feeling so discouraged

[ciciflora]

i started at around 135 pounds in march

i last weighed myself a month ago on july 30th and i was 119 pounds but i weighed myself today and i was only 117.8. why didnt i lose that much weight this month? i was eating ok but exercising a lot as well i feel sad 

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

OK, let’s have a look at your achievements so far: 1) you’ve dropped 16 pounds in 5 months, that’s almost 12% of your body weight, which is an impressive weight loss; in addition to that, 2) you’ve been able to maintain the lower weight for one month (well, not only to maintain, but even get one more pound off), which is also impressive (because rebounding is not uncommon at all). That gives you already two good reasons to be happy rather than sad, many people would like to be in your situation.

It’s hard to believe someone could weigh less than 120 pounds and still not be within their ideal weight range (but difficult to comment, since we don’t know much about you), but if you really feel you would be better off at an even lower weight, you may want to have a look at the "Losing All Your Weight At Once" video mentioned in the Dreaded Plateau discussion. This may cause you to reconsider your strategy for losing the few extra pounds you think you need to lose.

Also remember the number on the scale is just that, a number. It can be useful to assess whether you are maintaining a healthy weight, but there are other things to consider. The clothes you were using earlier this year probably no longer fit, which is another reason to rejoice.

Finally, I’ll comment on what you said about your diet: you’re "eating OK". Yes, you most probably are, since you were able to maintain your weight during an entire month, following five months of steady loss (which should make it harder, which is also explained in the video I mentioned). Being able to intuitively eat at a level that has you maintain your weight is a sign of a healthy lifestyle.