Why don't I ever pull big numbers?

My question is this: Is it just simply harder for some to lose weight than others?

What do you think?

for the majority of people no its not. You may simply need to eat less and or exercise more.

I can only speak for myself. I have been on here since the end of May. I lost about 13 pounds, and now it has stopped. The scale is stuck. I continually eat at a deficit and exercise regularly. I have read A LOT of these forum posts, and we are NOT ALONE! People frequently talk about plateaus, where the loss just stops. What I've seen recommended is this: change something. This can be temporarily and slightly upping or lowering your calories (by maybe 200-300 calories.) It can also be shaking up your workout by doing different exercises than you are used to and/or doing more or less than you are used to for just a few days. I just tried these suggestions this week, so I don't yet know how effective they will be. It's certainly worth a shot! Best wishes to you! And whatever you do, don't give up! You will get past this, it just takes time!

As for the genetic question, I just don't know. I can say this: I have hypothyroidism, and I do take medication for it. Despite my blood levels of thyroid hormones being in the ideal range now, I still struggle with the weight. There was a post on here awhile back about someone else with hypothyroidism balanced with meds, and she too was concerned that the weight was just not coming off. Do you have, or have you been recently checked, for medical conditions including hypothyroidism?

I don't go back to see what people have posted after me in these forums, but if you want to reply to me, feel free to message me on here.

A pound and a half a week is more than reasonable. What were you expecting to lose? anything moew than 2/wk is not sustainable, and puts you at risk of developing loose, saggy skin.

Mathematically speaking, it's pretty hard to clear more than 2 lbs per week of actual fat loss...actually it's pretty much impossible unless you are literally and figuratively starving yourself. Most of the bigger losses you see are water...I can reduce my carbs for 4 or 5 days and drop about 3-4 Lbs of water in that time...course my training sucks because I don't have any glycogen stores, but hey...if scale loss is all you care about then go for it...actually if scale loss is all you care about I'd suggest eating at your deficit, don't do any exercise and eat a low carb diet. You will rarely retain water and most certainly not have any of those pesky glycogen stores to worry about.

I'm just kidding of course...you just need to understand better what makes up the number on the scale.

It depends on a number of factors, how overweight are you compared to your friends? if your friends have more weight to loose versus you then they are going to see bigger numbers drop off. The closer you are to your ideal weight the slower its going to become. For me ive been at it since the end of may and lost well over a stone and a half, now ive got another 4 stones to go, so the closer I get the slower its going to become.

So if you have lets say 1-15lbs to lose 0.5lb per week is expected
16-29lbs 1lb a week
29-40lbs 1.5lb a week
40+ 2lbs a weeks.

So dont worry about it, just keep going you will get there in the end!

The closer you get to your goals and the more fit you become, the harder it is to get the same calorie burns you did before. This translates into less burn for the same intensity. Also, the closer you get to your goals the less likely you will get those big numbers unless you make some drastic changes.

I know I was averaging 10 lbs a month with ease at first...now it's closer to 5-7ish lbs per month. I can make some calorie adjustments, increase my workout intensity and frequency, and there are days I think about it, but overall...I'm headed in the right direction, I like how things are working now and I'm not really in a big hurry to change it.

I also know that with the "swoosh" factor I can hover around the "0's" part of a weight group (220, 210, 200, 190) for a long time, then drop 4 lbs, then a couple more, then a few more rather quickly then...hover around the "0's" again for a while. It seems to be in cycles and I just roll with it.

its taken me over a year to lose 52 lbs. While slow and frustrating, I am glad that I took the time because I learned a lot and with this way, I am not coming up with ways to gain it all back. Slow and steady wins the race. If you wanted a quick fix and lose weight only to crave food etc then obviously there are ways but if you want a life long healthy association with food and fitness, then go slow. Your body and mind will thank you.

Good luck

its called patience, get some..

You didn't become over weight in four months and you wont become "fit" in four months. I have been at this for seven years now and I am still not where I want to be.

BINGO!

A pound and a half a week is fine progress. Focus on long-term success and keep on going.

It's pretty simple really. 1.5lbs/week is fantastic weight loss and is honestly pretty high. I would be thrilled to lose that much.

Those that are losing 2-4lbs every week are doing one/some/all of these things:

1) Lying
2) Are very, very overweight
3) Killing themselves (unsafe deficit and/or exercise regimen)
4) Just starting their weight loss (you tend to lose more in the beginning)

Keep in mind, overly aggressive weight loss almost always fails. If I were losing 2-4lbs a week I would be intentionally eating more to slow it down. It is not necessarily a good thing to be losing that fast.

So in other words, you are doing it PERFECTLY. Good job, and keep it up.

I thought this was a deadlifting thread... I take my leave

I'm not one to talk, because patience is not my thing. I've been at this MFP thing for since mid may and working out since mid January, and I just now got back to the weight I was at new years. The scale can deceive you, especially if your workout routine involves strength training. The last month or so I'd be lucky if I lost .5 lb/w (and I'm only 25), but this fitness thing is marathon, not a sprint. Good luck and keep up the hard work. Don't let that b#*@!*d scale ruin a good thing!

It's pretty simple really. 1.5lbs/week is fantastic weight loss and is honestly pretty high. I would be thrilled to lose that much.

Those that are losing 2-4lbs every week are doing one/some/all of these things:

1) Lying
2) Are very, very overweight
3) Killing themselves (unsafe deficit and/or exercise regimen)
4) Just starting their weight loss (you tend to lose more in the beginning)

Keep in mind, overly aggressive weight loss almost always fails. If I were losing 2-4lbs a week I would be intentionally eating more to slow it down. It is not necessarily a good thing to be losing that fast.

So in other words, you are doing it PERFECTLY. Good job, and keep it up.

Here's your answer, OP. Put very succinctly.

QFTFT.