How to lose the last 10 lbs.

69golfergal

I'd love to hear from anyone who has had success losing those sticky last 10 lbs.
After a year of success, losing 40lbs, I'm stuck on a plateau with 10 to go. I'm exercising frequently and don't indulge in cheat days but the scale hasn't budged in two months. After seeing no results for six weeks I increased calories to reflect a goal of 1/2 lb loss per week instead of a pound. Maybe my body has slowed my metabolism. My plan is to wait until fall and hit it again for a month or two. Suggestions?

kami3006

The first step is always to evaluate your logging. Are you using a food scale and making sure to choose correct diary entries?

viajera99

If the scale hasn't budged in 2 months, you are, by definition, eating at maintenance. Adding Kcals will not help. Usually, you need to tighten up your weighing and logging and subtract 250 Kcals each day from your current total, then give it a couple weeks to see how it goes.

sardelsa

The last 10 lbs can be hard, slow, water weight can mask progress, also you don't have as much wiggle room in your deficit as you used to and it can be easy to go over your goal. Start weighing and measuring accurately, everyday, be consistent. Obviously it can be done without a food scale, but if you aren't seeing results, that would be the first thing I would start doing.

motivatedmartha

69golfergal wrote: »

I'd love to hear from anyone who has had success losing those sticky last 10 lbs.
After a year of success, losing 40lbs, I'm stuck on a plateau with 10 to go. I'm exercising frequently and don't indulge in cheat days but the scale hasn't budged in two months. After seeing no results for six weeks I increased calories to reflect a goal of 1/2 lb loss per week instead of a pound. Maybe my body has slowed my metabolism. My plan is to wait until fall and hit it again for a month or two. Suggestions?

You are where I am at! Lost 43 lbs and have around 10 to 14 to go. It is slow and frustrating and I was questioning my scales- especially as some of my mfp friends are losing much quicker. My approach is to try and generally up my activity levels and to be rigorous with my weighing and logging. We will get there! Feel free to add me if you need a friend in a similar position.

69golfergal

I weigh some things but don't bother with squash, celery, etc. I'm logging the same as I have throughout my success. I'm increasing my protein, that might help. I do one hour on an incumbant bike on days I don't golf. If my fitness calories are 500 I might consume one or two hundred extra calories that day. Most of the responses to my post assume I am doing something wrong but there is a lot of research on plateaus, dieting's effect on metabolism, etc. I plateaued at 1200 calories a day, I won't reduce that number, I'm 5'10", eating less would be unhealthy. Has anyone else went at least two months without losing while carefully following a disciplined plan?

tpspiege

I'm on a 2 month plateau as well after losing 35lbs previous 5 months. I'm also an experienced MFP user/logger. In my case I'll admit the scale not moving is mildly annoying, but my waistline continues to slowly shrink (same clothing becoming loose) and most of my fitness activities include some level of resistance training. So I'm hoping the scale will eventually start to move again and maybe I'm replacing some fatty tissue with some muscle gains, but I understand where you're coming from.

Guess my two cents would be to take pride in some of your NSV's and wait out the scale changes... that's my current plan.

Good luck, hang in there.

69golfergal

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm in it for the long haul. Good luck to you too, I'm sure it will come off. Probably a few lbs all at once😊

RaeBeeBaby

69golfergal wrote: »

I weigh some things but don't bother with squash, celery, etc. I'm logging the same as I have throughout my success. I'm increasing my protein, that might help. I do one hour on an incumbant bike on days I don't golf. If my fitness calories are 500 I might consume one or two hundred extra calories that day. Most of the responses to my post assume I am doing something wrong but there is a lot of research on plateaus, dieting's effect on metabolism, etc. I plateaued at 1200 calories a day, I won't reduce that number, I'm 5'10", eating less would be unhealthy. Has anyone else went at least two months without losing while carefully following a disciplined plan?

I'm in a similar boat with that final 10 hanging on now for quite awhile. I like to attribute it to my age and a medication that I take that causes weight gain. I've still managed to lose on it, but it's been slow as molasses. That being said, I KNOW I could tighten up on my logging and pay more attention to things like nibbles and licks. Even things that are low calorie still have some so maybe you might want to bother with squash and celery and other things you aren't currently weighing just to be completely accurate. Assuming you're counting them somehow? Logging the same as you did throughout your success doesn't mean you might not need to change things up for the final push (and that doesn't mean eating less than 1200). I know this is true for me, as I was doing exactly the same thing that I did before when I hit the plateau. I've now been weighing everything diligently for a week, so my next weigh-in will tell the tale.

L1zardQueen

middlehaitch

This is what worked for me......

I was 54 mid menopause when I decided to lose 30 lbs. going from a 25 BMI to a 19.5 BMI, 130lbs to a maintenance of 100-105 at 5'1.

Stats given for context.

My calorie goal for 1lbs a week was 1200 I ate that plus 200cals for an hour of exercise on average. I weighed some things, guessed others and went by packaging for others. This worked great until I reached the low 120's. Then it went to 0.5 a week loss on the same cals.
By the time I was in the lower teens my weight was coming off in dribs and drabs.

I buckled down to weighing everything and tightened up my logging by making sure I was using the correct entries, the usda became my best friend.

I also worked on upping my NEAT. My everyday activities became less efficient to get more movement in and I would do squats, push-ups, planks etc while waiting for things to cook or the washing to finish. Switched to a broom for the wood floors, and washed them by hand. You get the drift- moved more in a none exercise way.

I didn't increase my actual exercise. For me that would have been counter productive as more than 60-90 min a day would leave me tired and lower my NEAT. I was better at upping my NEAT

My last few lbs still came off at a slow 1lbs a month, but it was steady.

Keep in mind for my age, height, and goal weight MFP gave me 1200 for maintenance too. I had to be precise to get the result I wanted.

That was 2008/9. I still maintain at 100-105, don't log, and rarely weigh myself.

No one is doubting you logging skills. I think once one get down to the last few lbs one quite often has to become hyper-vigilant and come up with inventive ways to burn off a few extra calories.

Cheers, h.

gutsnglory6

I lost about 25 pounds a while ago, and then found my weight loss completely stalled before the last 10.
I ended up just staying at maintenance, because I was pretty happy with my new weight. That was about six years ago.
Recently, I decided to go at the extra 10 again. It was slow going and frustrating, but I did it (it took about four months) through logging and exercise.
You’ve done great. You’ve lost 40 pounds. Congratulate yourself on what you’ve achieved, give your brain some time to get used to how you look (body dysmorphia is absolutely a thing after you’ve lost weight), measure your waist and remember that can be a measure of success that’s not the scale - and if you still feel the need to drop 10 pounds, go back into a deficit and do it.

69golfergal

Thanks everybody, so many ways to lose. I noticed today my golf shorts were tighter in the thighs but the scale is the same. My hamstrings have been sore from all the recumbent bike riding, oh...eureka, leg muscles! I am tall and strong and I get really strong, really fast when I work out. So I'm content where I am, my calories consumed are definitely less than calories expended and I don't want to obsess over celery and squash. When I have doubled checked items with my scale I generally have been putting down more calories than less. If I haven't lost more by November I'll do the 1200 again for a couple months. I'm going to start free weights for arms and upper body this week, maybe fill in my wings with biceps! Thanks again.

69golfergal

BTW, in an earlier post in mentioned my encumbant bike...actually the bike I ride never ran for office nor was appointed to one and if nominated it still will not run not accept the nomination😁 My REcumbant bike runs fine though!

inertiastrength

I upped my activity to compensate a lot. I still lose 1.5lbs/week even at close to goal. I'm 148 and goal was 145 but I'm thinking it might be 140 now. It's amazing how much bf we don't think we have when we're 20lbs heavier haha

69golfergal

Great job! So many advantages to less weight, little things too, like not getting as hot in the summer, no foot pain, fitting in stadium seats, etc.

helene4

Personally for me it makes a difference what I eat to lose the last 10lbs

I noticed when I ate popcorn!!! or any corn (chips) or gluten over night I would bloat up and the scale would go up 2lbs (even though I stayed within my calories for the day)

When I ate mainly veggies (broccoli! yum) and fish, the scale kept on a steady decline. I think these are the foods my body can easily digest.

Just a thought! The foods might be different for you, everyone's body is different

Good luck!

zb786

motivatedmartha wrote: »

69golfergal wrote: »

I'd love to hear from anyone who has had success losing those sticky last 10 lbs.
After a year of success, losing 40lbs, I'm stuck on a plateau with 10 to go. I'm exercising frequently and don't indulge in cheat days but the scale hasn't budged in two months. After seeing no results for six weeks I increased calories to reflect a goal of 1/2 lb loss per week instead of a pound. Maybe my body has slowed my metabolism. My plan is to wait until fall and hit it again for a month or two. Suggestions?

You are where I am at! Lost 43 lbs and have around 10 to 14 to go. It is slow and frustrating and I was questioning my scales- especially as some of my mfp friends are losing much quicker. My approach is to try and generally up my activity levels and to be rigorous with my weighing and logging. We will get there! Feel free to add me if you need a friend in a similar position.

I AM IN THE SAME BOAT!!! I’ve lost 43lbs and still need to loose another 14lbs or so and I really am stuck in a plateau and ITS SOOOO FRUSTATING!!! I need some advice guys plz!! Xx

robynsklar

I just lost the last 10 pounds. I actually have 0.4 pounds left. This is what I did.

-upped my intensity during workouts, but did not change the type of workout
-as much as possible I had 100 calories or more left uneaten each day and sometimes more
-I religiously stayed on track
-I drank 10 non caloric beverages a day
-I’m loosing with a friend and we text almost everyday

It took me less than 3 months to loose it. Tomorrow is my weigh in day and I believe I will make goal. I’m 5’4” and 6 months ago I had a baby. The baby weight stopped magically coming off at 148.8 pounds. My goal weight is 125 and my last weigh in was 125.4.

You can do it!!!

cv2517

Hi Robynsklar,

Congratulations on your weight loss! That’s awesome! My name is Carolina I’m looking to connect with some like minded women to support my weight loss journey I have lost 25 pounds and would like to lose another 10-20 more pounds. Would love to connect and support each other on our health and fitness goals