I have decided that all those signs that read:
LOSE 20 POUNDS IN 20 DAYS!
must be total crap because losing weight is actually really hard. For “first-timers” like myself it’s typical to think “This is gong to be easy!” But it’s a very slow process. During a day and age where we expect a lot of instant gratification, it takes a quite a lot of patience to lose 20 pounds. It also takes a busload of willpower.
That’s not to say that’s it’s not still happening. I can tell by the way clothes fit that I must be changing. But the scale spits back very little change from one day to the next. I’m wondering if the muscle I am gaining from working out is throwing it off. Either way, it’s frustrating, but not frustrating enough for me to give up.
I keep going back and reading success stories every time I feel hopeless. They help. And I pretend they are all true. :]
P.S. I eat very well. I’ve been dieting for 2.5 weeks. I have lost 8 pounds. I feel like I should have lost more. (haha!) I work out five days a week. You can’t help but want a bigger reward and a quick one. :] Man, I am spoiled.
if you get depressed enough, you can lose 10lbs a week
Funny, that’s the way it worked when I was younger, but when I got depressed in SF, I just got bigger and bigger and bigger. :] Weird.
Congrats on the eight pounds! That is fabulous and I’m sure you look and feel just as fabulous! Losing weight is harder than quitting smoking, takes longer, and nobody ever says a damn thing about it. It’s the most gratifying feeling some days and most frustrating on others.
It has taken me much longer to lose 20, but I’m there and beyond. I haven’t really gone on a diet. I just eat more fruit and veggies, and I have a small dessert maybe once every week or two. I go to the gym regularly though. Sometimes for an hour – sometimes for half an hour, sometimes 3 times a week – sometimes 5 times a week, but I show up nonetheless. I have to say that lifting weights seems to make a bigger difference in inches. The extra mscle weighs more, so the scale will act like you just ate 5 ice cream cones, but it seriously makes a huge difference because you burn more calories in your everyday life.
Another big tip – this one is big to all those weight watchers out there. DITCH THE SCALE! I don’t own one and I won’t weigh at the gym. The only time I weigh is at the doctor’s office at one of my every couple months visits. It’s way more gratifying to have your jeans fall off your hips and your shirts become night shirts. Watching every ounce is going to make it even more frustrating.
odd, its working great for me
DeeKay, you have no idea how much you just helped me, baby. Thanks so much for writing. We should form an online support group. I’m not even kidding. :]
Hang in there chick! I’m right there with you
my mom’s advice to me, as well, was ditch the scale, espically if your going to the gym. the scale is lies. anytime it would give me bad news i’d loose interest in the diet, because whats the point, cake is good.
Now I wish we lived near one another. Wanna move Cobra to NYC? YAY! WOO! COME ON!
Andrea, cake rules. You are right. I will just have to eat less of it now. :/ The thing is, before I turned 27, I never really gained much weight. Then, it hit. I put on way too much for three years. It’s not that I’m over-weight, it’s that I will be if I keep this up. Plus, I hear having babies makes matters even worse. So I want to get in shape just to destroy it. heh
Correction: I AM overweight by medical standards. But I am not considered obese.
Whatever, I feel bad. That’s all that matter, right?
In the old days, being overweight meant you were wealthy. Americans are wealthy and lazy. We can’t deny it.
True indeed. I am most definitely lazy. And I guess I’m wealthier now that I have a job. :]
DeeKay, assuming you’re still around, what was that “healthy” ice cream you told us about? I think it was vegan, too? And similarly, if you haven’t tried it, I HIGHLY recommend This
Sorry, that was the wrong link. Use this one.
Double Rainbow Vegan Soy Cream – better than ice cream! (My favorite is Very Cherry Chocolate Chip)
Scales are useless. It’s all about how the clothes fit, man. :-)