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.



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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.

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


LOL

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

Peace,
Tesia

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.)

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.

Great post and graph Angela!

Karen

bumping.

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

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

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

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!

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!
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?
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!

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 AND WANT YOU TO STICK WITH IT!! YOU'RE DOING GRRRREAT!!!!!!

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.

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.