Trying to lose that last 5 - 7 lbs

JGalea87

I've been trying to lose those last 5 - 7 lbs for the past couple months.

I haven't been as loyal to MFP as I should be, but I eat pretty well and have been working on getting my water in. I work at a health and nutrition place, so I'm constantly talking about weight loss, exercise, healthy recipes, etc.

I just started back up at the gym and I'm hoping that this will help me get over this plateau I've been sitting at since April.

Any one have any tips, advice, stories, etc about how you shed some pounds when you hit a plateau?

Cheers,

Jen

hardone1979

eat less and work out more, do it eat without starving your self and you should safely drop that weight in 5 - 7 weeks.

majope

Does "not being loyal" to MFP mean you haven't been tracking consistently? If so, sounds like you're not at a plateau, you're just not eating at a deficit. You need to measure and/or weight and properly log your intake to really know how many calories you're consuming. Eating "pretty well" without tracking intake won't necessarily lead to weight loss--there still has to be a calorie deficit.

Since you only have a few pounds to lose, set MFP to lose half a pound a week, track your food and exercise faithfully, and the last pounds will come off. Best of luck with it!

cwolfman13

In my experience, when you're at a healthy weight and BF%, it's difficult to keep losing. I'm finding that to drop much I really have to dial everything in tight at this point and go very slow. Eat at a small calorie deficit and do some good livin'...make sure that includes weight training. A lot of people don't actually need to lose weight...they need to lose fat and change their body composition...nothing better than lifting weights for that.

iarelarry

Eyeball method is the worse tool to measure food.

One neat trick I use to overcome plateaus is to cycle your carb intake.

Ex:
Day 1 High carb
Day 2 drop by 50-100 grams
Day 3 drop by another 50-100 grams

Or play around with the numbers to see how you feel/react. GL!

djk721

These are all good responses!

JGalea87

I don't think that eating less will help, considering some days I'm not hitting my recommended caloric intake to begin with. And I know that this can backfire as well. I just can't hit 1200 everyday, most days yes, but not everyday.

I am tedious with weighing and measuring my foods - scales and measuring cups - and I don't like to eyeball portion sizes. I have seen the results of people eye balling their portions and have watched as portion sizes (and plates) get bigger.

My weight and BF% are in the 'healthy' range for my age and height, so I appreciate the advise on switching up my gym routine including weight training.

I'll keep up with MFP and documenting every day, all day to ensure I'm meeting the requirements for my nutritional needs.

Thanks everyone.

Fit_French

Stop trying to lose the last pounds and go for inches lost instead. You'll probably see a your weight will stay the same but you'll see the inches come off. Thats how its working for me, I started at 138 got down to 129.5 and now i fluctuate around 134 but I measure myself once a month and ALWAYS see a loss! Hope that helps

JGalea87

Stop trying to lose the last pounds and go for inches lost instead. You'll probably see a your weight will stay the same but you'll see the inches come off. Thats how its working for me, I started at 138 got down to 129.5 and now i fluctuate around 134 but I measure myself once a month and ALWAYS see a loss! Hope that helps

Thanks - I've been monitoring my inches monthly and exercising, also taking a CLA supplement, and have seen results. I guess I'm just fixated on that number I want to hit.