Struggling to lose the last pounds of fat.

Hi everybody !

To say I'm struggling is an understatement.

For the background, I'm a woman and I weighed 90 kilos (200lbs) at my highest, and I lost it all without any help, making a few mistakes during the process (by cutting calories a lot, until I was down to 500/800 kcal a day, but at the time it worked like a charm). I reached a weight I consider healthy and normal at 63/65kg(140/144lbs) for a 1m67 (5'5.75). I've also gained muscle in the process. I've been maintaining that for 7 years (I think?). I've never gained any weight back, apart from a few variations of 5kilos, which I consider normal. However, I'm having a hell of a time getting down below that, and yes, I've still got some fat to lose, clearly.

By some miracle two years ago I managed to get down to 57kg (126lbs) and I still had a few kilos of fat I wanted to lose (and I was also more muscular at the time). Ideally, I'd like to be at 20% fat, which I think I'll be able to achieve if I get to 55kg (122lbs).

Today I'm 65kg (144lbs) and I've been back on a very strict diet and a fairly intense workout program for 50 days and I'm stagnating stagnating stagnating. I must have lost maybe 300 grams...

I have an office job, I'm a web developer, I sit on my *kitten* literally all day lol, so unfortunately, really, inactive. (but I go there by bike which is 40 min a day), I'm a woman, not very tall, with a very slow metabolism, and with time, I figured out that 1700/1800 was my maintenance.

I'm currently at 1300/1400kcal per day, I work out 6 times a week:
-3 full cardio sessions of 1 hour (and it's relatively intense, I'm at 170 bpm the whole time)
-2 full strength training sessions (I started strength training 3 years ago and even though I've been moderately assiduous, I don't want to lose everything I've spent so much time building up, so I'm obliged to maintain strength training sessions to keep a bit of muscle mass)
- and one "mixed" session (moderate cardio and full-body strength training).
And I also try to do at least 5,000 steps a day on top of everything else.

And I don't lose a thing. I've been counting my calories since I started my diet, which was 10 years ago, so I'm familiar with it, I count absolutely every ingredient and weigh everything. I cook all my meals, never eat out, no processed food. So this counting calorie thing is as reliable as it gets. The problem doesn't come from that.
At this point I don't know what to do... it's so frustrating and discouraging. If I ever miss a day at the gym (because I'm too tired or I've got my period, for example), I feel guilty all day because it will slow down the already painfully slow process even more.

Sorry for the long post, I don't know how to keep it short lol. And thank you to those who will take the time to read and maybe reply too!

PS: I've already done low carb, keto, fasting, omad and omad + keto (worst thing I've ever done, clearly not for me) and none of it has had any significant results. I understand that it can work for some people, but that's not my case. And I don't want to have to make my diet even more rigid - it's complicated enough as it is to stay at 1400kcal a day and I'd like to still have a little pleasure in eating and not restrict absolutely everything that brings me a little joy (i.e. fruits and a square of dark chocolate).

Replies

sollyn23l2

Take a step back. Recognize the progress you've already accomplished!!! Know that you are at a healthy weight. Those last few pounds can be excruciatingly low. Double down on your tracking, make sure you're accounting for every calorie. You can do this, but yeah, those last few are the most difficult ones. And then you have to decide whether it's worth it to go through all the work forever to maintain the 120.

csplatt

What if you ease up on the cardio and lift heavier weights? Do a program that progressively strains your muscles, 3x a week?

kshama2001

csplatt wrote: »

What if you ease up on the cardio and lift heavier weights? Do a program that progressively strains your muscles, 3x a week?

Another vote for this. See also recomp: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

And here is one woman's results with that:

https://www.chron.com/life/health/article/My-Sweat-Life-blogger-Kelsey-Wells-posts-photo-8468124.php

janet2030

Carnt understand why its stopped working for you but obviously something is off.
Im 5ft 3..ive gone from 9st 9 to 8st 11 in 7 weeks on around 1400-1600 a day on adverage.
I gym 6 days a week, cardio, resistance and weights. I know you say your tracking and have done for a while

However your clearly not in a deficit, you carnt be or youd be loosing

Ive also heard some people dont track drinks i dont know if you do or not but they should be added. I had to calm my coffees down as it was adding 100s

ninerbuff

I used MCT's and polyphenols the last few weeks of contest to help get fat down to lowest levels.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

claireychn074

Others have commented on why your loss might be slowing and whether you should be thinking of recomp so I won’t comment on that (except to say another vote for recomp!). BUT - you mention 20% body fat. I don’t know your age but it’s worth noting that women generally need higher body fat than men and 20% is not sustainable for everyone. The lowest I got down to was 15%, I reckon I’m now at c23%. 15% definitely had an impact on my hormones and given my age (49), even 20% might not be great. I have a lot of muscle for my size but also a fair amount of fat (for comparison’s sake I am 5’3 and 56kg). Aesthetically I’d like to have a lower body fat, but for my sport and health I’m in a good place.

Long winded way of saying more muscle (on me personally) = less visible fat. Think about the health aims as a woman in addition to appearance and go slowly to get there.

unknown

This content has been removed.

Nephelys

csplatt wrote: »

What if you ease up on the cardio and lift heavier weights? Do a program that progressively strains your muscles, 3x a week?

kshama2001 wrote: »

csplatt wrote: »

Another vote for this. See also recomp:

Hi ! thanks for your answer

I already do heavy weight training. Before I started doing cardio again (I also wanted to improve my cardio in general, because having a small heart murmur, I don't have very good cardio in general and as soon as I stop I easily lose my progress) I did 4 strength training workouts a week (2 upper body; 2 lower body). I hadn't noticed any big difference in terms of fat loss. It was a program made by a coach friend who knows what he's doing (his physique speaks for itself), so in theory it was a good program.

Nephelys

janet2030 wrote: »

Carnt understand why its stopped working for you but obviously something is off.
Im 5ft 3..ive gone from 9st 9 to 8st 11 in 7 weeks on around 1400-1600 a day on adverage.
I gym 6 days a week, cardio, resistance and weights. I know you say your tracking and have done for a while

However your clearly not in a deficit, you carnt be or youd be loosing

Ive also heard some people dont track drinks i dont know if you do or not but they should be added. I had to calm my coffees down as it was adding 100s

I mean everybody is different.. so what works for you doesn't mean it'll work for me. And I don't know if this is your first diet or not because that counts too. The more you put your body through dieting phases, the less responsive it becomes. For example,my boyfriend, who's never been on a real diet, just needs to drop 300 calories a day, without adding any physical activity, and he'll lose 2 kilos very quickly and easily.
When I say I have an ultra-slow metabolism, I'm not exaggerating, maybe it's also out of whack with all the restrictions I've put it through. I don't know.

In terms of liquids, I only take 100ml of orange juice in the morning which I count, and that's it. The rest is water or just tea (no sugar or anything), so no calories.

Nephelys

ninerbuff wrote: »

I used MCT's and polyphenols the last few weeks of contest to help get fat down to lowest levels.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Hi ! thanks. I'll look into that! How much of each do you consume per day?

Nephelys

claireychn074 wrote: »

Others have commented on why your loss might be slowing and whether you should be thinking of recomp so I won’t comment on that (except to say another vote for recomp!). BUT - you mention 20% body fat. I don’t know your age but it’s worth noting that women generally need higher body fat than men and 20% is not sustainable for everyone. The lowest I got down to was 15%, I reckon I’m now at c23%. 15% definitely had an impact on my hormones and given my age (49), even 20% might not be great. I have a lot of muscle for my size but also a fair amount of fat (for comparison’s sake I am 5’3 and 56kg). Aesthetically I’d like to have a lower body fat, but for my sport and health I’m in a good place.

Long winded way of saying more muscle (on me personally) = less visible fat. Think about the health aims as a woman in addition to appearance and go slowly to get there.

Hi thanks for your answer !
I'm 32. I know it's sometimes unsustainable and not necessarily the best in terms of health, but really it's more of a personal goal. I want to see what my body would look like if I could achieve that. And from there, see if it's worth it and how feasible it is for me to maintain it. Mostly, I'd like to get to a point where my abs are slightly visible, and to do that, I need to get down low. I'm not a "naturally thin" person, I've got suite a large build. You know, endormorph type.
But before I get below 20%, I'd have to lose those 5 kilos I put on a few months ago lol.
I'm going to think about recomposing my training, I hate doing cardio in the gym (it's bored the hell out of me), so I wouldn't mind getting rid of some cardio sessions and replacing them with strength training.

And if that's you in your profil picture, you look fantastic!! I don't know what fair amount of fat you're talking about haha! Especially at 56kg with lots of muscle, there can't be much fat left

yamtorro

First of all, massive respect for what you’ve already achieved. Losing that amount of weight and maintaining it for years is not easy at all, and the fact that you’ve kept it off says a lot about your discipline and consistency.

From what you described, it honestly doesn’t sound like you’re doing something “wrong.” It actually sounds like your body has adapted really well to everything you’ve been doing.

When progress slows down like this, especially after years of dieting and maintaining, it’s often less about effort and more about adaptation.

Your body becomes more efficient over time. It burns fewer calories doing the same activities, and it can also hold onto fat more aggressively, especially when calories are already relatively low.

Another thing that stands out is how much you’re doing. Six workouts per week, cardio at high intensity, calorie restriction — that’s a lot of stress on the body.

Sometimes, when everything is pushed too hard for too long, the body doesn’t respond by losing more fat. Instead, it holds onto energy and slows things down even more.

That’s why in situations like this, the solution is not always “do more,” but sometimes actually the opposite.

For example, some people benefit from:

slightly increasing calories for a short period (to reset energy balance)
reducing cardio intensity a bit
focusing more on strength training and recovery
improving sleep and overall recovery

It sounds counterintuitive, but giving your body a bit more breathing room can sometimes restart progress.

Also, being stuck at that last few kilos is very common, especially for women. The closer you get to lower body fat levels, the slower everything becomes.

And honestly, going from a healthy, strong, maintained physique to an even leaner one often requires a different approach than initial fat loss.

You’ve already proven that you can lose weight and maintain it, which is the hardest part. At this stage, it might be more about fine-tuning and sustainability rather than pushing harder.

Also, don’t underestimate how much stress and fatigue can impact results. Feeling guilty for taking a rest day is actually a sign that your body might need that rest more than you think.

You’re much closer than it feels — it’s just that progress at this level is slower and requires a slightly different strategy.

PAV8888

Goals are good. All goals are not equally good.

You've identified a couple of things in your discussion.

Metabolic slow-down. While debate exists and it may or may not be resolvable and there are conditions where this may or may not be true… I am not going to sit here and say it is impossible when there are "name brand researchers" who validate the existence of such under certain conditions.

One of the conditions is previous large weight loss. So there is a good likelihood that it is real for you. But, adding an additional weight loss would make it worse. Not better. That would be a health decrease not an increase.

You've also identified that this is not a health pursuit. It is a pursuit to find out what you can do and to seek perfection. "goals" But goals because of what, in response and in pursuit of what?

Again. Nobody has to listen to anything I say.
And this is definitely my own opinion.
And my own experiences definitely shape my opinion.
And yes, while I am not quite twice your age…. but it's a very close call!

There is a balancing act. A balance between pushing for more. And putting your wins in your pocket and banking them.

Your win is 200lbs to 144lbs plus 7 years at 144lbs. BMI 23.4 @ 144lbs. (smartbmicalculator) SBMI 36/70 (PERFECT in other words as the ideal range is 30 to 39 out of 70).

Healthy. Athletic. Three years strength training.

You want to push for "reasons" and go to BMI 19.8 @ 122lbs. SBMI 31/70 (still in the ideal range but by no means "better" in the ideal range than 36). You're even identifying that this is not going to enhance your strength. What you want is "abs" while, hopefully, not losing too much of the strength you've spent time developing.

You will be, by the way, still within normal weight. But where a doctor might (I emphasize MIGHT) look at you and tell you to gain some fat if you want to have optimal hormones or a baby (bmi 20+).

You've already mentioned feeling guilty about missing training sessions.

i.e. your "abs" goals are pushing you to concentrate on things that are not, arguably, increasing your health.

Dare I say it? This whole pursuit is probably actively decreasing your health. NOT increasing it.

Your pursuit from 200 to 144 was increasing your health.

Maintaining was increasing your health by stopping you from regressing, stopping you from regaining, and stopping you from reducing your health level as a result.

But, pushing for more as you are doing now?

Sounds to me that this is decreasing health! Making your life miserable.

You're even talking about taking a drug stack to achieve this.

"playing" to keep you focused and not regain weight is good. But losing health points in the pursuit of body sculpting is, at the VERY LEAST, questionable.

Sometimes we get tied up within the familiar and the safe and try to optimize but only within that safe space without venturing further out.

If you haven't asked yourself these question, maybe you should.

Take it easy on yourself. Make sure to pocket your big wins. Don't make future maintenance harder. Enjoy the gym today without feeling guilty. And maybe even explore beyond the gym!

PAV8888

Well isn't this just "special": I should pay a bit more attention to them pesky dates!

So this was a three year old OP that was recently responded to.

And, unfortunately, @Nephelys stopped showing up on MFP about three months after her OP.

Hopefully she is happy and healthy!