How long has it taken you to lose your weight so far?

I started in March of this year, so 40 pounds in 30 weeks. That averages to 1.33 pounds a week. The first month of so I was losing at 2 pounds or more a week but I started at 209.

Lately, I stall for a week or so, then drop 1-2 seemingly overnight. I was logging wait once a week to not drive myself nuts but I've been logging every day or two for a month or so now just to see the fluctuations. It's weird. I'll be good as gold for a week or two and the scale moves up or downa few ounces a day then I'll have a splurge night and drop two pounds. No rhyme or reason, it seems. My general trend is in the right direction and I feel that dropping slowly is probably better than drasticly.

After about a month and a half of logging and on mfp, trying to log exercise, too, I bought a fitbit so now I trust it to track my calorie expenditures so I don't accidently cheat and log more out than I really use. Plus, I set it to buzz me 4-5 times during the day so I will get up and move around if I've been sitting for too long. I eat back most of my exercise calories and aim for +/-50 calories from my goal.

Drinking TONS of water is my number one hint to new folks. The formula I was taught is half your weight in pounds of water in ounces per day. Example: I weigh 170 lbs so my goal is to drink AT LEAST 85 (170/2) ounces every day. I promise that once you get used to drinking more water, you won't take as many trips to the potty. (I just think of those trips as extra steps toward my daily goal of 10,000. I also use those potty trips during my work day for an excuse to take a lap around the interior of the building and/or go up and down a flight of stairs. I drink 20-32 ounces of water first thing every morning (well, right after I pee and weigh ) Then when I get to work I fill a 32 ounce glass that I empty prior to lunch. I refill the 32 ounces and empty it before I leave for the day. That gets me past my 85 ounce daily minimum so any water with meals or after work, I visualize as flushing more bad stuff out of my system.

The next tip is the most important: DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP WHEN YOU SLIP. Ok, we have bad days, but we can get up and start a new day and work harder and do better. This tip is a two-parter: DO NOT DENY YOURSELF; JUST CONTROL YOUR PORTIONS. When I know I want that chocolate bar, I eat it. Maybe I only have half of it or maybe I walk extra to burn it off or maybe I skip a meal. I don't do it every day but if I deny myself, when I break (and I know I will eventually break) I will probably overindulge. As long as most nights' meals aren't red wine and chocolate, I think one every now and then is ok.

My last tip is LOG EVERY BITE YOU EAT! EVERY. DAY. EVERY. BITE. It's hard, especially when you know you've really blown it but it will help you use the reports later to analyze your success. If you have a bad day and just skip logging, your data will have holes that just don't add up. If you eat three almonds, log it. If you have a lifesaver, log it. If you eat two portions of ice cream, log it. If you can't bear for people to know you are being bad, make your food diary private. But don't lie to yourself. Holding myself accountable has been the best thing I've learned.

13 months... 150 lbs. lost! Want to lose another 20-30 lbs.

I started the last week of June 2013, and have lost 29 pounds so far, still want to lose about 45 more.
I eat just under 1500 calories a day. I have a desk job so don't get a ton of exercise, I did join a Zumba class for 1 hour a week

It took me 10 months to lose 43 lbs. At first the weight came off quickly (2 lbs per week), but at the end it was more like 1/2 a lb a week (on a good week!).

I have maintained now for 3 more years (with a slight gain, which I am working to reverse now.).

I never quit logging, even into maintenance! Finding the right number for maintenance was tricky, thus the slight re gain.

Totally worth it, though! Hang in there for the long haul.

So far, I've lost 37lbs in just under four months (it will be four months November 5th). I've lost about 2lbs a week so far, although I've recently changed it to 1.5lbs a week. I have to be careful because I have to count calories I have no way of logging, but with some trial and error, I've gotten the hang of it.

Start weight 308lbs
Current weight 217lbs
Goal Weight 176lbs

Started on 31 January 2013 and have lost a total of 90lbs, since I started logging on MFP 12 August 2013 I have lost the last 31.5lbs in 11 weeks almost 3lbs per week with a little extra exercise.

It took me exactly 12 months to drop from a size UK34 to a UK16. That was 7st 7lbs (105lbs).

I then had an accident at the end of Spring, and put some weight back on, going back up to a size UK22 :-(

Starting weight Feb '12 was 22stone 7lbs (size 34)
Dropped to 15st (size 16) by Feb '13

I started back on my weight loss battle last month at 17stone 12lbs, and have already lost 1st 1lb! As I also work out four times a week, I have lost a lot of inches, putting me back into a size UK18 already :-)

I'm losing about 2-3lbs a week now and never have a week where I don't lose.
I will expect to be a size 16 for Christmas, a 14 for my birthday in March, and a 12 by the beginning of the summer - if not before! I can say this, as I'm totally focused and committed :-)

I have lost 29 in 6 months. My goal is SLOW and steady. One pound a week and so far I am right on track! I eat between 1700 - 2100 cals a day. My goal is 90 lbs. I don't care how long it takes me to do it. This is a lifestyle and a new kind of journey for me this go around. No more diets...just healthy eating and a busy life. For example, my husband and I went to my son's football game the other night and instead of finding the closest parking space, we parked as far away as possible and walked fast there and back. In fact, we raced on the way back and I kicked his butt and he has no weight to lose. We were proud of ourselves and our progress in the gym. You can do it. Slow and steady wins the race. Our motto in our household is "Exercise to eat, Eat to live!"

I've lost 42lbs in 6 months. Start weight was 229, now I'm 186.8.

I've lost my 50lbs in the last 8 months, although my high weight was when I was full term pregnant so some of that is baby, etc. before I got pregnant I lost 30 in 6 months.

I've lost a little over 12lbs in 2 weeks, but on that note I'm on a super strict Doctor monitored diet. Just stick to it and you'll lose (:

Hey
I lost my first 75 in 1 year (I was 245lbs to start), then I got my next 11 in about 6 months .... so about 1.5 years to lose 86lbs.
I then maintained for about another 6 months, then gained 10 back BOOOO...so just now getting that back off.

Good luck to you.

PS - I never had a consistent weekly loss... sometimes 2, sometimes 0.2, but keep to it as it all adds up!

I joined My Fitness Pal in May of 2013 and have lost 30 lbs. I'm averaging 1.5 lbs. per week even though my goals are 1200 calories per day and 2 lbs a week.
My startegy is not to stress out and remember I might ahve a bad day here and there. My motto' "Slow and Steady"

Hey, I started 7 weeks ago and I've lost 27.9lbs!

I find the calories really accurate and lose the 2lbs, if not more!
Good luck!

I started at the beginning of Sept. 2013. I've lost 18 lbs so far and the majority of that happened in the first 4 weeks. I lost about 12 lbs pretty quickly. The last 4 weeks or so has been much slower, maybe 1-2 pounds a week. I figured it would slow way down the closer I got to my goal and I've recently readjusted my calories to lose 1/2 a pound a week instead of 1 pound a week. I would love to be a goal by Christmas since I only have maybe 15 lbs left but I want to do it as healthful as possible so that the weight stays off for good.