getting discouraged... help!

1953Judith

If you are in it for a quick fix, I can understand that you are discouraged.

If you are in it for a comfortable, healthy lifestyle, I'd recommend concentrating on establishing new habits and losing the weight slowly. Many of us have weeks where we have every reason to believe as we step on the scale that we will see weight loss and we don't see it. I recommend that you swallow hard, recommit your energy to a new healthy lifestyle, remember your achievements and goals, use the report function on this site to look at different things such as salt, sugar, etc., decide if you want to tweak anything and then keep on plugging.

This site and so many of the people on it are excellent resources, I commend you for not giving up!

leeannrdh

thank you so much for the positive responses. yes it's week 2 and yes i am discouraged. and thats ok. i will get past it. just had a moment of frustration.

i will open up my diary... i had no idea i could do that! but that's great so others can help!

you guys have made my day knowing that you have been through or are going through the same things!

LorinaLynn

Five pounds the first wee, zero the second, still averages to 2.5 pounds a week which is a huge amount for normal mortal humans (ie, not weight loss tv show contestants) to lose.

Hellbent_Heidi

thank you so much for the positive responses. yes it's week 2 and yes i am discouraged. and thats ok. i will get past it. just had a moment of frustration.

i will open up my diary... i had no idea i could do that! but that's great so others can help!

you guys have made my day knowing that you have been through or are going through the same things!

Just remember, a lifestyle change is a marathon, not a sprint. You certainly didn't gain it all that fast (even though sometimes it feels like we all did!), and its going to take time to come off! Keep doing the right things and you'll see results...this site can be amazing for support and motivation!

engineman312

just took a quick look at your diary for the past two weeks. you didn't log your calories this weekend, and you usually fall very short of your total calorie goals. you should be coming as close as possible to your daily calorie goal. you are already at a deficit, so coming in under by that much is not recommended.

personally, i like to go into my exercise calories to have some more eating room, but i usually don't go and eat all of them. i also like a bit of a stronger breakfast then what you eat. yogurt and tea? EVERYDAY? don't you get bored?

inspirem

I lost 5.6 pounds last week and stupidly stepped on the scale this morning ( 2 days before my weigh-in) No pounds lost yet and I too am feeling a little discouraged because this has been a pattern for me for the last 3 years...I have not been able to lose more than 16 pounds- very frustrating, but here's why: I DON"T stick with it!

I would read success stories so as a way to motivate myself...it would work a "minute or two" and then those success stories would get me down because I wasn't dropping 50 pounds in 4 months (everybody's body works a tiny bit different), eventually I would tell myself "why bother?" and then I would quit trying. So here I find myself starting for the 100th time and I can feel the "sabotager" in me wanting to come out and stop me.

I'm keeping the discouragement at bay only because I have made permanent changes for the good. Water is my friend! I do Zumba 3x a week since April and I haven't lost but the same 5 pounds over and over again; however I have lost 1.5 inches in my waist, almost 2 inches in my hips, my arms are firmer. Exercising is so important and I LOVE Zumba!

Last week I joined MFP and have tracked my food everyday. I am keeping within my calorie goal and discovered that I, in the past was eating way way way to many calories and not moving enough to burn the calories off, I was eating a lot of good healthy stuff but still eating some not so healthy things! What you fuel your body with and how much you eat, matters!

I know what to do, I just need to do it faithfully and consistently! Don't not be discouraged! Fight through the disappointment, eat good whole healthy food 90% of the time and track it to stay on target, exercise more days of week rather than 3, log onto MFP to receive encouragement...be consistent, don't give up, we are not done yet!

M

melianne125

I just checked out your diary. This is going to sound insane but IMO you aren't eating enough. When I eat that far below my cals I do not lose weight even if I have insane cal burns with workouts. Try eating more cals to get closer to your daily limit.

kapeluza

"Overview (why I'm posting this)
Over the course of about 7 months on here, I have seen many people suceed, I have also seen some drop off the map. I expect this is because some succumb to the demon that is temptation, and some to the devil that is dissapointment. I wanted to give a few "heads up"s to both new commers and vetrans to the site. Some may know already, some may not. But either way, if this helps anyone to set more realistic goals in their own head, I feel like it has done it's job.

Phase 1. The start of a brand new day! (or week, or month, or year)
Expectations are sky high, usually so is motivation and intentions. This is where most people lose the most weight. At the start it's not uncommon to see 4 to 8 lb losses per week. The reasons for this are mostly (sorry to disappoint) water weight. You drop excess water quickly, and you can have up to 5 lbs of water weight. The next biggest reason is the fat that is right next to the blood vessels, the stuff that you put on in the last month or three, it will melt like butter usually.

Phase 2. Reality setting in.
At about week 3 to a month or so, people suddenly realize that they are no longer dropping 8, 6, or even 4 lbs a week. This is a crutial phase in your journey. Expect this, it is natural. You have shocked your body by changing both eating habits and exercise routine. Now it has had a little while to become used to the new lifestyle, it's going to compensate. Your body still doesn't believe it's permenant yet, so it will still try to store some fat, so now that it knows how to regulate it's new metabolic levels, it tryies to store fat in earnest. It's not uncommon for people to hit a wall here, no loss for weeks. Expect this as well.

Phase 3. The routine.
At about 2 months or so, your routine is pretty much set, your body is beginning to believe that you really want to STAY the way you are going now. You will start to see more consistant (but lower, usually 1 to 2 lbs a week) loss, also, you should start seeing some muscle tone (depending on how much you had to lose in the first place). If you stop to think, you should realize that you have improved dramatically in your exercise levels. If you do cardio, you should notice how much longer and harder you can work. This is important to realize as it is just as big of an indicator as weight loss. Also, by now you may notice that your clothes no longer fit right. This is also very important. The weight may not be falling off anymore, but you are becomming a smaller person. Weight is arbitrary, if you are building muscle (which your body is doing at a furious pace by now) you won't notice huge losses, but you will notice wholesale changes in the mirror!

Phase 4. Really digging in.
This is where the second wall can happen. You're probably at between 3 and 4 months by now, and if you have gone this far, you feel like you have already suceeded. This is where many people stumble. they are tired of the routine, tired of eating different things from all their friends, limiting their alcohol intake. Basically the shine has worn off. this is when your really need to plant your feet. Maybe change up your exercise routine, make a concentrated effort to find different, but still nutritional food. Talk to people. And examine how far you have come. At this point, no matter how much external motivation you receive, it's all about believing in yourself!

Phase 5. End game.
5 or 6 months in you are probably working on that "last 10 pounds". This can be discouraging for many as it is a slow burn. Remember, your body probably feels like it is where it needs to be, your brain might think you need to lose 10 more, but your body is quite proud of itself now, it feels like it has "Done enough" and it wants to stay RIGHT HERE. The body LIKES to have a little fat around just in case, especially for the ladies (sorry girls, it's just human physiology). If you feel like you still need to lose it, prepare yourself for some guerrila warfare against your body. Design an exercise regimen that is very dynamic, forget the "same thing every day". Make a plan that challenges you both physically and mentally. Make sure you give yourself a day off here and there to just veg. And by all means, remember, muscle burns fat at rest. So get some weight or resistance training involved.
The last 10 may take 3 to 6 months to lose. I know nobody wants to hear that, but it's true. And forget the idea of increasing your calorie deficite, healthy bodies need good nutrition, your body no longer has the fat reserves to handle the large deficites you could when you were 30 40 or 50 pounds overweight. Better to make it a 3 or 400 calorie deficite (NET, please count your exercise calories too!). It may take a bit longer, but your body will like you for it. Plus it feeds those new muscles and keeps them burning fat, keeps your skin healthy (elasticity is important when you want those places that were stretched out to "snap back") and keeps you from getting head aches and depressed.

Conclusion:

this is what I have learned, not just from my journey, but from others as well on here. It saddens me sometimes to see people hit one of these stages and not recognize it for what it is, a part of the process. If we all can have realistic expectations, then we are more prone to win the fight and stay healthy in the long run. Note that some people will hit these stages harder then others, some may take longer, but for the most part, this is the rule that the exceptions will come from."

keiraev

"Overview (why I'm posting this)
Over the course of about 7 months on here, I have seen many people suceed, I have also seen some drop off the map. I expect this is because some succumb to the demon that is temptation, and some to the devil that is dissapointment. I wanted to give a few "heads up"s to both new commers and vetrans to the site. Some may know already, some may not. But either way, if this helps anyone to set more realistic goals in their own head, I feel like it has done it's job.

Phase 1. The start of a brand new day! (or week, or month, or year)
Expectations are sky high, usually so is motivation and intentions. This is where most people lose the most weight. At the start it's not uncommon to see 4 to 8 lb losses per week. The reasons for this are mostly (sorry to disappoint) water weight. You drop excess water quickly, and you can have up to 5 lbs of water weight. The next biggest reason is the fat that is right next to the blood vessels, the stuff that you put on in the last month or three, it will melt like butter usually.

Phase 2. Reality setting in.
At about week 3 to a month or so, people suddenly realize that they are no longer dropping 8, 6, or even 4 lbs a week. This is a crutial phase in your journey. Expect this, it is natural. You have shocked your body by changing both eating habits and exercise routine. Now it has had a little while to become used to the new lifestyle, it's going to compensate. Your body still doesn't believe it's permenant yet, so it will still try to store some fat, so now that it knows how to regulate it's new metabolic levels, it tryies to store fat in earnest. It's not uncommon for people to hit a wall here, no loss for weeks. Expect this as well.

Phase 3. The routine.
At about 2 months or so, your routine is pretty much set, your body is beginning to believe that you really want to STAY the way you are going now. You will start to see more consistant (but lower, usually 1 to 2 lbs a week) loss, also, you should start seeing some muscle tone (depending on how much you had to lose in the first place). If you stop to think, you should realize that you have improved dramatically in your exercise levels. If you do cardio, you should notice how much longer and harder you can work. This is important to realize as it is just as big of an indicator as weight loss. Also, by now you may notice that your clothes no longer fit right. This is also very important. The weight may not be falling off anymore, but you are becomming a smaller person. Weight is arbitrary, if you are building muscle (which your body is doing at a furious pace by now) you won't notice huge losses, but you will notice wholesale changes in the mirror!

Phase 4. Really digging in.
This is where the second wall can happen. You're probably at between 3 and 4 months by now, and if you have gone this far, you feel like you have already suceeded. This is where many people stumble. they are tired of the routine, tired of eating different things from all their friends, limiting their alcohol intake. Basically the shine has worn off. this is when your really need to plant your feet. Maybe change up your exercise routine, make a concentrated effort to find different, but still nutritional food. Talk to people. And examine how far you have come. At this point, no matter how much external motivation you receive, it's all about believing in yourself!

Phase 5. End game.
5 or 6 months in you are probably working on that "last 10 pounds". This can be discouraging for many as it is a slow burn. Remember, your body probably feels like it is where it needs to be, your brain might think you need to lose 10 more, but your body is quite proud of itself now, it feels like it has "Done enough" and it wants to stay RIGHT HERE. The body LIKES to have a little fat around just in case, especially for the ladies (sorry girls, it's just human physiology). If you feel like you still need to lose it, prepare yourself for some guerrila warfare against your body. Design an exercise regimen that is very dynamic, forget the "same thing every day". Make a plan that challenges you both physically and mentally. Make sure you give yourself a day off here and there to just veg. And by all means, remember, muscle burns fat at rest. So get some weight or resistance training involved.
The last 10 may take 3 to 6 months to lose. I know nobody wants to hear that, but it's true. And forget the idea of increasing your calorie deficite, healthy bodies need good nutrition, your body no longer has the fat reserves to handle the large deficites you could when you were 30 40 or 50 pounds overweight. Better to make it a 3 or 400 calorie deficite (NET, please count your exercise calories too!). It may take a bit longer, but your body will like you for it. Plus it feeds those new muscles and keeps them burning fat, keeps your skin healthy (elasticity is important when you want those places that were stretched out to "snap back") and keeps you from getting head aches and depressed.

Conclusion:

this is what I have learned, not just from my journey, but from others as well on here. It saddens me sometimes to see people hit one of these stages and not recognize it for what it is, a part of the process. If we all can have realistic expectations, then we are more prone to win the fight and stay healthy in the long run. Note that some people will hit these stages harder then others, some may take longer, but for the most part, this is the rule that the exceptions will come from."

This is all so true.

bahiyyahjefferson

Don't be discouraged.......... sometimes the body will hold on to weight I don't know why as long as you know that you were doing what you need to do on your end keep it up!!!!!!! You will continue to drop as long as you are honest with what you are doing, and don't get so hung up on the scale we also get rid of inches!!!!!!!!! You want to keep that in mind!!!!!! Good luck and don't give up!!!!!

foremant86

You simply are not eating enough.

When you don't meet your calorie goals you enter an unhealthy deficit where you body thinks "hey we aren't getting enough food to keep all this blood pumping and organs moving" so it holds onto everything it has(fat and all) because it thinks you're stranded somewhere not getting enough food.

Up your calories and your body will let go of the fat, it's honestly that simple.

Eating less than 1,000 calories a day won't get you anything except a messed up and slowwwwwwww metabolism.

along21291

You shouldn't be discouraged. I think you need a little bit of a different mindset. I looked at your diary and most days you have 800-900 calories that you intake. That's too low. You should bump it up to at least 1300/day. I have always had the mindset that I will log most everything and that I hope to lose about 1pound/week. Think about it, if you lose 1 pound/week that's 52 pounds per year. I can still eat what I want but I just have to watch how much I eat. It's sometimes hard because you want it all off right now but if you are in it for the long haul, you can really make a huge change in your life. good luck

leeannrdh

just took a quick look at your diary for the past two weeks. you didn't log your calories this weekend, and you usually fall very short of your total calorie goals. you should be coming as close as possible to your daily calorie goal. you are already at a deficit, so coming in under by that much is not recommended.

personally, i like to go into my exercise calories to have some more eating room, but i usually don't go and eat all of them. i also like a bit of a stronger breakfast then what you eat. yogurt and tea? EVERYDAY? don't you get bored?

no i didn't log in this weekend... had an unexpected death in the family. i definitely stayed on track as far as food BUT didn't record it. even though it takes just a second to do... i really didn't have time.

thank you everyone for the advice! really... this is the first time i have posted anything and i am so encouraged! :-)

jskaggs1971

Stay the course. The human body is a funny beast, and weight loss (at least for me) isn't a gradual decline. Instead, it's a series of fits and starts. I've had a couple of stretches where the scale stayed stationary for a week or two, and then, suddenly dropped 4-5 pounds over the course of several days, without any drastic changes in diet or workout routine.

Was it a plateau? I don't think so, it's just the way things work out for me. I wouldn't even start worrying about it unless you've been stalled out for a month or more.

katcod1522

Youre not eating your base of 1200 cals a day..and your diary isnt consistent. You have to be consistent. More fruits and veggies..all WHOLE foods. I dont see that youre logging your exercise? Chin up..and log log log:)