Stick with it--even when it gets slow...

sartezalb

Medical school can be stressful. Especially if you weren't taking great care of yourself before. So I gained 10-15 lbs in a year and pushed into the overweight BMI range. Oops.

I started trying to lose weight again this summer and started out pretty strong. On a measurement-to-measurement basis, I was losing a brisk ~2 lbs per week.

But now medical school's started back up again, and it seemed the pounds were coming off more slowly. Makes sense--more sitting, less exercise, more stress. So I ran the numbers and--well, if trends hold, my weight loss is about to crawl to a third of its pace.

Of course, I could be very wrong--and I hope so!--but even if I'm not... it's not the end of the world. Losing 3 lbs a month beats gaining a pound by a long, long way. And even if I'm not as on track as I'd like to be, at least I haven't completely fallen off.

So to those of you who are stalling or slowing, don't give up. Adjust your routine if you have to, make changes if you must, but don't give up! If you're losing, you're losing, and the weight you lost won't come back--but only if you keep going forward!

In my case, I may have to consider hitting maintenance weight in 10 months rather than 3, but 10 is sooner than never.

And that, at the end of the day, is the most important thing: not the speed at which you achieve, nor how much you met expectations--but that your goal is sooner than never.

ana3067

If you keep stalling in school, try lowering your caloric intake by ~100 for a few weeks and monitor. If you're overall activity really is less in school (for me it's higher because there's much more walking around), then your maintenance/TDEE needs are lower and thus the deficit needed to lose at the same rate is now different. But otherwise, 3lbs a month IS good, especially if you're nearing your goal weight. I'm 15-20lbs off from goal weight and I know that I'm not going to lose it fast. It can be discouraging, but... I gained the weight slowly, I should just be happy it's coming off!

fitby44

Great attitude! I am a teacher and while I am just as active during the school year as I am during the summer, I find the stress makes losing weight harder. Better to lose slowly than to gain.