slow and steady weight loss and confusion

Trust me...slow and steady is better than fast in short space of time. There are after effects when you lose weight too fast that you simply would not like after the fact, eg. saggy skin. I also know that the more weight you have to lose, the more you would lose than someone who has less...I've seen this. You're doing great...1.3lbs/week, you must be doing something right. Just continue at that and you'll see you goal, just be patient.

yes, they were probably a lot heavier than you when they started so they are losing more rapidly.

OR

they are on a crash diet (sub 1000 calories a day) and are losing a lot of muscle along with their fat loss.

Do you want to just lose weight and look like crap, or would you rather retain as much muscle as possible and look great AND lose weight?

It sounds like you are doing great, and should not be discouraged. In the long run, slow and steady is going to work out a lot better for you….

^^^ ALL of this.

yes, they were probably a lot heavier than you when they started so they are losing more rapidly.

OR

they are on a crash diet (sub 1000 calories a day) and are losing a lot of muscle along with their fat loss.

Do you want to just lose weight and look like crap, or would you rather retain as much muscle as possible and look great AND lose weight?

It sounds like you are doing great, and should not be discouraged. In the long run, slow and steady is going to work out a lot better for you….

^This.

Don't get discouraged. Sometimes I think reading posts on MFP can be a bit of a double-edged sword - sometimes it inspires you, other times, it discourages you, all depending on how you're feeling that day when you log on. The real danger comes, I think, when we start comparing our progress to the progress of others on here. We've all got the same goal, so it's easy to slip into comparing our journey with the journey of others, since we're all headed for the same destination/ goal.... We start to look at the person who's dropping 4 lbs/ week, while we're only losing a measly 0.5 lb/ week and start to think "What's wrong with ME?"

But the thing is, we are all different people, with different bodies, starting weights, lifestyles, etc. You can't compare yourself or your weight loss against anyone else's - instead, if you want to compare, compare yourself against yourself:

Am I faster this week than I was last week?
Can I lift more this week than I did last week?
Have I felt stronger this week than I did last week?
Am I eating a little better this week than I did last week?

If you can look at yourself a week ago or even a month ago and see progress, THAT is what matters most. Not how quickly you're approaching your end-goal (nor how quickly you're moving compared to others on here....) - but how you're improving over where you once were. It may feel like slow progress at times, but it's PROGRESS.

Everyone has days like that though. I'm down 33 lbs in the past 3 months (January 2nd - April 1st), which 'averages' out to about 11 lbs/ month...(I also started at 264, so much heavier than you)..... but there were weeks when that scale only budged a pound, or didn't budge at all. It's hard staying motivated, and I've "fallen off the wagon" a couple times along the way for a few days at a time. It just comes down to not giving up... not even after you screw up. Slow and steady really DOES win the race. Some people may win their race sooner, but ultimately you're not racing AGAINST them, so appreciate your journey for what it is, and don't let the progress of others make you feel as though you're failing. You're not. You are moving forward - and that's what matters most!

I definitely know how you feel I often have the urge to reduce my calories because I just want to get the weight off!

I have to constantly remind myself that the way I am going about it is just fine and healthy and, I am not suffering for it, which is the most important part. I do definitely get impatient, so it's a weekly self-talk thing for me.

For comparison, I started at 197 in January, down to 182 now. I lost more during some weeks, less during others, this is just an average. You're doing great!!

I started after Christmas at 182 and I'm 168 now so we're pretty similar... I figure as long as it's coming off then it's good.
I think that when someone has loads to lose it comes off a bit quicker, it sounds like you don't have all that much to lose so it will be slower - and my understanding is that the less fat you have to lose the slower it goes but also you actually need to go slow so you don't lose muscle along with it... I think!

It's nice to see other people are going through this (even when it seems obvious we're all going through it). It seems like everyone in real life is dropping weight like sons of guns and I'm just sitting here plodding along. I know I'm doing things "right" and I'm making these habits stick. It's just frustrating. I'll keep going if you do.

Is it because they started with more to lose so it's easier?

Very likely....

Each person is different and yes usually when you have more fat to lose it will come off quicker at first. My husband was 305 he went low carb and lost 80 lbs. The first few months he actually lost about 15 lbs a month, then 10 then settled in to about 6.5 a month. He was a little discourage too. Going from 3.75 a week to 1.5 but more importantly he was still losing and at a healthy pace. He has maintained his weight loss for 8 years now.