last 5 - 10 lbs help? advice?

atynk

Hi All,

I have been eating a paleo / primal since November when I started crossfit. I try to eat it about 80% of the time and am not perfect. However I have leaned out quite a bit and gained a lot of muscle so I know how great it is. I plan on eating this way as long as I live, and hopefully through another pregnancy (not trying as of yet) . I try to keep my carbs close to 100 grams, protein 113 grams or more and fat around 90. I wanted to follow a 10% carb, 30 protein, and 60% fat ratio, but had a hard time keeping the carbs lower. I have cut out dairy the last 3 weeks and noticed a great improvement in my skin, and I only have fruit after a wod or workout in a protein smoothie with spinach, and i only use berries. I workout normally 6-7 days a week. 4 crossfit, 2 swim wods, and usually a 20 km bike/run, and one easy workout day . I workout so much in case of a weekend I know I will be drinking/ maybe eating off plan. I can't seem to lose those last 10 lbs Before I got pregnant with my first I was a super lean 140 lbs doing kettlebell workouts, and sprint triathlons. Now I am stuck at 155, but have a fairly fit body. People compliment me all the time on how fit I look, but I cant help but wonder if I could get down the body fat to a more lean percentage. No- I have not gotten it measured. I do not have anything to measure it with accurately. I had a scale that was electronic that said it was 28% but i think it was way off.

anyhoo, I was wondering if anyone has broken that last 5-10 lbs plateau and how you finally did it ? any suggestions or tips would be appreciated. I am going to try to lower my carbs to 65 grams now and hope that it helps.

ahviendha

Hey,

I would exercise less. As you may know, exercise is a stressor on the body. When your body is stressed, it doesn't want to lose its "comfort weight". I would take it down a notch in either intensity or frequency, then reevaluate in two weeks.

You look gorgeous in your profile picture! You look very thin.

-A

atynk

Thank you. I love exercising though.. I tore my mcl 3 months ago and was off crossfit for 2 months and it killed me.. for the time being I can no longer play the sports I love like hockey and volleyball and rollerblading, so getting my wod it makes me happy and keeps my stress down . I have a great job where I work from home, so get to take a nap almost everyday so I feel extra rested. I was going this hard before when I was 15 lbs less, only difference this time is I had a baby (19 months ago) and it seems to be holding on to that bit of fat. Before i was eating the SAD (counting calories) and managed to keep so lean, so i can't figure out why know when I am eating so much better I can't seem to shake it..

I will keep on trucking and try to give up those drinking/hangover days lol

MikeFlyMike

I did break through the "last 5 lbs", and dropping alchohol helped tremendously. I since have been trying to put on muscle, and have put some fat back on. I'm detoxing again - my body fights me to get below 12%bf. I do get measured often hydrostatically. Not sure where you live, but if you are actually interested, google bodyfattest.com or bodpod or dexa scans.

zazielascaux

I'm not quite at that stage (I have about 20-30 lbs to lose still, aiming for somewhere in 120-130 range). Got stuck round 158 for a long time, so here is some advice based on something that helped me break that long plateau after losing 40 pounds.

Basically it revolved round reducing stress. For me that was :

Exercising less but gently moving more

More long relaxing baths with scented candles

Shifting fat/protein/carbs to 100-110g/100g/under 50g a day (upping the fat slightly and reducing the protein a little really worked for me-your body can convert protein to glucose pretty easily so this can stall fat burning. I try to get in a little more fat than protein a day, and this reduces the carb cravings)

Supplementing with a phospylatidyl seurine/omega three softgel- I get one called memoplus from Healthspan. (PS helps reduce cortisol. I read a study that said athletes experiencing stress from over training responded to a dose of 600-800mg PS a day, but not 400mg. So I started at 600mg PS a day. Felt brilliant for a few days, then started getting symptoms that looked like too little cortisol. Realised I wasn't stressing myself like an athlete would so cut back to 300 to 400g a day, plus an extra 3g of pure omega 3, and the weight loss started back up again the next day. It's at a steady pace now and I must say I feel stronger too, both physically and mentally). I also upped the bone soup and meat on the bone, as there is more ps there.

Hope this helps.

jennaworksout

dropping alcohol and fruit.

dwest1976

I just started my push for the final 10, which may end up being more depending on how I look and feel (and test for BF%).

I maintained for a couple of weeks while eating closer to 70/30 and exercising away the cheats. Going back to the strict paleo, temporarily cutting out dairy and lowering alchohol seems to have jump started the loss. I am down 3 lbs this week already.

Good luck!

atynk

I only drink maybe 2x a month and only have 1 fruit a day (strawberries 1/2 cup) after a workout ..

Actually made some developments.. I recently saw a friend who i had been swimming with and he said I looked like so great, like I had lost fat but gained a lot of muscle.. so maybe the scale is just not my friend ... I got some free body fat calipers with an order, and although I know they aren't accurate. i can use them to track if it goes down at least!

Thanks all for the tips and keep em coming

Sprinkelss

I wouldn't worry about weight, muscle weighs more than fat I would imagine you are more toned now than before. The only real way is to measure yourself with a measuring tape you'll loose more inches than pounds with Paleo.

Also, someone else said it but working out that much is super stressful for your body, it wont be able to build muscle if its constantly torn (not letting it rest and regrow.)

greenmeena

This has been a helpful thread, for me as well. I am dealing with a lot of stress, and have been for the last 10 years, and have been having a lot of trouble getting rid of the fat after a diligent metabolic reset, and even lifting heavy. I realized I was overtraining, which coupled with my job stress and lack of good sleep was probably setting me back. I am taking a rest week this week, getting lots of sleep, and lost an inch on my measurements. Screw the scale- it lies... it's the inches that matter anyway.