Discouraged by weight

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kathleenc854
kathleenc854 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been trying very hard to lose weight (I'm around 140-150 I haven't checked because I'm scared of the number so that's the best guess). I eat right, workout, drink water and I still don't see results. It brings down my self esteem very much. Is there anyone who has lost weight to give advice? My goal weight is around 110-115 (I'm 5 feet tall)

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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    None of those matter for weight loss. What matters is eating less.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    You also might want to try a weight trending program like Happy Scale (iPhone) or Libra (Android). You weigh daily and log it. The program uses a predictive algorithm to show you the overall trend of your weight loss (once you have at least a few weeks of data).

    It helped me:
    * Understand normal daily weight fluctuations due to food, hormones and exercise so I stopped freaking out.
    * Take the pressure off weekly weigh-ins.
    * Keep the big picture in mind as it would show me where I was headed (sometimes) in spite of where I was. Knowing I was headed in the right direction helped me chill about being a few pounds up from where I thought I should be.

    I used to hate the scale and would build up all this anxiety around weigh-ins. Now, each time I weigh is just one small data point in a tool to help me stay healthy.
  • lillolita420
    lillolita420 Posts: 9 Member
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    I didn't see weight loss for the first two weeks and I was getting really discouraged but I kept at it and then it was like I lost 5 pounds over night it will come just be patient
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    Don't be discouraged, face reality head on. You may only see progress if you know the weight you are working from.

    The calories needed for someone starting at 140could be enough of a difference that if you are eating for someone starting at 150 you don't have enough of a deficit to see a loss.

    As @macgurlnet said 'us shorties need to be accurate'. This is so true.
    Weigh yourself- knowledge is power.

    Use a digital scale for all foods, this too will help with your accuracy.

    I am 5'1 and lost from 130 to 105 and have been maintaining within my weight range for over 7 years.

    Cheers, h.
  • Dr__Girlfriend
    Dr__Girlfriend Posts: 100 Member
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    How long are you talking plateauing here? Are you strength training, taking pictures, measurements? What does "eating right" mean to you? What does being active look like to you? What are your workouts like? Do you workout and then drive everywhere and sit at a desk all day? So many unanswered questions, it's really hard to tell you why you're not losing weight when you've told us nothing, unfortunately!
  • maddybuster2004
    maddybuster2004 Posts: 1 Member
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    :'(
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    I understand where you're coming from. I was weighed by my doctor about a month before starting MFP. This was last September, right before a month of Jewish holidays with about 14 big meals spread out over 30 days. (By big, think Thanksgiving banquets). At that point, I finally decided to do something about it, but for half a week, I didn't get on the scale. I used my SW from the doctor's office, even though I was sure I'd packed on about ten more lbs over the course of the feasting. A few days in, though, I gave myself similar advice to what @DebLaBounty gives a couple of posts above me. And I started to think about how I'd even know if I'd gained, lost, or maintained if I didn't know my start weight. I think it was Day 5. And I forced myself to get on and found myself about a pound less than the SW I'd used.

    Yeah, a lot of explanations. Could've been water weight. Could've been that my daily overeating wasn't that much less than the feasting; it had just been healthier food but comparable calories. Could've been TOM or 'Weight loss isn't linear' or Someone up there deciding I'd suffered enough Who wanted to encourage me. Doesn't really matter. I had a solid number to work with and I hadn't made things much worse than they'd been a month ago.

    You're here. That's a big first step and it's amazing that you took it. Now you need a way to mark your starting point so you can begin charting your progress. If you don't want to use a scale, use a tape measure (for that, you should check every month or so; it's slower). Judging how your clothes fit is less reliable. I have plenty of clothes that stretched as I spread until they couldn't anymore. So if I dig out that old Size 14 and find I can get into it now? It might really be a 16 or an 18. The scale, for all its inability to tell water retention from fat, is probably most accurate.

    Good luck. You can do this.
  • pageohana6
    pageohana6 Posts: 49 Member
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    Don't be afraid of the scale. I used to be. Never got on it. When I'd go to docs, I'd turn away or tell them don't tell me my weight. But then last year at my physical my doc blurted out my weight, and I was shocked/ depressed. The good that came out of it was it started me on a weight loss journey/ healthier lifestyle. It's almost been a year (July 1), and I've lost 41 pds thus far. I weighed weekly to keep me in check. Then Jan of this year, I downloaded Happy Scale app and tracked daily. This way I could see that I was losing even if the scale didn't reflect my loss each weigh in. I realized there were days I'd be lighter than on my official weigh in which are Friday's. So if I didn't weigh daily, I wouldn't have seen that new low. Good luck. Oh and my weightloss hasn't been linear. I've been fighting these last 10 pds for months, it happens. But you just gotta keep on keeping on.
  • db121215
    db121215 Posts: 60 Member
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    I too thought I was eatting well and moving. Then I started to log everything and weigh myself and got a fitbit. I learned I was not eatting well enough or moving enough and weighed much more then I thought. Log. Stay in budget. Move more. Weigh yourself. Unless you have a medical condition, your weight will decrease. Sounds like you need a better plan to understand where you're at and what exactly you're eatting. Scale is just a number. Face it and then overcome it. Then the trips to the scale will become rewarding when you see your progress.
  • Hypsibius
    Hypsibius Posts: 207 Member
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    I want to second @pageohana6 -- because for a long while I used to avoid the scale, believing it was "bad" to do a daily weight in. Now I feel the opposite.

    If you're 35-45 pounds over your target weight, this is the perfect time to start tracking with daily weigh ins (barring an eating disorder -- in which case you should discuss it with a councilor). You'll start to see how water weight can throw the scale 4-5 pounds in either direction -- while tracking your weekly average.

    And when you're putting in the work and making changes to diet and exercise schedule, you'll stop getting that feeling of hopelessness or lack-of-progress from one weigh-in, because it has nothing to do with the trend you're setting. It's just another data point.

    Having said that everyone is different! Some people need to avoid the scale for sanity's sake, but I've found it to be a good tool for tracking process and actually reducing anxiety around weight.

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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