Losing weight slowly, losing motivation QUICKLY
jlambert77
Posts: 77 Member
I've been working hard since July (since WAY longer than that actually..) and have had great results (finally!) with my new 8 week program..
-13lbs
-10.5inches
but for the last three week, it's really slowed down, and I'm feeling mildly discouraged.. any ideas? My nutrition is pretty clean, about 80% of the time...
-13lbs
-10.5inches
but for the last three week, it's really slowed down, and I'm feeling mildly discouraged.. any ideas? My nutrition is pretty clean, about 80% of the time...
1
Replies
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First off, you are doing this the right way, slowly. Second, what do you mean by "My nutrition is pretty clean, about 80% of the time?" Eating clean may not equal eating at a deficit.5
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"Pretty clean nutrition" is not very descriptive (it's more normative than descriptive).
A consistent calorie deficit makes you lose weight.
Max rate of weightloss slows down as you lose, because you have less fat on your body.
Try to avoid thinking about what you do as "hard" (because then it certainly will be).
Don't diet in a way you can't see yourself happily maintaining.6 -
I have never found weight loss to be a steady, linear, constant process. The rate of weight-loss for me seems to vary all the time. Question is: how seriously do you want to lose and get fitter? If you eat healthy and maintain a deficit the trend WILL be downwards. I think perseverance is the key here. I recently stopped weighing myself for about a month because things were a bit slow. When I finally stepped on the scale I was six pounds lighter. Don't lose heart, keep going and you will be happy that you did when you hit your target!! Good luck...3
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First of all, Well Done. You look fantastic. You also look like you're at or near a healthy BMI.
This is when rubber hits the road so to speak. It's when ALL the little things become more important and when weight loss slows a lot.
With less than 20 to lose (it looks like to me) set your GOAL to "Lose 1/2 pound per week." Then be happy with that, because the last 20 are much more difficult. I used a food scale for every meal. I made 20 out of 21 meals per week from scratch at home. I hit my macros. I exercised a minimum of 3 times per week for an hour. It still took me about eight months to lose that last 20. Legit hunger and slow progress are the name of the game with a 250 cal daily deficit.
Stay the course. You've done great, now is where we separate the women from the girls. It's okay to have more food on some days. Read the Refeed thread. It's okay at this point for things to stall. As a matter of fact, it's to be expected.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks
Maybe you would benefit from setting other goals now. Want to run or participate in an obstacle course? Been thinking about taking up swimming or paddling or rowing or horseback riding? Now's the time.7 -
Good luck! I can relate to the super slow weight loss and difficulty staying motivated. I only seem to be losing a pound a week myself (staying within my net calorie range and adding excercise). I guess we just have to remember the other benefits to our health beyond the scale in order to stay motivated. 😉2
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It's not going to take 8 weeks... it's going to take the rest of your life...14
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It might be helpful to move focus on how you feel and what you can do physically vs the scale. So many things can affect that scale number. It will go up and down from one day to another. Do not let it defeat you. Step away. First, take a close look at your nutrition and calories. Weigh and measure for accuracy. I can certainly SEE a difference. Don't stop. The scale not changing for several weeks can be normal, bodies can gain and lose water, waste.. They can lose fat and gain muscle. Hormones can cause shifts for women especially. As Dory would say "Just keep swimming"2
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Actually, if the goal is to weigh less, it might be helpful to focus on eating less. Even if ‘eating clean’ relates to caloric intake, the amount of ‘dirty’ eating one can do in the other 20% is insane.
If you want to lose weight, skip the focus on clean eating and change over to focusing on your caloric intake. Really. It works.6 -
Agree with posters above.
There comes a time with losing large volumes of fat, where you NEED to not be about week to week losses, the scale etc, rather BE ABOUT eating at a deficit, weighing your food (even if you keep meals simple and boring), keeping your commitment to your chosen workout, and LOGGING accuracy.
The approach needs to be from an adult perspective... Get it done, bank days away. Move on with your life. Don't fixate or you will talk yourself out of your commitment to lose. Think about it? The result is you cheating YOU out of attaining a healthier version of you. 2 pounds weekly isn't a hard. Backtracking and starting over... That sucks!3 -
Well, then you have received 80% of your desired results.jlambert77 wrote: »I've been working hard since July (since WAY longer than that actually..) and have had great results (finally!) with my new 8 week program..
-13lbs
-10.5inches
but for the last three week, it's really slowed down, and I'm feeling mildly discouraged.. any ideas? My nutrition is pretty clean, about 80% of the time...
Still, not bad success.
2 -
OP- you are doing great. We all need encouragement once in a while. You are a suceess!1
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getting smaller slowly is better than getting bigger slowly. You're headed in the right direction.. weight loss isn't automatic ..it comes in spurts and then the body needs time to think, build. But logic dictates that you will get smaller of you move more and eat healthy foods that don't exceed your calorie burn. It will happen.0
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Where do you think you’re going in a rush? I’ll assume that once you get to goal weight, you’re going to want to stay there. There is no finish line.
If you are still losing weight on your 80/20 program, why do you want to mess with it?
Losing weight requires 2 things: a downward trend over time and ability to live with your program. Folks come up with all sorts of ways to lose weight. But many fail because they can’t live with it.
Don’t mess with success.7 -
I can totally relate to losing motivation when the weight loss slows. I’ve given up so many times when it got harder. But I’m determined that this time will be different.
I just have to remind myself that the weight came on slowly too and it’s not doing to come off overnight. Any loss is still progress and something to be proud of. Just remember that giving up now is only going to make it take even longer! Imagine where you could be 6 months from now if you keep with it. Or imagine 6 months from now at best being right where you are today or even gaining weight back because you didn’t like how slow the progress was. All the slow weeks add up to a lot over time. Giving up doesn’t add up to anything.
Although, if you do want it to go a little faster you could put more focus on your diet if you feel there’s room for improvement.0 -
lbryans929 wrote: »OP- you are doing great. We all need encouragement once in a while. You are a suceess!
i really appreciate that. 0 -
lizcarpenter146 wrote: »I can totally relate to losing motivation when the weight loss slows. I’ve given up so many times when it got harder. But I’m determined that this time will be different.
I just have to remind myself that the weight came on slowly too and it’s not doing to come off overnight. Any loss is still progress and something to be proud of. Just remember that giving up now is only going to make it take even longer! Imagine where you could be 6 months from now if you keep with it. Or imagine 6 months from now at best being right where you are today or even gaining weight back because you didn’t like how slow the progress was. All the slow weeks add up to a lot over time. Giving up doesn’t add up to anything.
Although, if you do want it to go a little faster you could put more focus on your diet if you feel there’s room for improvement.
thank you for adding your perspective, and honesty. i really appreciate it. and you're right.. it certainly is easy to give up.0 -
Where do you think you’re going in a rush? I’ll assume that once you get to goal weight, you’re going to want to stay there. There is no finish line.
If you are still losing weight on your 80/20 program, why do you want to mess with it?
Losing weight requires 2 things: a downward trend over time and ability to live with your program. Folks come up with all sorts of ways to lose weight. But many fail because they can’t live with it.
Don’t mess with success.
this actually is so simple, and i really hadn't just pared it down to the bare bones to just stick with it.
i have gone back to the program i was using (because i liked the lifting, rather than the cardio..) so I'm feeling better already(just because, it's a good program..and i feel strong) 1 -
elisa123gal wrote: »getting smaller slowly is better than getting bigger slowly. You're headed in the right direction.. weight loss isn't automatic ..it comes in spurts and then the body needs time to think, build. But logic dictates that you will get smaller of you move more and eat healthy foods that don't exceed your calorie burn. It will happen.
thank you for replying. 0 -
777Gemma888 wrote: »Agree with posters above.
There comes a time with losing large volumes of fat, where you NEED to not be about week to week losses, the scale etc, rather BE ABOUT eating at a deficit, weighing your food (even if you keep meals simple and boring), keeping your commitment to your chosen workout, and LOGGING accuracy.
The approach needs to be from an adult perspective... Get it done, bank days away. Move on with your life. Don't fixate or you will talk yourself out of your commitment to lose. Think about it? The result is you cheating YOU out of attaining a healthier version of you. 2 pounds weekly isn't a hard. Backtracking and starting over... That sucks!
i definitely have worked too hard to go backwards. thank you for replying.0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »It's not going to take 8 weeks... it's going to take the rest of your life...
i understand what you're saying, completely. i have switched programs, back to what i had success with (and i don't just mean physical..I mentally felt MUCH better with the lifting, rather than the cardio) 0 -
cmriverside wrote: »First of all, Well Done. You look fantastic. You also look like you're at or near a healthy BMI.
This is when rubber hits the road so to speak. It's when ALL the little things become more important and when weight loss slows a lot.
With less than 20 to lose (it looks like to me) set your GOAL to "Lose 1/2 pound per week." Then be happy with that, because the last 20 are much more difficult. I used a food scale for every meal. I made 20 out of 21 meals per week from scratch at home. I hit my macros. I exercised a minimum of 3 times per week for an hour. It still took me about eight months to lose that last 20. Legit hunger and slow progress are the name of the game with a 250 cal daily deficit.
Stay the course. You've done great, now is where we separate the women from the girls. It's okay to have more food on some days. Read the Refeed thread. It's okay at this point for things to stall. As a matter of fact, it's to be expected.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks
Maybe you would benefit from setting other goals now. Want to run or participate in an obstacle course? Been thinking about taking up swimming or paddling or rowing or horseback riding? Now's the time.
pretty sure my BMI is pretty high still...(29.4...I just looked..eek!)
i appreciate all the input, i'm not giving up 0 -
jlambert77 wrote: »I've been working hard since July (since WAY longer than that actually..) and have had great results (finally!) with my new 8 week program..
-13lbs
-10.5inches
but for the last three week, it's really slowed down, and I'm feeling mildly discouraged.. any ideas? My nutrition is pretty clean, about 80% of the time...
I think you look great! For a few months it's a big difference!
What's the time frame between the before and after shots? Maybe continue working the same amount of time and do another photo shoot. If you're still at a stalemate then consider looking closer at your calories, or switching up your routine.
Don't get discouraged!0
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