Turtling along
 

Just wanted to post for anyone who is struggling with losing slowly. I regained a lot of weight a few years back due to illness and stress and probably rebound from going too low due to stress (divorce). I finally solved the health issue that was causing all the inflammation and started losing and I thought it would go quick. But, while the gaining happened in spurts of 3-4 pounds a week, losing has been slow, slow, slow.

It's been about 15 months now and I've lost about 30 pounds. That makes just two pounds a month of loss, on average! Some months I lost nothing.

Just wanted to encourage everyone who is posting low losses. It will happen, just slowly. It WILL be sustainable.

Thank you! That is encouraging!

Fellow turtle, here! 🙋‍♀️It is really encouraging to read your story because sometimes it feels like I’m the only slow loser.
If you had given up during one of the months of no loss, you would have never known that you could lose 30 pounds. And no matter what, 15 months were going to pass, regardless of whether you lost weight or not. It’s better to be 30 pounds less than 30 pounds more! Right?!

I've never been a speedy loser and those "I lost 20 lbs. in a month!" stories make me crazy. When I first went low carb years (and years) ago, it took me a year to lose 30 lbs.--and I was in better shape and in my 30s.

Because I didn't really stick to it, this time around I have more to lose, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to tolerate such a slow plod. So I've cranked my carbs down even more tightly, added IF and constantly obsess about what I'm eating, building muscle, etc. Every week that I lose more than a pound, I think it's a miracle and every week that I don't I wonder if the Turtle pace has returned.

I think I might be able to keep this up a few more months, but there's going to come a time when I can't have it be the all-encompassing feature of my life and my loss will probably slow to a trickle at that point. But my hope is that it will be a trickle, which is always better than nothing!

You might just have less stress/inflammation in your life, too.

I am kind of annoyed that they moved this to the Turtle Club because I was meaning to inspire newcomers who are seeing those 10 pounds in a month losses and getting frustrated. Oh well, here I am.

I first started this journey in 2006 and it took me three years to lose 100 pounds, so also a little over 30 pounds a year. And then in 2009 I hit my brick wall and have been stalled for 10 years now, continually bouncing up and down about a 15 pound range.

For specifics: my highest recorded weight at the doctors office was 375 pounds though I suspect I was even more than that to start as I’d been on a LC diet for a few weeks when I made that doctors visit, and my home scale only went up to 350 pounds so I had no way to get a true starting weight.

After 3 years I made it to 275. Since then a constant bounce in the 272-287 range. I took a vow never to go above 300 again and I haven’t, but not getting lower either.

So now I’m trying intermittent fasting and a keto diet. I started on March 5 at 283 pounds. This morning I was 265 pounds. So that’s fairly decent progress but I’ve been here before and alway bounce back up to my stall weight (about 275) when, after time, I end up relaxing my eating a bit with those cravings for cheese or nuts or LC treats.

I’m on an intermittent fasting FB group and get bummed at all these people saying “I started keto and IF and I’ve lost 45 pounds since late February” etc. Sometimes I just can’t stand to look at the group as it seems everyone is dropping pounds and sizes like crazy. I guess the turtles 🐢 just don’t post there.

This is such great inspiration for newbies :thup:

I'm another turtle person. Even while low-carbing - at differing levels over the years, I might add .. plus big stress (divorce, disability, death of loved one(s), familial estrangement, job loss, more death, etc) - I lost a lot, regained some, lost some, regained, plateaued, lost a bit, plateaued .. now losing again but *oh so slowly*. And I'm okay with that. This isn't a race; it's a lifestyle change and adaptation. While the scale changes haven't been spectacular, the health changes have been rewarding! No longer pre-diabletc, blood pressure normal, knee pain eliminated .. blood cholesterol levels optimized .. on and on :cool:

If I could offer a bit of advice to newbies, it would be this: take measurements. Or use a pair of jeans or pants that are too tight now, or a shirt/blouse that won't close over your chest. Try it/them on once a month. You'll be amazed at how your body is shrinking even while the scale seems stuck. The scale number isn't your only measure of success.

My own scale loss has been agonizingly slow for the last while. Yet in the same time, I've dropped a whole size! Woot!!

Keep working your low-carb plan. If you're stuck, then be willing to ask for help and to tweak things a bit. Accept that you're in this for life.

It *is* for your life :rheart:


Doreen :rose:

I want to add, too, that fluctuations in weight don't have to be accompanied by a serious nosedive in health. Stress, lack of sleep, hormonal changes, illness all have an effect on our weight, but sticking to as many low carb dietary principles as possible can still make a difference in how you feel and your overall health until you can get completely back on track! Even if you are just thinking about what you need to do, you're making progress. It's when it's not on your mind at all that all is lost. And write it down.