Anyone else have trouble losing weight the right way?

distinctlybeautiful · January 2015

I have trouble eating the right amount. I've always tended to eat too much or too little, but I've always maintained a fairly steady weight.. until about two years ago when my eating-too-much mode got worse than ever before. I gained about fifty pounds in one year. I'm happy to say that after a year of gaining, I started a year of losing, and maybe three months ago, I was down forty-five pounds. It sounds like a reasonable rate of loss, but it didn't happen like that. I would lose some weight quickly and then stay steady and then lose more weight quickly. I definitely wasn't eating enough when I was losing weight.

I've been about the same weight for the last three months, and now I'm just starting to work out (cardio and strength training) and use MFP to track because I'd like to tone up and lose a little more. I'm trying to do it right this time, which, for me, means being ok with losing a pound a week. I figure this way I'm more likely to make healthy strides (i.e., losing fat instead of muscle) and maintain them. But I find that it's difficult to feel like I'm on the right track when I'm eating 1500 calories a day - and even more difficult when I have to eat more calories because of exercise. Now, I'm definitely planning to stick to this, but I'm just wondering if anyone can relate to a slight feeling of anxiety when you eat to lose weight at a slow, steady rate.

(I don't have an eating disorder - with the possible exception of that year when I was eating non-stop and gained all that weight - but I've definitely had disordered eating habits, if that makes sense.)

allyphoe · January 2015

I know what you mean. It's a lot easier psychologically to lose fast than to lose slow. It's easy for me to lose fast. It's easy for me to gain fast. It's a long slow unrewarding slog to eat all your calorie and lose slow. I'm hoping all the practice will make maintenance more doable.

LAWoman72 · January 2015

I have struggled with all-or-nothing thinking all my adult life when it comes to food. It would be binge, restrict, binge, restrict. Like the OP, at some point it just suddenly became extremely hard to uphold the restriction part, and the weight piled on.

Am now trying to attain a reasonable calorie deficit all the time, rather than bingeing and restricting.

sizesixorbust · January 2015

i get you! eating to lose 8 pounds in a month vs 8 pounds in a week really bugs me sometimes (not that i could actually do the first one). but, it does feel better generally.

trublutopaz · January 2015

Since 1989 I have gone through a string of diets, plans and programs. It started after my first pregnancy with Cambridge-a protein shake program. I lost 50 lbs. Then I got pregnant again. I was never able to lose weight again. I have struggled through Lean Bodies, Weightwatchers (twice), Atkins-you name it I've tried it. Now I have to lose weight. I don't want to die before I get a chance to enjoy life. I have three years until I can retire and find a job I enjoy doing. I've made some promises to myself to get out more, to meet more people and to do things rather than just eating stuff. I wish there was an easier answer.

Sued0nim · January 2015

It's all a mindset

Yes it's nice seeing the scale move quickly at 2lbs a week and that's fine when you have lots to lose but as you have less you must slow it down to avoid overly cannibalising your LBM.

Get your mind in the "this is for life I'm going to maintain this" mindset and it becomes easier to go for a 0.5lb a week loss ...even with mini stalls of nothing for a couple of weeks ...sites like trendweight.com or apps like happy scale can help with the overall picture

Francl27 · January 2015

Actually for me it was extremely liberating to realize that I didn't have to eat salads and carrots and be hungry all the time to lose weight. That's why I managed to stick to it.

Liftng4Lis · January 2015

Stop thinking of it as a diet or a "have to". This isn't a race, its a lifestyle change.

WalkingAlong · January 2015

gardizzle86 wrote: »

I have trouble eating the right amount. I've always tended to eat too much or too little, but I've always maintained a fairly steady weight.. until about two years ago when my eating-too-much mode got worse than ever before. I gained about fifty pounds in one year. I'm happy to say that after a year of gaining, I started a year of losing, and maybe three months ago, I was down forty-five pounds. It sounds like a reasonable rate of loss, but it didn't happen like that. I would lose some weight quickly and then stay steady and then lose more weight quickly. I definitely wasn't eating enough when I was losing weight.

I've been about the same weight for the last three months, and now I'm just starting to work out (cardio and strength training) and use MFP to track because I'd like to tone up and lose a little more. I'm trying to do it right this time, which, for me, means being ok with losing a pound a week. I figure this way I'm more likely to make healthy strides (i.e., losing fat instead of muscle) and maintain them. But I find that it's difficult to feel like I'm on the right track when I'm eating 1500 calories a day - and even more difficult when I have to eat more calories because of exercise. Now, I'm definitely planning to stick to this, but I'm just wondering if anyone can relate to a slight feeling of anxiety when you eat to lose weight at a slow, steady rate.

(I don't have an eating disorder - with the possible exception of that year when I was eating non-stop and gained all that weight - but I've definitely had disordered eating habits, if that makes sense.)

Honestly that part sounds pretty normal. I'm not sure I'd stress over doing it "the right way" if your way had you lose 45 lbs. in one year (jagged trend or not), and you've maintained it for three months so far. That's less than a lb. a week. Even if you ate less some weeks, it evened out to a healthy loss rate.

Trying to keep to some tiny deficit level from calcing and eating every exercise calorie IS stressful. I too think it's easier to just pick a level deficit and run with it.

There is not evidence that supports that losing any slower than you did retains more muscle or causes better maintenance.

glowgirl14 · January 2015

Yup. The majority of my loss has been from exactly what you say. Not much problem maintaining, but the losses were always 15lbs in 2-3 weeks, and then it stopped. Gain a couple back, maintain for a couple of months, and then lose a bit more.

What helped me was learning to trust the system. Figure out what you're actually burning on a daily basis, and commit to a month of eating at a modest deficit from that. A month was scary for me. The fluctuations in weight were scary. Because the way I always lost, I'd see losses every day, and when they stopped, the "loss period" was over for me. But I weighed myself daily, and after being committed to it for a month, I committed for another month...and started seeing the first truly healthy weight loss I'd ever seen.

kimmyisla · January 2015

Wow this totally struck a chord with me like im not the only one, about two years ago i restricted myself to one meal a day, and i did it for two months i lost a stone and 7 lbs i was happy, but i soon went back to my old ways and the weight came as quick as it went, panicked i started back with one meal a day again, i lost a few lbs but then stuck i couldnt lose any weight, up until a few months ago ive been trying to eat "good" but no weight is being lost, i feel as if my metabolism has stopped! So here i am again, this time trying to eat my calories right and exercise, this is probably the only diet ive not done lol, "The right one" xx

Ghoul97 · January 2015

I hear u. It feels like no matter how "good" I am I just look the same and that my weight loss is so incredibly slow that I loose my motivation

TheVirgoddess · January 2015

gardizzle86 wrote: »

I have trouble eating the right amount. I've always tended to eat too much or too little, but I've always maintained a fairly steady weight.. until about two years ago when my eating-too-much mode got worse than ever before. I gained about fifty pounds in one year. I'm happy to say that after a year of gaining, I started a year of losing, and maybe three months ago, I was down forty-five pounds. It sounds like a reasonable rate of loss, but it didn't happen like that. I would lose some weight quickly and then stay steady and then lose more weight quickly. I definitely wasn't eating enough when I was losing weight.

I've been about the same weight for the last three months, and now I'm just starting to work out (cardio and strength training) and use MFP to track because I'd like to tone up and lose a little more. I'm trying to do it right this time, which, for me, means being ok with losing a pound a week. I figure this way I'm more likely to make healthy strides (i.e., losing fat instead of muscle) and maintain them. But I find that it's difficult to feel like I'm on the right track when I'm eating 1500 calories a day - and even more difficult when I have to eat more calories because of exercise. Now, I'm definitely planning to stick to this, but I'm just wondering if anyone can relate to a slight feeling of anxiety when you eat to lose weight at a slow, steady rate.

(I don't have an eating disorder - with the possible exception of that year when I was eating non-stop and gained all that weight - but I've definitely had disordered eating habits, if that makes sense.)

That's exactly how I lose weight. I have a decent diet and I don't eat too few calories.

Weight loss isn't linear. I don't know anyone who loses at a steady 1 lb per week rate. The thing is, it's all an average. I've lost 66 pounds in 8 months. That sounds like a lot - but it's less than 2 pounds a week on average. This includes weeks with no loss at all.

If you mentally feel like you're going to fail because you're eating too much, perhaps it's time to look at calories as fuel? You have to give your body x amount of fuel to work and in the case of food, less isn't more.

Good luck.

Anyone else have trouble losing weight the right way?

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