Did weight loss take a long time for you?

I've lost about 30lbs and I started in January. The first 15 came off very easily, but the more I lose the slower it seems to be coming off.

2 1/2 years and still going

I pretty much have had an awful time of it! Luckily, I'm comfortable anywhere under 150, so most of my troubles have happened with me being pretty okay with that weight. Anyways, I started at 174 last July, I was down to like 155 by like October, went on birth control and literally only lost 5 pounds in 4 months, so that puts me starting the new year around 150. By about the beginning of June I was down to nearly 140, but then my body freaked out and now I'm 147. I think I want to lose about 10 lb from this point, but I won't cry if I just stay at this weight.

I dropped ten pounds like nothing my first month and now I've been stalling. But I'm made huge progress with both my fitness and eating habits. Whereas before I would struggle to run for just a minute, I can breeze through ten minutes without stopping to walk and it only gets better. Plus, I just find I crave healthier foods now (although when I hit 20 lbs lost I am definitely treating myself to a big bloody steak).

Lost about 30 pounds in about a year. Like most I agree slower is better. Its about making a realistic lifestyle change that you can stick too once you have left the website, not just a short term diet plan to lose the weight.

Next month I will be at my 1 year mark and about 50lbs so far Its coming off slowly just like the way it showed up!

I appreciate everyone's honesty. This thread is helpful in knowing that not everyone loses 25 lbs per month (I wish!) and some lose .5 a lb a month but a loss is a loss and it's great and to keep going!

There are so many factors as well, diabetes, thyroid, pcos/hormonal stuff, pregnancy, birth control, you name it that affects the speed.

I truly think I am a winner this time, I don't feel as defeated as before (usual) and giving up like I normally do. I realize it is what it is and I just keep working out and eating well and I know that I look and feel better no matter how fast/slow it decides to take in coming off.

January I decided to take back control of my life and my weight. I would say slow is relative. I have been putting on a few pound here and there for the past 15 years between pregnancies not working out and just be sloppy with my eating. Since January I have lost 28 lbs (my ticker is a little different cuz I didn't change my start weight). I have stalled a few times but have tweaked my macros and now I work hard to get enough protein to balance my love for carbs. I work out twice a day. Building muscle is my newest goal and it has me reconsidering my ultimate goal weight. So have I lost weight fast...in relation to how I put it on yes, in overall time since starting to focus, no. Good luck with your weight loss. Its all about lifestyle. If it doesn't fit in your lifestyle then something has to change. Give and tie is the key.

I lost 23 pounds in 8 months (from June 2011 to February 2012)....and have stood still/gained back 5 pounds from February to now.

And actually I'm OK with that - I have gained back some weight, I have not eaten as healthily as I could/should, but I have continued working out.

I hope to get back on the wagon at some point in the future, but for now I'm measuring my success not in weight lost, but training sessions completed and progress in other areas (more push-ups, longer/more intense cycling sessions, faster 5k runs etc.)

P.S. - And then I keep telling myself, that all the kilos I want to lose crept on over a period of 8-16 years (depending on how I want to define the milestones), If I get to the weight I want to get to over a period of 2-5 years I've still shed the weight quite a lot faster than I gained it.

Not me I pretty much kept my intake to 1600 Cal a day and got my but moving ran then ran some more then ran even more and stayed very active at work. Lost about 80lbs in 3-4 months.

I am trying to lose no more than one pound per week and I am coming close to that. I have really changed my eating habits and am doing a lot of exercise to achieve this. I have always lost weight very slowly and in the past I have given up and reverted to my old ways. I have been faithful to this way of life for 6 months now and plan to do it for the rest of my life in order to maintain once I have reached my goal. My goal is "64 by 64". My 64th birthday is a year from September and at the rate I am going I think I will get there. The weight went on slowly and it will go away slowly, too. I want to have it stay off and also want to avoid having loser skin than I already have.
Good luck on your journey. I am convinced that 1 pound a week is a healthy, do-able way to go.

It's taken me 3 years to lose 54lbs. 2 years on my own, 1 with MFP. Part of the problem was hypothyroidism, which I now have under control with medication. It really is a lifestyle change. Develop healthy habits and you'll get there.

Sept 2008: 220lb



June 2012: 161lb

You look great! Like a very healthy athlete!

The time it takes to pile on is usually the time it takes to come back off.

I think it's a bit pointless comparing the time it took people to lose x-amount with very different starting weights.

If you weigh 250+lb to startb with it's ok to lose 40lb in 2 months...
However, If you only weigh 160lb to start with you most certainly won't be losing 40lb in 4 months.

I've been obese or morbidly obese my entire adult life with a few short exceptions where I've been merely overweight.

My weight loss journey in earnest started at 280 about ten years ago. I had, of course, avoided going to the doctor for 15 years because I could not stand the constant nattering about how I was fat. In fact, I had a doctor eject me from his office telling me I was wasting his time every year doing the same tests with the same results, and to get the hell out of his office until I lost 60 pounds because he was sick of having fat, stupid, lazy patients who died on him because they wouldn't help themselves.

After a long time with no contact with the medical profession in general, I was denied a medical exam for the pilot's license I was starting to train for, due to blood pressure. Doc said lose the tubby, maybe the blood pressure would come down with it.

So I decided to lose weight through the typical impatient method of eating very little and exercising very much. Got down to 230 after a solid year of sweat and many tears before giving up because I could not maintain eating like a rabbit and the absolute and utter pain of unfed workouts any longer. Anyone who knows how the MFP method works and why can predict the outcome there. Yup, gained most of it back as soon as I gave up in frustration. Still, managed to keep it to 260. That's 20 pounds. In a long, painful, frustrating year that nearly cost me my job and marriage I was so miserable (and miserable to be around).

Joined a weight loss competition at work, using the same method. Lost ten pounds in a month. Kept 5 of it off for another month. Gained it back. Kinda gave up after that. Kept physically active, but ate what I wanted and kept the weight around 260 or so. Kinda halfheartedly dieted and got that down to 230 over a few years.

Finally, about 5 years ago I took up bicycling and discovered that I could eat anything I damned well pleased as long as I cycled back and forth to work (30 mile round trip with lots of steep climbs). Got down to 210 and felt great, decided I was never going to gain weight again!

2 years later, I was not hitting the gym like I should and weighed 230.

This year, I'm getting seriously back into bicycling, and watching my calories. Currently plateaued at 206, 6 pounds from being in a "normal" BMI for the very first time since I was 12 years old.

So, yeah, you could say it's taken a long time. I've wasted what should have been the best years of my life being fat.

took me a year to lose 104 lbs