Do you really expect your progress to be all losses?

[AngelaR]

I wanted to post my graph hoping it would help some people feel less angst about ups and downs in their weights. The graph shows all my ups and downs, but the message is, the overall trend is down. If you are expecting your whole journey to be on a path down, you are setting yourself up for disappointments. Your body will let go of water and weight when it is ready to, not because you want it to. Patience is a virtue.

Also, I seem to be one of those people who the whoosh fairy hasn't discovered. My losses are a half pound or a pound at a time, followed by a whole series of mini up and down fluctuations. A 3 or 4 pound whoosh has not happened to me. I've also learned not to wish they would happen. Wishing doesn't help. I take my losses as they come and just keep on plugging away at it.

http://pixelswebworks.com/low-carb-forum/wlp-jan-31-02.jpg

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[razzle]

angela, beautiful chart! and oh so typical, too. If you've tried looking at the exponential trend line for it, you also can see the loss slowing as you approach goal weight...also normal! Those last ten pounds often take a long time to lose.

You're right, the thing to look at is not today's half-pound gain, but the overall trend of less fat over the weeks. I tell folks, look, in two years, you'll be at goal weight and you won't even recall which were slow weeks, which were fast, or even a lot of the frustration you felt during the process. You'll be too busy living life and being thrilled with being a slimmer you.

Why are we so anxious for overnight results? well, because we love easy solutions to complex problems, because we're used to instant gratification, because being fat is so unpleasant that we wish we could be "there," slender, now. I think it takes most of us a little while to figure out that the "there" we should value is exactly where we are right now, losing at whatever rate the Fates wish, learning our lessons about "cheats," dangerous foods and situations, our own physiology and psychology. It's all process, all learning, all good, even the month-long stalls...sounds like you know all this and are exactly where is best for you, too! I applaud you. :thup:

[starchile]

That graph just gave me "Stockmarket Crash of 2000" Flashback!!
:eek:

LOL

Great job on your loss and thank you for sharing your graph! I actually DO feel better about my progress now.

Peace,
Tesia

[TerrieP]

Great chart! Love the downward motion! WTG!

Question? Do you weigh yourself every day?

If so, how have you learned not to let the scale rule your life? I am sure you know what I mean. Down a pound . . . It is a great day. Up a pound . . . and it just turns out to be a pretty awful day. I weigh myself almost everyday and do sometimes have difficulty not letting the scale dictate my day.

I weigh myself every day for various reasons:

1. To chart my progress (like you) and to get an average weekly weight loss.

2. To keep me in line. If I don't weigh then I might stray. (I stopped using the scale for three years (and never stepped foot in a doctor's office either) because I couldn't stand the emotional roller coaster.)

[AngelaR]

Razzle. Wise words

Starchile: Glad you feel better now. Sometimes putting things into perspective helps.

TerriP: Yes, I weigh myself every morning, at about the same time. Ups don't bother me. The scale does not rule my life. The number on the scale does not affect my mood, other than on a positive note when I hit a new low. I'm doing the daily weighing and charting to help me keep things in perspective, and to try to understand how my body is dealing with this. Everybody's pattern is different. I understand that I do a lot of moving around before another little drop. I love watching all those ups and downs because when I hit a new down I know it's the next step on an overall downward trend.

[Karen]

Great post and graph Angela!

Karen

[razzle]

bumping.

[animaldoc]

Love the graph! What a good idea! I love to see tangible proof of my progress-I may have to start keeping a weekly graph like this!

Also, WTG on closing in on your goal!

-animaldoc :wave:

[AngelaR]

Thanks animaldoc. Glad the post helped you in some way.

[Trifle]

I LOVE THIS CHART !, I'm going to start one just like it.
Thanks for the tip.

[TeriDoodle]

Gosh, it sure would be cool if the webmaster could create a graph and a link for us on this website to use as a tool for our journals! :D

[odd sock]

Thank you for posting your chart! It is yet another reminder for me to stay focused during my own 'blip.' I have been hovering around the same three pounds for the past week and a half (nothing to some, but mine nonetheless!) and have been hovering between discouraged and feeling fine with the situation... other than stubbornly refusing to change my stats when it goes back up two pounds! :mad:
At times I feel frustrated, not because it isn't instantaneous, but because progression does not seem evident. In my case, if left to fester, it spawns all those depreciatory investigations of the self which leads to paralysis and abortion of the goal. I am unfortunately one of those poor sods who cannot realise their past accomplishments, but base judgement on present and future (speculated) occurance. Does everyone hear how cracked that is? :daze:
Even as I chart my own weight, it seems unreal: am I stunted? have I done enough? should I be proud? Razzle is so right with her assesment of how we will not remember the greater part of the struggle and unchanging stats once we have reached our goal. I suppose, unlike so many WOE/WOL, LC is much more organic in its progression. It would be akin to complaining how the trees are not growing fast enough and the wine takes too long to mature.
Thank you for the calming influence of your chart again!

[TeriDoodle]

Hello Odd,

I'm a newbie, glowing in the satisfaction of dropping 1-2 lbs. per day here during induction, so I can't say that I understand how you feel right now. But I do want to do my part to encourage you!!

I was poking around the site and found this article about plateaus and stalls that you've probably read, but thought I would share it with you anyway... maybe it will help.

http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips008.html

I'm so proud of ALL these forum members who have lost so much weight and supported each other so well..... I just want to say to YOU that I am VERY PROUD OF YOU :D AND WANT YOU TO STICK WITH IT!! YOU'RE DOING GRRRREAT!!!!!!

[slm6596]

I just am so excited about seeing your weight loss in a line graph. What a great idea! I set mine up right away and I see I am similar to yours. It helps me to see that there is a slow weight loss. :thup:

[nill4me]

I am SO SO Glad I found this post this morning!!!
My name is Jennifer and I am NEW to LC, NEW to this site, and NEW to Hypothyroidism, synthroid, you name it. I've been on Synthroid (50mcg) since 2/15.

I did some reading, and decided that LC was a way for me to help myself with the weight that I absolutely have not been able to lose, as well as help myself feel better! So, It has been about three or so weeks for me. My first week...I 'whooshed' 15 (yes thats right...15) pounds. You cannot imagine how excited I was. So I kept going and going...charting virtually EVERYTHING I put in my mouth on fitday.com; walking a minimum of 1/2 hour 3-4 times per week, etc. I weigh everyday, and post it to fitday once a week. It lets me run reports. Today I stepped of the scale in tears....frustrated....wondering what am I doing all of this for....because over the last week, my scale has gone UP 5 lbs. I was very upset. I looked at my reports...thought maybe my calorie count was up...but i am only averaging 850 calories a day! 92g protein, 26g carbs, etc. I'm not starving myself...I just get full, so I stop eating. So I am thinking...how can this be happening???

So THEN I came here (thank goodness for this site)...read about Angela's chart....and felt more at ease. I feel like I am in this major battle with my own body...and I want to win! I don't necessarily want a whoosh....I just would like to see steady progress. For me, that is reward in and of itself...

Any other words of wisdom or advice are GREATLY appreciated. I do not want to get frustrated and STOP. I want this to work.

Thanks.

[TeriDoodle]

Hi Nill,

Have you taken your measurements? I did so this morning (I've been on Atkins only a week) because I already KNOW that I will stall out at some point....so I am armed with these measurements. After all this exercise I'm doing, I know that this fat will be turning to muscle and I won't be losing weight at that point....and that is when I"m gonna whip out that ol' tape measure for some encouragement that the scale is not giving me. Also, what about your cycle? Is it that time soon? Those hormone shifts can easily account for 5 lbs.

I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for these "ups" that will naturally occur. I'm sure if you poll any of these folks, they will say they all went through the same thing....and yet, look at how many have lost 30, 40, 50...100 lbs!!! They must be doing something right and I think that "something" is to just stick with it! .....that, and drink water, water, water, water!!!!!

:) Terry

[upncomer]

I too, was losing like gangbusters - until my last TOM (almost 3 weeks ago). I had been losing at least 2-3 lbs per week and then, BAM - gained 5 lbs! It has taken me two weeks to lose the 5 lbs and finally I lost another pound this week.

I was so upset that I had gained the weight when I am doing everything by the book - until my wonderful hubby reminded me that as long as my body is becoming healthy by my new WOL, that was all that mattered. The weight will eventually come off - and the time it takes will actually be a millisecond compared to the years of weight problems and health issues I had to carry around before I started my new WOL.

My TOM should be visiting me sometime towards the end of next week - I think I will now be more prepared if the scale decides to jump up again.

[otenn]

I too am one of those who weighs in every day, even several times a day. (even though my numbers are going up these days thanks to my pregnancy - possible twins!!!) For me, the numbers do not matter much. In fact, I think that weighing so often actually helps me in the long run. When I realize that the scale can fluctuate as much as 4 pounds or more even between getting up and having a pee, and being dressed and ready to go out the door to work, it helps to put minor fluctuations in balance. I know enough not to freak over even a 10 lb jump, or to rejoice too much over a 3 or four pound loss. It all creeps downward in the end, (or else I hope it will start to do so again in about another 4 months...sigh)...

Mari

[enriquezro]

Thank you , AngelaR. This is very encouraging. I had promised myself to stick it out for the induction part and then if it didn't work, I was going to look for another diet. But your reply has helped me. I'll stick it out. :)

[Lisa N]

Hi Enriquezro...

to be fair, you should really give it a couple of months, not just the two weeks of induction. Induction is really only the beginning of this WOL and it's the strictest phase. It gets even better as you progress to ongoing weightloss and eventually pre-maintainance and then maintainance. Induction is the phase where you detox your body from the carbs and start getting comfortable with this WOE. After a couple of months you will have a much better picture of what this WOL can do for your overall health and welbeing. Stick with it!

[Forlil]

I have been using Weight Commander for quite a while to chart my weight and I highly recommend it. It is a shareware program that can be downloaded at

http://www.weightcommander.com/

I think there is a $10 registration fee if you decide you like it and want to keep using it.

It charts your weight and trends, has a section for goals, exercise records, lots of motivational quotes and tips - even a low-carb info section.

I hope it is OK for me to post this information here. I'm in no way affilitated with the owner of the program. There is no monetary gain for me by posting this information. I simply like the program and want to share the information.

forlil

[AngelaR]

Thanks for the info. A lot of people are looking for tools to help them along the way. Glad you found something that works for you and decided to share it.