The Last 20 Pounds !!

alhumphreys

So I guess I started thinking too quickly. I was telling someone how fast the first 20lbs came off and I said if I had of known it would be this easy I would have done it a lot faster !! Then the last 2 weeks there hasn't been any movement. I haven't done anything differently. Eating the same foods, same amount of calories (1200 per day), maybe a little less exercise due to a heavy work schedule. I haven't been gaining but just maintaining the same weight. Has anyone else found the last 20 or so to be the hardest to shake ?? Any advice ??

editorgrrl

Your goal should be .5 lb. per week. Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Suezyq47

I have 31 lbs to go and stalled for 2 weeks previously. I used a TDEE calculator to calculate how much I need to eat to lose fat and not starve. I increased my daily calorie intake and am also trying to eat more protein. After a couple of days of doing this I lost 2.6 lbs. I am still monitoring this and will see how it goes over the next couple of weeks. Maybe you aren't eating enough? If you don't take in enough calories it's hard to burn the fat?

alhumphreys

Thanks guys for the information !! That's great. I feel like even though I am not doing as much exercise but I am still eating healthy I should still be seeing results, right ??

livehealthier1

I'm with you I also have the last 20-30 lbs to go
Depending how I feel and look at reaching 20.
I upped my protein and eat every 2 hours starting
@8am .. Weighing all food , watching sodium ,
Lots of water , veggies and for carbs .weight training . Mainly
Sweet potatoes and I lost . I'm going to do this
For the next 4-6 weeks, before changing up again. I can say
This has jump started my loss again.

kagevf

patience young grasshopper...patience!

how long ago did you start to lose the first 20lbs?

cafeaulait7

Thanks guys for the information !! That's great. I feel like even though I am not doing as much exercise but I am still eating healthy I should still be seeing results, right ??

That could be the big difference. With little to lose, exercise burns totally matter to your daily calories in vs out. Eat less on days you aren't burning what you used to, by the amount of burn you can estimate the workout would have been.

This is what mainly sank me in maintenance last time, btw. I was still eating like I was as active as I was before, but I wasn't that active. Ooops!

dlionsmane

Couple of things about the 'last few (or twenty)" pounds. I agree with the person who said go look at the guide to getting you to your sexy pants... go look at that and all of the references that it points to.

Second - the fewer pounds you have to go the more accurate you have to be with your calories. Which means if you haven't been you should be weighing your food. Eyeballing don't cut it, Measuring cups don't cut it. For example did you know that a 'serving' of some cereals say 1 1/4 C is X grams - but if you weigh out X grams it is only 1 Cup? Some people may say so what its only a 1/4 C, however, if that 1/4 cup equals 30-40 calories and you do that everyday and you do it with everything else... those calories add up...

Also the less weight you have to lose the less you should be trying to lose. Which means you should reduce your goal to .5 per week. You should not expect to lose 2 pounds per week when you only have 20 to go. What's the hurry anyway? Long term sustainability is what you are going for right?

And my last thought on this..(well the last one I will put here now) you should be thinking about maintenance calories at this point as well. Do you know how many calories you will need to consume once you reach your goal weight to maintain it? I am going to take a guess and say it is certainly more than 1200. You should be working on increasing your calorie intake (slowly) to reach your maintenance calories for you goal weight. That way it won't be a huge transition once you get there.

Phaedra2014

I have the last 22 to drop and I agree with the person who said you just have to become stricter. Be very accurate with measuring and logging your food.

editorgrrl

Thanks guys for the information !! That's great. I feel like even though I am not doing as much exercise but I am still eating healthy I should still be seeing results, right ??

Wrong. It matters how much you eat, not how "good" or "right" or "healthy" you eat. If you eat at a deficit, you will lose weight.

Weigh your food. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Find reliable database entries.

Phaedra2014

Thanks guys for the information !! That's great. I feel like even though I am not doing as much exercise but I am still eating healthy I should still be seeing results, right ??

Wrong. It matters how much you eat, not how "good" or "right" or "healthy" you eat. If you eat at a deficit, you will lose weight.

Weigh your food. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Find reliable database entries.

If you eat at a deficit you *should* lose weight but there are many more variables involved for it to be that simple. Not everyone loses weight just by doing that and sometimes that could encourage people to start eating too little.

Not saying your post is doing that. Just adding a little more.

SLLRunner

So I guess I started thinking too quickly. I was telling someone how fast the first 20lbs came off and I said if I had of known it would be this easy I would have done it a lot faster !! Then the last 2 weeks there hasn't been any movement. I haven't done anything differently. Eating the same foods, same amount of calories (1200 per day), maybe a little less exercise due to a heavy work schedule. I haven't been gaining but just maintaining the same weight. Has anyone else found the last 20 or so to be the hardest to shake ?? Any advice ??

Congratulations on the weight you have lost! Weight loss in generally pretty quick at first and then it slows down some. I ended up going below my goal weight, but what I learned is that weight loss is never linear and does not happen every single week. Aside from trial and error and miscalculations of food and exercise calories at first, sometimes I would end up not losing for a few weeks, then I'd seem to lose 2 pounds in a week when I had my goals set to lose one pound a week, and on and on. Even during what is supposed to be my maintenance, I lost weight.

Everybody's body is different. Besides working the numbers, you have to take in account heredity, whether you exercise or not, the intensity of your workouts. You also need to make sure you are measuring/weighing food, accurately logging exercise calories, accurately logging every single thing you put into your mouth, and pretty much staying conscious of how much you put in your mouth.

As for the last 20 pounds, you need to lower your goal to lose a half pound per week. If you don't maintenance is going to be more difficult. Weight tends to slow down toward the end anyway. Be patient and trust the process and embrace that you are making a lifestyle change.

SLLRunner

Thanks guys for the information !! That's great. I feel like even though I am not doing as much exercise but I am still eating healthy I should still be seeing results, right ??

Nope. Eating healthy has nothing to do with weight loss. In order to lose weight, you must burn more calorie than you consume. You can eat twinkies and lose weight as long as you stay within your calorie allowance. However, I would not recommend the twinkie diet because you will not get enough nutrients and you will probably feel pretty icky.

Francl27

It's totally normal to have stalls, even for women. I typically don't lose anything for 3 weeks every month.

That being said, you should probably eat more than 1200 calories.

ScientificExplorerGirl

I have also been working on losing the last 20 pounds for some time now (over 6 months). I have been consistently logging calories, increased my cardio and have been faithful during this time. Three weeks ago I started the All Pro Beginner's Strength Training Program. I have had to reduce my cardio slightly to allow time for it. However, over the past three weeks I have lost about 3 pounds Diet has remained pretty much the same, perhaps a slight increase in protein.

I always read in the forums of people speaking positively about strength training. It wasn't until I actually started with it that I realized what they say is definitely true. Strength training absolutely rules over cardio for weight loss. I am anticipating other long-term benefits, such as increased bone density as well. Time will tell.

I hope this is helpful.

alhumphreys

This is great !! So much feedback !! Thank you all !!

I just started doing this in November !! Last night I upped my calorie intake to 1330 per day, from 1200 per day. So we will see how than pans out. For me, upping my calorie intake was something I knew I should have done for awhile, but I was a little nervous to do so.

As for the measuring vs the weighing that may contribute to a portion of the problem. I didn't realize that 1 cup wasn't 1 cup !! Who would have thought, right ?? I weigh everything that says 30 grams or 55 grams etc, but never thought a cup wouldn't be a cup !! So I will start to weigh, weigh, weigh !!!

And another thing, I was doing Shaun T's Insanity, but I recently stopped. I found every since I started doing the workout there was NO movement on the scale. After doing some research I found a lot of people didn't lose much weight from doing Insanity so I decided maybe doing an hour of walking a day or more and some strength training would be more beneficial until I get closer to my goal. Then starting Insanity again when I want to work on toning and such ??

Thanks again guys !!

asianmonkie

Same boat as you. It's been 10 weeks and I haven't seen results either. I hear on a daily basis about upping calories and I always thought these people were crazy. "I'm short, I shouldn't have to eat that much." Yesterday, I finally upped my calories from 1200 to 1340 just to see if they're pulling my leg and I'm already seeing results. But it's only been a day so it's a little early to tell. Please let me know how yours turns out