Starting to get discouraged....

hi Nancy

You are definately not the only one. It is a lifetime journey and if you give up you are giving up on yourself. I haven't lost anything for almost a year now after having lost so much in a year. It is painful sometimes but you have to keep at it. Though the numbers on the scale don't budge when we want to them too, it doesn't mean that you are not making progress. There are changes that are happening within. Your body composition is changing. Keep at it. I have been keeping at it for a year and I will never give up on myself until I hit that 135 mark. You see every plateau as a curve but sooner or later the road will be straight again. I love my workouts, I love eating healthy knowing my body will definately thank you. You go girl. Four pounds is great in a month. We can swap and I will give you my zero... . You are doing great!!!!!!!Congrats

I totally understand where you are coming from . But i was searching the net and looking at my our calorie intake and realized something i feel is very important. It says that in order for you to lose weight you have to send you body into ketosis ( body will eat its own fat) . The atkins diet say that for 2 weeks only to in take 20 g of carbs a day , which believe me is almost impossible. But i was looking thru my own diary and realized that I was eating 1108 calories which is low but my carb content was 153 g wow i was shocked. So knowing this i believe that is what is sabotaging my weightloss. So im gonna try the other way counting carbs and not calories and see how it turns out. Hope this helps i don't know how accurate this is but thats what i got from research . Good luck and don't give up !!!!!

Four pounds in your first month is great. Please don't be discouraged. You're doing it the perfectly healthy way. Even if you were to only lose a pound a week for the rest of the year, you'd be almost 50 lbs lighter by 2010. But if you keep sticking to your diet and exercise routine, chances are you will see more than just a pound a week come off.

4 lbs in a month is awesome! I only lose 2lbs my first month! You can't expect to lose the weight so quickly, it didn't appear overnight so it's not going to disappear overnight.:flowerforyou:

For years we have not been feeding our bodies properly. Suddenly, we decide we are going to start and expect the impossible. We are terrible, all of us, for instant gratification in this weight loss struggle of ours. I found the first month of eating properly and exercising my body was just getting used to being treated properly, it didn't trust me to feed it regularly or give it the vitamins or nutrients it needed, so it was hard to gauge what was going on, so the scale didn't do much of anything

If we eat properly, the right amounts, balancing our protien fat and carbs, which is what our bodies need, the weight comes off and you get healthy and lose weight, unfortunately it is at a slower rate than if we try some new fangled diet idea they are always coming up with to make us "lose 30 pounds in 30 days". The problem with the new fangled ideas that give instant gratification in our weight loss struggle is that is isn't reasonable to be able to continue eating that way forever, and although it may work initially, to keep off the weight, that method would require you to continue to follow that plan, (which plans are so restrictive it would be unhealthy and impossible to follow forever, you would end up with malnutrition) As soon as you go off one of these plans your body says, yippee she stopped starving me, lets stock up, if she gives us food now lets store it, in case she does that again. Picture a little cartoon character talking. When you learn to eat the right stuff, and the right amount, weight loss occurs and it is gone forever, because you have done it the right way and when you get to your goal, nothing is going to change. You have been doing all the right stuff to get there. No more going off the diet and gaining all the weight back. Don't get me wrong, I tried them all too, I was always looking for the magic diet that would take it off in a month. I can honestly say now, with the help of this site, I never diet. I eat lots of food, seem to be eating all the time, but I don't overeat or undereat anymore. Yet, I am never hungry.

Be patient and beleive that eating is a necessary part of living, and eating right can give you enjoyment, good health and control over your body, and put you where you want to be. I know it sucks that it takes longer than we want, but it will happen. You need to train your body it can trust you to feed it enough all the time, before it wants to let go of those reserves it has been building for so long. We didn't gain the weight in a month. Take advantage of the information people have posted on this site to inform yourself of how the body responds to food or lack thereof or too much food and, sit back, enjoy the food are now eating, remembering how good it is for you and remembering that you are changing the way you live and that can't be done overnight. Every day you eat properly you are one day closer to your goal, even if the scale doesn't show it, it is still happening. Don't allow yourself to get discouraged.

Read these posts "links you should read again and again" they have soo much good information in them and really makes you understand what your body needs to lose the weight.

You can do it, you have the power. :happy:

p.s. sorry this was so long :happy: This is just how I feel, and I hate to see people get so discouraged so soon into this. This is for life.

4 pounds in a month is great... I did somewhat the same thing as you for a month and lost... 0.

Have you thought about doing more strength training? The program I am following right now, ChaLean Extreme, is based on the idea that muscle burns fat. You do cardio (and pretty intense cardio at that...) at least twice a week, but intense strength training at least 3 times. You can add more cardio if you want, it won't hurt - but the point is to really work on the strength part.

Look it up and give it a thought - maybe that'll work better for you.

... so I want to lose it slow but not so slow that I almost want to give up because it doesn't seem worth.

Nancy, do never think of it as only losing fats. Regular workouts and eating good food means you are one healthy energetic lady who is adding years to her life-span! HEALTH IS ALWAYS WORTH IT! When you switch from sedentary lifestyle to doing sports, your body produces a lot of muscle in a short time, which weights more than fats, so it's quite normal your weight won't change much. However, muscles raise your BMR, so they are like an investment which you've made during the first month and they will pay off very soon by burning extra calories every single second either you move or sleep!

You are doing so great, no way you are quitting! :flowerforyou:

4 lbs a month is great. One pound a week is the safe and healthy way to lose weight. 1 lb at a time is how I am doing it.

Keep up the great work!

4 pounds is what you're supposed to lose. You may feel like you're losing more on one side-but you're dominant side will be bigger-it's stronger!.Try to follow more protein and maybe some less carbs, but not the wat Atkins suggests. He let's you eat lots of fat! Eat healthy carbs-fruit, veg, and never andy "whites". rice, flour, pasta, etc. Remember, this is a life change, not a diet. Learn proper foods, read exercise variations. Pick up a few fitness mags, they're very interesting! Don't get discouraged, set realistic goals! Challenge yourself! Hang in there girl! Drink a ton of water too!:drinker:

I've been working out and eating great for a month now and I have only lost 4 lbs I am starting to think I will never lose all the weight. I do cardio 5 days a week sometimes more with strength training 2-3 days a week. I feel like I have lost inches but not much and only in a few spots. I have also started to realize, I seem to be losing inches more on one side of my body and not the other.
Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

I have a lot of weight to lose and I don't want to end up with a lot of saggy skin so I want to lose it slow but not so slow that I almost want to give up because it doesn't seem worth. Does any one else know what I'm talking about?

:ohwell:

Really hoping I'm not the only one...

One thing I've noticed on my journey is time is whirling by...I can't believe how fast time has gone by since I began changing my eating. I recall Tam sharing the same thing about that.

I remember in the past with 'diets' time crawled by and seemed to almost come to a standstill, because I was trying Sooo hard and eating so little, now I don't think to much about it all. Sure I preplan and buy groceries so yes, there is time consumed by dealing with healthy eating, but I'm no longer obsessed about it so it's as if I get up, do my day and on to the next one.

I hope that makes some sense:flowerforyou: ....I realize my brain is getting fatiqued so I do hope that came across clearly, I went to the gym to swim and got home not long ago so I need to eat a small snack so it function again:blushing: :laugh:

It really will amaze you how one day you'll be looking at your ticker and say OMG...I'm 1/2 way there! I look at folks that joined when I did back in Aug., WHOA I am amazed...it feels like we all just joined up and started this journey:drinker: :laugh:

Here's to a great journey and keeping up with all the hard work, it DOES PAY OFF!!:drinker:

Btw....how's that water drinking coming along? Drink that water Girl...makes a world of difference

FC

I totally understand where you are coming from . But i was searching the net and looking at my our calorie intake and realized something i feel is very important. It says that in order for you to lose weight you have to send you body into ketosis ( body will eat its own fat) . The atkins diet say that for 2 weeks only to in take 20 g of carbs a day , which believe me is almost impossible. But i was looking thru my own diary and realized that I was eating 1108 calories which is low but my carb content was 153 g wow i was shocked. So knowing this i believe that is what is sabotaging my weightloss. So im gonna try the other way counting carbs and not calories and see how it turns out. Hope this helps i don't know how accurate this is but thats what i got from research . Good luck and don't give up !!!!!

Instead of counting carbs, try upping your calories, your eating at a near starvation level, which in turn slows down the metabolism. I dont ever suggest eating 20g a day for any period of time as you will be turning your body away from some very good sources of vitamins and nutrients in the vegetables and fruits we eat. Carbs are your friend (the good kind) I take in about 1600-1800 calories a day with about 130g or so of it coming from carbs.

Keep your same carb intake, up your protein and fats and you should see the pounds start to come off again.