I know it's not a competition/race but...

netitheyeti
netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
edited May 2018 in Motivation and Support
.. does anyone else get kinda discouraged when everyone else around them seems to drop weight so much faster?

A bunch of friends and acquaintances have started their weight loss diets recently - a bunch of them, probably more than 3/4, are doing keto (seems really popular atm? not sure if there's a reason or if there's something I'm missing? I've tried low carb before for my PCOS but it made me miserable and I couldn't stick to it - I love fruit and oats too much ) ...

And I keep seeing posts like "2 weeks in, I'm 8... 10.. 14lbs down".. granted, some of them are starting off bigger than I was, but some are roughly my size and still seem to be dropping massive amounts of weight in 2-3-4 weeks... One of my friends claims she's 18lbs down in a month and she (granted, I might be wildly off) seemed barely overweight to begin with...
Meanwhile it took me 6 months of "I'm weighing literally everything" calorie counting - working out about 5x a week, to drop *maybe* 20lbs... and I felt like I was trying pretty hard, too - I'll be honest, I feel really lazy/guilty atm because I haven't worked out in almost 2 weeks and I'm eating around maintenance this week while I'm recovering from a really nasty cold (fever is gone but I'm coughing too much to exercise) and a bump to my knee!

(Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for others! Just that it gets a little bit discouraging at times, especially after you've had a few weeks of basically maintaining)

Replies

  • EatLikeAHuman
    EatLikeAHuman Posts: 30 Member
    It's really not about how fast you lose weight, but about consistency and sustainability. I could lose 10lbs in two weeks, but it'd be a crazy thing to do and I'd want to go back to old habits soon after.

    I know it's tough, but try to compare yourself only to yourself. The others have their own journey. :)

    Stay healthy, recover from that cold. Above all, fitness is about taking care of yourself!
  • 100_PROOF_
    100_PROOF_ Posts: 1,168 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Keto causes you to lose additional water weight in the beginning due to the depletion of glycogen stores. But after the first couple weeks the rate should be the same as anyone else on the same calorie deficit. You’re losing just under a pound a week, which is a healthy, sustainable rate of loss. Good work!

    This

    Op you are doing just fine!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Stick with it, you will get there.
    Forget about others, I couldn't count the times friends have been on fad diets, lost buckets of weight and then promptly regained! I wouldn't want to be them. No, I'd rather be me, slow and steady did it for me and what's more, I kept it off :smiley:
    You do you :smile:
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,534 Member
    edited May 2018
    I’ve lost about 110lbs as of last weigh in. SW was 285lbs. GW= 184lbs. CW=173lbs. I haven’t been higher than 186lbs in 11 years.

    I lost the last 40lbs on Weight Watchers. Not a plug, just an indication of how desperate I was to close the weight loss deal after years of being stuck at around 215lbs. I was already an oddity as a guy at WW. But what I quickly saw was the revolving door nature of the place. The WW Lifetimers were showing up regularly with their stories- “I lost 75lbs 6 years ago and gained back 90.” They seemed so pleased to be back. Why?
    I vowed I wouldn’t do that. After I made goal, I just kept tracking for years. I eventually learned to maintain without it.

    This is a long way to say, you have to go your own way in this. I doesn’t matter how much your friends lose or how fast. If they don’t make long term, that is “lifestyle” changes, they’ll gain it back, likely with extra.

    Weight loss is a process. Embrace the process. If you let mindfulness guide your food choices you will only have to undertake weight loss one time.
    You may end up being different from a lot of people you know. It’s OK. Find your own path and follow that.

    You may find a kindred spirit, maybe not. There are all kinds of people following all kinds of off the grid eating programs. Gluten lactose free paleo vegan? Doesn’t matter. Only thing that matters is what works for you.

    BTW, I’ve just taken to deleting a lot of social media stuff. I may like you a lot, but I dont care about your politics or your cat. Glad you’re having fun on your vacation. I only need to know that once.



  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Most people I have seen losing fast like that are dropping water weight and then they slow down or stall. They are on a restrictive diet and/or exercising hard. They rarely continue to do this after a few months because something happens and often regain all their weight.

    20 lbs in 6 months is a good healthy loss that you will probably find much easier to maintain. There are lots of people here losing slower so do not feel like you are alone or lazy. You are just doing it differently and making good progress.
  • amgreenwell
    amgreenwell Posts: 1,267 Member
    I've heard people say "comparison is the thief of joy" and I couldn't agree more. Every human body is different and will lose weight differently. Just know you are doing what you should to get your health where it needs to be. Don't focus on anyone else.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »
    Stick with it, you will get there.
    Forget about others, I couldn't count the times friends have been on fad diets, lost buckets of weight and then promptly regained! I wouldn't want to be them. No, I'd rather be me, slow and steady did it for me and what's more, I kept it off :smiley:
    You do you :smile:

    This. I went from 307 lb in 2007 to 170 lb in 2014 and now? I'm still at 170 lb.
    That is a looooong time, but I will take it.

    I have many acquaintances who have lost 30-40 lb since New Year's and already back up 20...or more, and people who lost 90 lb in say, 2016, and have "found" all of that and more now.

    I'm not claiming slow is necessarily better but just try not to focus on the timeframe, but the results.

  • stacief82
    stacief82 Posts: 109 Member
    I would suggest to set a goal for yourself and measure yourself against that goal. If you spend your time measuring yourself against others, you will likely never be happy.

    Recent example of this in my life. I joined a weight loss competition at work. I set a personal goal to lose 10lbs during the duration of the competition. I just weighed in for the final time and lost a total of 12lbs. I am extremely happy with my results. Will I win the competition? I am not sure. I am not going to beat myself up because someone else did better than I did. I beat my goal by 20%, so I am going to celebrate that victory!
  • aylerz
    aylerz Posts: 27 Member
    Great advice from everyone! My husband and I are on the same plan, and we were losing at the same rate, but recently he has begun to pass me up. Also, he has lost most of his weight in his belly, and I've been losing weight mostly in my thighs and torso, which basically means I don't LOOK like I'm losing weight. It can be discouraging, but taking my measurements has really helped keep me motivated. Even if I can't SEE it, or the scale doesn't show me the number I'm wanting to see, I can still look at the numbers in inches and know I'm going down, even if it's by a 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch.

    This week has been hard for me, though, because a lot of my other family have decided to start on the same plan as us, and they all look fabulous already and I feel like a fat schlub even though I'm doing everything right. It happens to all of us sometimes.
  • BrunetteRunner87
    BrunetteRunner87 Posts: 591 Member
    Yeah, I feel that a lot, especially with all the Beachbody "coaches" on Facebook...a bunch of people recently did that 80 day obsession and I know people who lost like, 150 lbs in less than 3 months. Now I don't need to lose 150 lbs, that's more than my whole body lol, but I wish I could see progress that fast. Even my sister, who's closer to my size, lost like 20 lbs. Then I remember there were times in my life in which I did lose weight fast and not only did I lose muscle along with the fat, but I always gained it all back. Not saying these particular people will for sure, that's just always been my experience with it.

    I recently saw a bunch of people I hadn't seen in over a year who commented on how much smaller I was and it wasn't until then that I realized I lost about 8 lbs over the past year. Which seems really slow, but I've also gained muscle and that was a 7% reduction in body fat. I am learning to take my time and realize this is a process, not a "journey" because that implies there is a destination. I just need to slowly improve and as long as I beat yesterday that's all that matters.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Keto causes you to lose additional water weight in the beginning due to the depletion of glycogen stores. But after the first couple weeks the rate should be the same as anyone else on the same calorie deficit. You’re losing just under a pound a week, which is a healthy, sustainable rate of loss. Good work!

    this
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
    so I asked one of my friends who, a good month ago, started some kinda low carb thing what exactly they were doing to have dropped about 22lbs in 5 weeks... turns out it's not just low carb, they (a guy in early 20s) are eating about 1100 calories a day and exercising on top of that... yikes.. but that kinda explains it, too
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    netitheyeti wrote: »
    so I asked one of my friends who, a good month ago, started some kinda low carb thing what exactly they were doing to have dropped about 22lbs in 5 weeks... turns out it's not just low carb, they (a guy in early 20s) are eating about 1100 calories a day and exercising on top of that... yikes.. but that kinda explains it, too

    Definite yikes. He'll crash and burn soon enough.
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    netitheyeti wrote: »
    so I asked one of my friends who, a good month ago, started some kinda low carb thing what exactly they were doing to have dropped about 22lbs in 5 weeks... turns out it's not just low carb, they (a guy in early 20s) are eating about 1100 calories a day and exercising on top of that... yikes.. but that kinda explains it, too

    Definite yikes. He'll crash and burn soon enough.

    yeah.. he admitted he "tends to yo-yo a lot" but didn't sound too bothered so I wasn't sure if I should say anything
  • mulecanter
    mulecanter Posts: 1,792 Member
    Years ago I lost 10 pounds in a week during Air Force survival school. That diet I don't recommend, lol. There is wisdom in the fables. Tortoise and the Hare comes to mind.
  • mel35645
    mel35645 Posts: 267 Member
    It’s very easy to get discouraged however it’s more important to be patient with a slower weight loss plan that you can maintain rather than trying a diet which gives you quick results you do t feel like you can stick with long term. Keep looking forward
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
    It took me 2 YEARS do drop my initial weight. A lot of people drop really quickly, really early; then more often then not suffer a bit because they went so extreme in thier diet that they ended up getting overwhelmed.

    Better results to see are those that have lost long term, that's when you'll see realistic results that are being kept.

    Don't worry about how much other people are losing, keep working on yourself and you'll get there.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    I always feel horrible and envious of people who post success stories of how they lost as much or more weight than me in waaaay less time. The most recent is a guy who lost 250# in a year.

Categories