Slow Loser?

What makes a person a slow loser? 2 lbs a week, 10 lbs a month, yearly average? I'm not sure if I'm losing slowly. I feel like I am a slow loser. However I've lost 51lbs in just three months ( including pre-op) so I want to be happy and proud of that as well. It's just hard to figure out if I'm on track or not. I know it's a journey and there is no technical finish line, but developing sense of what losing slowly is could help me adjust my diet. I meet with my bariatric team on the 28th for my three month follow up and I'm excited and nervous because I'm not sure how they will view my progress. I've been flying solo on the diet because the nut quit before my 6 week follow up.

I have lost 54 in 3 months so I think you are doing good

My advice?  Don't worry about the labels.  There are plenty of folks that consider themselves slow losers that would have killed to have lost weight that fast prior to surgery.  And 2 pounds a week, 10 pounds of month is excellent loss; not slow at all in my opinion!

The closer you get to goal I think you'll find that the numbers slow down, and you'll start "stair-stepping", i.e., gaining a pound, losing two.  There's nothing wrong with that either, although if you weigh yourself every day it can get frustrating.

You are NOT a slow loser - you're doing great!

 

51 pounds in three months is excellent. your medical team will be delighted.  Congratulations on your progress.

 

I think this is an interesting question.  Sometimes people post that they are slow losers and they are losing weight faster than I am.  I don't consider myself a slow loser.  In fact, I think I'm doing great. 

There is a tendency for people to enthusiastically post their best month's weight losses and others begin to think this is common and expected.  Then they are disappointed even though they are doing great.

A while back, I decided I had to stop thinking about the rate of loss and just celebrate every pound lost.  Its not a sprint.  Its a marathon.  We have to think about the long run, and really it doesn't matter how fast we lose, as long as we are headed in the right direction.

best wishes,

Carol 

This is how I look at it! I struggled immensely pre-op to lose even a pound, so I have been celebrating every pound and will do so no matter how long it takes me to reach my goal.

What a great question!!  I consider myself a slow loser because I am still working toward my weight loss goals at 20 months out.  However, my friends and community consider me one of the biggest weight loss success stories ever and think I lost it very quickly.  Compared to Weigh****chers or any of the other 7 million diet plans I did, this was rapid and extremely successful!!!  When is the last time I lost 118 pounds???  UHHHHH???  Never!!!!  But, you can't help but compare yourself to others on the board, and everytime I compared myself to someone else, I was almost always behind in the weight loss race.  Comparing myself to your current weight loss, you're ahead of where I was at that point.  

The good news is that no matter what rate you lose, you'll get there if you work the plan.  I vividly remember telling a friend last December that i was stuck at 95 pounds and that was going to be it to me.  I didn't think I was ever going to make my original goal of 108 pounds because the scale just was not moving.  Then, I decided to change up things and made it to 100.

I was thrilled to have lost 100 pounds, and was going to settle there.  I weighed 158 (I'm 5'5), and everyone told me i looked great.  Then, my little boy asked me if I was going to stop short of my  big goal.  I wanted to be an example of someone who didn't quit or give up to him, so I changed things up again and finally made it to 150 May 29 (I put July in a post yesterday, but saw the date was incorrect).  

So, it took me 15 months to make my original goal and I can't tell you how many people met similar goals in 8 or 10 months.  But you know what?  It doesn't matter.  I'm at goal....and then some!!!!  I feel great and look 15 years younger.  I actually have people that are jealous of me now!!!  WHAT????  I actually had a close friend ask me the other day if I was a size 0 now!!!  I told her I wish!!!  But she was being sincere.  She has never been smaller than a 12 and she said I sure looked like what a size 0 should look like to her!  One day, I was walking out of Walgreens and a lady stopped her car and got out to tell me that I was absolutely gorgeous.  Huh?  I was checking out at a store a few months ago, and a man walked up and directly told me that he was interested in me.  WTH???  The craziest things that I never would have imagined 118 pounds ago happen to me now.  It's a whole new world that I've moved to, so who cares how long it took me to get here???!!!  :)

You just keep at it!!  You're doing great!  And keep coming to the boards DAILY!!!!!  I still visit every single day!!!!  And make sure you read every single post Elina writes.  It's like a quick trip to the therapist!!!  

Good luck!!!!!

I'm not even close to goal yet, but there's a resident where I work that keeps telling my co-workers that he wants to go on a date with me since the weight loss became noticeable. He's about 65 years older than I am. LOL

Thanks for the honest answer. I try hard not to compare myself to others as I realize it's an individual journey. I love your positive and realistic way of evaluating your progress. Congrats on meeting your goals and providing advice about staying connected to the OH community.

Your doing great! Just think back 1 year prior to your surgery, how much weight did you lose in a 3 month period then? Also keep in mind those NSV, like inches lost, that won't show up on the scale.

Thanks for all the positive feedback and shared experiences. It's interesting to see how each person views his/her weight loss. I'm going to stay positive about each pound loss regardless of when the pound comes off. As long as I'm losing, I'm going to be satisfied and maybe even excited. Thanks all!