"That last 10 lbs" - why is that a saying?

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  • CyeRyn
    CyeRyn Posts: 389 Member
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    I quit worrying about my last 10lbs and concentrated on body composition. If Im not losing weight but Im seeing NSV's, then those are wins.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    CyeRyn wrote: »
    I quit worrying about my last 10lbs and concentrated on body composition. If Im not losing weight but Im seeing NSV's, then those are wins.

    Yeah. I never lost the last 3 pounds, heck I gained 5 back... but I lost inches. So I'm trying to not worry too much about the scale at this point, although it can still be a bummer.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I have found that, being fairly lean but still wanting to lose more fat and having loose skin, I have way more water retention issues than ever before. That's what has made the final pounds much more difficult for me. I have to be very steady with sodium and carb intake or else I retain a lot of water and it takes weeks and weeks to go away. My birthday was on Friday and I've had a very laissez-faire few days, diet-wise, and have gone from 148 last Tuesday to 155.5 this morning. It likely will take me until Labor Day to get back down.

    I haven't found any good articles about loose skin and water retention. But the second poster in this thread has mentioned it several times in what I've read and there seems to be a fair amount of anecdotal evidence of it.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited July 2016
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    mkakids wrote: »
    Maxematics wrote: »
    phosphorene wrote: »
    I'm hitting the end of my weight loss journey and it's taking longer and longer to drop weight. Everyone keeps saying "well, those last 10 lbs are always the hardest."

    Why is this a well-known fact? What's going on in those last 10 lbs that make it so difficult to lose them?

    You have less calories to eat per day so it's going to be much harder to achieve a substantial deficit. That's why it's recommended for people around here losing the last ten pounds to aim for a rate of half a pound per week. Furthermore, a person trying to lose the last ten may not weigh in every day, so they may have lost two out of the ten pounds, but they weighed in after a day of harder exercise, a cheat meal, during their time of the month, etc. so it appears like they've gained weight when it's a one-off higher measurement. I was able to lose my last ten and it really wasn't too difficult but that's because I weigh in daily and use a food scale for everything so I knew exactly what was up. Even then, it took a while to achieve.

    This. Im on the last 15. I maintain, without exercise on about 1800 cals. To lose 1lb a week im down to 1300 cals (which is HARD for me). .

    Same here. I'd have to eat 1300 to lose 1 lb per week at this point. Even with exercise, I still had a hard time with it, which is why I'm only set to .5 lb a week now, with only 13 lbs left to lose. The diet fatigue point is very true, also...I'm at the point where I'm soo ready to stop trying to lose weight and just do maintenance already. It doesn't help that if I didn't still carry so much flab around my belly, I'd be OK with my current weight, even though I'm 6 lbs above my normal BMI range.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    Have any of you who are sick of trying for those last 5 or 10 thought of just switching to maintenance eating at your goal calorie level?
    ie: if you are 140 now but want to get to 135. You would eat at the 135 maintenance and just let those last 5 dribble off.
    Or even doing that every few weeks as a diet break.
    Francl27 wrote: »
    The 'last 10 pounds' is really a 'joke' IMO because my last 10 pounds won't be the same as someone else... there's a difference between 10 pounds taking you into the 'normal' BMI and 10 pounds taking you to the low side of the normal BMI... obviously the latter will be much harder to lose.

    I think it's just the psychological effect really. You're almost there, you already look good, it can be easier to slip up.

    The problem with the last 10lbs being a 'joke' because it won't be the same as someone else, is that the whole of ones weight loss endeavour is not the same as some one else.
    Just as with weight loss there are similarities with losing the last 10. One has less fat to burn, where ever your goal is on the BMIscale when you are near goal your calories are going to start to converge making accurate logging more important.
    Not everyone is losing to get into the normal BMI range, some are moving within it.
    I think, for many there are physiological reasons as well as physiological. JMHO.

    Cheers, h.
  • gatorsong
    gatorsong Posts: 7,000 Member
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    Like others have said, that last 10 pounds( or 15, 5, 2, 1...whatever arbitrary number) is hardest because you either have to A.) significantly decrease you food intake, B.) Significantly increase your activity/exercise, or C.) Find the right balance between the two to keep the weight going off.

    Also, once you hit that "magic number", you then have to attempt to find your correct maintenance calories, again taking activity into account. If you slip on either one, be it food or activity you'll spike up and have to try to work down again.

    This is why I think the "magic number" is a significant detriment. I think the better mindset is a general range with your number inside it. So if you want your weight to be 150, say ok, between 145 and 155, or make it slightly smaller or larger, depending on your own individual needs. That will also help account for variations, be it holidays, illnesses, training for a marathon, or any other caloric shift.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    Often times it's because the individual doesn't actually have the fat to lose and they're just trying to get to some arbitrary number or arbitrary end of the BMI scale without taking into account that the BMI scale is a range, not so that you can pick and choose where in that range you should be, but to accommodate a variety of body types. I see a lot of people, particularly women arbitrarily trying to get to the lower end of BMI or whatever when in reality it doesn't suit their actual body styles so it becomes an exercise in frustration.

    Personally, I think looking at BF% is much more productive than some arbitrary number on the scale. But even then, the human body generally doesn't like being super lean and all kinds of hormonal changes happen when you get really lean.
  • Dove0804
    Dove0804 Posts: 213 Member
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    Super interesting discussion with lots of great points. I remember I used to roll my eyes at people who said they only had 10 lbs left to go. After being on MFP for a while, I now know that whatever your last 10 lbs are, they are physically the hardest to lose. Along with the psychological effects of being so close or having worked hard for so long, and potentially already feeling good and looking good, I can easily see why those "last 10 lbs" are so hard!
    I can't wait to have that struggle ;)
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    Adaptive thermogenesis, mental state after pro-longed dieting, lower calories or more exercise required. Any number of things.

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