Great discovery on taking it slowly

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cherys
cherys Posts: 387 Member
in Motivation and Support
I've just started (again) and posted asking about how people cope with the weakness and dizziness that accompanies weight loss, which always makes me give up. I was amazed when lots of people said they had never had this experience. It made me realise I was doing it wrong, and should try for a steadier weight loss of just 1 lb a week. I just checked my diary and discovered that if I aim for that, I'll reach my target weight on my birthday next year! That feels like a good motivation for taking it slow and steady. It feels like a long time away, but better that than dropping out and ending up another 10lbs heavier on my birthday next year!

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  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
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    My weight loss started well when I took up running and started paying attention to what I ate. I lost 20 of the 30lbs I have to lose.

    I haven’t really lost in the last year. This is because I have taken my eye off the ball in terms of eating, but have also started to focus more on the fitness side. I’m all about the strength of muscles, losing body fat and being able to run further faster and up more hills. To do that, I’ve realised I need to fuel myself. So ‘losing weight’ has taken a back seat. It’ll happen even slower but I know now it’ll happen in time.

    And in the meantime I’ll be the badass superhero I want to be!!
  • PDXShannon
    PDXShannon Posts: 20 Member
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    girlinahat wrote: »
    My weight loss started well when I took up running and started paying attention to what I ate. I lost 20 of the 30lbs I have to lose.

    I haven’t really lost in the last year. This is because I have taken my eye off the ball in terms of eating, but have also started to focus more on the fitness side. I’m all about the strength of muscles, losing body fat and being able to run further faster and up more hills. To do that, I’ve realised I need to fuel myself. So ‘losing weight’ has taken a back seat. It’ll happen even slower but I know now it’ll happen in time.

    And in the meantime I’ll be the badass superhero I want to be!!

    My weight gets stuck all the time. I mean stuck for months. My body will build muscle rapidly when I take on a new activity. My clothes sizes go down even when my weight doesn’t though. The more muscle you have, the more energy your body will burn in the long run. Your work will pay off in weight loss later, but I bet it’s already paying off in strength and endurance and how compact you are. Congrats on your commitment to fitness! You are a total superhero.
  • sksk1026
    sksk1026 Posts: 213 Member
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    Your new approach sounds great! I've been on mfp for about 6 weeks and started with awesome weight loss where I was thinking "Skinny by Xmas. Woohoo. What took me so long to start?" Well, I got ahead of my skis. I ate more and started losing and gaining the same 2 pounds. I realised I have to reeducate myself about eating and find a way to eat well forever. The forums have been so helpful - I'm making small, manageable changes. I'm at ihop this morning eating a 400 calorie breakfast, thinking "I can live like this". And I just said goodbye to those 2 pounds and more.
  • sssgilbe
    sssgilbe Posts: 89 Member
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    sksk1026 wrote: »
    Your new approach sounds great! I've been on mfp for about 6 weeks and started with awesome weight loss where I was thinking "Skinny by Xmas. Woohoo. What took me so long to start?" Well, I got ahead of my skis. I ate more and started losing and gaining the same 2 pounds. I realised I have to reeducate myself about eating and find a way to eat well forever. The forums have been so helpful - I'm making small, manageable changes. I'm at ihop this morning eating a 400 calorie breakfast, thinking "I can live like this". And I just said goodbye to those 2 pounds and more.

    If you read the threads where members post their weight loss charts, the first month or two always looks incredible. It's the long slog of months 3 through xx that are the test. That's when those NSV's are so helpful.

    My latest NSV: my grocery store bills are 50-70% less than pre-MFP because I'm eating that much less food. A bag of chips now lasts a month instead of 2 days, I eat one good chocolate treat a day instead of 6, and weighing my salad as I build it keeps the grated cheese to 1 oz. instead of a handful and the dressing to 2 Tbsp instead of a glug. For those days when the weight chart looks seismic, I can count my extra $$s.

  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    When I started in early 2016, I chose the 0.5 lb per week goal. No, not because I was all wise, but because I figured it would give me the highest calorie target to try to stay under. I knew me well enough to know that hard isn't the way I'm going to do it.
  • cherys
    cherys Posts: 387 Member
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    girlinahat wrote: »
    My weight loss started well when I took up running and started paying attention to what I ate. I lost 20 of the 30lbs I have to lose.

    I haven’t really lost in the last year. This is because I have taken my eye off the ball in terms of eating, but have also started to focus more on the fitness side. I’m all about the strength of muscles, losing body fat and being able to run further faster and up more hills. To do that, I’ve realised I need to fuel myself. So ‘losing weight’ has taken a back seat. It’ll happen even slower but I know now it’ll happen in time.

    And in the meantime I’ll be the badass superhero I want to be!!

    To be honest, what you've just described is what I'm really after. A strong, toned, fit, muscular body that can run up hills and is full of energy. If I am never as skinny again as I was in my twenties I don;t really care. I just want to feel like that badass superhero you describe!

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