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HAI0307

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Hello my name is heather and I have come to this forum for support, advice, guidance and maybe a little venting about the trials and tribulations with the new adventures of trying to lose weight!! I have struggled with being over weight for most of my life. I have "tried" losing weight in the past but after a couple weeks I get frustrated and give up. BUT this time I have committed to it and have made it close to 60 days with changing my life style from eating differently, eating less and exercising daily. The first weigh in and measurement was after 30days and I had lost 8lbs and 3in at the waist. To be honest I was kind of disappointed and was really hoping for more. I am coming up on my next weigh in and measurement (i wait 30days because i will give up if not seeing improvement) now here's my vent, concern, need of support and advice. When I look in the mirror I am not seeing much of a change. When I see people I have not seen in awhile they are not commenting that they see a change. I feel like I am doing all this work with no pay off!! How long till you start noticing?? How looking until I can look in the mirror and not feel disgusted by its reflection?? I know it's not going to happen over night but I just want to feel or see some kind of change!!! Anyone else feel that way??? Thank you and sorry for it being so long
 
Hi, Heather! I really understand your frustration! But:
first - congratulations on your strength and commitment! to have made it to close to 60 days of a whole new way of eating and living is pretty impressive! Well done!
and second - yes, it'd be much more satisfying if you could have seen more pounds lost than eight in the first months - but that's still more than half a stone! I bet it's a reasonable percentage of how much you want to lose, too. Also, that's at a good, steady rate of about two pounds a week, which is really maintainable, unlike the sudden water-loss crash-dieting. So well done, again! Change is happening, measurably, in pounds and inches.
 
Thank you!! It's been satisfying in the energy I feel but there has been struggles like sore muscles and joints!!! I am not young so my body is really cursing me at times!!
 
Your loss after the first 30 days was a good steady loss and nothing to be disappointed in, slow and steady is the best way to loose and is more likely to be maintained in the long run, the last thing you want to start doing is yoyo dieting.

I would also suggest taking basic body measurements, the scales are often not the best way to track progress.
 
Trusylver said:
Your loss after the first 30 days was a good steady loss and nothing to be disappointed in, slow and steady is the best way to loose and is more likely to be maintained in the long run, the last thing you want to start doing is yoyo dieting.

I would also suggest taking basic body measurements, the scales are often not the best way to track progress.
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Funny thing is, is that I don't even own a scale at home. My boss keeps one at work so i step on hers to check my weight. When you say "basic measurements" are you speaking of just waist measurements? Or should i be measuring other areas?
 
at my fastest rate, for the first three months i was dropping 2-2.5 lbs/week. i considered this fast. i would not consider your 2lbs/week discouraging. my diet is/ was mostly centered around the concept of intermittent fasting.
 
HAI0307 said:
Funny thing is, is that I don't even own a scale at home. My boss keeps one at work so i step on hers to check my weight. When you say "basic measurements" are you speaking of just waist measurements? Or should i be measuring other areas?
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Waist, hips, bust, upper arm, neck, thigh and calf. often you will not see your own losses but the tape measure doesn't lie.

comparison photographs can also be useful.
 
I have thought about trying the fasting maybe on a day over the weekend because during the week it's hard enough not to snack on the food that I am constantly around. (So I bring my own breakfast, lunches and snacks to work) plus it's also easier when my husband is out of town for business, because he worries about me not eating because of struggles with eating disorders in my younger years.
 
intermittent fasting is a little different than an occasional multi-day fast. over every 24 hour period i go at least 12-14 hours, typically 14-16 hours and sometimes up to 20 hours fasting, ...no calories higher when i was losing weight (BMI 32 --> BMI 24) more moderate now to maintain. after 9+ months, i find it as easy to ignore being a little hungry as easily as i ignore a ringing phone... they both go away. the most unnatural thing about food is its availability.
 
overlandflyer said:
intermittent fasting is a little different than an occasional multi-day fast. over every 24 hour period i go at least 12-14 hours, typically 14-16 hours and sometimes up to 20 hours fasting, ...no calories higher when i was losing weight (BMI 32 --> BMI 24) more moderate now to maintain. after 9+ months, i find it as easy to ignore being a little hungry as easily as i ignore a ringing phone... they both go away. the most unnatural thing about food is its availability.
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I guess I am miss understanding the definition of fasting because I have heard of people using this method with success. I thought the method was going a full 24hrs without eating a thing. But you are saying up to 20hrs with calorie intake lower then your daily. Am I understanding that correctly?? And you do this roughly every other day??
 
fasting by definition is the time you spend not eating or drinking anything with more than a few (<50) calories. fasting for less than 12-14 hours is not giving your body enough time to recover from the last digestive cycle, so let's just refer to this as a short break between meals. many people today find it difficult to go even 12 hours without a meal and therefore never give their bodies a time when it isn't digesting something. ya think this might be a bit rough on your digestive system? it is.

intermittent fasting in my case, is a daily fast. every 24 hours i make sure there is at least a 14 hour break in my eating anything. i do not eat three meals a day. the first meal i have is of course breakfast since my time sleeping is always a part of my fasting. breakfast may happen in the morning, but yesterday i didn't eat until 2pm. after breakfast my eating window clock starts ticking. at that time i will look at when my eating day will end, i will look at the food i have available and i will follow that plan. every day may be a little different. yesterday made a lot of soup, so today breakfast was soup. frankly it may be dinner too. dinner is my last meal of the day and typically comes about 7-8 hours after breakfast though yesterday it was a lot shorter... i only had a ~4 hour eating window. today i may have something in between breakfast and dinner ... i guess i could call that lunch.

three meals a day at rigid times is not how humans survived our first 199,900 years on earth.
 
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