

Did it set you to 1200 calories when you chose 2 pounds a week? If so, that's the lowest MFP will give you, which means your goal is too aggressive. A pound a week is better for you to make sure you fuel your body and retain as much muscle as possible.

BigBangBeliever

Lol no, I expected 2 pounds a week for 5 weeks. I have realistic goals, I don't want to be supermodel skinny. I never read those magazines hah

SassyMommasaurus

A lot of different factors go into how fast you'll lose weight. Different people lose weight at different paces, so you may not fall into what the "average" (which really isn't accurate at all and discourages people when they don't meet it) person loses. 5lbs is still a great amount for a month, in fact that is my monthly goal.

seekingdaintiness

BigBangBeliever wrote: »

I was expecting 2 pounds a week which I figured was about 10 pounds a day. I am a 22 year old female at 5'1 at 175. I started at 181 and my goal is 130. Technically 130 is still "overweight" if you go by bmi. Right now I'm in the "obese category".
Thanks guys, I just feel like I should be losing more.

A lot of people have the delusion that fat people lose weight more quickly. It isn't true.

seekingdaintiness

You're doing great by the way It's a long term process. People who lose quickly tend to put it back on quickly, remember that.

BigBangBeliever

Thank you everyone. I'm working on making a work out routine for 3 days a week. Just some days I'm not motivated. I am trying to move away from the scale and over to the tape measure to measure progress as well.

cathipa

I would change your goal to 1 pound per week. This is a more reasonable calorie goal since MFP defaults to 1200 and for most people this is too low especially if you are active.

mplyler512

Maintaining proper diet and hydration while working out is the most important factor at play. If that is happening, then what this tells me is that you lost 5 pounds of fat in the last month, all while maintaining/strengthening muscle and staying hydrated. 5 pounds is a fantastic start! Just think where you will be in the next few months at the same rate.

1smallgirl

Congrats on losing 5 lbs in 1 month. That's great. Remember it took a while to put those calories on. It will take a minute to get them off. You can increase weight loss slightly by burning more calories, but make sure you are looking at your reports and getting in your nutrients.

Zella_11

5 lbs gone--good for you! You are doing everything right. Now, on to the next 5 lbs...

beautifulwarrior18

BigBangBeliever wrote: »

Good morning! I have been on this app for 30 days, logging my diet religiously. I have not lied and I've done my best to measure correctly. I'm trying to lose 50 pounds. I have a goal of 1200 calories a day. I go to the gym 1 to 3 times a week. After 30 days I have only lost 5 pounds. I feel like I'm doing all this work for nothing. How to I lose more weight?

WTF! Since when is losing 5 lbs not losing weight? Hello! You didn't gain 50 lbs in 2 weeks and you sure as hell aren't going to lose it in two weeks!

I would suggest breaking your 50 lb goal up into smaller goals. It seems to me like you're getting overwhelmed by that number. I'm doing my ticker 10 lbs at a time. So right now, my goals is to lose 32 pounds (because I've already lost 23). Once I hit 32 pounds, I'll make it say 40 lbs, and once I hit 40 lbs, I'll make it say 50. Break it into smaller more manageable goals. As I get smaller and the weight gets harder to lose, I'll break it into 5 lb increments.

Until then, CHILL! Losing 5 lbs is better than losing 0 lbs.

JeromeBarry1

BigBangBeliever wrote: »

Good morning! I have been on this app for 30 days, logging my diet religiously. I have not lied and I've done my best to measure correctly. I'm trying to lose 50 pounds. I have a goal of 1200 calories a day. I go to the gym 1 to 3 times a week.

Keep doing it that way. Maybe don't focus on the 50 lb but just worry about the one day in front of you. You got this.

Zella_11

Have patience OP--losing weight takes time Be proud of your loss so far!

cathipa

BigBangBeliever wrote: »

Good morning! I have been on this app for 30 days, logging my diet religiously. I have not lied and I've done my best to measure correctly. I'm trying to lose 50 pounds. I have a goal of 1200 calories a day. I go to the gym 1 to 3 times a week. After 30 days I have only lost 5 pounds. I feel like I'm doing all this work for nothing. How to I lose more weight?

How are your measuring your food? Try to avoid cups/spoons/eyeballing/guessing and use a food scale for the most accurate counts. Also make sure you are logging correctly and avoiding homemade or generic entries.

kc_lea

I read a really great article recently about the idea of your body's "set-point" and how it really is a long-term commitment if you want to change it. In a nutshell: Your body is happy where it is, and it really is a slow process to "re-train" it to be happy at another weight.

So actually, if you lose weight slowly you're more likely to keep it off than if you happen to be "lucky" and drop a bunch of weight really fast. Not only will your body have the time it needs to let go of its old stasis, but also, you've taken the time to build sustainable lifestyle changes, built a new perspective on food, and started exercising consistently.

5 lbs/30 days is awesome. I'd love to see 5 lbs of weight loss, but I also recognize that at the rate I'm going, it'll be another month for me. Good job!

xtina315

seekingdaintiness wrote: »

BigBangBeliever wrote: »

I was expecting 2 pounds a week which I figured was about 10 pounds a day. I am a 22 year old female at 5'1 at 175. I started at 181 and my goal is 130. Technically 130 is still "overweight" if you go by bmi. Right now I'm in the "obese category".
Thanks guys, I just feel like I should be losing more.

A lot of people have the delusion that fat people lose weight more quickly. It isn't true.

I agree my doctor thinks I should have lost 40-50 lbs by now and I started this out in march at 219.

ogtmama

BigBangBeliever wrote: »

I was expecting 2 pounds a week which I figured was about 10 pounds a day. I am a 22 year old female at 5'1 at 175. I started at 181 and my goal is 130. Technically 130 is still "overweight" if you go by bmi. Right now I'm in the "obese category".
Thanks guys, I just feel like I should be losing more.

I'm older than you but started out almost exactly the same. mfp won't allow you to set your controls to a 1000 calorie deficit because you're not big enough...do with that what you will.

ogtmama

Personally, I eat all my calories, then work out and only eat back a quarter of those calories. mfp people will tell you not to lose 2 pounds a week.

BigBangBeliever

Thank you everyone. I'm feeling better about this. I guess I just saw some posts about people losing 100 pounds or more in a year and thought I could do 50 in about 8 months. I appreciate all the responses!!

cavia

5lb in a month is a normal rate of weight loss. Keep doing what you're doing. Keep the focus on losing the next pound and not all the pounds after that. They will add up.

Wicked_Seraph

BigBangBeliever wrote: »

Thank you everyone. I'm feeling better about this. I guess I just saw some posts about people losing 100 pounds or more in a year and thought I could do 50 in about 8 months. I appreciate all the responses!!

Everyone's body is different. You'll drive yourself crazy if you compare your weight loss to someone else's.

I did the same thing you did, fwiw - I was CRUSHED a while back when I was like "wtf dood only a couple of pounds in a month???" It helps to also set goals that have nothing to do with numbers on a scale.

GrnEyes839

I changed up my exercise and found that it worked better. if I can help in any way let me know.

butterfli7o

You're losing, congrats! Keep it up. It will pay off.