What's gone wrong? Stubborn 10 lbs

Giraffeygirl
Giraffeygirl Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am a 5'5" woman trying to lose those stubborn last 10 pounds. On June 1 I weighed 145. I've been tracking my calories since then and lost 6 lbs in June. Yay! And gained two back in July, boo! Currently 141 trying to figure out what's going wrong.
My food diary is open so you can browse..I have my daily calories set at 1800 but routinely log between 1200-1500. I do not log my water, 0 calorie soft drinks or my exercise but I do work out 3x a week usually for 60 minutes each workout. High impact aerobics like burpees, air jacks, mountain climbers, planks, sit-ups that sort of thing. On days I'm not working out, I am chasing after my 5 kids and I also breastfeed but do not add that into my daily log.
What's going wrong? I should also add that I've had a killer head ache the last 4 days that only goes away if I eat a big meal. Thoughts?

Replies

  • bogwoppt1
    bogwoppt1 Posts: 159 Member
    Do you weigh all your food on a food scale? Your stats are like mine and I know I have to be brutal to lose weight. No scanning bar codes, no eyeballing it or using measuring cups.
  • Giraffeygirl
    Giraffeygirl Posts: 5 Member
    No I do not own a food scale. I use barcodes and measuring cups but I figured that would be ok if I'm logging approx 1400cal out of 1800...figured I'd still be in weight loss territory with that
  • notreallychris
    notreallychris Posts: 501 Member
    Those last few pounds will come off with consistent intake tracking, a calorie deficit, and patience.
    A food scale will help you tighten up your accuracy. Congrats on making it to 10lbs to go! You'll get there, keep it up.
  • bogwoppt1
    bogwoppt1 Posts: 159 Member
    If you google you can find videos of using cups instead of weighing food on a scale. The difference calorie wise is crazy.

    You do not have a lot of wiggle room to lose weight and often it is the weighing that helps you see what you really should be eating portion wise.
  • maidengirl_
    maidengirl_ Posts: 284 Member
    I honestly would invest in a food scale because it'll be the most accurate. Once you get to the point where you are, your calorie intake must be 100 percent precise to see the scale move again. I noticed that about my body as I got to where you are.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
    A food scale is like 15 bucks on Amazon. Unless you are flat broke I think you should get one.
  • Giraffeygirl
    Giraffeygirl Posts: 5 Member
    My best guess after giving it more thought is that I'm retaining water.
  • rmgnow
    rmgnow Posts: 375 Member
    Probably water weight.
    If you're working out, you would probably be consuming the 1800 calories though.

    If find that if I get into a groove where I'm not starving myself, I lose more than when I'm starving myself
  • hedwardsb
    hedwardsb Posts: 201 Member
    I never lost the last ten pounds when I was breastfeeding. Once I weaned, they fell off which didn't make sense because I didn't change my diet, and my body should no longer have needed as many calories to produce milk.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    its just plain hard. I've been at it for almost a year now. Down 3 up 2, down 5 up 4...

    The margin of error in logging gets smaller and smaller as you get more lean. So, licks, bites, tastes that don't make much difference when you have lots of weight to lose really add up when you have a smaller deficit.
  • sak20011
    sak20011 Posts: 94 Member
    I lost 5-7 lbs with weeks of weaning both my kids..a lot of it was just fluid I think.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
    I can't ever lose the last 8 pounds until I wean (then I'm fairly lean). Breastfeeding makes me not "normal." It's like my body wants to hang onto fat as insurance for baby.
  • GenCas2001
    GenCas2001 Posts: 3 Member
    It can be that you need to lower your macros/calories or keep them the same and add more cardio (your choice) but the point is creating a larger deficit. When your are eating (on a deficit) the same amount of calories for a extended period of time, your body will get used to that amount of calories and burn less calories than it normally would when carrying out bodily functions, say, beating you heart or breathing. This is known as metabolic adaptation. That why when losing FAT (cutting), you have to drop calories more and more as time passes by.
    HOWEVER, as stated before by many others, I stand by the suggestion of you investing in a food scale to be more precise in your caloric intake. Then, if that doesn't work, I'd give this a try.
    Good luck and congrats on your weight loss so far!
  • puzzledstill
    puzzledstill Posts: 67 Member
    Giraffeygirl wrote: »
    I am a 5'5" woman trying to lose those stubborn last 10 pounds. On June 1 I weighed 145. I've been tracking my calories since then and lost 6 lbs in June. Yay! And gained two back in July, boo! Currently 141 trying to figure out what's going wrong.
    My food diary is open so you can browse..I have my daily calories set at 1800 but routinely log between 1200-1500. I do not log my water, 0 calorie soft drinks or my exercise but I do work out 3x a week usually for 60 minutes each workout. High impact aerobics like burpees, air jacks, mountain climbers, planks, sit-ups that sort of thing. On days I'm not working out, I am chasing after my 5 kids and I also breastfeed but do not add that into my daily log.
    What's going wrong? I should also add that I've had a killer head ache the last 4 days that only goes away if I eat a big meal. Thoughts?

  • puzzledstill
    puzzledstill Posts: 67 Member
    Listen to your body. Maybe it's telling you that is what you should weigh ?
    My experience was I struggled to get to a target weight - really struggled with last 10 pounds (headaches etc). Yes I got there - but couldn't maintain without everyday being a battle. Not how I want to live the rest of my life.
    So I gave up and inevitably gained.
    That's why I'm losing now - but this time I don't have a specific target other than 'healthy bmi range' - will listen to my body.
    My previous target was mid healthy bmi. Ive just found about frame size and bmi. (Google it). Anyway it says I have a large frame so should aim at upper end of healthy bmi. I carry a lot of muscle (lots of exercise) which also means I should aim at the higher end. So some science backs what my body is telling me.
    I know this is about me - but hope that my experience might help you. Maybe ask yourself how you set your target weight ?
    Good Luck. I'm sure you'll work it out for you.

Categories