am i wanting too much???

starting0vern09
starting0vern09 Posts: 79 Member
edited October 1 in Motivation and Support
i see these amazing success stories and it gives me hope. it also makes me a little sad. i know there is no quick weight loss solution but it just takes so long to see a result. my total weight loss since before i started mfp is about 17 lbs. i guess i want too much. i want to see it on the scale and have those nsv. Im one of those that i can see the scale is moving down SLOWLY but it still changes nothing except that number. My clothes fit no different. I dont feel any better. I want that number to actually mean something so that i can see it somewhere besides on that digital piece of equipment on my floor. so Am i wanting too much?:indifferent:

Replies

  • yoopergirl74
    yoopergirl74 Posts: 8 Member
    Have you tried measuring inches? A dear friend of mine struggles with not losing pounds but everyone can see she's losing weight. She went to the doctor and was measured and she lost 4" in her waist. She was ecstatic. Maybe that's what's going on with your body too. It's SO frustrating when we don't see any progress with the numbers. Hang in there!
  • LessMe2B
    LessMe2B Posts: 316
    It will make a difference, just stick with it. I had to lose 25 pounds before my clothes fit better, but after that I had a noticeable difference about every 5 pounds. It WILL happen, I promise, just stick with it. :smile:
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
    I took a quick peek at your food diary, and I wanted to share a little bit with you. I get excited when I see -0.4 on the scale, because that means it IS moving, even though it's slow.

    17 pounds is a huge deal! I know it's slow --but that just means it will stay off in the long term. :-)

    My biggest "NSV" is the amount of energy I have from changing my diet, and from looking at your food diary, I think you would benefit from incorporating more fresh fruits and veggies into what you eat. Once I started doing that, they started taking the place of other things (sugary drinks, fried things, etc.), and my energy levels sky-rocketed. Plus, they are so low cal. A whole tomato is like 16 to 22 calories.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    No, but you are not looking at the big picture. Just think where you will be in a year if you log on everyday, educate yourself on healthy eating, read lables and stay within your goals. Make your health your HOBBY! You just have to think before you reach and find something to occupy your time. Get a good book, log on here and talk to the community or just take a walk. It took a long time to put on all the weight and it will take time to take it off the right way so you don't have to ever do it again. Good luck.
  • natskedat
    natskedat Posts: 570 Member
    I agree with measuring inches. And 17 lbs??? That's a 6 month old baby you've lost!!! It's happening, albeit slowly. Be patient! But yes, take measurements and keep doing whatever you're doing. It's working and your body is loving you!
  • check this out it took 70 pounds before any one actually notice i had lost weigh! so hang in there. i stated at 323 no way did i even dream i could get to 135 ever. so dream it want it it possible! (hugs)
  • 3trees
    3trees Posts: 71 Member
    When I feel frustrated with my rate of progress (I generally lose a pound a month!) I remind myself that I did not gain the weight fast (I would have noticed - lol). So, if it comes off slowly too, that's OK. I'm headed in the right direction. It is happening and it will happen if I stay focused. Also, the weight I've lost slowly is staying off, which is the best feeling for me. Good luck!
  • marialynnporter
    marialynnporter Posts: 95 Member
    I don't think you are wanting to much. You lose water weight at first and you might be losing the weight in your face and arms first. Then you will start feeling and seeing it in your belly area. Every one is different. Don't ever give up! Keep doing it. You will get your goal. And have you been working out? If not do some walking it will help. Cardo is great for losing the weight. Or go swimming! Half hour of none stop swimming is great! You burn so much calories and tone up muscles. :) it will help but it takes time. You didn't gain the weight over night so you will not lose it all over night. We only wish we could haha
  • no ur not wanting too much...its natural to feel like that, no matter how much u read about taking it slow. i feel the exact same way, as i started about a month and a half ago, but the weight isn't really shifting, and my clothes dont feel any loser, but i keep telling myself to just keep trying. if i dont lose weight now, i'm only going to be unhappy in the future n still overweight. every day that u exercise and give ur body the nutrition it needs, is one step better than u were doing before. so my advice would be just to think of the long term, n that u r helping ur body in many more ways. n i love mfp because it makes the calorie intake so much easier to keep track off, and i know i'm not alone.
  • DM139
    DM139 Posts: 1
    Congrats on 17lbs! That is amazing!!!!!! Keep it up!
  • rachmaree
    rachmaree Posts: 782 Member
    Hey there :)
    I had a little look at your food diary, and it seemed about a week ago you were eating a bit better than the past few days? I noticed some pizza, taco bell, processed foods in there...Try to eat more whole foods, fresh vegetables and fruit, drink lots of water, and try to limit the soda. I did notice you were making some good choices, though, it seems you are on the right track!
    And I would seriously try another method of monitoring your progress- the scale doesn't tell the whole picture. 17pounds is something to be proud of, you're on your way! Take some pics, and measure yourself.
    Good luck!!
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    I can relate to that. Especially when I see people losing at a much faster rate than I. It can be discouraging. When I feel that, I just have to log off MFP for a while.
  • kimi131
    kimi131 Posts: 1,058 Member
    First of all, 17 lbs since July is AWESOME!!! Congratulations!! I've lost 16 since the beginning of June, so you're actually doing better than me. Please know, that 17 lbs is something to be PROUD of!!! There are people, you probably even have friends and family, who aren't really trying to lose weight but think about it. They would love to say they had lost 17lbs but they don't even know how to begin. But you, you have already began!! Remember how far away and daunting 17 seemed in the beginning? And now you are here!!

    I know at 12lbs I was feeling a bit like you're feeling. I kept seeing everybody else's amazing posts and felt like 12 wasn't much. And then I reminded myself that 12lbs is 12 lbs, but it is also more than 12 lbs. It represented all of my hard work, healthy choices, workouts, inches lost, good days, bad days, lifestyle changes. Remind yourself of those things when you start to get discouraged. Look at all the things you have changed since you began.

    Hang in there! I promise you will get there! You are doing fabulous!!
  • salmanajmal
    salmanajmal Posts: 93 Member
    same was the case with me i had lost only 2kgs but i was told on a couple of occasions that i was looking slimmer :P
  • gbelltx
    gbelltx Posts: 142
    Although weight loss is part of a healthy lifestyle. Go to a doctor check out your numbers, blood pressure, heart rate, sugar cholesterol. I am with you on wanting to see things happen overnight, but it took several years for me to put it on and any drastic changes means depriving your body of some of the nutrients you need which can change a scale but be worse overall for your health.

    Weight loss is a marathon and not a sprint; it’s not about how fast you get out of the blocks but how consistent you stay over the long haul.

    Feel free to add me.. You can do this!!
  • wickedcricket
    wickedcricket Posts: 1,246 Member
    take your measurements. your clothes are fitting better it's just subtle so you're not noticing. I've lost 13 lbs & some clothes are getting loose (granny panties) Do you have 'tight' clothes in the back of your closet? I pulled out some things I haven't been able to wear and guess what!? I'm not losing drastically, haven't gone to a smaller size yet but my clothes aren't tight anymore and I actually look forward to getting out of bed - that's something.
    It does take time. Don't under estimate that 1lb loss. That pound brought friends when he came to stay - if I have to evict them one at a time, that's what I have to do.
    If it weren't for MFP, I probably would have gotten discouraged losing 1-1/2 lbs at a time. But here, I can see THEY ADD UP! Just like when they came on, they add up going off and I am going for it.
    Look at it this way, where are you gonna be in a year? This time next year, I want to be healthy and fit - I don't really care what size.
    I celebrate every pound gone, even if nobody can tell - I'm just glad to be rid of them and this time it's FOR GOOD!
  • SarahRuth♥
    SarahRuth♥ Posts: 609 Member
    What helps me when I don't see the changes, and even when the scale isn't moving for me (like now), is to notice every little indication of progress. Everything from taking measurements to noticing when a hill that I used to think was difficult to tackle on my bike suddenly seems easy. Pay attention to how your clothes fit, notice when you can walk/run/bike further and longer without being out of breath. When I started this in January I would get winded going for a mile walk with my co-workers. One of my co-workers walks so fast, and I would be so out of breath just trying to keep up. Now I can manage that mile without slowing him down and have a conversation through the entire walk. Every little indication of improvement in your overall health is something to celebrate. It doesn't all happen at once, and it doesn't happen as fast as we would like, but if you stick with it long term it will happen!!
  • I think we would all like to see more immediate results, but it just doesn't work that way. I find, however, that I do feel better when I drink the water & eat more raw fruits & vegetables. Stepping up the exercise also helps the way I feel and might make the difference in how clothes fit. That will come, just don't lose sight of the long term goal....You will be glad you toughed it out.
  • starting0vern09
    starting0vern09 Posts: 79 Member
    thanks everyone for the suggestions, words of encouragement, and all if ur support. this is y i love mfp. thanks again. hope everyone has a blessed day
  • sister_bear
    sister_bear Posts: 529 Member
    I've learned that the physical changes are almost secondary to the mental changes. I've been at this since February and I still feel the same as you most of the time. I've lost 45lbs and I still feel this way.

    In the midst of changing my diet/exercise habits, I'm also having to change my thinking and this is the hardest challenge of all I've found. Passing on a donut has gotten easier and easier, but how I think about myself is still a challenge. I know this is stupid too, because I've come a long way, but it's so hard to let go of negative thought patterns and that self-critical dialogue that's been in my head for so long.

    I try to celebrate every small success (like passing on the donut). I'm also blessed to have a strong support network ready to cheerlead me when I feel like I'm falling on my face. My friends on this website are amazing also. I don't know if they know how much their words of support and encouragement have meant to me so far.
  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
    I started out at 330. I had to lose about 50lbs before I went down a size and even then it was from a 5X to a 4X. I had to lose 40 more pounds to go from a 4X to a 3X/24 on bottom and a 2X/22 on top. Some 24s are comfortable, some are loose.

    If you're 24 years old and following the calories set by MFP and watching your sodium (this is a BIG issue), you should be able to drop 2lbs a week quite easily. If you're not, you might want to consider getting blood work drawn at your doctor's to check for PCOS and thyroid issues. To be frank, you probably should get a full medical workup and blood draw anyhow. I go in every 3 months to check with my doctor who monitors my progress.

    Ultimately though, even if you do everything right, you're going to have slow downs and you need to figure out how you're going to cope with those before you go much further. For me, it's remembering that time will pass whether I want it to or not and a year from now I'm going to be 41 whether I like it or not... how FIT and HEALTHY I will be at that date is the one thing I CAN control so that is what I focus on.

    I have a MFP friend who started the same time that I did and she was always a few pounds ahead of me on the lost ticker until she got a new job and fell off the wagon. She's now at 31lbs lost (which isn't bad at all) while I'm at 91. Selfish as it sounds, I don't want to be the one looking at another friend's profile months from now and thinking "Wow, if I'd only stuck with it I'd be there too."
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