Having trouble taking it slow

earlnabby
earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
edited March 4 in Health and Weight Loss
I know slow and steady is the way to go, but I am getting a bit impatient here. I have my settings so I lose 1 lb a week and am averaging a little closer to 1.4 lb. I am 2 lb away from my first mini goal, which was to reach 250 by my birthday on the 21st. My next mini goal is 230 by Christmas, then Onederland by next Fourth of July.

Success breeds success and I am so tempted to try and speed things up! I don't really know how to explain it but I really want to eat even less and burn off more and lose a ton of weight quickly. I have done it before, but I also have not maintained it and messed up parts of my health by doing it. I really want this to be the last time I ever have to lose lots of weight and my skin is so stretched, I want to give it every opportunity to go back as much as possible.

I guess I just have to keep repeating the refrain from one of the songs on my walking playlist (Dance with Who Brung You, by Asleep at the Wheel):

You've got to dance with who brung you,
Swing with who swung you,
Life ain't no 40 yard dash.

Be in it for the long run,
in the long run you'll have more fun,
If you dance with who brung you to the bash.

Reducing my calories by 500 a day and upping the exercise (and eating back about 50-70% of calories earned) is working. I feel good, I am looking better, I have a lot of energy.

Replies

  • Chrisparadise579
    Chrisparadise579 Posts: 411 Member
    1700 calories a day is a great level so keep up the great work! I know it can be hard to stay with the program sometimes but it working so stay the course. Like they say "If it aint broke, dont fix it". You are doing great and are setting awesome goals!
  • NoMoreBlameGame
    NoMoreBlameGame Posts: 236 Member
    I do understand...taking it slowly is frustrating to say the least. It's not even about "instant gratification" as others have thrown at me here and there...it's more about wanting to just get rid of the negative (the fat, the sluggishness, etc) and replace with the positive (better health, better self-esteem, more energy, etc). It's kind of like having a raccoon in your garbage bins (and wanting it to vamoose...pronto!).

    You're right, though, slow and steady is the way to go.

    Besides....the rate at which you lose weight *might* affect how often you're on MFP, and I for one am glad you're here! I've learned several things I didn't know, simply by reading something you posted or replied to. Your input is appreciated here more than you know.

    (and I really like that song!)

    You brought yourself to the bash...and sometimes dancing with the one who brought you means waltzing yourself to victory and still having energy for a salsa...instead of rushing a fast-paced two-step and passing out with nothing left. :smile:

    You can do it \o/
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    1700 calories a day is a great level so keep up the great work! I know it can be hard to stay with the program sometimes but it working so stay the course. Like they say "If it aint broke, dont fix it". You are doing great and are setting awesome goals!

    Yeah, I am also tempted to change my activity level from sedentary to lightly active which I think is more accurate for what I am doing these days, but I don't want to screw it up so staying with sedentary and eating back at least half of my calories will be the way I go until it stops working so well.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    I do understand...taking it slowly is frustrating to say the least. It's not even about "instant gratification" as others have thrown at me here and there...it's more about wanting to just get rid of the negative (the fat, the sluggishness, etc) and replace with the positive (better health, better self-esteem, more energy, etc). It's kind of like having a raccoon in your garbage bins (and wanting it to vamoose...pronto!).

    You're right, though, slow and steady is the way to go.

    Besides....the rate at which you lose weight *might* affect how often you're on MFP, and I for one am glad you're here! I've learned several things I didn't know, simply by reading something you posted or replied to. Your input is appreciated here more than you know.

    (and I really like that song!)

    You brought yourself to the bash...and sometimes dancing with the one who brought you means waltzing yourself to victory and still having energy for a salsa...instead of rushing a fast-paced two-step and passing out with nothing left. :smile:

    You can do it \o/

    Awww. Thank you for the kind words. :blushing:


    ETA: those fast paced two steps are great for setting a walking pace :)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,147 Member
    You have done a tremendous job, congratulations. Remember you are making a life change, and building a solid foundation is important so the whole project is sound when completed. Keep up the awesome work!
  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
    Slow and steady is the only way to go. And there are multiple reasons why, but here's something I'll give you that you might not have thought of already: habits.

    It takes time, and consistency, for form good habits. Habits with eating, habits with exercise.

    Each day that you eat right and exercise is another day that you are helping yourself to form those habits. You wont' be perfect every day, every meal, or every workout. But consistency is the key.

    We all got overweight by adhering to bad habits. Learning how to retrain our brain doesn't happen overnight.

    So go slow, form the good habits, and enjoy the weight loss as it happens.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    What color_fade said. There's other reasons - your skin won't get as loose as it will have more time to adjust to the changes in your body, you'll hold onto more muscle mass and you get to eat more food (which to me is the biggest reason to go more slowly).
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    While I don't have as much weight to lose as you do, I know how you feel. I actually just posted that on my newsfeed, about how I've been unhappy with how slow things are going.... but that I've only been logging since June and have lost 14lbs! So that's about 1lb/week or a bit more on average. Right in line with my goals. I even met my mini goal of 175lbs for september, and I met that in August!

    But like you I've also done the fast approach before, gained the weight back. That time I had more to lose, from 200 to 145. But This time I have specific aesthetic goals and performance goals outside of just "be skinny" so I have to take it slow. But because I've seen how quickly progress can be, it makes me want that fast progress again.

    Since you've lost 60lbs, do you have any old pictures of yourself pre-loss? Maybe take a new picture and compare it to old ones. Seeing the difference in your body (which for us is so hard to imagine/see just by trying to think about how we used to look, since we are so used to seeing ourselves gradually change every day and get used to the new changes) might help you feel less like speeding things up. Or even trying on old clothes that were too tight 60lbs ago, it is a great motivator!

    Plus, would you rather look better sooner while feeling worse and have a harder time adjusting to maintenance, OR take it off slowly so that adjustments are easy and you can easily maintain and will still feel pretty good during most of your deficit time?
  • farmerpam1
    farmerpam1 Posts: 402 Member
    I too, understand. I get the slow and steady, but I'm feeling kind of like where you're at, today in particular. Thanks for your post, came at a good time. You're doing a great job. I'm trying to focus on next summer's goals, what bike rides I'd like to accomplish, what mountains I'd like to hike. Now, I think I'll go listen to that song you quoted. Again, thanks!:flowerforyou:
  • christinazaia
    christinazaia Posts: 135 Member
    oh believe me its worth the wait!! its gets much easier...moderation and retraining your brain to make better choices....cant always have a perfect day....its part of a timely process....doesn't happen over night...good things take time!
  • christinazaia
    christinazaia Posts: 135 Member
    it takes time to break bad habits and replace them with good ones....u still might get into those bad habits, after all we are all just human..
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    1700 calories a day is a great level so keep up the great work! I know it can be hard to stay with the program sometimes but it working so stay the course. Like they say "If it aint broke, dont fix it". You are doing great and are setting awesome goals!

    Yeah, I am also tempted to change my activity level from sedentary to lightly active which I think is more accurate for what I am doing these days, but I don't want to screw it up so staying with sedentary and eating back at least half of my calories will be the way I go until it stops working so well.

    This is a good approach. Change to lightly active if you find yourself feeling sluggish or seeing too fast of weight loss. But I have been yo-yoing my calorie limit sooo much int he last 3 months, which I know has impacted my progress. So now I'm forcing myself to stick to my current limit (which is the limit that seems to have worked well this whole time, but I kept wanting more food even though I wasn't necessarily more hungry) unless my body tells me that it needs more food. For now I would even say feel free to eat up to 75% of your exercise calories on days where you need it, which won't add in a crazy amount of extra cals so you'd still probably progress similarly.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    I know slow and steady is the way to go, but I am getting a bit impatient here. I have my settings so I lose 1 lb a week and am averaging a little closer to 1.4 lb. I am 2 lb away from my first mini goal, which was to reach 250 by my birthday on the 21st. My next mini goal is 230 by Christmas, then Onederland by next Fourth of July.

    Success breeds success and I am so tempted to try and speed things up! I don't really know how to explain it but I really want to eat even less and burn off more and lose a ton of weight quickly. I have done it before, but I also have not maintained it and messed up parts of my health by doing it. I really want this to be the last time I ever have to lose lots of weight and my skin is so stretched, I want to give it every opportunity to go back as much as possible.

    I guess I just have to keep repeating the refrain from one of the songs on my walking playlist (Dance with Who Brung You, by Asleep at the Wheel):

    You've got to dance with who brung you,
    Swing with who swung you,
    Life ain't no 40 yard dash.

    Be in it for the long run,
    in the long run you'll have more fun,
    If you dance with who brung you to the bash.

    Reducing my calories by 500 a day and upping the exercise (and eating back about 50-70% of calories earned) is working. I feel good, I am looking better, I have a lot of energy.

    You can afford to go a bit faster when you are above 200 lbs. (for a female)---I did. But when you get under 200 or so, the weight loss slows down significantly. When you get to within 20-30 pounds of your goal, it will (and should) slow to a crawl, if you are eating healthfully. As you get closer to your goal, the longer you should spend in maintenance and the less time actually losing. After all, the ultimate goal is to maintain the fat loss, so spending time training yourself to maintain is a very important skill. Stepping up your resistance training when you are within 20-30 pounds of your goal will help greatly to maintain and continue to shrink your fat stores even without weight loss. I have been on maintenance for most of the last year (I am entering a weight loss phase now and will return to maintenance around the end of October). During that time, I have not lost any significant amount of weight (maybe a pound or two--hard to tell) BUT, my measurements have continued to shrink and I have gone down a dress size. My muscles now feel better and stronger than they have in many years and I have returned to the shape of my youth rather than having an "old lady shape" (you know, big belly and shrunken thigh and rear end muscles). I am still wearing the same jeans that I was wearing last year at this time BUT, they fit me in an entirely different way. They were very tight around the waist last year (and baggy in the seat and thigh area) but now they are just the opposite--they fit in the seat and thigh and are baggy around the waist and belly area. :smile:
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    If you want to lose two pounds a week, do that. It's really not all that fast. There is no reason an otherwise healthy person couldn't or shouldn't do it. You are big enough to do it without trying too hard. When you get smaller, it will get a lot harder and you'll have to settle for slower weight loss, so you may as well go quicker now, if you want,

    If you like 1 pound a week, do that.

    Whatever makes you happiest is what you should do. In the end, it's all about being happy.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Since you've lost 60lbs, do you have any old pictures of yourself pre-loss? Maybe take a new picture and compare it to old ones. Seeing the difference in your body (which for us is so hard to imagine/see just by trying to think about how we used to look, since we are so used to seeing ourselves gradually change every day and get used to the new changes) might help you feel less like speeding things up. Or even trying on old clothes that were too tight 60lbs ago, it is a great motivator!

    I am one of those who avoids the camera at all costs. I am trying to round up some that were taken at our family reunions around the 4th of July every year. It may not show my whole body but it should be good enough to get a rough picture of what I looked like before.
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