Question for women who lost about 100 pounds

Hi
Thanks for asking this question....

I have been doing this now for 7 mths and lost 49lb's in 5 months for the last 2 I have stayed the same. I am doing more exercise but nothing is moving.

I have been told to hang on in there and stick with it but sometimes it's hard when you are putting in effort and not seeing any results.

Hope you start to lose again... and just think of how far you have come. That's all I can hang on to.

From what I understand, it's very normal to have a higher weight loss at the beginning, and then it begins to level off. I agree - it's hard to stick to it when you're putting in a lot of effort, but there are healthy changes happening even if it doesn't appear on the scale. My heart is healthier because my resting heart rate is lower, my blood pressure is lower, I'm off any diabetic meds, I can breathe easier, and I just feel better, but the scale has hardly budged in the last few weeks.

For me, this is exactly why anything I do with both diet and exercise has to be sustainable because they're changes I've made for life, not just for a "diet".

A healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week. But it's also normal to not lose anything for a while, but then lose a few pounds in a week. Keep at it - you're doing great!

I always have to remind myself:

Totally normal. I love that success graph visual. In my experience, especially this past year as I get ever close to goal, it's totally true. This also might help you:

Here is a great guideline for setting weekly weight loss goals:
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

Looks like you're in the 25-40 range (according to the ticker on your profile) so I'd say expecting anything more than 1 pound per week would be too high of an expectation. Hell, once I got down to needing to lose 20 pounds, I was lucky if I lose 1 pound a month! Then again, I'm not 100% consistent with my food habits (vacations, dinners out, etc) so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.

IMHO, it's better to set goals that are non weight loss related so that you don't get to these points where you're concerned with how it's going and maybe not reaching a goal and getting disenchanted becuase you think you're working so hard and not getting results.. Instead focus on increasing the healthiness of your food choices and set some fitness goals and the weight loss should follow. Also, take body measurements and pay attention to how your clothes are fitting. Especially as you get closer to goal, the scale may not show much of a loss but your body may still be shrinking.

One more point - especially to help with the poster who replied first - when you workout, you tend to retain water, especially if you're sore. Your muscles get small tears and will retain water as part of the healing process. It's pretty much the same process as when you sprain your ankle and it swells, only it's not as visible. This means your weight loss may stall or slow when you start to exercise. Keep at it, increase your water intake and make sure you're eating back at least some of your exercise calories so you're not creating too high of a deficit.

Good luck!

You are welcome!
It's definitely worth it to stick on our diet! I've never thought to quit...I just need a schedule... even if it's one pound/month I need to know if that's normal... :S
I hope we have some answers...
Good luck to your weight loss!

You will have weeks where you lose. You might have weeks where you gain. You will eventually hit a plateau and will have weeks where you stay the same. I've had weeks where I've lost 4 pounds or more. I've had weeks where I've either maintained, or lost very little (say, 0.4 lb). I've had a couple times where I've gained a little, though thank G-d not more than 2 lbs.

Basically, all I can say is that what your body does is normal FOR YOU. When you happen to slow or hit a plateau, consider all your circumstances. Have you been strength training more? Toning more? You might be gaining muscle mass, which might increase your weight, but is not a gain from fat and not really a plateau. Is it a plateau? Re-evaluate your caloric intake...both amount and ytype. Mix your exercise around...your body will get used to the "same old thing" and you won't burn as many calories until your body starts doing something physically new.

I hope this helps....

I've lost about 125 lbs, and it honestly took me about 2 years. But I fell off the wagons a few times, it all depends on how much you are really willing to put into this. I can tell you that my 125 lbs really wasn't as hard as this last 20 I am trying to lose, I haven't lost anything in over a month, so just remember to keep shaking things up...

This month makes one year for me and I had lost 96lbs (Back sprain caused a teporary weight gain) besides that I have lost 7-10lbs every month.When I weighed myself every week it fluctuated from 1-2 lbs one week and .5lb-0 another. I have had to change up my exercise routine and foods every two weeks to keep a steady weight loss.I now weigh myself once a month to not go crazy and focus on my health.
The most important thing is to not give up and be honest with yourself.Like they say "What you eat in private, you wear in public."
That is the truth!

Best of luck doll!!

Here is my weight log copied and pasted off of my profile. I weighed in pretty much every four weeks. It obviously goes from most recent to oldest. I have definitely seen a slow down in my weight loss over time. I actually started my weight loss journey on March 1st, 2012 but didn't start with MyFitnessPal till the 8th. I have had my body fat percentage checked and I am in the normal range, but for myself I would like to get down into the "fitness" range and into the normal BMI (I know the BMI is not the most accurate thing to go by, but since I have been aware of it I have NEVER been in the normal range, and I just really want to get there). I'm thinking I still need to lose around 18 pounds of fat to do it, but we will see. I am not expecting to get there in any amount of a hurry.

02/08/13 153.2

01/31/13 156.2

01/28/13 156.2

01/08/13 156.2

12/07/12 157.6

11/15/12 160.6

10/18/12 167

09/21/12 174.8

08/23/12 182.4

07/25/12 188.9

06/27/12 201.3

05/30/12 214.7

05/02/12 231

04/04/12 242

03/08/12 258.4

I lost 100 lbs in about 11 months. I started off weighing 368 lbs and lost a lot in the beginning and now have tapered down to about 1-2 lbs a week. Which is ideal. I have had stagnant times where I didn't lose any weight or lost less than a pound and I just increased my level of activity. Then the weight started to drop off more steadily. Plus for me eating whole and healthy all the time makes a big difference.