"Slow" loss despite doing everything right? DON'T BE FED UP

MzFury

I am regularly fed up that I seem to lose weight at a much slower pace than all the metrics suggest should be the case. Like, maybe 2 pounds a month, at a pretty significant deficit (1600 - 1800 calories a day, I'm 5'8" and over 180 pounds) eating high quality foods in good balance, and working out pretty damn hard most days a week - I aim for 45 - 60 mins total, minimum 5 days, including resistance/circuits, intervals and steadier-state cardio.

I'm also nearly 38 and well aware that I have also got a history of not gaining weight very quickly, or at all, either, at times when I think I will - I sense that my body is very committed to its stasis and that as I get older this will just be harder to fight. I don't really struggle with wanting to "blow it all" when I see no scale progress - I like living the way I do, and the food I eat, and the exercise I do - but it can be disheartening!

So over time I've kept track of my measurements to check my progress, and these have definitely been shrinking, and not reflected in the weight loss - I SERIOUSLY recommend you do the same if you have similar experience to mine.

Next, and this isn't a recommendation, but perhaps encouragement, I got myself a body fat composition monitor (with hand grips, about $65 discounted on Amazon, well-recommended model) just to SEE what it would have to say, since I only really care about dropping fat and definitely don't want to lose muscle. On a day-to-day basis the fluctuations (same time and conditions) in measurements seem pretty random, but after using this for 19 days, the thing is telling me that I've dropped just over 3 pounds of fat to my 1.8 pounds of total weight, and put on about .8 pounds of skeletal muscle (which it says it's measuring, as opposed the remainder of your body weight from the fat). This is super encouraging, and to think I'm dropping a little over a pound of fat a week is really all I wanted to know.

Since I don't fully trust the device, I am not really recommending it, but it's very encouraging to me this morning, and I hear other people out there groaning about very slow weight loss, too. So if that's you: really truly "doing everything right" and really not seeing a lot of scale movement (but presumably inch loss) - maybe you'll find a little encouragement in my experience as well, and it might be worth getting something like this in case it gives you similarly encouraging results...

NiciS72

I would also add that if you can find a Dr. that has one of the expensive scales that do this, you should. Mine has one and it always helps to know that 75-90% of what I lose in a month is all FAT!!!!!

loopie2534

I really appreciate both of your posts because I was feeling a little discouraged this morning after weighing-in......I had really good results my first week, but my second week when i kicked my butt in cardio I didn't lose any weight This helped put my head back in the game! Keep up the hard work ladies!!!

Nikkie_too

Nice alternatives for when we feel stuck. Thanks for sharing!

NiciS72

Sometimes when you ramp up the exercise or change your routine women will retain more water weight (for your muscle repair). Don't despair. I highly recommend measuring yourself every month at a minimum as this will truly show you that you're work is not going in vain!

Keep on truckin'!

zwayny

I would love to lose fat and build muscle. I lost some weight in the past 2 months but it all came from controlling my eating habits. I use the WII platform to check my weight at least 3 times a week and the results sometimes fluctuate or do not make sense. Oh well

MzFury

Glad this was a good topic to post... Yes, scales are weird, definitely keep up the measurements, and start adding in some more challenging activity on top of dietary controls (to zwayny) - the benefits are sort of magically worth it - not just inches going away, but feeling new levels of physical power! I joke not. I advocate near-daily self-butt-kicking as far as any human being is able - you'll be nothing but glad for it.