Losing weight is HARD

[Anonymous]

I started this year at 158/159 pounds. I'm down to 148. It's taken six months. It has been HARD. I feel like I've been really committed to working out, sticking to weight watchers...I had hoped to be to my goal weight of 140 by now, but it's taking forever.

I'm 38. 2 kids. 5'7.

Just wanted to write that as I'm eating yet another salad (with shrimp in it) for lunch.

[Anonymous]

Keep it up, OP. Great job! It is hard. I hope I can lose as much as you soon.

[Anonymous]

OP here. And I miss pizza, cheeseburgers, and ice cream.

[Anonymous]

You are doing great! I'm 5"7' and have been 170 pounds since my boy was born 6 years ago! I was 130 or less my whole life.
I don't eat pizzas, pasta,bread or sweets nor do I drink sodas.I'm fairly active, but haven't managed to lose the weight. I need help while you're almost at your goal weight!

[Anonymous]

No kidding! You're doing great. I keep bouncing the same 2 lbs around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No kidding! You're doing great. I keep bouncing the same 2 lbs around.

NP here. ha ha me too.

[Anonymous]

Hang on OP! I lost 15 pounds in....1 yr and 10 months!!! It was painfully slow and I truly truly did not "go off the wagon" often if at all really. The upside is since my weight loss took so long by the time I had reached my goal maintaining was very easy and instead of forbidding certain foods while "on a diet" i basically just lost taste for a lot of junk foods.

[Anonymous]

I'm 5'9" and have come down from 180, it has taken almost 3 years. I'm now sitting at 146 and trying to get to 140. From 155 on down, it has been such a battle.

What has helped me tremendously is to back off the cardio and really ramp up the heavy lifting.

However, I also read The New Rules of Weighlifting for Women and have completely ditched WeightWatchers and calorie counting. Not only is it miserable, but it is destructive. This is not to say I eat what I want, because I do indeed avoid all refined sugars and eat gluten free. However I do not avoid carbs, and eat a fair share of rice, beans, and modest amounts of fruit. My diet consists of no processed foods...kind of sort of paleo, but really just focusing on whole foods and good protein.

[Anonymous]

Keep it up, OP, you're really doing a great job. Losing weight is very hard.

I do think 13:39 has good advice around balancing workouts. I naturally have a lot of muscle mass, so don't need to lift to keep my metabolism high (yoga and runs with the jogging stroller do the trick), but I know that's unusual for most women.

I'm not hugely familiar with WW, but think about what kind of lifestyle you want. Because weight loss isn't just about the losing, it's the maintaining. And if you're miserable because you can't eat certain things, etc etc, that's a tough way to live. I'm not telling you to give up at all, or even change anything about what you're doing. Just that it's okay to reevaluate your strategies if you feel like they're really not working for you.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

maybe you should start looking at a personal trainer and nutritionist that can help make sure your workouts and eating habits are where they need to be.

[Anonymous]

You are smart to do it now. Sad to say that it only gets harder the older you are!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks everyone. I have started seeing a trainer to improve my workouts (I do cardio, though not for super long stretches, 4-5 times a week). I had hoped to lose 1 lb per week, but it's just been so much slower than that!

[Anonymous]

I have been losing weight for 2(!!!) years and have gone from 180 to 144. GW 135 (I am 5'5"). It's been so so slow but I am in the 5% who has lost 20% bw and kept it off, so I will take it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. And I miss pizza, cheeseburgers, and ice cream.

Can you find acceptable forms of these foods? I eat pizza made of whole grain pita bread. Giant has pitas that are 60 cal each. I add minimal sauce and some shredded cheese and oregano and heat in the toaster over at 400F. When I want dessert I eat 60% cacao Ghiradelli chocolate chips. I eat the 95% lean burger patties from Trader Joe's.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to add join the pile on - I should weigh 135, but for the past 5 or so years I've been closer to 155. I went up to 165 after kid #2 and just had enough so i'm on the slow losing train. 6 months in and i'm down 20 pounds. 10 to go. so hard.