It's not coming off as fast as I would like!!!!

So I am on Herbal Magic, when I started the program I weighed 145lbs (I am 5"4). In the first 2 weeks I had lost 10lbs!!! Now its been 5 weeks and I am down to 129lbs. The issue is that my weight loss has slowed down to MAYBE 2lbs a week. But when I see numbers like that, all that I want to do is EAT!!! I feel like I am not working hard enough, I freak out!!!!! I miss the taste of sweets like chocolate cookies and I miss being full!!!!!!!!! Im doing everything right but its just not coming off.

Has anyone been feeling like this? Or am I truly alone?

I am sure everyone is like this at some time.  We all want results and we want them fast.  In fact, I know exactly how you feel every time I squezze my belly fat and wonder how fricking long it will be until it's gone.  But....  losing weight too fast isn't necessarily healthy.  No more than 2 pounds per week or 1% of your total body weight is considered a "healthy" weight loss.  So at your current two pounds per week you are actually losing a little more than you should.  Patience, you didn't put the weight on in a couple of months so don't expect to take it off in a couple of months.  BTW,  mucho congratulations on your 16 pound weight loss that is GREAT!!!!

thanks for the comfort, i just have family members who just drop weight like nothing else. I have always loved food. and not eating it is killing me. grrr.

Then don't not eat, nicksters. What you're doing sounds like a recipe for yo-yoing if you're miserable and making drastic, unsustainable changes to your eating habits for a short-term loss.

Have you considered looking to the long-term instead of the short-term and making changes to your eating habits that will last you a lifetime instead of a short period before you snap and tell yourself that "not eating" isn't worth it?

Not eating isn't worth it.

i know its not, but i feel like if i dont have this set plan to follow, my emotional eating will bring me back at the same weight i was before. i just want know that i can actually do this weight loss thing, and do it well!

Nickster - I love to eat as well.  That's one reason why I am going for  the slow "healthy" approach - I still get to eat a lot of food.  For me at least, what I have found is if I make better choices in the food I eat, for example, home-made quality burger instead of fast-food or a nice blueberry yogurt instead of ice cream, I can still eat a bunch of food without feeling guilty or worried that I am going to pack on the pounds again.  Some amount of exercise really helps since it also allows you to eat more and still lose.

"Patience, you didn't put the weight on in a couple of months so don't expect to take it off in a couple of months."

I have never understood why people say this. I seriously did put on the weight in a couple of months.

Actually, 2 pounds a week is at the top end of the safe rate of weight loss.  Most people can lose 1/2 to 2 pounds a week by maintaining a caloric deficit (the difference between what you burn and what you comsume) of from 250 to 1000 calories.

Your initial weight loss was a lot, but you have to understand that maybe 5 pounds of that was excess water. It's not unusual to have a big drop at first, then it levels off.  I hope you can keep it off, because you're doing very well.  Just remember that those of us who have lost large amounts of weight all say the same thing - the slower you take it off the more likely it is to stay off.  It maybe has to do with forming new eating patterns that stick with you for life.

As for your feelings - you'll just have to sort that out.  I think maybe it's a feeling of failure that makes us want to go ahead and eat (didn't lose, might as well enjoy myself?) and we've all been there.  But since you aren't failing, there's no reason for you to feel like that.  I hope the encouragement will keep you going until you achieve your goal.

Haha, me too. I went on birth control and antidepressants at the same time. Kerboom!

I don't think I've ever read a post from someone saying that their weight loss is going exactly as planned or as fast as they want!  The less you have to lose, the slower the loss.  Don't think that you are alone.  That's probably one of the top reasons that people give up with their weight loss.  They're not seeing the results that they think they should be having. 

Go back and read the 2nd paragraph of your last journal entry.    What's so different now, other than a year and a half in time?

thanks everyone, ya i suppose that sticking with it is really just the key. Even though the weight i put on was fast, it probably will take me just as long to lose it. as well, the fact that i am still losing (even in small amounts) is a great success, i just need to keep looking at it that way.

I have not read any other comments - but if you are still losing 2 lbs a week and complain about it you need to read the boards more.

2 lbs a week is a LOT and frankly I am envious.  I have been struggling to lose 2 lbs this MONTH!!

I sure hope you are getting a good reality check and learn to count your blessings.

Original Post by nicksters:

...i feel like if i dont have this set plan to follow, my emotional eating will bring me back at the same weight i was before. i just want know that i can actually do this weight loss thing, and do it well!

O, nickster, if restriction/hunger is all you're learning now about how to maintain a healthy weight, you are still practicing emo-eating.  You are achieving self-esteem through deprivation.

I used to believe in being very hungry as a means of losing weight.  I told myself, "I'll learn how to eat moderately once I'm thin."  The few times I did manage to lose a significant amount of weight this way, I immediately gained some or all of it back once I started eating "normally" again.  My relationship with food, my relationship with LIFE, had not changed. 

There's much more to this than empty stomach vs stuffed stomach, nickster.  The extremes are just different sides of the same coin.  Be gentle with yourself.  Learn patience.  Learn how to eat moderately now.  Explore how much and what types of foods cause satisfaction, and how much and what types of foods trigger problems.  Tolerate mistakes. 

Take care...

Original Post by nicksters:

i know its not, but i feel like if i dont have this set plan to follow, my emotional eating will bring me back at the same weight i was before. i just want know that i can actually do this weight loss thing, and do it well!

Two pounds a week is doing it well on a numbers level, but starving yourself is doing it badly if you're concerned about your emotional eating. Can you imagine sustaining this a year from now? Two years? Five? No? Then you're going to be back here again, miserable and hungry.

Slow down. Eat. Make a plan that includes food and stick with it.

Screw the "you didn't put it on overnight" logic if that doesn't work for you. Think instead of the "how the hell can I stand this forever?" logic. Starvation requires extended privation to maintain and we don't want that for you and you, I hope, do not want that for you.

Original Post by madamq:

I have not read any other comments - but if you are still losing 2 lbs a week and complain about it you need to read the boards more.

2 lbs a week is a LOT and frankly I am envious.  I have been struggling to lose 2 lbs this MONTH!!

I sure hope you are getting a good reality check and learn to count your blessings.

 my thoughts exactly.  ive been doing everything right and usually lose 2lbs a month at the most.  In fact, I didnt lose any weight in march, just occilated between 217 and 220, up down up down.  for such a skinny girl you are losing weight at a pretty fast pace. be happy.

2 lbs a week?  I'm grateful to have lost 2 lbs in the last 2 months!  And that's with an hour of hard excercise every single day.  You are not, by any stretch of the imagination, losing weight slowly.  But I agree with everyone else.  People who go on crash diets are the most likely to gain it all back (and often a little extra on top of it).  Make sure the changes you're making to lose the weight are changes you can sustain.