The Last Ten to Go

cln288

Would love to lose 10 pounds and finding it hard to do so -- I've plateaued and don't know what to do to get there. I've lowered my calories, don't eat many carbs/sugars/etc, and I workout. I'm needing tips on diet (snacks, etc.) and how many times you would think it would take to lose it (strength, cardio, duration, times/week).

I also know that it will depend on the circumstances and everyone is different, but how long should it take to lose the ten pounds? Average range or how long did it take for you?

janejellyroll

My last ten pounds, I lost at the rate of about half a pound a week. What you eat right now is going to be less important than consistently being in a deficit because it takes patience and accuracy when you don't have much to lose.

How long has it been since you've lost weight? If you open your diary, we may be able to help you troubleshoot.

cln288

It's probably been 2 months. I'm 5' 5 and 123 right now so it's just been getting super hard.

janejellyroll

cln288 wrote: »

It's probably been 2 months. I'm 5' 5 and 123 right now so it's just been getting super hard.

If it's been two months since you've lost weight, then my guess is that you aren't in a deficit.

This will probably come down to one of two things: either your calorie goal is set too high for you to be in a deficit or your logging has some inaccuracies that are keeping you from hitting your calorie goal.

Also, your goal is at the bottom of a healthy BMI. That's not necessarily a problem (that's my preferred weight too), but it might be worth evaluating to see if your goal is really realistic. You're currently within a normal weight range, so if this is a cosmetic thing it might be worth seeing if there are ways to meet those goals through exercise and not through weight loss.

sardelsa

I am going to ask first.. what are your goals for these last 10 lbs? What are you not happy with currently? I just ask because as mentioned, you are aiming for the lower end of weight for your height, and sometimes more weight loss will not get you where you need to go body composition wise. You can either look into recomp or lose a few lbs and reevaluate your goals.

Also the last few lbs can be super slow. Water weight can mask progress especially if you have increased your workouts recently. Cutting carbs and sugar is fine if you feel best that way, but it doesn't necessarily lead to a deficit and weight loss. It can also help to make sure you are tracking as accurately as possible, especially if you aren't seeing the scale move.

I typically lose at 0.5lb or less per week, so it typically would take me 5-6months to lose 10lbs.

cln288

I am definitely trying to get lean like you seem to be. I try to take in 1200-1300 calories and try to do low carb diets. I would love to really just lean out. I'm not bigger by any means but would love to tone and become more lean and feel that I have a small pot belly that I would like to get rid of and my arms and legs have a small amount of fat that is too much for my liking. Any advice is greatly encouraged!

sardelsa

Now if you are close to your desired body composition (ex. I just want to see more definition in my abs, or I want my glutes to pop) then eating in a deficit is fine, but.. it could come to a point where you don't have the muscle base to support being more lean and eating at maintenance, getting adequate protein and following a progressive lifting program can help you build muscle and lose fat over time.

You may want to check out this thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1