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Losing Weight

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MeliciousGibson
MeliciousGibson Posts: 300
in Social Groups
I am having the HARDEST time losing weight! I've been working very hard, and it's just been almost painful at how slow the process is. I've been more active, I've been eating WAY healthier, I've calculated the amount of calories I "should" be eating, I've purchased a FitBit and track everything I do. And I haven't seen that scale budge in weeks. I get a nice little 1-2 pound loss, then a 1-2 pound gain. Then maybe a 3 pound loss followed by a 2 pound gain. Yes, I'm moving in the right direction, but I can't BELIEVE how slow this is!

I got to the point where I said "FORGET IT!" I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing - working out and eating right, and that scale can go to ... well, you know where!

So discouraging.

Replies

  • Kelekat
    Kelekat Posts: 174 Member
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    OMG...that's my life.

    For the first six weeks of diet and exercise, I floated the same five pounds--up, down, back and forth. I was so discouraged.

    So, based on some advice, I upped my calories from 1200 to 1410 and started lifting heavier with fewer reps and enjoyed a nice four pound weight loss--except that for the last two plus weeks, I've been gaining and losing two of that four on almost a daily basis. It's so frustrating!

    At what point in my life did this all become so difficult? Thirty pounds out of nowhere in less than a year and no matter what I do, it's going nowhere fast!
  • BackwoodsMom
    BackwoodsMom Posts: 227 Member
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    Our metabolism has slowed way down and that's a big cause for the slower weight loss. But, on the pro side, losing slowly is much better for you!

    What I found that worked for me was to eat just about 100 calories over my BMR. That was the only thing that worked. 1200 was way too little for me.

    I set my calorie goal to maintenance on a sedentary scale. (I want to lose and I'm NOT sedentary, though.) I know that my BMR is around 1250 so in my head I know that my goal is 1350 each day. The green number on calories left is actually my deficit for the day - a good thing! I don't let that go over 900, though, so if I've had a big exercise day I'll up my calories some. This is the only way that the scale has moved for me.

    I do go through periods where that scale just seems stuck. I look at what kinds of foods I'm eating, my exercise, and if I'm doing everything right, just keep doing. :happy: It will eventually come off.

    Hope that makes sense. Stick with it!
  • kobiemom
    kobiemom Posts: 218 Member
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    Slow here, too. I had bloodwork done that showed borderline-low thyroid. The doc wants to *watch* it. (read: NOTHING HELPFUL). I've lost 40 lbs. in 20 months. I'm taking the "set it and forget it" approach. I eat right and exercise - four days at the gym with a two mile walk every day. I'm going in the right direction. It'll happen when it happens.
  • glenner
    glenner Posts: 160 Member
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    I feel the same way- I will lose some then put it right back on or I will stay the same after being so good for ages then get so mad I pig out. It seems like such a viscious cycle. Grrrrr- I hate it. I have a high school reunion in mid May that I wanted to lose 30 pounds for- I would now settle for 20 or even 10 but nothing is happening.
  • chicpeach
    chicpeach Posts: 302 Member
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    It was slow going for me too. I kept upping my cardio and still my weight didn't budge. In desperation, I set search over the internet and that landed me here. I started out doing the 1200 calorie a day thing and tracking calories, carbs, fat and protein, It didn't take long to realize that you can monitor for all kinds of other nutrients, not the least of which was sodium. I did some research and general consensus is that everyone with high blood pressure and people 50 and over should consume no more than 1500mg of sodium (some sites recommending this for anyone over 40).

    At that point I customized my sodium goal to be 1500. I also started eating back half my exercise calories and lo and behold, they weight started coming off. I lost over 3 pounds the first week after the change and almost 2 1/2 pounds this past week.

    Give it a try and see if it helps you. Best of luck, and if you'd like, feel free to friend me.
  • fit443
    fit443 Posts: 93 Member
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    THAT is my LIFE! So discouraging!

    Sodium is one thing I haven't been tracking, chicpeach, thanks for the tip!

    My chiropractor recommended "The Hormone Diet" for me. I'm just researching it now. Here's the link
    http://www.thehormonediet.com/

    If enough of us decide we like it, we could set up a super-charged hormone diet group, and see if we can shake some weight loose! I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book right now. It's a little more detailed than I need, I think, but a lot of what she says fits my profile.

    Sharon
    Let me know what you think.

    Sharon

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