Hi Roni,
I’ve been on your website quite a few times in the past but this time something came over me and I felt compelled to email you… hopefully I’m not bothering you by doing this…
Anyways, I am a new member to Weight Watchers, i wanted some motivation so I was reading your success story and noticed that you lost quite a bit more weight then I have in the first couple weeks… I weighed in yesterday for Week 7 and I have lost 10.6 to date… I am happy with the fact that I have lost the weight but I’m getting married and would just love to lose about 2lbs a week(nothing crazy :p)… I just wanted to know what you did/ate during your first couple weeks… I’ve been eating all my points and feel like maybe that’s the problem? but i read on your website that you used/use all of your points as well… I am aware that this may sound ridiculous, to some losing weight is losing weight its just I feel like I am trying hard and sticking to me points range daily! So any help you can provide me with would be great!
I really appreciate it! I also just want to thank you for your inspirational story and fantastic website full of resources ( I have already downloaded the weight progress chart)….
Thanks,
Maggie, a struggling bride to be on a weight loss journey!
Hi Maggie,
I’m so sorry for the late response. My life has been insane!
As for your question you aren’t going to like my answer. NEVER COMPARE! :) You really can’t compare and knowing what I ate won’t really help you. Our bodies are different, our situations are different. Remember I just had a baby so I might have had more much water weight then you. My starting diet may have been so drastically different I shocked my system, There are a whole host of variables to take into consideration. That being said, the best thing I did and what was so different about my diet when I started losing was eating small meals/snacks instead of large meals. I really went to a grazing style and that seemed to help the weight come off. You know, 1 point here, 3 there, then maybe a 5 point lunch, followed by a 2 point snack an hour or two later and so on.. That worked wonders for me. But again, our bodies are different and comparing will only get you frustrated.
I don’t think it sounds ridiculous but it does sound like you are not yet in the right mindset. You really can’t worry about how long it’s going to take. By putting those pressures on yourself you are adding a layer of stress that may trigger unhappiness, discontentment and frustration. Just keep doing what your are doing! Your new habits are working!
Hope that helps (even though I’m not sure I answered you :)
-Roni
28 Responses to Ask Roni: Comparing the Speed of Weight Loss
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About Roni
Roni started this blog in '05 to journal her weight loss. 70lbs later, she's committed to living a conscious, healthy life and hopes to inspire others along the way. Read more on the about page.
Great answer, Roni, and I’d also add this: exercise, exercise, exercise! WW alone doesn’t do it for me at all.
I agree, there is no way two people can eat the same thing and lose the same weight.
I’ve tried to re-create a great weigh in by eating the same thing the next week, with completely different results!! I would be ecstatic with 10 pounds in 7 weeks! Time goes by so fast, it will all add up!
That was great answer Roni, and a great e-mail! your site truly is filled with inspiration and great resources! I would also mention to the person to exercise- I have been OP for about 8 weeks now and I can’t match her 10 lb loss but I have lost so many inches from hitting the gym hard! Im only down 5 lbs in the 8 weeks, but my body has drastically changed, I can see definition in my arms and im losing inches all over, so I feel like finding other progress to pay attention to can be a great motivator! Thanks again Roni!
I agree great answer Roni. Exercise is critical for me my weight comes off faster that way. I wanted to lose 2 a week as well but i have been averaging 1.4 and you know what, that’s fine, not only am I losing 1.4 a week I’m NOT gaining so i think of it as more :P
Also to the struggling bride, remember you probably have some stress (planning a wedding IS stressful) and that never helps weightloss, worrying about it makes it even worse. Try to get in some activity however small, it is a natural stress buster and it will make the pounds come off faster. Finally measure yourself! I didn’t lose for 6 weeks, well i lost 2 pounds but I lost a TON of inches in that time, so although the scale wasn’t showing it my tape measure was.
Whatever you do don’t give up, slow and steady will still get you there and being there for life is much better than getting there for a moment then going back to old habits.
I don’t find myself comparing myself to others (not much anyway) … but I do compare my WW loss to my loss on Atkins. It’s taken me nearly 2 years to lose 64 pounds on WW, whereas I lost about 100 in a year on Atkins.
When I think of the time it’s taken me to lose, I want to scream … but then I remind myself that it took about 2 years to put on 70 pounds after I fell off the low-carb wagon.
Hmm. I guess that really doesn’t have much to do with the subject, does it? I agree with the people who have said exercise will help. I lose more on the weeks I kick my activity level up a notch.
Great answer! We’re all so very different…there’s no way to compare.
My experience after having my first baby was that the weight just fell off. Your body has weight loss momentum then that you really can’t compare to any other time in life. Especially with breastfeeding, when your caloric needs are as high (or higher) than pregnancy, but your appetite decreases.
It definately takes exercise, but for me weight loss is slooowww.
Maggie –
When I did WW before I got married, I gave myself the goal of “if I am even 1 lb less than I am now when I stand at the alter, I’ll be happy.” I truly believed that because I knew I had enough stress and pressure to deal with! This outlook was great and I lost 35 lbs – I was shocked!! Try to work on that outlook –
Roni –
As always, you’re amazing! :)
M
Hello All,
I would like to thank everyone for their very inspirational messages… I fully agree that exercise is a huge part of weight loss and something that I definitely have to work on! Thanks for all of your wonderful comments and suggestions.
As for what Meghan had to say about changing your outlook and how even being 1 lb less at the altar is a good thing… I am truly going to take that moto with me as I continue on my weight loss journey…
I definitely will be checking this website for more tips and success stories because they are what keeps me motivated…
Thanks Again!
Maggie (a struggling bride to be on a weight loss journey!)
I really like that answer you gave Roni, but it was something about the words, “grazing style” that struck me.
I hate to ask a question when your answering a question but how much did you use the grazing technique on your diet? I just might have to add that style of eating to see if it works for me too. :)
I love this blog! You are so motivating, kind and helpful!!
For me, after losing 150 pounds in 14 months, I get a lot of people trying to compare my rate of loss to theirs. It really is such an individual thing. It’s hard not to compare, but important to focus on you.
These days, 12 years later, I always encourage people to find a plan that works for them, one they can live with for the long-term. I, like Roni, tend to be a grazer, and end up with dinner being my smallest meal rather than the largest.
That’s a great answer Roni. It’s now always what we want to hear when it comes to WL but its better to tell the truth about it.
I love the grazing style of eating because I feel like I’m getting more food that way (even though I’m not really). I’m so inspired by your story and I keep coming back to see how you are doing.
Let’s not forget the effect of screwy metabolisms. I’ve messed up my metabolism through years of weird eating habits, so now it takes a Herculean effort for me to lose weight at all, even though I have 50+ pounds to lose. Losing weight is extremely difficult–I would be ecstatic to lose 10 pounds in the next seven weeks. I think this conversation just upped my motivation–thanks Maggie and Roni!
When I first started WW (I need to go back because I got lazy and gained it all back…. BOOOO), I ate all of my points but I wasn’t necessarily eating the right foods. I know they have the new momentum program (which I have not tried yet) but once I switched to “Flore” (like Roni, ate core foods but counted points), I did really well. I needed to cut the junk out of my diet. I stopped buying the WW snacks and ate healthier. I need to get back to that. Thanks for the spark! Now I need to work on lighting the fire!
Great tips Roni! You are an inspiration to us all.
I like how you stated that we should never compare. Each of our bodies are different and work differently. I know I compare myself to others on so many different levels… it’s something I will continue to struggle and work through.
Ok, I’m about to out myself as a HUGE nerd.
First, I agree with everything Roni (and her commenters) already said. So much factors in: exercise, the kind of food you’re eating, metabolism, how much of a change your diet has undergone, etc.
But.
Out of curiosity, I went over to Roni’s progress chart, and did a little math. Over the course of 2005, Roni lost 39 pounds. I counted the weeks beginning with her start date of 07/23/05 (making 08/01/05 the end of the 1st week) through the end of the year, which came out to 23 weeks. During that time she lost 39 pounds. Then I did the math: 39 pounds divided by 23 weeks equals 1.69 pounds/week on average.
Maggie, if you’ve been on plan for 7 weeks and lost 10 pounds, your average weekly loss (calculated the same way) is 1.42 pounds/week. That’s less than a 5-oz difference.
So even though it might seem like you’re losing a lot more slowly, I don’t think you really are. You’re just not losing in the same time pattern, and THAT can be chalked up to different bodies losing at different rates. (As another example, I tend to go 2 or 3 weeks without seeing a drop in the scale – even though my clothes fit differently, sometimes the scale even goes UP – and then literally overnight dropping down 3-6 pounds below my initial weight. And it’s not the scale: it’s been that way with every scale I’ve ever owned, LOL, although it did make for entertaining WW weigh-ins, back in the day. ;D)
“Comparison is the enemy of contentment.” Not sure who said it, but oh so true.
so wise, I know how hard it is not to compare, as a slow loser, I get SO jealous of faster losers!
There are lots of tips and tricks for losing weight at a faster or a consistent rate. When I start to feel anxious about my speed I think it’s because I start to feel like I have to be skinny right now, today!!!!
One tactic I use is that when I start to feel that feeling inside, I say to myself “I strongly prefer to lose weight more quickly”. For some reason, that takes the edge off! I made it my mantra.
Ultimately, if you are eating well and changing habits, you have so much to feel good about! The weight loss will follow if you take care of yourself.
One more thing, if you haven’t heard of it yet, google the Wendie Plan. Wendie developed a scientific approach to varying point values each day for maximum loss. If you can stick to it, it might work for you!
“Compare leads to Despair” – Anonymous :-)
Slow and steady wins the race. Focus on health, not the scale, it will catch up!
Great advice Roni… as always
Mr. Meltdown – Sorry it took me a bit. A note on my style grazing.
I used to skip breakfast… eat a HUGE lunch… a HUGE dinner and then snack all night.
WHat I learned was I don’t need the big meals. SO when I pack my lunch now I take a sandwich, a yogurt, a fruit, granola bar, etc. Then when I get hungry I eat something small. I don’t care if it’s lunch or not. Then i come home and make a modest dinner (like my stuff on greenlitebites.com) then I can snack at night.
I still sit down to meals but they are much smaller so that I can snack in between without taking in too many cals. It was a huge shift for me but now it’s just a habit.
I have to add… I still have HUGE meals now and then but it’s not the norm for me anymore.
Hope that helps!
Thanks Roni!!
That was such great advice to follow and the greenlitebites.com website is just out of this world!!!!!! I have to be honest you had me sold on the thick chocolate oatmeal with almonds. LOL http://greenlitebites.com/2009/07/29/simple-thick-chocolate-oatmeal-with-almonds/
I am on a 12 week fitness challenge right now trying to set small goals like 50lbs first then I will try for more later. The deal is I was told to eat 6 meals a day and that is so hard for me to do.
I know it sounds crazy but even though I am overweight I just don’t have an appetite like that.
So you see why grazing sounds like cool beans to me? I will try that for the next few days and see how that works for me and hopefully it might be just answer I was looking for.
Thanks for being a friend!
I appreciate the comment about shocking your body resulting in lost weight. I am into my fourth week and have lost 13 lbs. My sister has lost about 6. I know she has stuck to the program but feel I have lost more because I started out heavier and my eating habits were worse then hers. I too feel I have shocked my body. I am slowly adding in exercise so I do not plateau.
Carol
Roni, in swapping from big lunch or big dinner to a more grazing style with snacks in the day did you find it hard to not put as much on your plate for the big meal? How did you break through that mental need for BIG?
I find that there’s some part of me that worries that I’ll be hungry for dinner if I don’t have that big meal to look forward to and so it’s very tough for me to not save points and build in a HUGE meal.
I know part of the point of this post is that everyone eats differently, but I also know that I would feel fuller throughout the day if I did try to build in snacks and not save so much of it for a large end of day meal.
Anyway, I’ve been feeling weird realizing that some part of me is always worried about going hungry that it’s a psychological thing, not a tummy thing and your post came at a perfect time to ask about how you talked yourself through this transition from large meal to snacks.
Thanks!
Cathy – I STILL have a need for big but I learned to bulk up my meal plates with tons of veggies. I ask for extra lettuce and tomatoes on my sandwiches. I start meals with brothy soups. Things like that. It helps me big time as I like to eat. :)
Hope that helps!
-Roni