How to stay motivated when weight loss is so slow

Time will always be there, so you need to not brain crazy about it. Put in the effort and keep a strict diet. It will have results. You cannot cheat the balance of your body.

I'll tell you how you stay motivated. Enjoy your food! Eat healthy, enjoy the cooking of it and make it a pleasant experience not a rush job of diet foods and other crap you don't like.

Also exercise is not the goal here. Weightloss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. That is the ratio you should focus on. Particularly if you are tiring of all the gym activity.

The problem is if you've been doing a lot of exercise and stop or reduce a lot suddenly you will likely gain some weight. Its imperative that if you stop or reduce your exercise that you also reduce your calories in line. And this is not easy because you will still be a bit hungry.

There is may one way that might help you if you want to stop suddenly - start doing the 5:2 fasting diet. You fast two days a week eating 500 calories each day and then eating up to you TDEE the other days.

I suggest this diet because most of us notice a reduction in appetite. And you also learn how to restrain yourself from eating when you are a little bit hungry.

There is a group here but its not very active and there is a 5:2 diet website called the fast diet. You can watch a tv show about it on you tube called eat fast and live longer. It doesn't run through the diet details. you can get them from the website but you may find it motivating and it is an interesting program. And will learn some useful background.


I would definitely think about scaling back your exercise to something more sustainable for you.

Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

Besides, what is your other option ? Stay fat ? Get fatter ?

Nope, set your goals and work towards them.

I have no words of wisdom for you sorry, but I know exactly how you feel.
I have 10lb excess 14lb tops but its not moving at all.
I'm going to follow the ttde method for a few weeks and see how I get on rather than my calories plus exercise, it seems more consistent.
Good luck in your journey. X

I find success in things other than the numbers on the scale such as inch loss or more definition in my calve muscles. If I could get a bit smaller and still stay the same weight then I won't care if I don't get to my scale goal...I'd MUCH rather get to my body size goal. Plus by losing weight slowly (17 lbs in 9 months), I'm learning how to eat the way I want to eat for life. Going to maintenance isn't going to be a big deal as I'm not that far away from it now anyway. I'll take that any day.

I am in the same situation, I stay motivated because those inches we lose are so important. I also look back at my diaries, and now I am drilling down to make sure I am really in a deficit.

Making your diet the priority is so important.

Have you read the threads in getting started your guide on the path to sexy pants? I actually re read it. I get a lot of motivation there.

You aren't alone. Slow and steady. That's what you want.

Hey everyone, I have been counting calories and exercising for nearly two months now. I am eating healthy, and have stayed in my calorie goal majority of days. I have some days gone and had junk food eg a bit of chocolate or a couple of biscuits but not to extensive limits. I have only last a mere kilo but I think I've put it back on. I am also ALWAYS bloated, cannot get rid of it.
Any suggestions?

I have tried ever since the beginning to be process oriented… not goal oriented. Focus on doing those things everyday that will help you build a new healthier lifestyle. That is the "goal" I try to hit. When it comes time to get on the scale… I tell myself that if it goes down at all… I'll be happy. I have a quote that I constantly remind myself of… "If you focus on results, you'll never change. If you focus on change, you'll get results."

...but it is painful to be losing about a half a pound a week. ...

Think hard about why it's painful. Is it because you're uncomfortable with the deficit level or your exercise amount or types? Or because you're anxious to be a certain size? If the latter, I think that's somewhat unavoidable, though each little increment along the way feels better. But if you're anxious to be done so you can go back to the way things were before, that's probably a red flag for maintenance issues.

Also, you don't have to lose that slowly, if your deficit level isn't bothering you. It's not a popular choice here but with 30 lbs. to lose, nearly all sources would say you're fine aiming for 1-2 lbs/week.

I agree with everyone who is encouraging you to gauge your success differently. Measurements, ability to lift heavier weights in your strength program, being able to do longer cardio sessions: those can be more important goals than the scale alone. I understand how hard it is to change that mindset because I'm in the middle of it myself right now, so I'm telling you exactly what I need to hear too. Be persistent and look for improvements in your body shape and your abilities.

You need to shift your focus. As I have come to realize, what is going to "change" when you reach your goal? Well, hopefully nothing (if you want to stay at your goal). So learn to live life as a healthy person, and focus on that, not on what the scale says. I have come to enjoy going to the gym and the friendships I have built there. I have learned to eat in a way that is healthy for my body, I have found stress relief and well being by walking.

This is the secret, stop thinking of the number on the scale as your goal.

look for any hidden taboos like sugars, caffeine, in your daily intake. be surefooted in your steps forward, do not yield to the quitter box.

Thanks for all the wonderful replies! Just reading your encouraging words of wisdom is motivating. It is such a big change from going to yo-yo dieting with quick results that don't last, to doing it right this time with a sustainable way of eating and exercising with results that I plan to last a lifetime. I absolutely love strength training and have definitely become stronger. I have a feeling that I could cut more calories though. I use IIFYM to give me my macros and calories. It says my TDEE is 1833 being sedentary (I prefer to add in my exercise calories by myself). I eat 1550 calories a day, and eat back some of my exercise calories. Macros are 136g carbs, 136g protein and 52g fat. I weigh 176 and am 5'8.5". Maybe 1550 calories is still too much? I want this lifestyle to be sustainable, but I do feel like with 30 lbs to go, I could safely be losing a bit more every week until I get closer to maintenance.

I think you may the mixing and matching websites / calorie recommendation methods. If you get your numbers from websites I other than MFP most of them assume you won't eat back exercise calories. Additionally , it makes sense to use these methods since it can be hard to estimate calories from strength training. Like are you lifting throughout or do you have setup times, rest times etc. These will even vary from person to person doing the same program

If you're eating back even a portion of your exercise calories, that sounds more like basic MFP method. For this, plugging in your stats it says 1420 calories to lose 1 lb per week and 1670 for 1/2 lb. so the question I think is, do the calories you're eating above 1420 on average seem to account for how much you might have burned strength training? If no, then do reduce your calories consumed. If yes, then I would read some of the links posted previously and verify that you're not eating more than you think.

If you're not losing at your expected pace, you're either under estimating your calories consumed, or over estimating exercise calories

And to be clear, I've got nothing against a slow and steady weight loss. I myself have been doing 1/2 lb per week, intentionally, for the last ~30 lbs