Anyone Lose Very Slowly

So far I've seen lots of people lose much quicker than I did and of those half of them have gained 1/3 or more of it back after goal. When you figure how many here yo-yo and/or quit, it's not about how fast you lose it but about losing it and keeping it off. Hang in there!

^^^ This.

I reached my goal on Dec. 17, but it took me 15 months to get there. I deliberately set the bar low, with a half-pound loss goal per week (I actually averaged three-quarters). That is helping me during maintenance, because all I've had to do was slightly increase my calories. Otherwise, my good habits stick with me.

My longest plateau was 48 days, where my scale was going up-down-up-down-up-down (I weigh myself daily). I might have felt impatient, but I never got discouraged. I knew I was doing the right things, and I kept telling myself, "You're in much better shape now than when you started."

Also, it's natural for weight loss to slow as one gets closer to goal. Here's what my cumulative weight loss looked like. I logged only decreases in weight, so the fluctuations don't appear here:

How much are you eating, and how much are you losing per week exactly?

I weight daily and log in an app called Libra. It really helps me to see my trend line instead of focusing just on what the scale says.

I lose slowly too, unless I get into a routine that is so restrictive or so much activity that I can't sustain it, and it all comes back on as soon as I slip up. I have decided to just start logging too be aware of my food, but not be too restricted, and go to the gym and focus on getting stronger and building endurance, when it fits into my schedule. I figure that if I lower my expectations, I will put less pressure on myself, and I will be able to maintain it as a lifestyle.
Might not work for everyone. I am fortunate that I have no weight related health problems, other than occasionally sore knees, and of course being wheezy and clumsy and out of shape, but thats more an embarassment than a real problem. Even my doctors arent too concerned about my weight. I don't even own a scale. I am just going to see if I start feeling better.

First thing, which has already been said, is to not compare yourself to others!!!

Second, if you are only using what the scale reads to track progress, then you are not getting the full picture. It's important to take pictures and measurements, as well. There will be times you may lose inches and not pounds.

I lose very slowly. It took me 2 years to lose 70lbs. The first year I wasn't on MFP and I was eating 1200 calories a day, then when I joined MFP and read the forums I decided to increase to 1500 and my weight loss was more effective then. Perhaps if I'd eaten 1500 in the beginning I'd have lost faster. I maintained a loss though, and never gained any, until now as I am pregnant!

I used to have weeks where I'd lose practically nothing, and then all of a sudden I would drop a few pounds. I did lose a lot of inches though, so do make sure you measure yourself as well as weigh yourself.

I have been logging forever and yes, I lose weight, but it seems to happen so slowly. I even hired a nutritionist to help. It's very difficult to watch others eat more freely and still lose quicker. I'm happy for them, but I would like to keep up. It makes it hard for me to stay focused and stick to my routine while I watch others zip by me. Anyone lose really slowly? How do you cope?

I have been losing very slowly. Been logging over a year and have only lost about 11 pounds... But then again, I don't have much to lose. Also, my tendency towards midnight snacking (I can't sleep if I am hungry at all) has slowed things down. I stay motivated at this point because ...well, right now as long as I'm not GAINING I'm happy!

Good luck!

I have been logging forever and yes, I lose weight, but it seems to happen so slowly. I even hired a nutritionist to help. It's very difficult to watch others eat more freely and still lose quicker. I'm happy for them, but I would like to keep up. It makes it hard for me to stay focused and stick to my routine while I watch others zip by me. Anyone lose really slowly? How do you cope?

i lose very slow as I am not interested in just losing weight (most of it would be water content)
I have some food issues- I was diagnosed with athlete's triad many many years ago- and still struggling to make it over 1200 calories a day...If I get as far as 1300 then I am stuffed...then I burn off 600 a day (but most summer days it is around 1000) so I am nowhere near to the big numbers others post

but you know what - that should not matter to you! It is not a race is it? You are in it for yourself so the only person you should compeare yourself to is ...YOU! you and your body knows what is good - it is better to lose less over time than a lot quickly - your skin has to adjust and that will not happen overnight..slow and steady is good !

My weight loss has slowed down a lot, lots of people I know are losing 2lbs a week and not eating great or being consistent. It's really easy to be frustrated and discouraged with slow weight loss.
I'd try and focus on your NSV's they mean a lot when the scale isn't moving very much!

I feel that I have lost at a pretty steady pace with MFP, although not as quickly as some others. I'm set to lose 1.5 lb per week and when I average out my loss since joining it comes to around 1.3 lb per week. Although many weeks I've seen a loss of 0 or less than 1 lb, it seems to average out in the longer term.

But...before joining MFP, I lost 45 lb and it took me almost 4 years. Granted, I was kinda stabbing in the dark as I had NO clue about calorie counting and wasn't logging, and I seriously did not know anything about exercise calories and so on. But the reason I'm even commenting here is because I do understand how frustrating it can be when you lose a significant amount over a very long period of time. Losing 45 lb over 4 years, almost no one noticed the changes and I received no comments at all until the very end when my mom and ONE friend noticed. That was a lot harder than the past year losing 58 lb at a more rapid rate, and getting frequent comments because it is just more noticeable.

HOWEVER...in the long run...for me, that first 45 lb that I lost before I even knew about this site was the most important because that's how I realized it was even possible for me to lose weight and keep it off. So FWIW, a slow loss is still great.

I feel you though...sometimes I read about a woman who started at the same weight I did and is at the same weight I am at now, and she started in SEPTEMBER (when I started in March) and I don't even see how that's possible. Everyone's different. Sometimes too, if you ate pretty healthy before then you will have a slightly slower loss with cutting calories than a person who ate a totally crap diet and is eating 100% differently now.

I think it is quite common to lose slowly. I am the turtle, not the hare.

However, there could always be other issues, like stress & lack of sleep, not eating breakfast or underlying health issues like some type of gut or hormonal issue.

It really is hard to say. But my chiropractor keeps saying get enough sleep & chew your food good enough to aid digestion.

Weight loss is a slow process, just like gaining weight is a slow process. The only people I've ever seen lose "fast" were ver overweight individuals with tons of fat stores and carb cutters who lose a lot of water weight early on. I guess I could throw crash dieters in there as well...but I've never seen a crash dieter keep the weight off and it's in no way healthy.

I took me the better part of 9 months to lose about 40 Lbs.

It took me a year to lose 20 lbs. It's truly a lifestyle change after all this time. When I move into maintenance, I'll still do everything I'm doing now. I'll just up my calorie goal.

I haven't read through the replies, so I'm sure I'm repeating what you've already heard, but...

I used to lose weight very quickly. 2 or more pounds per week a lot of weeks. This is when I was in my early 20's, so I can probably attribute most of that to metabolism. Now I'm lucky to lose a pound every 2-3 weeks. This bothered me immensely when I first started and I kicked myself for not losing weight when it was easier.

But you know what ...?

This is the one and only time in my adult life where I've conciously maintained a healthy weight through diet and exercise. I have found that when I've worked harder/waited longer for pounds to come off, I don't take it for granted. It almost feels like the slower I go, the better chance I have of keeping it off.

I'm not trying to get pounds off. I am changing my life, and the pounds I've lost reflect that. It really doesn't matter how long it takes me, because once they're off, they're off forever.

And I'll be the same is true for you. Good luck and do NOT let yourself get down.