this is really neat! I really wish I knew the magic number!

really neat stuff. I wish I knew the magic number

I do too, I wonder if 3 pounds a week would even be better?

I dont think there is a magic number as we are all so different with our mind sets, however when I see the pounds comming off in a reasonable time I have the incentive to carry on.

Yes, but what happens when you hit your plateau? Hopefully things don't start slowing down before your goal, then you might lose your confidence and incentive and start putting the pounds back on. Plus I have seen too often someone reaches their goal and then a life changing experience puts the weight right back on. I think there are too many variables.

I agree, I find that initially it's easier to stick with a plan if you see results, once the results slow down, so does the motivation.

I think each individual has to do what is good and right for them. I know for me the faster I lose the better I feel about the process. It is a lifestyle change and if you go back to the same old eating habits as before the diet, you will regain the weight. So some of the changes you make for the diet must become permanant.

I agree Every person is different and will lose weigt differently. My husband can lose 10lbs in a couple of weeks and not gain any of it back. I can lose 10 lbs in a month and then bounce back and forth by 5lbs.

I am in complete agreement The only time I was really successful at losing weight and keeping it off for quite some time was when I lost weight very quickly. But how do I do it again?

This a helpful information for your expectations on weight loss and prepare you mindfully.

I also discovered recently that is all about your inner mental communication. The “conscious talk” you have with yourself! It's so great when we start to understand the inner message of the language we use in the things we focus our lives. Llike WEIGHT, sounds like WAIT, right? Sometimes we create unrealistic expectations of ourselves, just because we do not accept who we are. Then, what are you waiting for in life? Why do you wait to see the real you and accept yourself? Why are you waiting to give and receive happiness in life? Are you gonna wait your whole life immersing yourself in this struggle with weight?

My affirmation every day is: This is my best day ever! I'm not waiting anymore to see the real me. My choices and actions are moved with the flow and with patience manifest magic. I'm taking the right steps in nature to love and embrace my body in its perfect way.

Results: I lost 14 pounds in two months.

Now, I accept my self with patient, faith and love. I am happy with myself. I continue losing weight. I have more energy. I exercise with joy.

Good luck to all of you and blessings…!

I am disappointed that I didn't see any discussion or acknowlegement that the “fast” group may actually have faster or metabolism levels than the medium or slower groups. Of course anyone who has a faster metabolism will not have the same challenges to taking or keeping wt off as those who have a slower or less than average rate. This notion does not speak to proff of a strategy of taking wt off quickly or slowly, but only speaks to an unevaluated result.

Since all of the study participants were given “strict diet and exercise programs,” this only shows that the women who lost the most weight early in the program were able to continue to lose the most weight and keep the weight off. Maybe those women were more motivated and followed the program more closely and/or had higher metabolism. Those folks would be more likely to keep the weight off. And I certainly agree with Michael that 1 1/2 pounds a week is not “fast.” To show if “fast weight loss makes a difference, participants would need to be put on different regimens – one that would expect a drop of at least 3 pounds in the first and second weeks vs one that would expect no more than 1 1/2 puond drop.

It really depends upon many things: metabolism, what they are eating, how much they are moving around, how much they are resting for example. If a person has a high metabolism, and has changed to a clean diet (whole grains, lean meats and fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, limits sugar, salts, and fats as well as the preparation of the food), training daily with cardio, strength training, and stretching then they might lose more than 1.5 lbs. They might lose 3-5 lbs. So it could take a lot of factors when it comes to losing the weight.

All of the comments and focus is on weight. One huge aspect I have come to understand is loss of inches. This past month I lost 10 pounds and 15.5 inches. The majority of the weight loss was at the beginning. What kept me going was tracking the continual loss of inches. Now that was incentive.

The more weight one has to lose, the greater the initial weight loss will be. It depends on many factors which have already been mentioned, but the most important one to remember is that the weight wasn't put on in weeks, but rather months & years, so it is unrealistic to expect to lose it quickly. Also, if one works out & turns the fat into muscle (and muscle weighs more than fat) you will lose inches more than weight, so dieting alone is not the way to go.

I've finally been able to take off 20 pounds that I gained in a one month period about four years ago. I've always eaten moderately and “healthily” so was confused by the sudden gain. My MD said “exercise more, eat less.” I tried. The more I exercised, the more muscle I put on and that was good. But I didn't loose weight. My MD said, “exercise even more, eat even less”. That would have been to eat a starvation diet. What I didn't know, an neither did my MD, was that several of the foods I was eating were causing problems in my intestines that led to inflammation in my body. I ended up with systemic tendinitis that literally crippled me. Fortunately I also began having gall stone issues. The MD wanted to take out my gall bladder and I signed up for surgery. But, before the surgery I began to research alternatives. Long story short, my low fat diet was killing me. I also discovered my adverse reaction to night shade plants (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes) and many other foods. So, healing my intestinal tract, eliminating triggering foods and reversing insulin resistance with a low carb diet, reintroducing healthy fats in addition to moderate exercise has been my key to naturally taking off the pounds. Healing, not diet, not exercise, healing may be the very thing your body is asking for you to do. Extra fat, means something is wrong as much as a fever means you have an infection. We need medical people that work to help us be healthy not try to cut out our body parts as they begin to fail due to the unhealthy demands we make on them. My next step is to loose the extra 50 pounds I gradually put on over the years due to not understanding the role of carbs and insulin, but I am grateful to still have my gall bladder; I am grateful that I can walk, run and jump again; I am grateful that my BP is back to normal, that my gut is healing, allergy symptoms are gone and the arthritis in my hands seems to be reversing as well. Good health seems to lead to healthy weight. My scales sometimes show a pound a week, sometimes more, sometimes less, but my jeans are starting to fall off my hips and I feel great! God Bless you on your journey. Our bodies were created to heal, but we need to give them the tools.

Check out the reply to BoomerMary and see if that can encourage you to look at weight loss from a different angle.

Well a lot of you said it depends on the type of person, which may be true but I think that if you start losing a relatively good amount of weight ex. 1 pound a week as stated above, it would give you more courage to keep on going till the end and never give up.

In fact, I personally have tried losing weight a thousand times, but i only lasted a few weeks. I changed my food intake, exercised a lot, but i still didn't see any results after a whole month and that just made me feel more depressed. I have gotten used to the same routine. I try and I fail. So this is what i would really be interested in. How to lose a relatively large amount of weight throughout your first weeks because for persons who are like me, sort of “weak”, would really be helped.

since the diet and plan was the same for all three groups of women, shouldn't the researchers look for metabolic differences in the women that would explain why they are not able to lose as fast as the women that lose 1.5 pounds. The research results seemed skewed. In that it does not explain how or why there is a discrepancy in weight loss between the three groups.

I lost quite a bit at first, then plateaued and now am losing again. I did it all with hypnosis to help in the diet and exercise plans to keep me on it and keep the weight off.

Hey JD, Agreed that would be more accurate. I personally think all goals should be based on body fat%

I would love to see the long term results on 3 pounds a week as well.

Good stuff! That is the way to take initiative. You may try asking that in the form of a question.

There are some good fast weight loss systems if you would like me to share?

I have found from my own personal experience that a weight loss of over 1 pound per week has the effect of making any changes in my behaviour required to achieve such a result feel worthwhile , thus encouraging me to continue with that particular program, while a lesser weight loss is discouraging and seemingly not worth the effort. The same can be said for inch loss or body fat loss. Use whatever tools it takes to keep you motivated. It is human nature to be encouraged by results. The better the results, the more encouraged we are to continue.

the “fast” group lost 1.5 per week which I consider slow. fast I suggest is more than 2 lbs per week. I challenge the definitions used. ……..

I typically loose much more than the above in the first 3-4 weeks and this spurs me on. Most seems to be water in the first week.

lynda

I am inclined to agree strongly with the study. Losing weight too slowly can quickly put a damper on motivation. Human nature needs to see results to maintain momentum. Losing from 1 to 1.5 pounds per week seems a very reasonable goal to aim for. Over the long haul this could potentially add up to anywhere between 50 and 100 pounds in a year. Not bad!
Grace

yes of course, please share … ! Although there is no magic bullet/diet/pill .. I love all the excuses/reasons I can make up stay off a diet, or to stay on ..

I think really it all comes down to a decision .. I know that my best thinking has got me to be where I am and so I really need a serious mental adjustment to make the changes to become my ideal body weight … I am going to take a good look at what “oasis of creation” had to say as it made sense to me …

Thank you for sharing your experience. I have been very active my whole life (competitive in several sports) and in spite of it, always overwieght. I now have serious joint issues, having just required knee surgery. Throughout my life I have been told the same things – move more, eat less – to the point where its no longer possible to do that, and nor is it sustainable as a lifestyle to have to move to such a degree – HOURS a day! So, my metabolism was recently evaluated and the result: very slow. I am disappointed that conventional medicine does not see a need to investigate WHY. At this point, yet another “specialist” has given no advice except yet another very low calorie diet with no mention of WHAT foods may be contributing to the most salient contributing factor to lifelong obesity: my very slow metabolism.
I too am seeking alternative care and finding ways to heal the gut, completely cut out sugar, salt, wheat, other grains and nightshades, eat healthy fats, take correct supplements at correct dosages and hope to someday achieve a homeostasis in the body of balanced blood sugars, insulin and weight.
You never hear of these stories out there, and it has been a long and painful journey of self-blame, anger and frustration. The wt loss is very very slow, but I will continue to persevere.

Thanks again for sharing your story. You have given me renewed hope as I embark on this yet again!

Does the study have self-selection bias?
the ladies that showed fast initial reduction were given the fast track?
perhaps they had initiailly higher motivation?
it should have been a randomized study in my opinion. now you could argue: thaose ladies that have higher motivation lose weigth faster

Yes, please. Do tell us about some good fast weight loss systems.

If they were all on the same diet and exercise program, doesn't that indicate an inherent difference in how their bodies process food and store fat?
I'm a hoarder (of fat/calories) and it's pretty easy to see that it's been passed down from my mother's genes (and her mother's). When food was in short supply we were the genetic winners! Now that food is in excess supply, we continue to save it up in anticipation of a shortage that will probably never materialize.
What we have to acknowledge is that every body is slightly different and there are different combinations of foods and exercises that work.