"The pounds are coming off SO SLOW ...discouraging."

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Replies

  • sunnyhlw77
    sunnyhlw77 Posts: 204 Member
    :flowerforyou: you are a wise woman who has learned a lot during the last year! Thank you for sharing your wisdom!
  • sweetcurlz67
    sweetcurlz67 Posts: 1,168 Member
    You have a GREAT way with words!!!

    Too many people get discouraged too quickly and give up. If they just stay the course and work with their nutritionists and trainers they would be better off and see results the slow and steady way. The healthy way.

    I was on a plateau for a few months but didn't give up!!!

    It boils down to a mental game - a mind game. Whoever is reading this... Know that YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! You CAN become healthy and attain your goals. Just believe in yourself! :drinker:
  • Hanfordrose
    Hanfordrose Posts: 688 Member
    By the way, there really isn't a finish line at the end of this road. This isn't a race course. This is LIFEs. You and I are simply decided how we want to live it...as participants or spectors. (Oh my goodness! I did not mean spectors...ghosts.) :noway:

    Feel free to join me on the trip. I am the lady in the wheelchair who is pushing herself slowly down the road and dreaming of walking or even running in the future.

    Talk about typos. Let me try that again.

    By the way, there really isn't a finish line at the end of this road. This isn't a race course. This is LIFE. You and I are simply deciding how we want to live it...as participants or SPECTATORS.

    Feel free to join me on the trip. I am the lady in the wheelchair who is pushing herself slowly down the road and dreaming of walking or even running in the future. :smile:

    That's better. :happy:
  • Hikant2k2
    Hikant2k2 Posts: 15 Member
    I really needed to read this today. I was feeling discouraged because the scale was not moving the way I felt it should.
    changed my eating habits, started working out and the pounds seem to melt off at first but for the last month it seem that
    I was at a stand still. I know in my head that if I stay the course the pounds will come off but sometime it just seem so
    overwhelming when I think about how far I still have to go. This post give me the encouragement to take it day by day.
  • marciebrian
    marciebrian Posts: 853 Member
    I love your postings and blogs. Such an inspiration and kind spirit you are :flowerforyou: You must be a wonderful person and amazing friend. Take care and I'm so very happy for your success
  • I needed to hear exactly what you said. I have started and quit so many times, I cannot seem to stick with it. I have 30 pounds to loose and I am 63, it comes off slower at this age. I do exercise with a friend about four times a week. I need to do better.
    Thanks again.
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Fabulous post Sue. I am not on your friends list, but I do read your blog every couple of weeks and I am amazed by all that you do, and by how special Ed is in your life. I'm a little bit in love with your husband :) because he loves you so much.

    This IS a slow process and I have done it slowly as well, lost a lot of weight, but more importantly changed my body from a fat blob to a slim and svelte figure. Some times it's been hard, but I've had a couple of 4 days breaks in there as well, and I've totally changed my "relationship" with food.

    So hang in there "Sis" whoever you are. Slow and steady wins the race.
  • booksgiver
    booksgiver Posts: 149 Member
    Well said, SIs. This is probably the single most important lesson to be learned on the weight loss journey. It is a process and one which must overcome actual changes that have occurred not only to one's body, but also to one's actual brain chemistry and emotional persona. If we stop and consider just what an enormous change it is then perhaps we can accept that such a complicated change will take time by necessity. I've lost a total of 82 pounds since last November and like you I have spent most of the last 11 months on a walker or in a wheelchair. I've faced a lot of not particularly nice facts about my own sick dependency on food to give me a sense, a false sense, of saiety. Patience, effort, and even self-denial are required, but the pounds do come off and not only that one day you wake up and you realize that you may actually be free and more in charge of your own life.
  • iwantodance
    iwantodance Posts: 28 Member
    So much wisdom from so many people. Thanks to all who shared here.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    I came across this post on a friend's page and I definitely needed to read this.

    It can be so discouraging to read posts from the younger, more able-bodied members on here who scream about how many calories they can eat and still lose weight.
    They are so quick to jump all over someone who says they eat less, and accuse them of having EDs or triggering people with EDs, but they don't realize just how difficult it is to lose weight when you are older and disabled. They also don't realize how frustrating it is for us to constantly be seeing all the posts about how they ate whole pizzas and ice cream every day, and have pics of fast foods all over their threads. It definitely makes you want to just stay off of the forums.

    Then there are threads like this. With so much wisdom and encouragement.

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank You!!

    I would love to be one of your 'sisters'! :flowerforyou:
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Completely agree.

    I think so many people have totally unrealistic expectations due to TV ads and other crazy hype. I used to work with a bunch of women who tried fad diets constantly and if they were not losing at least 4-5 lb/week they considered it a FAIL and moved to the next fad diet. Sure they lost weight on some of the diets, especially in the first week, but in the long run they did not sustain it.

    I too have the mini plateaus and I've just decided to look at ANY loss or staying the same (no gain) as a huge positive. It does add up.

    I've lost almost 50 lb so far on MFP but the hardest 45 lb was before I started MFP. It took 4 years to come off. It stayed off though, so that's a huge bonus.

    I am in my mid 30's and I am active several days a week, but I agree with others in this thread who comment that it is nice to see someone being 'real' about their sedentary lifestyle. I know you have had health issues. I have no such excuse except that I do not go to the gym, unlike many members who spend hours per day there. Not everyone wants to do that and we can all still lose weight and get healthy!
  • sueinmass
    sueinmass Posts: 4 Member
    I try to remind myself (when I get discouraged) that weight loss is NOT a SPRINT - its a MARATHON! and if we stay consistent during this Marathon we LEARN the healthy eating & exercising habits that we need to continue to maintain this weight loss. It is true to say, it took a long time to put it on, its going to take a long time to take it off! When people do their magic QUICK Diets and Fad supplements they do usually show quick results but they don't LEARN and retrain their brain on how to live a healthy life and they usually gain their weight back quickly.
    Weight loss is a change in LIFESTYLE....not something that lasts just a few weeks or months and then you go back to unhealthy habits.
    Slow and steady wins the race. I run fitness accountability groups and everyday I provide support and motivation to all the participants in these groups and help them understand how to make healthier lifestyle changes and retrain their brain so that they will have Long Lasting Results.
    Working together in groups of support help everyone stay focused.
    Don't try such a lifestyle change alone..... join a group (like my free accountability groups)....find an accountability partner!


    Will Power is a Muscle, the more you use it the Stronger it gets!
  • onyx1972
    onyx1972 Posts: 133 Member
    Awesome response, just awesome :)
  • Hanfordrose
    Hanfordrose Posts: 688 Member
    I would love to be one of your 'sisters'! :flowerforyou:

    Done, Sister. You are now one of the Sisterhood. :smile:
  • karlospiklington
    karlospiklington Posts: 143 Member
    One of the best motivators is looking at a photo of a replica of 1lb of fat. Every time the scale goes down by one pound and it seems like nothing, seeing what it looks like reminds me of how much hard work goes into losing even one pound.
  • mrsamanda86
    mrsamanda86 Posts: 869 Member
    You seem like such a sweet person I just want to hug you!!! You have a great way with words, and I want this in "my topics" so I can read it again from time to time when I'm feeling a bit down about a slow point. Thank you for that :flowerforyou:
  • karlalband
    karlalband Posts: 196 Member
    I'm so proud to have you as a MFP friend. Your journey has been just like your support outstanding and to the many friends that are here with you. Thank you for these post and blog I sure do read them when I get the chance. Even have bookmarked some to reread!
  • This was awesome to read. I too have been on many diets, tried the pills (remember fenfen?) Just last December, a good friend of mine encouraged me to go to Jazzercise with her. I had gone a few times many years before and enjoyed the classes. This time it stuck. By February/March I was getting discouraged because I thought I should have lost a good 5-10 lbs and hadn't lost anything yet! Then, all of a sudden, I noticed that my clothes were fitting a bit differently, and then I was down 2 lbs, 5 lbs, etc. It is now nearly a year later and I'm finally hitting my -20lb goal. I still have 50 to go and if it takes 2-3 years to hit that goal, so be it. As the fable reminds us: slow and steady wins the race, or in this case marathon.

    Thank you for confirming what I am finally beginning to realize!
  • susanrechter
    susanrechter Posts: 386 Member
    Anytime I see Hanfordrose on the message boards, I scramble to read your posts and I admire your stalwart honesty. You say it like it is and for that I am a true fan! Love you, love your cute hubby, and love that you embrace us sisters! we all need someone like you in our lives, little nudges mean so much! Thank you.:flowerforyou:
  • kmgt
    kmgt Posts: 24
    What's the name of your blog?
  • Hanfordrose
    Hanfordrose Posts: 688 Member
    What's the name of your blog?

    I'm not quite sure how to answer your question. I have made several blogs on MFP, but I don't have any blogs other than on this site. I did a blog using this same information and same title. Could that be what you wanted?
  • kw1452
    kw1452 Posts: 113 Member
    I appreciate this. I have been discouraged. Things are not only coming off so slowly but I also seem to hit a plateau with every lb I lose. Its so frustrating and I really needed some encouragement this morning :)