Is losing weight difficult?

CARNAT22
CARNAT22 Posts: 764 Member
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Something I read earlier made me think.

How hard do you find it to lose weight? Do you have to work really hard at it (IE log everything and exercise 5 times per week) or has losing weight come quite naturally to you?

I lost 18lbs (maybe even 20lbs) no problem at all - I was wathcing what I ate 90% of the time and doing a little exercise.

Man, I have had to work hard for the last 2lbs I have lost..... And there are still a few more lbs to go !!

In reality though surely the premise "eat less, move more" isn't that difficult?

Any thoughts welcome :smile:

Replies

  • vanessaclarkgbr
    vanessaclarkgbr Posts: 731 Member
    I've lost 24lb without thinking about it and it's definitely slowing now, and thinking a lot more about what I'm doing (logging, exercise etc.) I'm with you there!
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    It is only eat less and move more to a certain extent. What you eat and how you move matters more the closer you are to your goal weight.
  • birdlover97111
    birdlover97111 Posts: 346 Member
    Losing weight is very difficult for me because I am on medications that CAUSE weight gain...The 12 pounds I have managed to lose have been a battle since I joined MFP in early July...But, I am determined to succeed.... :flowerforyou:
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    I dont think losing weight is what people actually have trouble with. Its the motivation and will power!

    I am relatively lean wanting to be leaner. This is the part where i think that it is difficult xD
  • kaitlynnesmommy
    kaitlynnesmommy Posts: 166 Member
    Ihave to agree. The first 20 have come off easily, I know that plateau has to be around the corner somewhere
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
    I dont think it is hard at all what is hard it trying not to eat those tempting foods that people try to feed you.
  • babyblake11
    babyblake11 Posts: 1,107 Member
    i think losing weight is all about the motivation and enjoyment.

    i found losing weight quite easy (a little harder at the start but not for very long at all, just a few days) but its because i enjoy the organization of logging my food, i enjoy my exercise and my healthy foods and i can honestly say i can do this for the rest of my life, and not touch any bad foods again.
    but then some people HATE counting calories, planning meals and exercising etc.. so therefore it would be harder for them. youve really just got to change it to your lifestyle, find healthy foods you love, find exercises you enjoy, do it to enjoy it, not just to lose the weight :)

    im on maintenance and have been for ages now, and i still log everyday exercise at least 5 days a week and i enjoy every minute!
  • channa007
    channa007 Posts: 419 Member
    Yep... log it all and stay under your goal. It just drops off for me by sticking to that. Make this a lifestyle change and don't look at it as a diet. If you make the change permanent then you'll start to adjust to it automatically and it'll become a good habit. I can't go anywhere without thining "Oh I probably shouldn't eat that.. or I had better get on the website and look over the menu to see what they have before I go". I've become anal about it but hey... I'm glad I did it. I also created a three ring binder with seperated tabs and download calorie menus for all the places I frequent to put in the car. It makes things much easier.
  • Chantelle160
    Chantelle160 Posts: 127
    If losing weight was easy wouldn't we all be skinny? Yes the eat less move more sounds easy....but is it.
  • bregalad5
    bregalad5 Posts: 3,965 Member
    I lost 30 pounds in 7 months without even knowing it (living in a foreign country FTW!). Now that I'm actually trying, it's been a lot harder.
  • richellecc
    richellecc Posts: 39
    I have a huge problem losing weight...but I don't have any excuses; the reason is I don't enjoy exercising, so don't make it a priority. I eat really well though, but that's only part of the losing weight battle. Someone else said it was about motivation--totally talking to me there...I just find that talking to people and surrounding myself with people who support me and encourage me to get more active helps, and they can remind me that not all exercise is evil! (dancing is fun even!) Good luck, you'll get those last few pounds off!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Something I read earlier made me think.

    How hard do you find it to lose weight? Do you have to work really hard at it (IE log everything and exercise 5 times per week) or has losing weight come quite naturally to you?

    I lost 18lbs (maybe even 20lbs) no problem at all - I was wathcing what I ate 90% of the time and doing a little exercise.

    Man, I have had to work hard for the last 2lbs I have lost..... And there are still a few more lbs to go !!

    In reality though surely the premise "eat less, move more" isn't that difficult?

    Any thoughts welcome :smile:

    it shouldnt be so difficult, but if it was that easy there would be no overweight people and no need for MFP!
  • pokyfamily
    pokyfamily Posts: 20
    This is interesting. My husband recently said that people at work purposely bring crap to share in order to sabotage other peoples health and to feel like they have a partner in misery. I have been much more conscientious about this since he said it. I think after looking around, that it may be true.
  • goron59
    goron59 Posts: 890 Member
    Easy to lose weight. Initially hard to work on discipline and developing habit, but fairly easy otherwise.

    Harder now I have less to lose
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    That last 5 to 10 lbs is a killer! I takes a lot of discipline and you really have to stick to your calorie restriction. Lol...probably the reason I'm stuck at a plateau. I just can't bring myself to give up my 1 or 2 McDonalds Frappe's a week (a whopping 560 calories).
  • stroken96
    stroken96 Posts: 436 Member
    The first 15lbs seemed easy, I was stuck there for a while, then 3 more dropped off then, it took like a month for 3 more to go. So far 3 months on MFP with 21lbs lost. Takes time :heart:
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    its been pretty easy for me
  • Bakins929
    Bakins929 Posts: 895 Member
    The first 30 or so lbs I lost were easy, just modify my diet to human sized portions, eat reasonably good foods and stop eating when my calories were used up. Easy!

    Now I have hit a plateau at 54 lbs lost. Have been here for weeks and I am doing P90X (doubles this time) and boxing 3-4 days/week. I eat out only once or twice a week when the spousal unit insists, and those times I usually eat a salad with chicken and lite dressing or no dressing. I've tried playing around with zig-zag calories, changing the protein/fat/carb ratios, almost everything I can think of. I'm going to toss running back into the mix and see how that helps. I have run marathons before, but have been too fat to torture my knees the last few years. Maybe I have lost enought to give it a try now. I keep getting a little skinnier and my arms and chest keep getting bigger, and I am certainly getting stronger, but the damn scale won't budge!

    I still have 75 or so lbs to go and it's really frustrating. I'm about 20 lbs behind on my (overly aggressive) schedule... I am tempted to take a week off of working out and eat whatever I want and then go back at it like gangbusters. Maybe I can shock my body past this plateau.
  • Gail3260
    Gail3260 Posts: 354 Member
    It really does get more difficult as you get older.....particularly for women. I am 51 and I lost 5lbs in the first two weeks but nothing since. I don't cheat, I log everything, I exercise and eat back most of those calories and I don't have a TOTM to blame!
    It really is hard staying motivated.
  • sandislim
    sandislim Posts: 264
    I have been struggling to lose weight for 17 years since I was a child and I was always active, bike riding, gymnastics, dance and sports - I loved it but I was always big. In fact I've never stopped exercising, I've always done at least 30/60 mins every day. I have found it a real struggle to lose weight though and the only successes I had were when I was extremely strict and very low cal.

    Now I've learnt a lot more about my family and find that many of them are type 2 diabetic, so I have a genetic tendancy to be bigger due to insulin resistance/glucose intolerance. Now I'm watching what I eat as well as how much I eat - its a little better but I still wouldn't say it was easy. The biggest change was creating my own exercise regime that doesn't hurt my back (I have slipped disc) and making it incrementally harder as I get better.

    Its easy for some - but for many others with health issues that make it twice as hard, spare them a thought - people walking down the street, you don't know their story so cannot judge.
  • pepperdine
    pepperdine Posts: 26 Member
    In the past, I have been a great "dieter" - for those times that I was able to really stick closely to a plan, I could lose 12+ pounds a month.

    However, since I was never able to maintain those losses, I realized that it didn't really matter how long it took me to lose it. I am now going about this a little differently - I am eating healthier, but I am not following a strict diet. I am just making lifestyle changes.

    In a way, this feels so much better than when I used to "diet", but it's also been heart-breaking to see how much slower it is to take the weight off. I have been at this consistently since the beginning of June and I am just short of losing 15 pounds. Roughly 5 pounds a month is a LOT different than 12 pounds a month. BUT, I remind myself that these 5 pounds each month are gone FOREVER and not just for a couple months.

    Sometimes it's hard to stay motivated, but I am in it for the long haul this time and am confident that even if it takes me years to get to my goal weight, I WILL DO IT!!!

    Good luck!
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    To answer your question, yes and no. lol. Depends on the person and how much they have to lose. I've always heard that the closer to your goal weight the harder it is to lose. For me, losing 30 lbs wasn't hard as long as I watched what I ate. I'm sure it will get much harder as I lose more and get closer to my goal weight.
  • EdensMummy
    EdensMummy Posts: 106 Member
    I think there's a substantial difference between being on a diet and changing the way you live your life. I know a lot of people that find 'dieting' easy - they follow a plan, lose weight and then the struggle begins because they have to maintain it. Changing your life is difficult, because you know it's got to be something you do forever.

    I find saying 'no' the most difficult thing - I love desserts and I struggle, especially when I'm eating out, to not have pudding, especially if those around me are having...because then I feel deprived, which makes me want it more. I've lost 14lbs this year but it's come off very slowly so I've not found it that hard, but now I want to up the ante and lose another 30 odd lbs but a little quicker, and that I know is going to be tough!
  • LiveEnjoyEndure
    LiveEnjoyEndure Posts: 98 Member
    The key element for me is long term lifestyle change that leads to sustainable ideal weight and level of fitness. This is especially hard when you are in a family of six and have a busy lifestyle (as I do).

    Motivation is a foundational, are you loosing weight for a spouse, holiday, event etc...?This will help you to loose weight but it will not be sustainable once you reach the goal. If you want to maintain a good weight then the source of motivation has to be long term and internal rather than external.
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