Slow Losers (on purpose)

kdbulger
kdbulger Posts: 396 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'm just curious who else is out there who is purposely taking their weight loss journey kind of slowly and are very much okay with it? What are your reasons for wanting to take things more slowly? I'm also interested in hearing success stories from those who did lose slowly and had it add up.

My calorie deficit is set to average 1 lb of weight loss per week, and now, 24 weeks in, I have lost 26 lbs. I recognize it's not extremely slow, but I have a lot of friends who are just getting as much weight off of them in as short a period as they can, and it just doesn't resonate with me. I like taking off 0.2 lbs here, 1.6 lbs there, and then looking back and seeing it add up after months. It's rewarding for my consistency.

My reasons for taking it a bit slower than many others are:
- I need my approach to be flexible and sustainable. I have little kids and life happens. So far I've been able to keep at it through most of what life has thrown at me.
- I enjoy working out 4-5 days a week for my mental health and I'm happy to be getting physically stronger. I don't want to eat too little to support those goals.
- I have enjoyed not feeling overly restricted and try to embrace the 80% clean and 20% indulgence approach to my nutrition.
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Replies

  • kdbulger
    kdbulger Posts: 396 Member
    TeacupsAndToning wrote: »
    I can happily say that I've been on track since Sept 2016. I'm at a weight now that I've very happy with (I lose 20 pounds and it took me about 10 months to a year to do so) and now my goals have changed to building more muscle.

    That's fantastic! Long term success is so inspiring to me. Did you have to make many tweaks to your overall approach along the way?
  • kesirko
    kesirko Posts: 7 Member
    I'm slow and steady as well. There isn't much I want to lose, and I also have a little "vanity weight" (10 lbs) that I'd like to lose. Perhaps my real goal is more muscle and less fat. Doing it slowly feels more sustainable and realistic to me, and it's a lot more flexible. So I can still have a couple of beers once in awhile without feeling like I've sabotaged everything.

    I also work out 4-5 times a week partly for mental health maintenance. I've dealt with depression on and off for about 25 years, and the gym has become one of my best coping tools.
  • kdbulger
    kdbulger Posts: 396 Member
    aeloine wrote: »
    The thought of being actively hungry for two years made me very, very sad.

    So I'm only rarely hungry, indulge regularly, celebrate special occasions, and lose slowly.

    Yes! I think this is a fantastic and rational approach, though I may be biased since I share those goals. But I figured, why set myself up for failure as I have in the past? In this way, I can absolutely be consistent.
  • TravisJHunt
    TravisJHunt Posts: 533 Member
    Some of it depends on where you started too. When you've got a huge amount to go, losing 3-4 lbs a week just sort of happens. When you're down to those last 10 lbs, its slow going. So there's a ton of factors to consider.
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    edited January 2018
    I'm pretty darn slow too, but it's not helping that I keep getting lazy about scale, or that I am a TERRIBLE boredom eater.
    I am losing, but a little less than a pound a week average.
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
    Once I started to lose more, I realized I couldn't sustain the big deficit. I'd go over and feel bad but I realized I was still losing just at a slower pace. So I bumped the calories up and I'm happy to be eating more while still losing.
  • kdbulger
    kdbulger Posts: 396 Member
    TravisJHunt wrote: »
    Some of it depends on where you started too. When you've got a huge amount to go, losing 3-4 lbs a week just sort of happens. When you're down to those last 10 lbs, its slow going. So there's a ton of factors to consider.

    Oh absolutely! But my post is really aimed at people who are content with/actually aiming for that slower loss, whatever that means for them and however it pans out. It's the mindset I'm interested in.
  • kdbulger
    kdbulger Posts: 396 Member
    LadyElectron wrote: »
    Plus I’m still nursing, and I don’t want to stress my body too much.
    Me too!

  • kathleenford04
    kathleenford04 Posts: 128 Member
    Yeah! I’m trying to lose slowly because I’m currently breastfeeding. Also more sustainable in the long run, like you said! Feel free to add me :)
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    Out of necessity, yes. I don't subsist happily or well on 1200 calories and at my height (5'4) and weight (163 currently) I either get 1200 calories, or I get to lose slowly. I'll take the slow route :tongue:
  • anglilacs
    anglilacs Posts: 165 Member
    I have 25 lbs to get to my healthy weight. And I aim to lose a half pound a week. I would LOVE to lose faster but it has never worked for me so slow and steady it has been. My goal is to be at a healthy weight by 40 (2 years away).
  • CourtneyUT
    CourtneyUT Posts: 48 Member
    I am hypoglycemic so I was feeling hungry and cranky on the calories MFP gave me to lose a pound a week. So I changed it to a half pound a week and I feel better, physically and mentally. I am trying to remind myself that it doesn't matter that it will take longer to reach my goal. I'll get there eventually. It's not worth making myself miserable in the meantime.
  • Frankie_Fan
    Frankie_Fan Posts: 562 Member
    Yep, taking it slow this time around and not trying to obsess over it if that's even a thing. I've been learning a lot in classes that I'm taking and from some members here on MyFitnessPal.
  • jennabun101
    jennabun101 Posts: 54 Member
    I tried different diets and lost weight quickly, but never long term. The weight would always come back... and bring friends. This time I've decided to do things slowly. Gained it over time, take it off over time, right? I don't think anyone can see a difference yet, but I feel it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    During my initial weight loss it was 1 Lb per week on average...I'm in my winter weight cut right now and it's about 1 Lb per week to drop my 10 Lbs of winter weight.

    A 500 calorie deficit is pretty easy to do and still go about my life pretty normally...a 1000 calorie deficit to lose faster would require me to make some significant adjustments and restrictions and that's just lame...
  • cynhkr1300
    cynhkr1300 Posts: 14 Member
    kdbulger wrote: »
    I'm just curious who else is out there who is purposely taking their weight loss journey kind of slowly and are very much okay with it? What are your reasons for wanting to take things more slowly? I'm also interested in hearing success stories from those who did lose slowly and had it add up.

    I have a goal to lose 0.5 pound a week, my target is 1800 cals per day. Reasons?
    1. I lost 30 lbs that way (logging food intake on myfitnesspal) in 2015, and then maintained for a while, and now I'm ready to start again.
    2. I'm someone who has gone through several past cycles of weight loss and regain, ending at a higher ultimate weight with each regain. I want to take it slow because after the slow loss of 30 lbs in 2015, I was successful in avoiding the regain half of the cycle. You lose lean mass as well as fat with each weight loss (there is no way a human body can lose only fat when in calorie deficit) -- and when you are post-menopause like me, if you regain you regain a higher % of fat and lower % of lean mass. (Life is not fair.) So it makes sense to do my best to limit the likelihood of regain, which I think taking the loss slowly will do.
    3. Eating less than 1800 cals a day leaves me too hungry, so slow helps me stick to the plan.
    4. I recently discovered barbell training. See www.startingstrength.com -- and I want to make sure I'm eating enough protein and calories to support my training schedule and getting stronger. Developing strength is the best way to retain muscle and bone, stay independent and vigorous, and avoid depressing places like nursing homes, as you age. Yes, women can train with barbells, and no, we don't grow big ugly muscles doing it because we don't have the male hormones that would cause bulking up. I expect training to help me adjust my body composition, to a greater percentage lean and smaller percentage fat - especially the belly fat.

    Be kind to yourselves, friends, and especially those of you who are breast-feeding! Thanks for your contributions to this thread - it's encouraging.

  • radbikerchick
    radbikerchick Posts: 39 Member
    Barbell training is great! I haven’t done it recently but started to get into it a year or two ago for a while.

    Has anyone here been focusing on the quality of what they eat along with the slower approach? I have a bit over 20 lbs that I want to lose but I am at the point now of the lowest weight that I have historically gotten to before hitting a plateau or bouncing back. I feel like I could try shifting the focus to eating more fruits and vegetables or other changes that might enable eating less but also healthfully and feeling full. I exercise a decent amount and have felt myself getting stronger...

    Any tips for hammering out the last 10-20 lbs and getting into that mid healthy weight range? Assuming it may be a slow process but you want to sustain it?
  • pickeralriverkid2017
    pickeralriverkid2017 Posts: 12 Member
    my goal is .25 a wk i choose this because i am happy too loose 10lbs in a year 40 days in i have callories left each day and have lost seven pounds i am real happy with this
  • anglilacs
    anglilacs Posts: 165 Member
    I’d love some “slow loser” friends. Please feel free to add me. I share my food diary and try to track most days of the week.
  • cynhkr1300
    cynhkr1300 Posts: 14 Member
    radbikerchick wrote: »

    Has anyone here been focusing on the quality of what they eat along with the slower approach?
    . . . .

    Any tips for hammering out the last 10-20 lbs and getting into that mid healthy weight range? Assuming it may be a slow process but you want to sustain it?

    Sure, quality is important when you're holding the total calories down, imo. There's not a lot of room in the calorie count for junk foods. I have a few things re diet quality I'm doing -- I don't drink soda any more (diet OR sugared kinds) and instead I use plain seltzer water with a squirt of either lemon or lime juice. I limit added sugars as much as possible. For convenience, I like Triscuits and Post Grape-Nuts cereal, and both of those products have just a few ingredients, all of which I can pronounce. (If you're a no-gluten girl those wouldn't work for you, though, since they have wheat.) And I've definitely increased my veggie and protein intake (with lower carbs), and I'm cooking a lot more from scratch, than before. Lots of free recipe sites and blogs out there, to help with that.

    No tips from me on hammering out the last 10-20 lbs since I've never been that close to mid healthy weight range yet - hehe. But maybe in a year or so . . .

  • MarylandRose
    MarylandRose Posts: 239 Member
    I'm a slow loser - happily averaging less than a pound/month right now. I'm 5'3 and 138 and my goal for 2018 is to reach 130. My job is very sedentary but I work hard at the gym and I don't want to underfuel that work. I plan to be in maintenance (depends how much pasta I can pack in my face during my honeymoon this summer) by the end of the year so I'm hoping that the gradual loss will ease that transition.

    I'd love to add friends! Just know that my diary is closed because I have had great success (by my slow loss standards) not eating "clean" and still losing weight, but some folks have still felt the need to tell me that my Arby's curly fries (part of today's lunch, as a coincidental example) will RUIN.MY.LIFE. despite finishing my day under my calorie goal. I've lost 20 lbs in 16 months eating this way, diet sodas, wine, pizza, and all, and it has almost never felt like I'm missing out or giving anything up even as I make different choices than I used to.
  • emilyvictoria7
    emilyvictoria7 Posts: 102 Member
    I'm taking it slow because I'm a typical yo-yo dieter (or was, I'd like to think I'm past that now). I knew that if I made big changes they just wouldn't last because I'm very habit driven. Even now, after taking my first 2 week diet break the last two weeks of December I'm struggling a month later to get back into the old habits of exercising regularly, eating at my deficit etc.

    From Dec 2016 to Jan 2018 (58ish weeks), I lost 60.5lbs. I lost a few more in the beginning, didn't lose too much around Christmas. It's been two weeks since I've been on the scale and I truly don't know if I've lost because I've had trouble saying no to the extra sweets.

    For me, slow weight loss is the healthiest option because it's not about dieting, it's about changing my perspective on my body, on food, on exercise. I also find that focusing on goals that are more than scale numbers have been helpful. I'm less worried about the next number I hit, more about getting stronger, eating more proteins/finding new recipes, etc. etc.

    So slow weight loss for the win!
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    edited February 2018
    I started at 2 lbs. Per week but I could only sustain that to lose about 25 lbs. I started last week of June 2017 and so far have lost 38 lbs. I have 62 to go. I've lost the last 13 lbs about 1 lb per week. I have a busy life, demanding job with people. I cannot be low energy, cranky or hungry. So at 1 lb. Per week I can eat well and it doesn't feel like a diet and I can still lose albeit slowly. I also want this to stick so with the slower loss I can retain muscle, cement better eating habits and be ready for maintenance .
  • kdbulger
    kdbulger Posts: 396 Member
    cynhkr1300 wrote: »
    4. I recently discovered barbell training. See www.startingstrength.com -- and I want to make sure I'm eating enough protein and calories to support my training schedule and getting stronger. Developing strength is the best way to retain muscle and bone, stay independent and vigorous, and avoid depressing places like nursing homes, as you age. Yes, women can train with barbells, and no, we don't grow big ugly muscles doing it because we don't have the male hormones that would cause bulking up. I expect training to help me adjust my body composition, to a greater percentage lean and smaller percentage fat - especially the belly fat.

    Be kind to yourselves, friends, and especially those of you who are breast-feeding! Thanks for your contributions to this thread - it's encouraging.

    I'm all about the strength training! A huge part of my motivation is to create a healthy, sustainable future for myself. I can't imagine falling into frailty. Our modern-day lives (especially those of us with office/sedentary jobs) are not going to equip us for our futures in the same way as our grandparents and great-grandparents who had to do far more by hand and be more active in their daily lives. Good for you for pursuing those gains goals!

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