How to be paitent with weight loss?

emilieradke

Do any of you ever get worried you won't lose the weight? For me, I'm almost at my goal, but I'm so afraid I'll get there and still have chub in places I don't want it.

I found a good number of calories to eat and days to workout and I've been losing a pound a week. I'm just so worried I won't see any results.

I've only lost two pounds and I see no difference. Logically, I know it'll take more than 2lbs before I see a huge difference...but I'm still worrying anyways.

How do you become paitent with your weight loss journey?

capaul42

It took me years to put on the weight. Why would it come off quickly? That's what got me through and I'm not even close to a patient person lol.

cwolfman13

I focused on the process of being healthier and more fit and didn't make some number on the scale my be all and end all. I realized a couple of things very early on...1) the time is going to pass regardless so I can either maintain the status quot or use that time to better myself...that time is going to come and go either way; 2) losing weight is really just a very small part of the overall process...people treat that as the end goal...like it's some kind of finish line, when in actuality you're just arriving at the starting line of a much more arduous and lengthy journey...there is no finish line, so what's the rush...

Basically, I stopped making some arbitrary number on the scale be my goal and made health and fitness my goal...when you do the things that lean, healthy, and fit people do...well, you tend to become lean, healthy, and fit over time.

I've been at this good livin' thing four years now...almost 3.5 of those years have just been maintaining the healthier me...there is not end...there is not finish line.

peaceout_aly

emilieradke wrote: »

Do any of you ever get worried you won't lose the weight? For me, I'm almost at my goal, but I'm so afraid I'll get there and still have chub in places I don't want it.

I found a good number of calories to eat and days to workout and I've been losing a pound a week. I'm just so worried I won't see any results.

I've only lost two pounds and I see no difference. Logically, I know it'll take more than 2lbs before I see a huge difference...but I'm still worrying anyways.

How do you become paitent with your weight loss journey?

Focus on how you feel. How you gain strength. That makes it easier. Even focusing on the fact that you're now making healthier choices than before is a sign of improvement and is something to be proud of. Everyone has their days where they lose patience, it's part of being human.

SueInAz

I think what helped me the most was realizing that I couldn't visualize weight loss as something with an end goal. Watching calories and exercising regularly is now a part of my life and I'm not going to stop. That took a lot of pressure off.

Honestly? If you don't plan to lose much, unless you're weight lifting, you probably will find that you're aren't completely happy with losing a few pounds. I'm a little less than 5'4" and even on me 5 or 10 pounds isn't that noticeable. It wasn't until I started lifting weights that I started getting the results I wanted. Lifting makes you tighter at the same weight.

RoxieDawn

Stop worrying. Worry = stress. Stress is not good to be carrying around when trying to lose weight..

Patience is all you need. And honestly you need to give this 3 - 4 weeks before you start being concerned that the process is not working. Which if you are following a calorie deficit everyday its working.

If you still have chub when you get to goal, consider body composition changes as in lifting weights.

CasperNaegle

I'm sure everyone worries from time to time. Even when you know you are dong things right and you don't drop like you might expect just stick to it. There is no linear path to weigh loss. The body will bounce, water weight changes, menstrual cycles affect things.. If you weigh and track all your food and you know what your calorie burn is you will lose weight, just stick with it.

Evamutt

I still can hardly believe I'm loosing weight yet I'm hardly ever hungry & have calories left over. I feel like there's something wrong, it can't be this easy

vanmep

I decided to use MFP for a period of one year regardless of outcome. That helps me on the weeks when I don't notice any weight loss and takes the choice out of it for me. I rarely weigh myself because I am interested in living healthy and I love how I feel better.

endlessfall16

It comes down to being confident, knowing, with certainty, the process you are doing. You are worried because you feel it's a crapshoot for you.

I got the same worry at the start, but this time around I did a proof of concept and after that I felt settled and never looked back. For me now, it's like if I do A, I get B. No two ways about it. Wt control is as sure as sunset and sunrise

elisa123gal

Look around at everyone at the gym. I do that. I see people with 100 or more pounds to lose.. old people.. young people. Super fit older guys.. young fit guys and gals. it gives me perspective that we are all just on a journey to be our best. When you focus on the spectrum and it seems silly to think worrying and fretting would make anything happen faster or better than just showing up and doing your best to make fitness routine and enjoyable.

ashcky

I make mini goals for myself and some that have nothing to do with weight loss to remain patient. The overall goal is my goal weight but smaller goals help me stay focused and on track

AliceDark

Remember that the time is going to pass anyway. It can either pass while you're losing weight, or pass while you're staying the same or even gaining.

jgnatca

I set up weekly goals. I suggest non-weight goals like achieving a new weight or increased reps on a weight lifting routine. Task goals are fully under your control.

x3livox

I used to worry like that a lot at the beginning of my journey, but I just reminded myself to stick with it and do everything right and the weight would take care of itself. And it has so far. In fact I thought it would feel like forever, but so far eating better and excercising have not felt like such a chore.

SusanMFindlay

I like to have mini-goals within my overall goal. e.g. I am going to be super happy when I can wear my wedding ring again - but that should hopefully be many pounds before I reach my goal weight.

CoffeeNCardio

I don't get worried I won't loose, cause you can't really screw up a law of physics. I'm gonna lose as long as I eat fewer calories than I burn, that's spoken for. Done deal. I do worry I'm gonna get lazy about it and screw myself by not logging accurately or moving enough. I worry that it'll be so much easier to not put in the effort so I won't stick to it. On the upside I don't handle failure well at all, so crippling anxiety generally keeps the aforementioned from happening.

trigden1991

If you are worried about how you will look at a certain weight, why not change your goal to how you look in the mirror. Everyone is fatter and has less muscle than they think!

duddysdad

trigden1991 wrote: »

If you are worried about how you will look at a certain weight, why not change your goal to how you look in the mirror. Everyone is fatter and has less muscle than they think!

This is good advice. Also, just go with how your body looks to you, but be careful and don't lose too much and become underweight. Our minds can make us look fat, even if we aren't. Ask a close friend what they think you look like, they will probably be able to tell you better than you can by looking in the mirror.

canadianlbs

emilieradke wrote: »

How do you become paitent with your weight loss journey?

i got more interested in the weight i was lifting than the weight i was losing

oolou

I'm bookmarking this one. Lack of patience is one of my flaws and when I hit the three or four months marker into a diet I've tended to waver in the past. But lots of food for thought here. Thank you all.

CattOfTheGarage

You seem very anxious about the aesthetics, as if your expectation is that you will look amazing, and if you don't it'll be a big disaster. Why the stress? It's unlikely that weight loss will make you look perfect, you probably will have chub in a few places, and even if you don't, you'll imagine you do. But you will still have gained so much, in terms of health, in terms of clothes fitting, in terms of the stuff you'll be able to do that extra weight would have restricted you from doing. You can always get strength training to tone up if you're unhappy with how you look, but try and look at the weight loss as an end in itself, a great achievement with so many great benefits. Not many people manage it. You did (or you will, and soon!)

Unknown

This content has been removed.

aubyshortcake

jgnatca wrote: »

I set up weekly goals. I suggest non-weight goals like achieving a new weight or increased reps on a weight lifting routine. Task goals are fully under your control.

Aaron_K123

Weight loss (or lack thereof) has never scared me personally, but I'm also not the most patient person. Times I have lost weight I've generally set myself a bit of a deadline because the motivation has typically been an event in my life. In otherwords, get lean before I propose, get lean before I get married, get lean before my children are born etc etc. On some level I realize weight loss is more likely to settle into maintenance at a healthy weight if you are patient and not overly aggressive or motivated by a particular event afterwhich you lose focus, but it is hard to motivate based on nothing for me.

Golbat

I guess this is where I'm lucky to be older. I don't care if I'm not perfect when I'm done. I just want to be healthy and live longer.

Fursian

As for not seeing much change, some people take progress pictures and body measurements, each month or so. Visual changes can be hard to witness, so data can help here.