WHy are the first 5lbs the harded??

jennalor

I think that there has been a lot of good advice given, Could I suggest that you look into get a heart rate monitor or FitBit or Body Media arm band, something that gives you an accurate reading of calories burned. I took a peek at your exercise diary and I think MFP might be a little too generous with the calories burned amount, which if you are eating your exercise calories you may be eating over your intended target.

I know it seems as if people are being tough on you, but there is truth in what many are saying, and a lot of great suggestions given. Best of luck to you!

mikewpg1ca

Truth is there is always a reason why you CAN'T. YOU have to figure out how you CAN.

^^^^This.

Graelwyn75

Don't ask a question if you are just going to ignore the responses and come up with an incessant stream of reasons why you can't do this and can't do that. Just what on earth else do you expect people to be able to offer in way of advice? It has all been covered and you have blown all of it off with silly excuses. Others manage perfectly well in even worse situations than yourself, so I have no sympathy. It is obvious why you are finding it so hard to lose weight. You want it to somehow magically disappear with little to no effort or determination on your part.

I think people are wasting their time attempting to help the op here, as she clearly was looking for some sort of sympathy rather than genuine advice.

needamulligan

We all want you to succeed. That's why we are posting. Trust me, this doesn't get any easier as you get older, have your thyroid fail, go through menopause, have kids, have to care for aging parents or sick children, have an injury, serious illness or arthritis....the list goes on and on. And, at your young age you have all of the good and bad to look forward to! Reread this thread later when you are calmer. Most everyone has your best interest at heart. And, there is a lot of good information here. You just may not be in a place to hear it now. You asked how we lost the 1st 5-10 lbs. We told you and how you can do it too.

Somebody started a thread of inspirational quotes earlier today. There was a post there that said something along the line of "your body is the most accurate calorie tracker regardless of what you write down". Boy is that true! Everybody has cookouts, girls' nights, birthdays. Track the food as accurately and honestly as you can and enjoy the party! We all get stuck sometimes but stick with the plan. MFP works. The tools are here. It's up to you to decide to use them.

healthynotthin

You may not want to hear it but honestly I found that diet is honestly not as big a part of weight loss as exercise - if you can start doing a little interspersed running when you walk and try to walk every day, you may see some awesome results! As for your food diary, I see not much besides good choices. Good luck girl, you got this!

martintanz

We all want you to succeed. That's why we are posting. Trust me, this doesn't get any easier as you get older, have your thyroid fail, go through menopause, have kids, have to care for aging parents or sick children, have an injury, serious illness or arthritis....the list goes on and on. And, at your young age you have all of the good and bad to look forward to! Reread this thread later when you are calmer. Most everyone has your best interest at heart. And, there is a lot of good information here. You just may not be in a place to hear it now. You asked how we lost the 1st 5-10 lbs. We told you and how you can do it too.

You got that right. I am 47 and have lost weight before, and every time I do it, it gets a little harder, and takes longer.
At 15, tired of being pudgy and edging close to 200 lbs, I cut back on the junk food and fries, started martial arts, and road my bike every day. Started in June. By August, I was down almost 40 lbs. Went back to school in the fall looking like a new kid.

Fast forward a few years and I am a college student and my weight creeped up to 235 lbs. My roommate and I decide to do a weight loss challenge, with each of us on a different diet. I based mine on Jane Brody's book, Started in January. I cut out the fried foods and sweets, added vegetable and fruit (even allowed myself a couple of cheats a week like pizza and felafel, take up jogging, and presto, by April I am back down to 180, a weight I hadn't seen since high school.

8 years ago, I lost about 60 lbs, and it took almost 10 months. Even managed to keep it off for 3 years after I stopped losing. I anticipate this time, it will take about that long, maybe longer as I want to lose more weight this time, and hopefully, keep it off permanently.

martintanz

I also peeked at OP's exercise diary. Walking is good, but try to step up the pace to get your heart rate up. I saw you counted things like Wii Tennis and Wii Bowling as exercise. I just remembered, I used to play those with my son every night when he was younger. IMO, MFP is being incredibly generous with the calorie estimates. Don't trust them. All you do is snap your wrist to take a shot in tennis or roll the ball down the lane.

gingah73

"Losing weight is hard. Being fat is hard. Choose your hard."

I hope you find what motivates you to get to the next level.

Good luck!

kr1stadee

I think we had a hair flip..

cleanandlean2012

I have lost 21lbs in 7 weeks - the first week was 7lbs. I eat completely clean and lean - dropped sugar, processed foods, sauces, breads, pasta - meals consist of scrambled eggs, fresh fish and meats with fruit and veggies. Once a week I have a lovely treat on a Saturday evening - usually a bag of luxury choccies! I have not done too much exercise as I injured my back, but I am getting back into it now. I do lose better when I keep up my water levels, that said, I am not brilliant at that in winter and it is quite cold currently, so I am usually attached to a mug of hot tea!!

Wishing you all the best, I know how frustrating it is.

been285

The first 5 lbs were the easiest for me ......... everybody's different..
Keep on trying to do better,,, each meal ,, each day ; it all ads up in the end.
Find the little victories that help you past the doubts and setbacks.
row row row your boat ... bye ,,,,,,,,,,, later

shelbyfrootcake

The first 5lb were my easiest. It's the last 10lb that are proving to be the toughest.

PS. I love a good 'but, but, but' thread.

saraann4

I actually read this whole damn thread and wow! Some people... I'll be nice and just say my little part. I think I lost 4lbs in the first week. The first month was 10lbs. I went cold turkey on a lot of stuff. I switched to low calorie foods and ended up being too low calorie which I think is how a lot of people start off. Some people stick to the original foods that they ate before...some lose, some don't. You just have to play around with food/calorie intake to see where you fit in at. Probably not the best answer, but whatever.

As for the excuses, if you really want it, you will find a way that works for you. Best of luck!

annelucy

Get Ea sports active 2 as you like to use your WII that has real exercise and pushes you progressively harder as you work through the training program.

Add in lots of short bursts of activity throughout the day, for example run up any stairs don't walk, jog on the spot, or squats or jump jacks during ad breaks.

You don't have to do long stints of exercise if you can't find a spare 30-60 mins, but finding and utilising 3-5 minutes is 100% do-able for everyone.

Food - I will get criticised for this but you have to do what works for you - I don't like salads or cold foods so I take pots of oats to work for breakfast just have to tip in boiling water and microwave stuff for lunch - food doctor pots, baxter's chickpea and lentil pots, anything that just means I grab it on the way out and stick it in my bag but aim for well balanced stuff and try and avoid 'low calorie' meals as they are low calorie rather than healthy.

Do try and cook in the evening, there are thousands of meals that can be cooked as fast from scratch as a convenience meal.

bulbadoof

Honestly, I dropped my first hundred without noticeable effort on my part and my boyfriend dropped the first 10% of his body weight in his first month of logging calories. If you are really trying your best and struggling this early, my guess would be that you are suffering from "portion distortion" - you think you are eating much less than you actually are. For example, a full bowl of cereal in my dishes actually makes up 2 portions of the recommended serving, and an average-sized steak is 6 to 8 oz where the default MFP portion size is often 3 oz. Use a food scale or measuring cups to make sure that what you are logging is what you are eating.

AnneC77

I lose weight slowly as well, BUT I still make time for things. I have read this whole thread and I think you need to try and think of solutions to problems. I appreciate that you work and go to college and you have a puppy and this is all hard work and I congratulate you on taking control on this part of your life. But now you need to take control of your health. Why not prepare a packed lunch the night before work? A sandwich takes like 2 minutes to make. Prepare salads and leave them in the fridge, cook chicken breasts and have a healthy pick a mix, get fruit and take it as you want it. There are ways and if you really want this you will make time. I hate exercise (at the moment and I have CFS) but I make sure I walk up the stairs more than needed, I walk my dog (even though I am recovering from Agoraphobia) I use my treadmill, I do push ups on my bannister every time I visit the toilet. There are ways to get around things rather than concentrating on what you cannot do, find things you can and keep it up. I know sometimes I eat Processed food, but that is only when I am exhausted and have no quicker options, a crappy side affect of my illness which means that sometimes I cannot get out of bed! But I cook and prepare soups that I freeze etc etc, I find ways around things, you can too!

indysteve

i just started my self and only lost 4 bout in 3 weeks. No fast foods, If you snack, keep it light if it un-healthy. Fruits and veggie, like carrot sticks or grapes are good snacks. I mainly cut my calorie intake by 1000, and just walk. If I don't know the food I get, i guest-a-mate it and pick the higher calories so i can't go over.

AraLupus

If everyone thinks I am wasting time on here by making "excuses" please stop posting and wasting your time on making comments and you are irritated with.

I've just sat here and read through all 4 pages, just to get a feel for what was being said. And, sweetie, they sound like excuses. In your mind they are not. Like you said, you are simply stating fact, right? But, the problem is these facts all have ways around them.

It's dark and a rough area by the time you get home, so why not get up a bit earlier? You can take your puppy for a walk, even for half an hour. That's an extra half an hour exercise for you, the puppy, and some time together you normally wouldn't have. Then, make lunch. If you get up even 1 hour before you normally do you'll have plenty of time to walk puppy and make a quick sandwich or salad. It takes 5 minutes and eventually it'll become second habit. It's a win for you both, but over a long period of time you'll find that the 3lbs you've struggled to lose will fall off week by week.

The trick to long-term weight loss is making small changes. Just by doing that above suggestion you'll lose quite a lot more calories a week and save a lot of calories/fat/sodium and all the other crap you'd find in premade things.

Instead of reading through the thread and reading what you perceive as people 'slamming' your lifestyle and focusing on nothing else, why not skim through, collect all the advice and really try and adapt it for you?

It's all comes down to 'Are you ready to commit to weight loss?' If the answer is 'Yes' then make small changes that will really help you and still fit around your lifestyle. Every little helps, after all.

purple_tux1

Sorry if any of these posts were harsh, i think if they were, it's only because they care.

If you are determined to lose weight, you will find a way. For me, I tried a bunch of different things that didn't work. I finally found low carb to be my magic bullet. Giving up most grains is what I needed to do. It was scary to make such a big change, but I did.

I think everybody here that's lost weight knows what their motivation is. It doesn't hurt to take some time to really explore your feelings about the whole thing. If you want to start a diet, for instance, because your boyfriend has been bugging you, maybe it's not something *you* really want. Some people are OK with being overweight.

Sometimes that timing's just not right. Maybe 6 months from now will be a better time.

You have to really want it.

It takes extra time to prepare things from scratch vs buying processed foods, but you're worth it.

Good luck!