Why is weight loss so slow?

13

Replies

  • rikkejanell2014
    rikkejanell2014 Posts: 312 Member
    Timshel_ wrote: »
    Timshel_ wrote: »
    People spend years neglecting themselves until they get to the point they say, "ENOUGH!". Then expect to reverse that neglect in a month or so. That is the initial failure or people here though, and why so many fall off the wagon. Many don't even return because they focus on a quick fix, when it is truly a change in habits, thoughts, and how you live.

    Meh.

    You're so right. Im sorry

    Nothing to be sorry about, you are doing great. Just keep doing it to be the AMAZING you that you want.

    I just want to say that your comment made a change in me forever from this day forward I would love to send you a friend request. PS I reposted what you said on my journey page and my Facebook it touched me and woke me up
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    Anyone who says they lost 15lb in a month is either making it up, or they're taking about the first month in which they shed 6 or 7lb of water weight. 4lb in a month would be a usua, healthy rate of loss, or 8lb if you're very heavy. You are losing weight quickly.

    Don't mean to sidetrack, but those with a lot to lose can lose a lot. First three months I lost ~15 a month. From ~330 to 285. It's slowed down now that 10 a month looks like a tough haul and I have a target of 8 going forward, but I was done with pure water weight long before I hit 285.

    Sure, if you eat that way. If your maintenance is 3500 and you eat 1700, you're going to lose a pound roughly every other day to get to 15 a month and if you got a lot of fat that is going to be from fat mostly.
    Op however is neither 330 pounds nor a guy like you, meaning her maintenance is nowhere close that and she'd have to severely limit her food intake to get to that amount of weight loss and it certainly wouldn't be mostly fat anymore, risking malnutrition and lean mass loss.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Timshel_ wrote: »
    Timshel_ wrote: »
    People spend years neglecting themselves until they get to the point they say, "ENOUGH!". Then expect to reverse that neglect in a month or so. That is the initial failure or people here though, and why so many fall off the wagon. Many don't even return because they focus on a quick fix, when it is truly a change in habits, thoughts, and how you live.

    Meh.

    You're so right. Im sorry

    Nothing to be sorry about, you are doing great. Just keep doing it to be the AMAZING you that you want.

    I just want to say that your comment made a change in me forever from this day forward I would love to send you a friend request. PS I reposted what you said on my journey page and my Facebook it touched me and woke me up

    Friend away. Thanks.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    I guess my hopes were high because i kicked off with a 30 day work out challenge where I have to workout everyday for an hour for 30 days. I did not work out at all and I drink soda and ate fast food every single ate before this so I thought the major change would be a shock to my system and make me lose tons of weight.

    Let me ask you, what is your true goal. Do you only care about what your weight is, or do you have a look you want to achieve? In my experience, aggressive weight loss rarely allows a person to truly achieve what their vision is. And even though the first week will be a lot of water weight from modifications in sodium, food content, and etc..., if you continue at this pace, then you may not be setting yourself up for long term success.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Anyone who says they lost 15lb in a month is either making it up, or they're taking about the first month in which they shed 6 or 7lb of water weight. 4lb in a month would be a usua, healthy rate of loss, or 8lb if you're very heavy. You are losing weight quickly.

    Don't mean to sidetrack, but those with a lot to lose can lose a lot. First three months I lost ~15 a month. From ~330 to 285. It's slowed down now that 10 a month looks like a tough haul and I have a target of 8 going forward, but I was done with pure water weight long before I hit 285.

    Sure, if you eat that way. If your maintenance is 3500 and you eat 1700, you're going to lose a pound roughly every other day to get to 15 a month and if you got a lot of fat that is going to be from fat mostly.
    Op however is neither 330 pounds nor a guy like you, meaning her maintenance is nowhere close that and she'd have to severely limit her food intake to get to that amount of weight loss and it certainly wouldn't be mostly fat anymore, risking malnutrition and lean mass loss.

    I get that I'm not like the OP. Just though it wasn't right to see "Anyone who says they lost 15lb in a month is either making it up....." without some clarification. It is possible, but not for the OP. And it is not sustainable. Unfortunately. :(
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    Nine pounds in less than a month is NOT SLOW! I took 16 months to lose 63 pounds. :smiley:

    Also... remind yourself that slow and steady wins the race. I hit my goal in May of 2012 and still have not gained anything back. All my prior attempts to lose weight involved crash dieting and speedy weight loss. When I followed that method, I *always* gained everything I lost back again as soon as I stopped dieting.
  • i6Shot
    i6Shot Posts: 51 Member
    edited December 2016
    LCHF is not a magical way to lose weight. a calorie deficit is all thats needed. even eating LCHF you still have to be in a deficit to lose weight and any quick weight loss at first is going to be water weight in LCHF/keto

    Never said it was a magical way to lose weight. I just tried to answer the OP the best way I know how and that happens to be LCHF.

    Has worked for me and many others.
  • i6Shot
    i6Shot Posts: 51 Member
    edited December 2016
    Everyone jumps down your throat? Really?

    The only time I ever see anyone taking LCHF to task is when it is implied that eating in this manner has some sort of magical fat burning ability over and above what any other CICO-based diet will achieve. If you're losing weight eating LCHF, it's simply because you're eating less than you're burning in a day, which is the scientific principal (CICO) that *all* diets are based on.

    How you achieve the caloric deficit that permits you to lose weight via CICO is entirely up to you. :)

    I believe the power with LCHF isn't in the CICO but the macros you are eating. As an example if someone who is insulin resistant eats a deficit but incorporates most of their calories from carbs won't have the same results as someone (fat adapted of course) eating similar calories but limits their carbs and replaces them with fat IMO.

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    edited December 2016
    i6Shot wrote: »
    Everyone jumps down your throat? Really?

    The only time I ever see anyone taking LCHF to task is when it is implied that eating in this manner has some sort of magical fat burning ability over and above what any other CICO-based diet will achieve. If you're losing weight eating LCHF, it's simply because you're eating less than you're burning in a day, which is the scientific principal (CICO) that *all* diets are based on.

    How you achieve the caloric deficit that permits you to lose weight via CICO is entirely up to you. :)

    I believe the power with LCHF isn't in the CICO but the macros you are eating. As an example if someone who is insulin resistant eats a deficit but incorporates most of their calories from carbs won't have the same results as someone (fat adapted of course) eating similar calories but limits their carbs and replaces them with fat IMO.

    Where did the OP say she was insulin resistant?
  • rikkejanell2014
    rikkejanell2014 Posts: 312 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I guess my hopes were high because i kicked off with a 30 day work out challenge where I have to workout everyday for an hour for 30 days. I did not work out at all and I drink soda and ate fast food every single ate before this so I thought the major change would be a shock to my system and make me lose tons of weight.

    Let me ask you, what is your true goal. Do you only care about what your weight is, or do you have a look you want to achieve? In my experience, aggressive weight loss rarely allows a person to truly achieve what their vision is. And even though the first week will be a lot of water weight from modifications in sodium, food content, and etc..., if you continue at this pace, then you may not be setting yourself up for long term success.

    My goal is to weigh 140, look good, and feel great.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,167 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    The biggest issue you're facing is unrealistic expectations. 9 pounds lost in less than 4 weeks is pretty fast and it most likely won't continue at that pace indefinitely.

    This.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    140 by Nov 2017 is doable and reasonable. And losing 9 lbs in 25 days is excellent. But you have to switch your mindset. A 9 lbs loss is a victory. You exercise everyday look at it as you are doing something good for your body. Look at eating healthy as a lifestyle change. I find putting time constraints on how much i want to lose by what date adds why too much stress and anxiety and it sets me up for failure and disappointment.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    9 Lbs in less than a month is hardly slow...your expectations are unrealistic; that's the issue.
  • antdelsa
    antdelsa Posts: 174 Member
    9lbs in less than a month is pretty quick... you have to get rid of these biggest loser expectations, all these lose weight quick schemes and bloggers and the media in general who just want to sell you something.

    Embrace your journey and be happy that you are losing and taking steps to the you that you want to be, set in you mind that this is going to take time and that with each passing day you are focused on the journey not the scale but the healthy lifestyle that will allow you to live longer. The number on the scale will always change day to day and if you live as a prisoner to those numbers you'll always be discouraged... just keep up what you're doing because you're doing great
  • CactusCat58
    CactusCat58 Posts: 19 Member
    today is day 25 of my weight loss Journey I have exercised every single day for 1-2 hours a day. I do cardio and weight training. starting w is 207 current weight is 198. I guess I just figured that I would lose way more than what I have so far. there are some days the scale doesn't move for a few days. and yes I log everything I eat and I stay in my calorie deficit every day. I heard about losing inches. I guess I just thought that with the 30 day workout challenge I would lose my weight loss at the beginning. after my 30 Day Workout challenge I'm going to go for 5 days a week working out my goal is to lose a total of 60 pounds.I would like to be 140 by November 2017.

    Sounds like we're in the exact same boat....I'm 58 and need to lose about 120 lbs. I started Nov 1st doing 45 min of water aerobics followed by 90 minutes of lap swimming 5 days a week. I'm logging all my food and staying well within my calorie deficit. I even passed on all the delicious, high fat/high calorie goodies on Thanksgiving and still managed to lose only 6 lbs. in the month of November.

    Here I am in the 3rd week of December and have only lost about 4 lbs even though when I finish logging all my meals and exercise MFP tells me I should have lost about 40 lbs in the past 6 weeks! I started working with a personal trainer this week and am hoping that the weight training in addition to the cardio will help build more lean muscle and spark my slow metabolism to burn more. There are metabolic and thyroid issues at play here and I'm doing my best to figure out the formula that will trigger faster weight loss but it's beyond frustrating. Don't give up or give in..... and feel free to friend me if you'd like to take this journey together.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    today is day 25 of my weight loss Journey I have exercised every single day for 1-2 hours a day. I do cardio and weight training. starting w is 207 current weight is 198. I guess I just figured that I would lose way more than what I have so far. there are some days the scale doesn't move for a few days. and yes I log everything I eat and I stay in my calorie deficit every day. I heard about losing inches. I guess I just thought that with the 30 day workout challenge I would lose my weight loss at the beginning. after my 30 Day Workout challenge I'm going to go for 5 days a week working out my goal is to lose a total of 60 pounds.I would like to be 140 by November 2017.

    Sounds like we're in the exact same boat....I'm 58 and need to lose about 120 lbs. I started Nov 1st doing 45 min of water aerobics followed by 90 minutes of lap swimming 5 days a week. I'm logging all my food and staying well within my calorie deficit. I even passed on all the delicious, high fat/high calorie goodies on Thanksgiving and still managed to lose only 6 lbs. in the month of November.

    Here I am in the 3rd week of December and have only lost about 4 lbs even though when I finish logging all my meals and exercise MFP tells me I should have lost about 40 lbs in the past 6 weeks! I started working with a personal trainer this week and am hoping that the weight training in addition to the cardio will help build more lean muscle and spark my slow metabolism to burn more. There are metabolic and thyroid issues at play here and I'm doing my best to figure out the formula that will trigger faster weight loss but it's beyond frustrating. Don't give up or give in..... and feel free to friend me if you'd like to take this journey together.

    Losing 40 lbs in 6 weeks would not be remotely healthy. Where did you get that estimate from?

    It sounds like you're making good progress, losing a little over 1 lb/week. With 120 to lose, it could reasonably be up to 2 lb/week, but losing 1 lb/week consistently is great! There are lots of threads about how to ensure you lose at the appropriate rate, most often if you are not losing at the rate you selected it comes down to logging errors. Are you using a food scale? Eating back those exercise calories?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    today is day 25 of my weight loss Journey I have exercised every single day for 1-2 hours a day. I do cardio and weight training. starting w is 207 current weight is 198. I guess I just figured that I would lose way more than what I have so far. there are some days the scale doesn't move for a few days. and yes I log everything I eat and I stay in my calorie deficit every day. I heard about losing inches. I guess I just thought that with the 30 day workout challenge I would lose my weight loss at the beginning. after my 30 Day Workout challenge I'm going to go for 5 days a week working out my goal is to lose a total of 60 pounds.I would like to be 140 by November 2017.

    Sounds like we're in the exact same boat....I'm 58 and need to lose about 120 lbs. I started Nov 1st doing 45 min of water aerobics followed by 90 minutes of lap swimming 5 days a week. I'm logging all my food and staying well within my calorie deficit. I even passed on all the delicious, high fat/high calorie goodies on Thanksgiving and still managed to lose only 6 lbs. in the month of November.

    Here I am in the 3rd week of December and have only lost about 4 lbs even though when I finish logging all my meals and exercise MFP tells me I should have lost about 40 lbs in the past 6 weeks! I started working with a personal trainer this week and am hoping that the weight training in addition to the cardio will help build more lean muscle and spark my slow metabolism to burn more. There are metabolic and thyroid issues at play here and I'm doing my best to figure out the formula that will trigger faster weight loss but it's beyond frustrating. Don't give up or give in..... and feel free to friend me if you'd like to take this journey together.

    If there are thyroid issues, weight training may help, but a good endocrinologist is going to be the best bet. If uncontrolled it can be very difficult to lose weight.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    edited December 2016
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I guess my hopes were high because i kicked off with a 30 day work out challenge where I have to workout everyday for an hour for 30 days. I did not work out at all and I drink soda and ate fast food every single ate before this so I thought the major change would be a shock to my system and make me lose tons of weight.

    Let me ask you, what is your true goal. Do you only care about what your weight is, or do you have a look you want to achieve? In my experience, aggressive weight loss rarely allows a person to truly achieve what their vision is. And even though the first week will be a lot of water weight from modifications in sodium, food content, and etc..., if you continue at this pace, then you may not be setting yourself up for long term success.

    My goal is to weigh 140, look good, and feel great.

    Its a bit vague but you can always continue to reassess your goals as you goal. A specific weight isnt always the best thing to aim for as there are a lot of variables. But its still something to shoot for until you get closer.

    In general though i would recommend a good progressive resistance program to help with muscle retention.
  • CactusCat58
    CactusCat58 Posts: 19 Member
    nowine4me wrote: »
    That's great progress. Toward the end of my loss phase, I was happy with 1 pound a month.

    Toward the END of your loss phase it's normal for the loss to be slower, but in the beginning when you've gone from an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle to religiously working out and eating healthy the expectations should be quite different
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    edited December 2016
    today is day 25 of my weight loss Journey I have exercised every single day for 1-2 hours a day. I do cardio and weight training. starting w is 207 current weight is 198. I guess I just figured that I would lose way more than what I have so far. there are some days the scale doesn't move for a few days. and yes I log everything I eat and I stay in my calorie deficit every day. I heard about losing inches. I guess I just thought that with the 30 day workout challenge I would lose my weight loss at the beginning. after my 30 Day Workout challenge I'm going to go for 5 days a week working out my goal is to lose a total of 60 pounds.I would like to be 140 by November 2017.

    You lost 9 lbs in 25 days! That is spectacular!

    Note that 2lb/week is extremely aggressive and not something a body can do unless extremely obese. 1lb/week is much more practical and while November 2017 seems far away, it will get here closer than you think. You will also find it more difficult to lose the closer you get to your goal weight, so prepare yourself for the plateaus (which aren't real) and other mental blocks you've established.

    What you are really trying to do is lose fat. You body can only metabolize this at ~1lb/week, hence the 500 cal/day deficit (500 cals x 7 days = 3500 cals/lb = 1 lb/week loss). Think marathon - not sprint.

    I lost ~60lbs over a year. Never eliminated anything, I simply ate within my budgeted goals.

    You got this.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    nowine4me wrote: »
    That's great progress. Toward the end of my loss phase, I was happy with 1 pound a month.

    Toward the END of your loss phase it's normal for the loss to be slower, but in the beginning when you've gone from an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle to religiously working out and eating healthy the expectations should be quite different

    How tall are you?

    I'm older as well, and had quite a bit to lose myself. I was never able to set the world on fire with my rate of weight loss, but never expected to after 50. The fact that I'm short meant that I could only create so great a deficit, and that meant that my rate of loss was only so much.

    Time is going to pass no matter what you do.

    Time passed for me and now I've lost 94 pounds. One pound at a time. I never looked at this as a race, because it's never over. Fitness and weight management will be lifelong pursuits. The losing weight bit is just phase one. Don't stress over how long it takes.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    There is light at the end of the tunnel. It may be a long 100 mile tunnel, but you'll get there in the end, whether you pedal to the metal through it (which could end up in disaster) or putter along at the recommended speed limit :smile:
  • amyepdx
    amyepdx Posts: 750 Member
    nowine4me wrote: »
    That's great progress. Toward the end of my loss phase, I was happy with 1 pound a month.

    Toward the END of your loss phase it's normal for the loss to be slower, but in the beginning when you've gone from an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle to religiously working out and eating healthy the expectations should be quite different

    How tall are you?

    I'm older as well, and had quite a bit to lose myself. I was never able to set the world on fire with my rate of weight loss, but never expected to after 50. The fact that I'm short meant that I could only create so great a deficit, and that meant that my rate of loss was only so much.

    Time is going to pass no matter what you do.

    Time passed for me and now I've lost 94 pounds. One pound at a time. I never looked at this as a race, because it's never over. Fitness and weight management will be lifelong pursuits. The losing weight bit is just phase one. Don't stress over how long it takes.

    All of this! It's taken me 23 months to lose 91 lbs which may be an average of 1 lb a week, but it was actually about 65 the first year and 25 this year. I never once complained about losing too slowly because the results were there! And I'm 58!
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    Anyone who says they lost 15lb in a month is either making it up, or they're taking about the first month in which they shed 6 or 7lb of water weight. 4lb in a month would be a usua, healthy rate of loss, or 8lb if you're very heavy. You are losing weight quickly.

    Don't mean to sidetrack, but those with a lot to lose can lose a lot. First three months I lost ~15 a month. From ~330 to 285. It's slowed down now that 10 a month looks like a tough haul and I have a target of 8 going forward, but I was done with pure water weight long before I hit 285.

    Sure, if you eat that way. If your maintenance is 3500 and you eat 1700, you're going to lose a pound roughly every other day to get to 15 a month and if you got a lot of fat that is going to be from fat mostly.
    Op however is neither 330 pounds nor a guy like you, meaning her maintenance is nowhere close that and she'd have to severely limit her food intake to get to that amount of weight loss and it certainly wouldn't be mostly fat anymore, risking malnutrition and lean mass loss.

    I get that I'm not like the OP. Just though it wasn't right to see "Anyone who says they lost 15lb in a month is either making it up....." without some clarification. It is possible, but not for the OP. And it is not sustainable. Unfortunately. :(

    Fair enough. Let me adjust my wording:

    Unless they started out very obese , anyone who says they lost 15lb in a month is either making it up or talking about the first month, in which they lost a lot of water weight.

    It's not a healthy rate of loss for anyone who is not very obese. Rates of loss scale down with your bodyweight, so the smaller you are, the slower you should aim to lose.
  • rikkejanell2014
    rikkejanell2014 Posts: 312 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    today is day 25 of my weight loss Journey I have exercised every single day for 1-2 hours a day. I do cardio and weight training. starting w is 207 current weight is 198. I guess I just figured that I would lose way more than what I have so far. there are some days the scale doesn't move for a few days. and yes I log everything I eat and I stay in my calorie deficit every day. I heard about losing inches. I guess I just thought that with the 30 day workout challenge I would lose my weight loss at the beginning. after my 30 Day Workout challenge I'm going to go for 5 days a week working out my goal is to lose a total of 60 pounds.I would like to be 140 by November 2017.

    Sounds like we're in the exact same boat....I'm 58 and need to lose about 120 lbs. I started Nov 1st doing 45 min of water aerobics followed by 90 minutes of lap swimming 5 days a week. I'm logging all my food and staying well within my calorie deficit. I even passed on all the delicious, high fat/high calorie goodies on Thanksgiving and still managed to lose only 6 lbs. in the month of November.

    Here I am in the 3rd week of December and have only lost about 4 lbs even though when I finish logging all my meals and exercise MFP tells me I should have lost about 40 lbs in the past 6 weeks! I started working with a personal trainer this week and am hoping that the weight training in addition to the cardio will help build more lean muscle and spark my slow metabolism to burn more. There are metabolic and thyroid issues at play here and I'm doing my best to figure out the formula that will trigger faster weight loss but it's beyond frustrating. Don't give up or give in..... and feel free to friend me if you'd like to take this journey together.

    Losing 40 lbs in 6 weeks would not be remotely healthy. Where did you get that estimate from?

    It sounds like you're making good progress, losing a little over 1 lb/week. With 120 to lose, it could reasonably be up to 2 lb/week, but losing 1 lb/week consistently is great! There are lots of threads about how to ensure you lose at the appropriate rate, most often if you are not losing at the rate you selected it comes down to logging errors. Are you using a food scale? Eating back those exercise calories?

    1 year
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    today is day 25 of my weight loss Journey I have exercised every single day for 1-2 hours a day. I do cardio and weight training. starting w is 207 current weight is 198. I guess I just figured that I would lose way more than what I have so far. there are some days the scale doesn't move for a few days. and yes I log everything I eat and I stay in my calorie deficit every day. I heard about losing inches. I guess I just thought that with the 30 day workout challenge I would lose my weight loss at the beginning. after my 30 Day Workout challenge I'm going to go for 5 days a week working out my goal is to lose a total of 60 pounds.I would like to be 140 by November 2017.

    Sounds like we're in the exact same boat....I'm 58 and need to lose about 120 lbs. I started Nov 1st doing 45 min of water aerobics followed by 90 minutes of lap swimming 5 days a week. I'm logging all my food and staying well within my calorie deficit. I even passed on all the delicious, high fat/high calorie goodies on Thanksgiving and still managed to lose only 6 lbs. in the month of November.

    Here I am in the 3rd week of December and have only lost about 4 lbs even though when I finish logging all my meals and exercise MFP tells me I should have lost about 40 lbs in the past 6 weeks! I started working with a personal trainer this week and am hoping that the weight training in addition to the cardio will help build more lean muscle and spark my slow metabolism to burn more. There are metabolic and thyroid issues at play here and I'm doing my best to figure out the formula that will trigger faster weight loss but it's beyond frustrating. Don't give up or give in..... and feel free to friend me if you'd like to take this journey together.

    Losing 40 lbs in 6 weeks would not be remotely healthy. Where did you get that estimate from?

    It sounds like you're making good progress, losing a little over 1 lb/week. With 120 to lose, it could reasonably be up to 2 lb/week, but losing 1 lb/week consistently is great! There are lots of threads about how to ensure you lose at the appropriate rate, most often if you are not losing at the rate you selected it comes down to logging errors. Are you using a food scale? Eating back those exercise calories?

    1 year

    Sorry, what? I was asking the other poster some clarifying questions about her post.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    You're doing great and will reach your goals. It just likely wont be as fast as you'd like. Adjust your expectations and keep going.

    I came here in May with around 30lb to lose and am down 20lb this week. Granted I took 2 months off being imobile and eating maintenance while recovering from injury in the middle. Even still it's been a slow road.
  • JBella0125
    JBella0125 Posts: 18 Member
    edited December 2016

    Comparison is the thief of joy. You're doing amazing. Don't let what anyone else may or may not be doing take away your happiness about your fabulous accomplishments. [/quote]


    Yes^*^ This.
This discussion has been closed.