why can't I lose those last 10 lbs?

vpsmith14

This is so very frustrating. I have stayed the same weight for the last 4 weeks almost. I exercise hard 6 days a week. I do strength training, yoga, cardio, and wear a heart rate monitor. On a normal workout day I always burn from 500 to 730 calories. I log everything I eat and always eat back my exercise calories. I still find though at times that I'm a bit hungry still. Not unbearable though. I also can be on my feet quite a lot during the day walking around. Am I eating enough or should I cut back on my calories.

Thanks,
Tricia

jessicamarie81

Maybe you should increase your calories or zigzag them? Since being on MFP, I've read a lot of people having success with eating more believe it or not....A lot of people find that's a good way to bust a plateau...but I wish I had a good answer, I just talked about my frustrations with that yesterday, I just need about 10 more pounds to lose before I can be at my ideal weight too...I've lost 20 so far and the last 10 are being so stubborn!! Also, maybe some interval training?

melsinct

I think (fingers crossed) that I just busted through a 6 week plateau. Basically from the beginning of April until just this past week I had been bouncing between 158 and 161 (145 is my goal). The scale was not moving. I upped my calories by dropping my weight loss goal to .5 pounds/week instead of 1 pound/week and the scale started moving again. Or at least this morning I reached an all time low of 156. As we come down to the final stretch, I think we just can't lose that fast and expecting to equals disappointment with the scale (in my case anyway!). I am still losing but the process is slow...I have finally accepted that my 1 pound a week losses are over.

TeamLeela

Maybe you are not burning as many calories as you think you are so when you eat back your exerice calories, you are eating back too many calories. Do you wear a hrm? even if you do, it may still be slightly off. Also, how is your sodium intake? Are you drinking enough water?

vpsmith14

I wear a pretty good heart rate monitor. I think my calories are pretty close to what it says. I know water is always my down fall. It's the only thing I do drink but I always forget to drink. I get busy.

Tricia

atomiclauren

The last ten...ugh. I am just about there and it's taking/going to take forever. We just need to be patient, keep up the exercise and logging, and the scale will move...eventually...! :yawn:

00trayn

I've been trying to lose the last 10 lbs for nearly 6 months now. It seems my body has gotten stuck and I've been trying everything. Zig zagging calories seems to have been working at first, but I had a few times where I ate out for dinner and drank, so it threw me off a bit. Not sure what else to suggest, aside from keep it up and hope for the best. That's all I can really do at this point.

melsinct

00trayn- I was stuck for six weeks and I had a 8 day vacation in there. I was out of country, no internet (so no MFP) so I just made smart choices as best I could but definitely went over my calorie goal daily. I came back having not lost or gained and within a week the scale started moving again. Maybe take a week to eat at maintenance or get a little loose with your tracking to see if that shakes things up. I am not certain that's what helped me but it is worth a try!

DenyseTimpone

On Good Morning America, Robin's Personal Fitness Trainer described this exact thing happening. I see you are doing multiple types of exercises so this may not help but what he said is that your body is so used to doing the same exercises you've created a "mussle memory" type situation. Kind of like your body already knows what it's going to do or is required to do so your mussles no longer need to work as hard.

What you have to do is Shock the mussles into having to work again by changing your workout, doing something completely different. If you don't walk, exchange or add walking. I'm not sure if that means completely dropping an exercise you enjoy completely, but I would a new exercise 2x's a week. Try bike riding or even a dance class at the gym. You just have to start using different mussles. My husband said when you weight lift this always happens and you would see no gain in mussle mass. So what he does is every 4 weeks he changes his routine. Then back again after the 4 weeks, rotating.

ie Less Reps, Heavy Weights 4 weeks
High Reps, Lower Weights 4 weeks
Less Reps, Heavy Weights again, etc.

Weight lifting for women actually you will see the most results and may be a good option. Probably what ever you choose to swap out for the 4 weeks, you should make it at least 2x a week.

KEEP THE MUSSLES CONFUSED!

Hope this helps
Denyse