Disappointed, even though I realize..

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julsofdenial
julsofdenial Posts: 225 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Disappointed, even though I realize this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon, and all that good stuff. I have been reading forums like crazy here and they are very helful and uplifting. But sometimes I do compare myself to others and think, why can they lose so much and I can't?
I know I have lost 6 pounds in almost 5 weeks now which is good. I never even thought I could do that to be honest. And I do feel like I can stick to this and really do it this time....eventually.

But last Sunday I was the same weight as today, Saturday. And it is just hard, as I am sure you all know, when I tried SO hard all week. My diary is open... and while it is not perfect by any means, I know it is a MILLION times better than a month ago. So after cutting cake someone bought for us for my family, and not even taking one taste, and resisting the chips and cookies at a friends it would be so nice to see a change just for some motivation. I even really exercised this week which honestly, I never even planned on doing. But I am caught up in the excitment of losing and wanting to feel decent this summer, so I was motivated to get out and walk etc. I have for the most part, not eaten ALL of my exercise cals back even though I know it is recommended, but from what I read with 60-70 pounds to lose it shouldn't work against me to have a few remaining at this point.

Its such a weird thing being this overweight while eating well and exercising.. it does make it seem hopeless/pointless. If only there was a magic wand to make me thin/healthy now I promise to keep it up! LOL.. it would be so much easier to try this hard if I looked/felt good now.

Anyway, guess I just had to vent some. Been hard to think of anything besides logging food and weightloss for the past few weeks, so with that much obcession it is just hard not to see that change I want. Thanks for listening...and tips/adivce/friends are welcome.
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Replies

  • SimplyDeLish
    SimplyDeLish Posts: 539
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    Look at it this way - you have acheived more than 10% of your goal already...you are doing fabulous.

    This is a healthy lifestyle - lose the weight and keep it off. It has to be the "marathon" for you to sustain the weight loss.

    You can do this!!!!
  • kalelwifey
    kalelwifey Posts: 172
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    I know wud ur saying! ones of the things that make me stop dieting...is no results...i get frustrated..i stop...i say man this aint gonna do anything..i get impatient..but i always think..well it didnt take a snap of my fingers to get it there so its not gonna take a snap to get it off! just gotta keep pushing and when you look at all these people losing weight just remember..they started where u are!
  • rachelleahsmom
    rachelleahsmom Posts: 442 Member
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    I know what you mean. You do all the right things and the scale doesn't budge. It's very frustrating and discouraging. When that happens to me, I often wonder why I even bother. I could eat fun things and stay the same. I get down in the dumps on this weight loss journey so easily. On the other hand, usually when I stick with it even through the plateaus, I get rewarded the following week. So, while the scale may not have moved this week for you, it probably will next week. Keep eating the healthy things and walking and even if the scale doesn't change, you are getting healthier (which is really the goal here!). The other thing you might consider is taking measurements. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you may be getting leaner and not notice a change on the scale. Best of luck to you!
  • abellante_0205
    abellante_0205 Posts: 368 Member
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    DO NOT GIVE UP. It took me a whole year to lose 24.3 lbs and that was 2 years ago, now I'm down 25.1 lbs... Its taking me a long time to get to where I want to be -- 10-18 more lbs please... but the important thing is I have not given up, and I will not! You will get to where you want to be, sometimes your body gets confused for a while but if u stay consistent, you will lose the weight. Drink more water!
  • patattheshire
    patattheshire Posts: 123 Member
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    you are right about being a marathon but even a marathon has times where it seems awesome and sometimes like you are at a wall this week maybe the wall next week water stations and cool breezes
    pat
  • rachelleahsmom
    rachelleahsmom Posts: 442 Member
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    I know wud ur saying! ones of the things that make me stop dieting...is no results...i get frustrated..i stop...i say man this aint gonna do anything..i get impatient..but i always think..well it didnt take a snap of my fingers to get it there so its not gonna take a snap to get it off! just gotta keep pushing and when you look at all these people losing weight just remember..they started where u are!

    Someone should create a snap your fingers, lose 10 pounds app for the phones. :wink:
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    I am right there with you - that is, I also weigh the same today as I did last Sunday. However, I know I did everything right this week. Not perfect, there were a few places I could cut some sugar, but even at that I stayed between my minimum calories and eating back my calories.

    For myself, I am considering putting the scale away, so that I do not look at it every week. Then, when I have been working at it consistently for a month, I will make an appointment for my annual physical and specifically request all the blood work. As long as that comes back positive, I will keep doing what I have been doing. If there are issues, I will ask for a referral to a nutritionist.

    Hang in there, and know that no matter what the scale says, if you are eating right and getting exercise, you are, indeed, healthier!
  • Kath712
    Kath712 Posts: 1,263 Member
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    Look at it this way - you have acheived more than 10% of your goal already...you are doing fabulous.

    This is a healthy lifestyle - lose the weight and keep it off. It has to be the "marathon" for you to sustain the weight loss.

    You can do this!!!!

    Big ditto!! She said it so well. Try to focus less on the scale and more on the other changes you are making. And keep coming back here, we are all in this together.
  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
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    Try picking up a 6lb bag of sugar, and tell me how it feels.......You can do it, I used to walk in a store and pick up the amount of weight I lost, in bags of beans and sugar.....lol, until I figured I could do it at the gym using free weights.....

    in all kidding aside, I understand how you feel, just believe in yourself with patience.......Happy Easter .......Lloyd
  • julsofdenial
    julsofdenial Posts: 225 Member
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    Thanks for the comments everyone. I know it isn't a pity party for me and that we ALL are working so hard at this!
    I do need to take measurements, but I know clothes are fitting the same. And the only thing I drink is water... 7-9 a day. And a cup or two of coffee. Nothing else.
    I know I should take a break from the scale... but it's so hard because it really is the only gauge I can actually SEE that could show me a result of my hard work at this point. I am sure I am getting heathier, which is so important, but it's hard to SEE those results right now. I have always been an "instant gratification" type of person, so this is just so difficult!

    Thanks again for all the support :)
  • evaplts
    evaplts Posts: 3 Member
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    Please do not be dissapointed. Weight loss is a funny thing; our bodies react to these changes, and at some point mine, your body "decides" to fight back, and keep water in for a time when you supply more calories to make some fat cells. It seems, you are at that stage. It would be nice to see even and continuous loss for our even and continuous effort. But it does not always happen that way. Just stick to it, and your body will figure out that no extra energy to store in fat cells is coming, and will release the extras holding in. Then you will step on a scale and see drop maybe even 3 pounds or so. It works that way for me, and the days that I do not see any change I need to remind myself that it will show up sooner or later on the scale. Just do not give up!

    Good Luck!
  • Southboundnana
    Southboundnana Posts: 32
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    Look at it this way, we didn't put the weight on over night and it's not going to go away over night.
    You have lost 10% of your boby fat, and I say that is pretty darn good.

    You are learning how to live all over again. Don't beat yourself up if you have a small bite of cake.
    Just remember, that nothing taste as good as thin feels.

    Remember, the turtle wins the race.
  • julsofdenial
    julsofdenial Posts: 225 Member
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    Look at it this way - you have acheived more than 10% of your goal already...you are doing fabulous.

    This is a healthy lifestyle - lose the weight and keep it off. It has to be the "marathon" for you to sustain the weight loss.

    You can do this!!!!
    Wow.. 10% does seem like a lot.. thanks :)
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    The scale doesn't measure how good we are. It measure our absolute mass. Which means it doesn't even measure how much fat and lean tissue we have, but also how much water, undigested food, and other stuff that fluctuates hourly. It's really only a very rough measure of how we're doing on losing fat.

    I think we forget this or maybe don't really know it to begin with...

    So many things impact the scale of which water is a major contributor. If you upped your exercise this week, you will retain more water. If you are ovulating or it's TOM, you might retain more water. If you ate something salty the day before, you retain water. If you don't drink enough for a few days, you retain water.

    Alternately, when you first go on a diet, your body tends to burn your glycogen stores first and that makes you shed water. You can drop 5-10 pounds that first week and have all but 1-2 of it be water. Of course, the water comes back the next week and then you have a small or no loss and that can freak people out because "I'm doing everything right and not losing weight!" Well, you might not be losing "weight" but you are probably losing fat. You just gained as much water than you lost fat so you can't tell by looking at the scale.

    You can always weigh yourself, then go to the bathroom and drop an enormous poo and weigh yourself again and you've "lost" 3 pounds! Except not really. You are going to eat and drink again and make some more poo and pee.

    This is one reason why we are advised to weigh ourself at the same time every day and under the same circumstances. If you do it first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom naked, you have eliminated a lot of variables. Even then, your weight will fluctuate from day to day, which is why some people advise weighing weekly.

    Another thing to keep in mind, once you get in sight of your goal weight, is that your weight won't tell you if you are losing fat or muscle. If you gain muscle, your weight might even go up! If you lose fat but gain muscle, it might stay the same. But the amount of space you take up is less, you can still fit into your clothes (or they might even get loose)... even as that pesky number on the scale just doesn't do what you want it to.
  • gtm124
    gtm124 Posts: 179
    Options
    The scale doesn't measure how good we are. It measure our absolute mass. Which means it doesn't even measure how much fat and lean tissue we have, but also how much water, undigested food, and other stuff that fluctuates hourly. It's really only a very rough measure of how we're doing on losing fat.

    I think we forget this or maybe don't really know it to begin with...

    So many things impact the scale of which water is a major contributor. If you upped your exercise this week, you will retain more water. If you are ovulating or it's TOM, you might retain more water. If you ate something salty the day before, you retain water. If you don't drink enough for a few days, you retain water.

    Alternately, when you first go on a diet, your body tends to burn your glycogen stores first and that makes you shed water. You can drop 5-10 pounds that first week and have all but 1-2 of it be water. Of course, the water comes back the next week and then you have a small or no loss and that can freak people out because "I'm doing everything right and not losing weight!" Well, you might not be losing "weight" but you are probably losing fat. You just gained as much water than you lost fat so you can't tell by looking at the scale.

    You can always weigh yourself, then go to the bathroom and drop an enormous poo and weigh yourself again and you've "lost" 3 pounds! Except not really. You are going to eat and drink again and make some more poo and pee.

    This is one reason why we are advised to weigh ourself at the same time every day and under the same circumstances. If you do it first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom naked, you have eliminated a lot of variables. Even then, your weight will fluctuate from day to day, which is why some people advise weighing weekly.

    Another thing to keep in mind, once you get in sight of your goal weight, is that your weight won't tell you if you are losing fat or muscle. If you gain muscle, your weight might even go up! If you lose fat but gain muscle, it might stay the same. But the amount of space you take up is less, you can still fit into your clothes (or they might even get loose)... even as that pesky number on the scale just doesn't do what you want it to.

    Good post. Thanks.
  • kalelwifey
    kalelwifey Posts: 172
    Options
    I know wud ur saying! ones of the things that make me stop dieting...is no results...i get frustrated..i stop...i say man this aint gonna do anything..i get impatient..but i always think..well it didnt take a snap of my fingers to get it there so its not gonna take a snap to get it off! just gotta keep pushing and when you look at all these people losing weight just remember..they started where u are!

    Someone should create a snap your fingers, lose 10 pounds app for the phones. :wink:

    Need To Be Able to Lose 10lbs @ the Drop of a Dime? ...Theres and App For That!
  • michelle4271
    michelle4271 Posts: 194 Member
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    I took a peek at your food diary, and while I did not look at the actual food choices, as I seem to think that can be a mute point because we all need to learn how to manage how we will want to eat after our goals are reached so we dont put the weight back on......

    that being said, if you are only getting 7-9 glasses of water in a day I think you are not nearly getting enough water into you given the amount of sodium that you have just about every day......for example, if I even get close to 1000 in sodium I have to increase my water quite a bit in order to compensate for that,,,,,I think if you were to do that, you just might see a difference.

    the only other thing is more often then not, you are not reaching your 1200 cals/day, you are putting your body into starvation mode, wondering when the foods gonna come next. its very important that we provide our bodies with enough nutrition,,,,,,

    so, although easier said than done, make sure you are getting your 1200 cals, up your water ALOT, and I believe you just might begin to see the weight start to come off again,,,,,please be patient, again easier said than done,,,,,,,we all understand and we are all here for you

    if you want to accomplish this goal, YOU CAN!!!!!

    and when you need that extra push, thats why we are all here :flowerforyou:
  • dawnemjh
    dawnemjh Posts: 1,465 Member
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    Believe me, I know it can be frustrating when you work so hard and dont lose. But think of what might have happened if you had the cake and oreos etc. Maybe instead of just maintaining, you would have gained a few pounds. Think if how you would feel then!!! I work out hard and eat clean all the time and still many weeks dont lose, or even gain weight! I have lost and gained the same 5 pounds for over a year. But I keep with it because otherwise I would keep gaining and be back where I started, which was 120 pounds heavier than I am today.

    you can do it!! stick with it, watch the sodium, and try walking 4-5 days per week. You may start building muscle so the scale may stop moving for a week or two, but it will catch up!! eat at least 1200 calories per day.

    Good Luck
  • Courtney0508
    Courtney0508 Posts: 1
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    I felt the same way today. I started off so strong, and even though I haven't changed my eating habits, I've stalled. However, I have to remember that by doing a little extra each day, like 20 min of yoga or taking my dogs for a longer walk, it will help me achieve my goals. I hope to lose a total of 10 pounds by my bday (Mother's Day) and then a total of 30 by this time next year. If I just focus on that (baby steps) I know everything will fall in my favor.

    Do the same. Give yourself baby steps...you feel more accomplished. Plus, look at the bight side...you didn't GAIN anything, you just didn't lose anything. YAY for not gaining any weight!!
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    Hang in there - I got frustrated after a few weeks too but decided to keep going and see what happened. I've been at this for over three months now and I've noticed definate patterns in my weight loss - I lose for a few weeks, then go up or stay the same for a week or two, then go down again. Now I can see the pattern I dont get so bothered by it.
    So, keep up the good work, don't resort to starving yourself, and you'll get there!

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