Frustration

losingweightfindingme
losingweightfindingme Posts: 109 Member
in Motivation and Support
This week has just been insanely frustrating to me. I'm into week 3 of this "lifestyle change" and everything seems to have slowed down. I am down 8 pounds since my New Year's weigh in and I'm on week 2 of actually watching what I eat religiously and exercising here with MFP. I just don't feel like anything has been happening. I think it hit me how slow this road will be. Usually I weigh in mid-way through my week for a status check and see some change in the scale, but this week I've yet to see any change on the scale. I'm trying to keep my NSV's in mind (better fitting clothing, more energy, etc) but I'm just SUCH a slave to the darn scale. I'm also 0.5 lbs away from finally breaking through the 200 lb mark. The big 200 lb milestone is just sitting there on the horizon taunting me and it seems like it's so close yet so far away. The first 2 weeks back on a real diet plan were no problem at all and it seemed to melt off. This week seems like I'll be working my tail off for every ounce I lose (if I lose) when I finally weigh in on Thursday morning. I'm just so afraid that after all my hard work this week I'll just get more frustrated if I don't see a loss and will revert to my old ways. My diet is going well but I'm actually having trouble eating all of my calories. I'm just not hungry for most of my meals. It seems like so much extra work this week. I'm trying so hard to remind myself of my success so far. I have lost almost 30 lbs since my heaviest...it took me a couple of years to lose that much. I'm just so ready to get this weight off.

Anyone else been there? I know I can't be alone.

Replies

  • RobinC37
    RobinC37 Posts: 242 Member
    Big hug to you! I know how frustrating it is, so here is a challenge. Do everything you are doing right now but ditch the scale until Feb 20. Right now I'm guessing your body is going through a huge change. It's saying "WTF, lost some weight, gotta figure out what's going on." Your freshly worked muscles are probably holding on to some extra water. Just be patient and keep on going! I bet in a month you won't be shocked by the loss on the scale because you will already know from your NSVs. 200bs is taunting me, too. So close, yet so far away. But every time I weigh in, I weigh a lower number than I have ever weighed before and that is a great victory for me! Feel free to add me as a friend. I'm on here a lot!
  • Clauduchinno
    Clauduchinno Posts: 26
    I'm with you!! It's hard as hell to stay on the same path for such a long time.

    I think what we really need to realise is that we're helping out our bodies so much, and just keep looking at the end of the tunnel which will depict a healthier and sexier us.

    xx
  • losingweightfindingme
    losingweightfindingme Posts: 109 Member
    Thanks hon! I appreciate it!
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    8 pounds since January 1? I am jealous!
  • keren22
    keren22 Posts: 18
    Don't be a slave to the scale, for one thing. That number does NOT define you. A better measure is how you clothes fit, how you feel.
    it is a journey. We don't' gain weight overnight, so it won't go away overnight! Just stay the path.....consistency works! the rate you are losing pounds at is a healthy one - 1 to 2 lbs a week. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! Do your best, and forget the rest :smile:
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
    Most people, statistically will quit a new diet within about four weeks.

    I think it's because it is too easy to get worried about the number on the scale. If this is a new lifestyle change, try not to think of it as something that has to happen right away. Weight loss is not 100% predictable and these changes do not always go on schedule. But all of them - every single one - will happen if you keep on track for life. I gained four pounds when I started working out, and it horrified me. But it was probably my body holding onto water weight because I shocked it by exercising. I was doing the right thing, with no results! I also stayed at the same weight for over a month at one point, and I disliked what I saw in the mirror for a long long time. Weight loss is a slow path, but so worth it. Maintenance is the best part, but it takes FOREVER to get there! Just do the right thing most of the time, try to stay within calories, and I promise you will win this journey.

    P.S. 8 pounds in one month is an amazing achievement! You are already well on your way to goal!
  • losingweightfindingme
    losingweightfindingme Posts: 109 Member
    Thank you all so much for the words of wisdom and support. It's so easy to be our own worst critic...and I am definitely completely critical of everything I do. I'm horrified that I let myself hit this weight and I am working so hard to make up for my past indiscretions. I've still got 3 more months before I do another set of measurements so it's hard to "gauge" where I am sitting and how I am doing without the scale...which has always been the most evil of enemies. Thank you all! You are all such beautiful people!
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Buy a tape measure. Yes, it was discouraging when I started with it. But wow those inches came off faster than I ever thought they would.

    And I'm so happy I started this. Keep at it and you'll do fine.
  • losingweightfindingme
    losingweightfindingme Posts: 109 Member
    I've actually already got a tape measure. I did my measurements again at the beginning of the year (after 6 months) and I'm doing them every 3 months. At my New Years' measurements I was down in inches (well, sometimes quarters of inches) all over...but I knew I would be because I had lost over that 6 months. I'm sure when I re-do measurements again in April I will be down...as my body feels different and my clothes are fitting differently. I've just got SO far to go so any slow-down in progress can get discouraging.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    If you started any exercise program or have started getting more exercise your body might be holding onto several pounds of water weight. It uses it for repairs and there is just no telling when it will come off. It can hang around awhile.

    Weigh and measure your food to make sure you aren't going over into maintenance by mistake.

    Get the best HRM you can afford and even so if you do this for several more weeks and notice no loss don't trust it, they can be wildly inaccurate, especially for women.

    As others have said, do measurements, photos, and go by how clothes fit as well as the number on the scale.

    Even with all that, I'm sorry to say this doesn't get easier as far as the speed of weight loss. It gets harder! You have to have patience. I struggle with that every day and in the past impatience has caused me to throw up my hands and go on week or even month long pigout fests that of course just slowed me down more. Don't do that to yourself! Keep going no matter how slow the going gets.
  • Crookey21
    Crookey21 Posts: 311 Member
    dont let the scale discourage you. you are obviously doing something right if you have lost some lbs, even if its not as much as u hoped. this does take a while to get used to. keep at it, focus one day at a time, and before u know it...u will be able to do more than you could before. and remember...this is for life...ur life aint over yet!
  • AllergicToExercise
    AllergicToExercise Posts: 436 Member
    First off, you've lost 8lbs in 3 weeks - that's fantastic!

    Secondly, if the scales are discouraging you and throwing you off track then hide them. Ask your partner/family member to remove the battery or whatever and only to give it back to you after a month. That way you won't be influenced by the numbers and will continue to put in the great effort that you've been putting in. Any money, in a month you'll see a great difference and that'll give you a huge boost.

    Another thing is try not to think too long term. Break it up into smaller goals so it doesn't feel like you have such a mountain to climb and each goal seems achievable.

    Best of luck! :smile:
  • faireplay
    faireplay Posts: 126
    It's only one week in many to come. If you do not lose this week, it could be due to many reasons....sodium, hormones, hidden calories or inaccurate calorie counting, over estimating calories burned. It is a number on the scale, it is not the only measure of your improvement. Every day, every meal, every workout is step towards your improving health. Keep doing what you know is right and the scale will eventually reflect your effort but in the mean time ask yourself not whether you are thinner than last week but if you are healthier.
  • alasin1derland
    alasin1derland Posts: 575 Member
    Speaking as an experienced yo yo dieter, giving up when my efforts didn't show on the scale, an MFP member posted something simple that changed my mindset forever. If you are counting calories honestly and you know you are eating at a deficit, you don't have to worry if the scale goes up. It can't possible be "fat" gain. There are so many things that make the scale fluctuate. Excess sodium, TOM, muscle repair, waste, whatever. Who cares why. I am so meticulous about logging everything so I can be unbelieveably confident if the scale goes up I know its not due to "fat" gain. I trust the process and wait for my whoosh. Thats when the excess water leaves and I lose 3 pounds a couple weeks in a row instead of 2 or 1. I chose to eat at maintenance through the holidays. My diet for the first time in a LONG time included way too much sodium. Scale said I gained 5 lbs. I knew for sure it was water weight because I ate to maintain, not to gain, which was proven the week after the holidays as the scale started going down daily 3 days after getting back on track. Best of luck.
  • 1two3four
    1two3four Posts: 413 Member
    When I first started this more than a year ago I had a monthly weigh-in, I now weigh-in bi-monthly and that was a gradual change. I can't fathom stepping on the scale more often than that. I trust that I am losing by the way my clothes fit and that I just feel it. People would laugh if I said it but I didn't SEE a difference in the mirror naked until I was 60-70lbs down.

    Just know if you're counting your calories and working out you're doing it and that's what's important.
  • wendybird5
    wendybird5 Posts: 577 Member
    Stalling out is so typical. There are always people posting on the forums about how they were losing weight and then stopped or just started on a plan and haven't lost weight after a week or two. Hang in there and be patient. Some weeks you'll lose nothing and then the next a bunch and then the next only one pound and then maybe three weeks of nothing. Just watch The Biggest Loser and you'll often see people who have worked out like crazy all week only to see 0 pounds lost by the end of it. You are definitely not alone.
  • BonnieandClyde29
    BonnieandClyde29 Posts: 1,026 Member
    Its allout trial and error from what I've been experiencing!!! Plus don't just weigh yourself on the scale take measurements as well, measurements help me feel like I'm making progress, so when i dont see the scale move i dont feel so horrible...dont get me wrong though when it does move i'm in good spirits all day...just dont be addicted to the scale or weigh your self less often and just focus on your goals

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