defeated

nsugrad2008
nsugrad2008 Posts: 3 Member
in Motivation and Support
feel defeated this week. I worked out, ate pretty good. I really wanted to lose those few pounds. anyone else having this struggle?

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,886 Member
    The only way to fail is to give up.

    Weight loss isn't linear, it's normal to not lose weight every week. And if the working out is new, it could be causing water retention, masking fat loss on the scale.

    You don't give many specifics on what you're doing to lose weight and how much you're trying to lose. What weight loss rate did you choose? Are you weighing your foods? For how long have you been trying to lose weight? We might be able to give more specific advice, if you give us more info.
  • HelPur25
    HelPur25 Posts: 23 Member
    edited January 2022
    I suggest having other measurements of success besides the scale. Did you take body measurements? Those can sometimes give a more realistic measure of success if you're building muscle while losing fat (although you probably only want to measure about once/month).

    Also, action goals like water intake, adequate sleep, exercise, etc. are victories in themselves. Losing weight is not an action, it's the outcome of many actions. So setting a goal of losing weight can be illogical, since the number on the scale is somewhat out of our control, but we can control our actions.

    I used to weigh myself obsessively, like more than once/day. This time around, I'm only weighing myself once every few days and trying to focus on my actions. In the past, it was too easy for me to allow the number on the scale to dictate my level of motivation and actions.
  • Peppegal
    Peppegal Posts: 32 Member
    Never forget to drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Some people at a standstill and not drinking enough water.
    In addition, working out more we will create more muscle. The plateaus are the hardest thing to get over.
    I will say that adding more fiber to my diet has helped me tremendously.
    Switch up what you doing and eating because that might make all the difference.
  • gobootjack
    gobootjack Posts: 10 Member
    I’ve been struggling this past week too. Thanks to the above suggestions.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Losing a few pounds usually takes a few weeks. Losing weight is a slow process.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,622 Member
    Peppegal wrote: »
    Never forget to drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Some people at a standstill and not drinking enough water.
    In addition, working out more we will create more muscle. The plateaus are the hardest thing to get over.
    I will say that adding more fiber to my diet has helped me tremendously.
    Switch up what you doing and eating because that might make all the difference.

    Fiber is helpful for feeling full: That's a great tip. (Some people find protein or fat to be satiating, too, so it can take some experimenting, but that's OK.) Varying to figure it out, as you suggest, is a good idea!

    To the bolded: I wish, fervently. But - sadly - unlikely.

    Muscle gain is slow. Slow fat loss is faster. (I wish it were otherwise, 100%!)

    Half a pound a week is really fast muscle gain, achievable if male, young, faithfully performing a good (heavy) progressive weight training program, getting good overall nutrition and more. Most of us aren't doing that, so muscle gain will be slower at best. (Still worth pursuing!)

    The slowest observable fat loss is around half a pound a week, and it takes multiple weeks to confirm that on the body weight scale, in the context of a normal, healthy body's routine multi-pound day to day water weight fluctuations. We're 60%+ water, y'know, and it varies. So confusing!

    A good read, in that regard: https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

    If someone is constipated, for sure that retention of digestive waste will add scale weight while it's in play. (Like water retention, it's not fat, so not worth worrying about on that score IMO . . . but uncomfortable!)

    In that scenario, adequate water (well, fluid, really), fiber, and fat intake are the key variables IMO. If OP feels constipated, that's relevant, otherwise no need to go there. Very often, in a calorie limitation scenario, constipation can result from dramatically increasing fiber, but lowballing fats. Fats are an essential nutrient!

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