Please tell me slow and steady works!

So I starting a week ago, and my weight has been fluctuating withing two pounds of my starting weight.  The thing is, I am trying to go the slow and steady 500 calorie deficiency per day route that this site recommends.  I know that it is supposed to be healthier and more maintainable, but I feel discouraged after only a week.  Have any of you really suceed the slow and steady route?

Im in the same boat....

 But I have tried it the other way and sure I lost but I gained it all back with reinforcements...

   Slow and steady is a lifetime healthy habit change instead of a get results quick change.

Keep it up!

Yeah, when I had a 500 calorie deficit per day I lost a pound a week. You'll get there before you know it!

I try hard to limit myself to weighing in just once a week because I know all the minor fluctuations would just drive me crazy. 

At a 500 cal deficit, you should lose about 1 pound a week, so you're going to see a lot of fluctuations that are close to your starting weight.  Don't worry.   You'll see the numbers dropping soon. ^_^

It works, I've been at it since January and am down 33lbs - the first week was hard though because you're obsessing about food and feeling hungry.

It gets easier, I promise!

i don't know how much you have to lose, kewinters, but i definitely recommend slow and steady.  it has taken me almost a year and a half to lose 22 pounds--probably much slower than anyone here wants to lose--but in that time my whole frame of reference has changed (and i'm only 7 pounds from my original goal weight).

i know that my weight will fluctuate, but i also know that i'll never be anywhere near that heavy again.  what used to be "normal" is now unthinkable.

it takes time to change habits.  if you lose too fast, your thinking may not keep up with your body.

I'm with pgeorgian - it's taken me amost a year and I've lost a total of 20 lbs. I've gained a lot of insight in that time into what works for me and what doesn't.

I've really been focused on exercising as a way to lose my weight. At the end of the day, I love my food. The thought of restricting myself from certain things just makes me obsess and want them more. I've worked really hard to make exercising a part of my daily routine - and that's where my 500 calorie deficit has come from.

Don't get me wrong - I've definitely changed the way I eat. I don't really eat fast food any more (I've probably eaten at one of those places once or twice in the last year) and try and get more of my calories from whole grains and fresh veggies.

I've found it's much more satisfying for me to focus on the fitness goals I've accomplished, rather than focusing on the food that I've deprived myself of for the day. I've also found that my metabolism has totally increased since I've been exercising - so a weekend of crazy eating (like this past one where a bunch of my friends and I went up to the Lake for a weekend of camping, booze and junk food) doesn't mean any weight gain.

Sure, my weight fluctuates 1 to 2 lbs during the week.....and I'm still not done with my journey (I'm about 15 lbs from my target weight), but I'm much happier doing it this way.....

I am definitely a firm believer in the idea that the slower it comes off, the longer it stays off.

stick with it it works I have lost 40 pounds since feb this year it is slow but working and it is the healthy safe way of doing it... just have some patients it will work you can do it.

Yep, it works. Ive lost 7 pounds in about 9 weeks...ultra slow, but doing it slowly makes the lifestyle change much more livable, and losing weight too fast can lower your metabolism so the weight comes right back.

I try to lose slow and steady as well.  I fluctuate a lot!  Sometimes I lose nothing and then the next week I will have lost 1.5 lbs.  It really does work though.  I have lost almost twenty pounds since end of Feb mid March  and that is only a little over one pound per week.    But, I feel so much better and I don't have the saggy skin that everyone is always talking about.  That is a huge benefit in taking it slow and steady.  And, you don't have to buy as many clothes as frequently.

Over the past 16 weeks I have averaged 1.18 lbs per week.  Sometimes I will go 3 weeks and see only a couple tenths drop, then I step on the scale and 3 lbs are gone.  I definitely am moving slowly, but I don't want to fiddle with too much, I'm happy with things now :)

i have lost 60pds in about 10mths and i see a big differece also people always tell me how much weight i have lost and that i lost it fast but when i think of it its not that fast ---

60pds in 10mths= 6pds a month

so its an average of 1.5pds a week

when u look it week by week its not alot but in the long run its good and also for the past month i have ben eat more calories (500 more a day) and im not gainning weight so i sai that the slow way is best because ur going to keep it off

It has taken me 2 years and 3 months to lose 40 pounds. I have 10 left to lose, but I'm not freaking out that it's taking so long.  I know I can get there.  I love love love plateaus, because that is my body resetting it's clock!  I know I will never again be above the weight I am plateauing at.I plateaued at 160, 150, and now at 145.  I will get down to 135, but it may take me another year.  It doesn't bother me because I WILL get down to 135, and I know it.

Happy losing!!!

It works! swear it. 

slow and steady wins the race.

i know i know it's corny but soooooooo true!

Slow and steady wins the race. Don't get discouraged. It's normal to fluctate on a day to day basis. Look at how your body feels, are you exercising as well? And wait.. I'd say at least four weeks before you step on a scale again.

I've been here since the end of March 2006. Yes, slow and steady is... well, slow. But, it is steady!! I've lost over 70 lbs, but even better, I have made healthy changes in my life that I can live with for the rest of my life. Not only that, but I feel good about the changes I have made. My body is healthier than it ever has been and that feels good. For me, that is what is important.

Thank you all so much.  It means so much to me.

Yes, keep it slow and steady. Good news is that you're much more likely to keep the weight off if you do it that way. Your body cooperates better and you've taken the time to learn new habits rather than just a crash diet. People who lose a lot of weight suddenly usually gain it all back.

Slow and steady wins.

And it gets easier and easier as time goes on.

Eyes on the prize there, kewinters. Every successful day is one day closer to your goal weight.

thanks everyone for posting your stats, because i'm getting discouraged it's been about 2 months (sept/oct) of strict calorie counting but also another 2 months of exercising 3-5 times a week and just 'watching what I eat' and glancing over calorie amounts online and not eating anything 'bad for me/extreme high calorie' like pastries, cakes, baking, fast-foods, junk foods (candy/chips) deep fried foods, and portion controlling all high carbs like rice/pasta etc. So I haven't been 100% strict but i've been "pretty darn good" with watching what i eat and never overeating over 1500 cals and trying to stay around 1200/day.

I've only lost ~10 lbs! not even! so it's been really slow going and sometimes i just feel so sad that my workouts are *so* strenuous and i haven't had a sweet in ages that sometimes i just feel like throwing in the towel and saying 'f-it, i'll just be bmi 'overweight' forever!" 

but then i come on here and read the forums and feel normal again that it's ok to get frustrated, but it's not ok to stop trying. :) 

Thanks Guys, keep on pushing.... eventually the fat will drop off.  even if it takes a whole year.  It's just human nature to want "INSTANT GRATIFICATION" but sorry, unfortunately it doesn't work that way LOL 

Hi

Keep up the good work You may be losing slowly but you are losing. I am down 17 llbs form beginning of July, keeping a 750ish deficit. Theres been up and downs (august was full of birthdays, holiday and parents golden wedding anniversary so found it difficult to keep away from the party type food), and sometimes those scales seem to jump all over the place from one day to the next.

 its a long slog at times but doing it slowly builds those good habits, got to admit I don't miss some of the stuff i used to eat.

All the best