Lost 17 pounds sense June 22?

MeganReid1991

I’ve lost 17 pounds sense June 22nd.
I’m really trying to do it the healthy way this time, no extreme diets or deprivation. I haven’t worked out sense I started not because I don’t want too just because I honestly have no time but I do try and go on lots of walks and my steps are usually pretty good.
I guess I just feel like I’ve been doing this for quite awhile and I still have a lot of progress to go. I’m proud of my 17 pounds but it’s also hard thinking I still have another 33 pounds to go. I guess I just need some tips of how to keep going and stay positive.
Also maybe some tips on how to lose a little quicker? Would working out for a hour twice a week help that?
Thanks for taking the time!

Replies

cheryldumais

You are not hugely overweight so it takes a little longer to lose a pound. Your smaller body burns less calories but you want to lose it permanently right? 17 pounds is great! I can totally see a huge difference in your before and after pics.

To keep going you need to make your program liveable. What it took me a while to understand was that I was making a permanent change. This wasn't just a temporary thing to lose weight and then go back to my "normal" eating. There was nothing normal about my prediet practices. Losing it slowly made changes in me I hadn't expected. My tastes have changed and my ability to overeat has really been reduced. I actually get physically ill if I eat too much food or unusually greasy food. I'm happier and healthier. I have no regrets but it took me 2 years to get to goal. It was worth every day of that.

RonyMack

Great work in progress! I hate to break the news, but the rate of loss only gets slower the less you have to lose. Try to not think of the speed of the process, but that you are m seeking permanent life changes. I know that sounds trendy, but that's how I look at it.

Cassandraw3

17 lbs is great progress so far. To me, it sounds like you are losing it at a rate that will help you maintain your weight loss and learn new (better) eating habits. Working out will be good for your overall health and fitness, but will only mildly increase your overall calorie burn. Whenever I feel like I am getting burned out, I take a few days and eat at maintenance calories. What has kept me going these last few pounds is knowing that it will come off eventually. Trust the process. Know that burning more calories than you eat will result in a loss, any loss, as long as you are consistent. At the rate you are going, you will be around your goal in about another year. What is a year compared to the rest of your life? What's the rush to lose the weight faster?

kimny72

MeganReid1991 wrote: »

I’ve lost 17 pounds sense June 22nd.
I’m really trying to do it the healthy way this time, no extreme diets or deprivation. I haven’t worked out sense I started not because I don’t want too just because I honestly have no time but I do try and go on lots of walks and my steps are usually pretty good.
I guess I just feel like I’ve been doing this for quite awhile and I still have a lot of progress to go. I’m proud of my 17 pounds but it’s also hard thinking I still have another 33 pounds to go. I guess I just need some tips of how to keep going and stay positive.
Also maybe some tips on how to lose a little quicker? Would working out for a hour twice a week help that?
Thanks for taking the time!

You are losing at a kind of perfect rate. 1 pound per week is honestly what most people can expect, unless they are obese. What's really important is to stop thinking of this as a process that has an end point where you are finished. Because you can't just go back to living the way you used to, you'll just end up back to square one.

In addition to considering your goal "losing 1lb per week", start setting process goals that will create healthy habits that you can take with you into maintenance. Study that food diary and start thinking about how to play with your diet to make it effortless to eat at the right calorie level. Look at the days where you stayed at goal without being hungry or feeling deprived. What can you learn from those days?

Congrats on your success so far!

2011rocket3touring

difference looks amazing.

MeganReid1991

I guess that I’m totally content with living this lifestyle, eating healthier and counting calories. Moving more!
I guess I just want to move to maintenance and so I can be a little more flexible.
I find myself getting really hungry right around when I ovulate. It’s extremely hard to stay in my calories during that time!

Cassandraw3

MeganReid1991 wrote: »

I guess that I’m totally content with living this lifestyle, eating healthier and counting calories. Moving more!
I guess I just want to move to maintenance and so I can be a little more flexible.
I find myself getting really hungry right around when I ovulate. It’s extremely hard to stay in my calories during that time!

You can still have that flexibility now. My appetite fluctuates with my hormones as well, and during the few days to a week where I am hungry like that, I just eat around my maintenance calories. It helps keep me sane and avoid being hangry.

MeganReid1991

Hmmm okay maybe I’ll try that

PAV8888

MeganReid1991 wrote: »

Hmmm okay maybe I’ll try that

Flexibility is NOT non-existent during weight loss.

In fact, learning how to wield flexibility is very useful learning for when you arrive at maintenance.

There is no rule that says you can't have days at maintenance and days above maintenance while losing weight. It's just that the overall results will have to end up at a deficit to achieve the weight loss.

And it will be the same when you're at maintenance, except that the overall balance will be towards achieving caloric balance.

So maintenance days may delay the arrival date of maintenance. But you will be better prepared and, ultimately, making your path a little easier increases your likelihood of successfully getting there.

MeganReid1991

I guess I’m just still struggling with 1 stepping on that scale and not seeing results I want. If I don’t lose I still somehow feel like I failed even though I know that this is a Journey and I won’t lose every week. I have to give myself space to be flexible and have days where I eat maintenance so I don’t go crazy.
I know what I need to do it’s just hard getting my head around it.
Weight loss takes a long time and sometimes it’s just hard to see the bigger picture and stay positive and on track.
I’ve done really good this far and I’m proud of what I’ve done, I’m just worried that I’ll lose patience and give up!
Just have to keep at it!

PAV8888

You may want to experiment with even smaller deficits and a weight trend web site or application.

I use trendweight.com using fitbit.com for weight data entry to there and MFP. Many Android users use libra. iPhone and happy scale.

If TOM affects weigh weightgrapher.com lets you superimpose a lagged (user adjustable) 28 day line to visually compare to your weight at the same point during your previous cycle.

I usually tell all these apps I want to maintain as I don't want dubious advise or encouragement, just information on how my weight is changing.

The reason for all this is that you sound as if you're trying hard.

Maintenance is for much more than a few months...

You will be better positioned to deal with forever if you evolve strategies and tools that make it less hard to be able to stick to your (modified) plans.

I suspect that a lot of mainteners will say that not much changed for them in what they were doing between the last few months of losing and the first few months of maintenance.

You don't have to be perfect every day to lose. You do have to maintain an overall deficit over time.