Need a little encouragement

berwicksue wrote: »

I've been using MFP for about 4 years now. I've managed to lose 150+ pounds simply through diet, no surgery or pills. I still have 40 more to go and I'm losing my motivation. My problem is that I will go down a pound or two and back up a pound or two. For the last few months I'm just batting a few pounds back and forth and I'm getting discouraged. For example, I got on the scale the other day and I was down 3 pounds. Today I got on and I'm up 3 pounds. I have done absolutely nothing different, so I don't get the gain. Anybody have any encouraging words that will make it easier for me to keep moving forward?

I don't know whether it's encouraging in the way you need or not, but I'll say these things:

* You've achieved amazing progress! That's a huge tribute to you.

* It's absolutely common - a good thing, even - for weight loss to slow down as we get closer to goal. That magnifies the effect of routine daily weight fluctuations: If we're losing a pound of fat a week, or half a pound, that is hidden on the scale much longer by routine water-weight fluctuation of a pound or few. It can take several weeks for a loss trend to show clearly, even with a weight-trending app (are you using a weight trending app? might be good to do). In contrast, when we have enough extra fat to safely and healthfully lose two or more pounds of fat weekly, the scale weight drops much more reliably over short time periods, because the fat loss is bigger compared to the water fluctuations. I get that this can be frustrating!

Over the past year, in what I consider to be weight maintenance in an overall sense, I decided to (re-)lose a few vanity pounds super, super slowly. Since I've been logging and calorie counting for almost 6 years now, 5+ years of that maintenance, I'm quite confident in my logging process, and my maintenance calorie needs. Over that recent year or so of loss - totaling around 15 pounds - there have been periods as long as a month when even my weight trending app thought I was gaining or at least maintaining, but I knew I wasn't (there was water fluctuation weirdness, and my calories were on point). So, I soldiered on, and eventually the expected loss showed up. Now, I'm not saying you're losing as slowly as that, but the point is that as loss slows, the scale results become somewhat less a useful guide.

If you haven't read this yet, I'd recommend it:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

Different phases of weight loss can require different approaches and thought patterns: It's a continuous experimentation and learning process. You can handle a new phase, because you've handled the previous one(s) like a boss.

Another thing I'd ask is whether you've taken any breaks at maintenance calories, along the way. In effect, staying in a calorie deficit for a very long time period (or a big deficit for a shorter period) sort of trains our body to expect famine, and slow down certain processes (like hair growth, maybe body temp, fidgeting, etc. - can be very subtle). It won't *stop* weight loss when in a calorie deficit, but can make it happen slower than it could be. Taking a time period at maintenance calories helps some people to counter that slowing effect. If you haven't done it, it could be worth a try.

More info, including the science behind it, is in this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

May be worth a read, and consideration, if you haven't tried it. It can also be good to practice maintenance.

Long term calorie restriction can also increase water retention in itself, basically from cumulative stress, for some people (calorie deficit is a physical stress). Taking a maintenance break may also help with that.

Now, all of that said, I'm assuming you've recalculated your calorie needs along the way, since a smaller body requires fewer calories just to stay alive, let alone move around. Someone losing a large amount of weight may need to do some resets of goal along the way, even to maintain a sensibly moderate loss rate. Since you've loss so much already, I'm betting you know that and have done that, but I'm mentioning it in case other readers at a different stage may not be aware.

You've had wonderful success so far, and I'm betting you can conquer the next stage as well. It may take some new tactics or thought processes, but you've shown the will and flexibility already that suggests you can accomplish that.

Wishing you all the best!