Can't lose the final 4lb
Tattoos_and_Tea
Posts: 529 Member
As titled really, I'm trying to lose my final 4lb and I just can't do it! I'm 34, 5'6" and currently weigh 144lb. I've lost 4st 6lb in total so far. Currently eating 1200-1300 calories and macros are set as p35/c35/f40. I have access to a gym on Mondays and Tuesdays when my boy is at school and do home hiit on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Guess I'm asking what I can do to lose these last few lbs? I'm at a loss and need some advice please. Thank you xx
Guess I'm asking what I can do to lose these last few lbs? I'm at a loss and need some advice please. Thank you xx
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Replies
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4 pounds isn't much, it's actually within normal fluctuations, and you are the one who decides when enough is enough. When you are at a normal weight, losing weight is a very slow process. You need to be accurate with your intake, and very patient.
Macro split may or may not be important, what's important is that you stick to a calorie deficit, and a good macro split should help you with that.3 -
Have a week at maintenance and then go back to your deficit making sure you're being 100% accurate.6
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Probably just need to be more accurate with your logging. I can't imagine that 4 lbs really makes any difference though - other than you want a nice round number but as mentioned above with fluctuations you're going to see a variety of numbers of you weigh often enough.2
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Ready2Rock206 wrote: »Probably just need to be more accurate with your logging. I can't imagine that 4 lbs really makes any difference though - other than you want a nice round number but as mentioned above with fluctuations you're going to see a variety of numbers of you weigh often enough.
I'm the same height (and weight-ish) as OP, and yeah, it does. At least on me.
OP, I agree with the advice to take a break and eat at maintenance, still logging, for a week or two, then get back to it. Make sure your logging is really tight - everything you eat and drink, and accurate database entries.
I know how frustrating that last little bit is. I'm currently shedding my winter layer, and my fat losses are sooooo easily masked by hormonal fluctuations (retain fluid both ovulation and TOM) and fluid retention from changes in exercise. But I know my logging is accurate and my deficit is on point, it may just not show on the scale all the time.3 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »I can't imagine that 4 lbs really makes any difference though - other than you want a nice round number but as mentioned above with fluctuations you're going to see a variety of numbers of you weigh often enough.
It depends on your weight and height but if you are near your goal weight, it can make a lot of difference.
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4lb makes a difference to me mentally, maybe not physically but if I don't mentally get in the zone to hit the target I have set I will just keep going backwards and will be back where I started.1
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Anyone have any suggestions other than tightening up on my logging? TBH I'm pretty hot on weighing everything anyway. Is maintenance 2000? That's quite a jump from 1200, I'll probably end up gaining more.0
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sazzle1983 wrote: »Anyone have any suggestions other than tightening up on my logging? TBH I'm pretty hot on weighing everything anyway. Is maintenance 2000? That's quite a jump from 1200, I'll probably end up gaining more.
MFP will tell you what your maintenance is...
i am similar stats to you, and 4lb does make a difference.
how long have you been on 1200 cals?2 -
sazzle1983 wrote: »Anyone have any suggestions other than tightening up on my logging? TBH I'm pretty hot on weighing everything anyway. Is maintenance 2000? That's quite a jump from 1200, I'll probably end up gaining more.
If you're confident about your logging, then it's just going to come down to patience.
Your maintenance calories will be dependant on your activity level, and maintenance, by definition is the amount at which your weight remains stable (with natural fluctuations within a range).
My sedentary maintenance is 1650, at which I laugh and say 'no thanks', so I make sure I move enough, either through NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis, ie just moving more) or through purposeful exercise, to get that up higher. Your estimated sedentary maintenance level will be slightly higher, though not by much, because you're younger than me. If you set MFP to 'maintain weight' instead of lose, it will tell you what your predicted maintenance cals are.
Can you give us some more information other than 'I just can't do it'? Are you losing weight? How much? If not, how long since the scale dropped? Has anything else changed in that time? Increased exercise? Premenstrual/TOM? How often do you weigh yourself?
As I said previously, I'm working on getting back down to my goal weight post-winter, I'm four weeks in as of tomorrow. On the scale, I've lost 1.2kg, below the predicted amount, and for a good amount of that time it's gone up and down and up, and down...I can confidently put it down to fluid retention from also getting back to strength training (and that will stay unless I stop training, which I learnt the hard way not to do), getting my premenstrual bloat a few days after starting logging again, a week of actually showing losses, then another week of bloat for ovulation, which has only just dropped off again. If you take the water weight for muscle repair into account, I'm actually right on track. As I said, those natural fluctuations can really mask your fat loss if all you're looking at is scale weight.2 -
TavistockToad wrote: »sazzle1983 wrote: »Anyone have any suggestions other than tightening up on my logging? TBH I'm pretty hot on weighing everything anyway. Is maintenance 2000? That's quite a jump from 1200, I'll probably end up gaining more.
MFP will tell you what your maintenance is...
i am similar stats to you, and 4lb does make a difference.
how long have you been on 1200 cals?
A year x
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sazzle1983 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »sazzle1983 wrote: »Anyone have any suggestions other than tightening up on my logging? TBH I'm pretty hot on weighing everything anyway. Is maintenance 2000? That's quite a jump from 1200, I'll probably end up gaining more.
MFP will tell you what your maintenance is...
i am similar stats to you, and 4lb does make a difference.
how long have you been on 1200 cals?
A year x
without any diet breaks?
if so, definitely up your cals for a while.1 -
I weigh every Wednesday, although I sometimes weigh on a Sunday too just to keep myself on track over the weekend. I generally lose 1lb a week. The last few months have been busy what with getting married, honeymoon, six weeks school holidays so I've been trying to occupy my son and my menstrual cycle is all over the place and I normally have two cycles a month. But that's nothing new, those things (apart from getting married) have always been the case and I've never had a problem losing weight until now.0
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TavistockToad wrote: »sazzle1983 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »sazzle1983 wrote: »Anyone have any suggestions other than tightening up on my logging? TBH I'm pretty hot on weighing everything anyway. Is maintenance 2000? That's quite a jump from 1200, I'll probably end up gaining more.
MFP will tell you what your maintenance is...
i am similar stats to you, and 4lb does make a difference.
how long have you been on 1200 cals?
A year x
without any diet breaks?
if so, definitely up your cals for a while.
I have off plan days on Wednesdays, it's the obly way I can stay on track the rest of the week
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alos, i agree with @Nony_Mouse that when its the last few vanity pounds it is very slow and can easily masked by normal fluctuations.
i am 5ft5 and 138lbs (got up to 140 last weekend after holiday!) my happy weight range is 130-133lbs, and it is slow going getting rid of the last few pounds.. a high sodium meal and the scales shoot up, a couple of glasses of prosecco and the scales shoot up, etc etc. i lose veeeeery slowly on 1600 cals, so you probably don't need to eat so little.2 -
Thank you. Ill up it to 1400 and see how it goes x0
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sazzle1983 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »sazzle1983 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »sazzle1983 wrote: »Anyone have any suggestions other than tightening up on my logging? TBH I'm pretty hot on weighing everything anyway. Is maintenance 2000? That's quite a jump from 1200, I'll probably end up gaining more.
MFP will tell you what your maintenance is...
i am similar stats to you, and 4lb does make a difference.
how long have you been on 1200 cals?
A year x
without any diet breaks?
if so, definitely up your cals for a while.
I have off plan days on Wednesdays, it's the obly way I can stay on track the rest of the week
how off plan?0 -
cut out the cheese puffs and cereal. replace with raw fruits that are in season.7
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Are you weighing everything to perfect round numbers? How do you do that so consistently? You don't have to do that. What you need to do is to log the correct amounts of the correct entries. You need to check that the values on the labels match the values of the food you log. If no labels, search the USDA database. Make sure you are using appropriate entries for cooked/uncooked food, and never use a "homemade" item unless you made it, with the recipe builder. You also need to log everything, except non- or practically-non-calorie items, you can leave that out.sazzle1983 wrote: »Anyone have any suggestions other than tightening up on my logging? TBH I'm pretty hot on weighing everything anyway.
Maintenance is whatever you are eating now - and almost certainly not 1200. You will gain weight if you eat 800 calories more than you do now, but if your maintenance is 2000 (not unlikely), you will not gain weight by eating 2000 calories.Is maintenance 2000? That's quite a jump from 1200, I'll probably end up gaining more.2 -
Okay, whilst only weighing weekly can be less stressful for those who can't handle day to day fluctuations, you could also very easily miss a drop if one of those random upwards fluctuations happens to be on a Wednesday. If you're up for it, I would suggest weighing daily, and downloading a trending weight app (Trendweight - requires a Fitbit account, but you don't need a Fitbit linked to it, Happy Scale, and Libra are the ones I see mentioned most). The trend app will show both your scale weight, and the trend - ie if you're heading up or down. It's the trend that you're interested in.
Those off plan days on Wednesdays may well be a big part of the problem. I agree with @TavistockToad that you can probably increase your daily calories, and that will hopefully offset the need for you to go off plan once a week. As I said, my baseline cals are 1200 too if I'm sedentary. I aim not to be, because I just can't sustain 1200. If you're exercising four times a week, then adding an extra couple of hundred cals a day should be fine.
And a year at 1200 is just way too long, and you've also had a really stressful (if joyful) few months. Give your body a break for a bit.1 -
tiffaninghs wrote: »cut out the cheese puffs and cereal. replace with raw fruits that are in season.
Why? The cheese puffs may not be the most nutritious choice, but they may be something that helps her to stay compliant. Replacing them with an equal number of calories from fruit is going to make exactly zero difference to weight loss.2 -
try intermittent fasting. Same calories just consume them in an 8 hour window of your choice. then no eating in the other hours. ( unless you do a really tough workout then have a small snack eg 100g cottage cheese. )
really kicks the loss back in if i hit a plateau.6 -
I'm 5' 6" and was doing 1200 calories for 3 months. Just upped my calorie intake to 1400 a day for the last month and am still losing about half a pound a week. I reached my goal weight two days ago, then gained a pound today, which I am certain is water weight. I was at a plateau for almost 2 weeks before I got to goal. Perhaps if you add 2 more days of exercise (go for a walk or a bike ride?) and eat back only 50% of the extra calories you earn, you'll be able to shake those last 4 pounds. I am convinced that the last few pounds stay on the body just to mess with your head.1
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