What keeps you motivated when you feel you aren't losing weight fast enough?

Longtime lurker, first time poster. 29F|SW:372|CW: 347|GW:170??

I got a bit of a scare at my annual physical back in February where my blood work showed that I was in the pre-diabetes range. I have been overweight all my life, hovering around 250-300 pounds during my teens and early 20's, but have never had any health problems arise from it. With that test result showing me I'm not immune to health problems, I made the conscious decision to actually do what I've been trying to do almost my whole life, lose a significant amount of weight, keep it off and get back in a normal A1C range.

I stepped on the scale for the first time in a while on February 15, 2022, and I was shocked that my weight had ballooned to 372. It's the heaviest I ever weighed. I started counting my calories and stopped getting fast food for lunch at work. I replaced them with meals I get from a local meal prep restaurant and my wife and I started cooking more from home for dinner. I make choices to get up and walk around more and do some exercise here and there. Back in the Fall, I was formally diagnosed with depression and started taking anti-depressants and they have helped me feel more productive. With those things alone, I've managed to lose 25 pounds.

My current frustration is coming from the fact that I have been hovering between 344-347 pounds over the past 3 weeks and it's starting to make me feel discouraged and lose the momentum I had. The negative thoughts of "this is going to end up with you quitting just like you always do" and "i thought this time i could do it for real", Keep circulating and while i haven't given up, it has put me in a pretty bad mood on top of all the crazy stuff going on in the U.S. right now. I want to do this so badly but I'm frustrated with myself for how much I let myself go and gave myself such a long finish line to reach. I don't want to miss out on things in life or have my life negatively altered because of my weight.

I'm pretty much rambling at this point, but I guess my question is what do you when you start to feel discouraged with your weight loss? Especially when there is so much going on in the world right now that all you want to do is stay in bed and eat whatever you feel like.

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Not sure if my coping is healthy or not

Hi,

I'm a 29 y/o female and am trying to lose weight. Like many people, I've spent most of my life "trying to lose weight" in my mind but not really achieving much. This manifested itself by eating low-cal everything, convincing myself I must eat 1200 calories a day (while being 5"9) and repeatedly failing. I was never very big, but not as fit as I wanted to be. (My highest was about 150 lbs, and goal is around 120-125)

In the past year, I've changed my relationship with weight loss quite drastically. First, I began weightlifting and even though the scale hasn't moved much, I could see the difference in my body. A couple months ago I set on a journey to lose some fat, but the window of 1300-1400 calories I've set for myself ended up with me binging quite often (nothing too bad, but enough for me to maintain instead of losing weight).

I did find something that I quite enjoy, however. I really like walking, so I started just walking in 8s around my apartment. It's not the sexiest of cardio types, but I can do it for hours while listening to podcasts I like and it's quite relaxing. I know it's not as efficient as more intense forms of cardio, but I found myself effortlessly sticking to it for about 1-2 hours/day. This helped me increase my calorie intake to around 1600 and avoid binging, while also actually losing weight.

The one place I still struggle with though, is that I have a hard time controlling myself when I eat out. I always find it hard to stop myself from eating that extra pizza slice, etc. I don't see it as a huge deal since it seems reasonable for my body to be uncomfortable in a calorie deficit and want to eat more. I don't get mad at myslef, but I do feel a bit of frustration over the lack of control I feel.

What I did notice though is that I feel like I'm regaining a lot of this control by walking for, let's say, an extra half hour on the days this happens. This is setting some ED alarms in my mind since it makes me feel like I'm "punishing" myself for extra food, which seems like a big no-no. But it doesn't feel like that to me. It genuinely feels empowering, like I'm taking back control over my own body. I know it doesn't make up for the calories I ate, but it doesn't really matter a whole lot -- it just makes me happy not to feel entirely helpless.

I would really like some outside perspective on this, though. Do you feel like any "compensation" for extra food with cardio is unhealthy, or could what I'm doing actually be good for me if I make sure to keep checking that my brain doesn't it like a punishment?

EDIT: Just to clarify, the weight goal is extremely arbitrary. I'm focusing much more on how I look and feel, plus my fat%. I'm currently around 22% fat, but I would like to hit around 18%. It might mean that I would put on some extra muscle and stay the same weight, I don't mind that. I know this might not be sustainable for my whole life, and I'm okay with that, but as long as I have free time and the mental capacity, I would like to stay within the "athletic" range.

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How should I set up my gym-based workout routine for body recomp. + weight loss?

18F | 5’7 | 133 lbs. | 23% b.f.

I recently got a gym membership and had my free fitness assessment today. Long story short, despite having an “average” weight and body fat percentage, I am quite out of shape.

I’ve decided that I want to focus on increasing my strength and decreasing my body fat percentage to 15%. My trainer said that my ideal weight should be 120-125 lbs. but apart from that, he did not give me any other insight on a general workout routine or diet to reach that goal.

So, can any of you guys give me some instruction? Researching a proper diet is easy to do but when it comes to workout routines, I’m dumbfounded. I want my time at the gym to be well spent but I can’t afford personal training, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

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Wanting to lose a little more weight and gain a little muscle, how should I start?

So (M, 5’11) I used to be really overweight back in HS (like 245 at 15 overweight) but I lost a lot of it towards senior year, and maintained that range (anywhere from 192-196 on a given day, depending on what I eat, weight taken every morning). It’s great, a lot better than I used to be, but I still have a few confidence issues.

Most of that weight loss was in my legs and face, but my stomach (and a little bit of my chest) still retain whats left. I lost the weight via “Dieting” (basically brute forcing my way out of eating fast food every day) and cardio, so my legs are pretty toned, and I actually look kinda skinny in well-fit clothes, but when it comes off everything is still pretty flabby.

I mostly just want to lose the weight to get a flatter stomach, and bulk up my arms which have been neglected in the journey so far. I can only make so much progress through dieting, so I would like some tips on toning my arms and stomach. Anything would be greatly appreciated! I don’t have much in the way of equipment, but I do have some decent dumbbells me and a my dad share and some resistance bands.

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Not losing the weight I want….

Alright to start off- 23yr/old female, 185lbs, athletic build. so I have been steadily working out for the past 9 months, 7 months ago I added weight training. I’ve always been active (as a nurse, my job demands it) and was previously working out 3-5x a week, but just for the enjoyment/staying in the routine. Not focusing on my diet then, just trying to be mindful of my choices. 7 months ago, I started weight training 5x a week and cardio at least 3 times a week. Now, for about 3 months I’ve been added as much cardio and extra walking I can get in per day, still weight training about 4x a week (legs M,W,F arms T, Th) and watching my calories- I feel like I’m seeing no progress. I’m eating in a deficit of about 1500cal/day, and making cardio a priority over weights. If my day allows I also try to do my cardio fasted so my body taps into those fat stores. I know weight loss is a process and I know that I should give it more time, but I’m getting discouraged that I’m putting in all this work and not seeing results I’d like. The scale has barely moved, which I know from adding the weight training I’m gaining muscle and I should take measurements instead, but it’s still extremely discouraging. Should I give it more time? Anything else I can add in? I’m getting exhausted doing some form of cardio daily (past 2 months have been 60 min a day) and weights 5x a week, I love working out but this is taking so much time out of my day for what seems to be such little results. Maybe I need a deload week or few rest days to get my mindset back?

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Feeling down about how long the journey will take

Hi all,

F 26 5"2' 206lbs and I feel utterly miserable. Over 8 months I went from 170lbs to 210lbs and wow did I really feel, for the first time, incredibly unhealthy

I've started my weight loss journey and so far doing well (overhauled my diet, drinking more water, taking vitamins) but I also feel so upset at how long this will take and ending up like this in the first place.

I have around 40lbs to be back to my average 170 (and hopefully feel far better physically) and I'm hoping to be that by December .... but overall I have 70lbs to lose to reach a healthy BMI.

I know it's worth it but I can't help feel a bit miserable. My skin is terrible - stretch marks, everywhere very noticeable as well. My face acne is still there and will take probably the next month to really clear up and it just feels like forever.

I also can't exercise for the next 3 weeks and I'm off work for the next 5 due to burnout. So just sitting around not doing a great deal. Patience has never been my strongest virtue and I'm just feeling down about how long this will take.

Please tell me it's worth it!

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Diaries Of A Weight Loss Physician

Curiosity Is Stronger Than Fear.

Dealing With The Boogeyman aka The Plateau.

Before getting into the warm and fuzzy rhetoric…let me first say…bracing for impact is key!

Just knowing that there will be plateaus will keep you mentally alert.

We all wish achieving our goals was a linear process.

I put in X amount of effort and Y will be the result.

But I bet all of us have experienced the exact opposite.

Losing weight? Building a start up? Learning a language?

They all have periods of great success.

But what about those times when the rate of progress slows down? Flatlines?

Heck, sometimes it feels we’re going backwards!

I.e. The good ol’ plateau.

For patients just starting their weight loss journey…ignorance is bliss.

But for those on their 3rd, 4th or 5th try…the plateau is a great source of fear, anxiety, disappointment, discouragement and skepticism.

It’s during these times that curiosity DOES NOT kill the cat.

What if we become curious about the perceived resistance and lack of progress?

The lack of progress becomes a SYMPTOM to diagnose.

It become a CHALLENGE to explore.

It’s a source of hope and EXPERIMENTATION - a code that CAN be cracked.

Yes, you need patience and perseverance. Let’s not be naive.

An experienced guide that can help you troubleshoot effectively is worth their weight in gold.

Yet, using the Calorie In < Calorie Out principle, we can start to become more PROCESS ORIENTED than OUTCOME ATTACHED.

The curiosity will DISTRACT us from the objective measures (weight) and make us more focused on the CAUSE of the plateau.

You’re too busy solving problems and taking action then to be scared and discouraged.

The boogeyman is an attention seeker. Chances are he’ll get bored of you and move on.

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