How to Take Off Those Last 10 Pounds, By Jillian Michaels

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lmr9
lmr9 Posts: 628 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How to Take Off Those Last 10 Pounds
By Jillian Michaels

You know what I like to call those last 10 or 15 pounds that won't come off no matter what you do? Vanity pounds.

The term describes our desire to lose weight that, as far as our bodies are concerned, actually feels healthy. Today's society pressures us to want to look a certain way, so for aesthetic reasons we try to be thinner than our bodies want us to be. Personally, I have gained and lost the same 8 vanity pounds more times than I care to admit.

Losing your first 50 pounds might have been tough, but believe me, dropping those final few stubborn pounds is a whole different challenge. The body struggles to hold on to that last bit of fat for survival purposes.

Now, don't get me wrong — you can lose the weight if you want to, but it will require you to muster a tremendous amount of restraint and willpower. If you're really up for it, do the following for 30 days:

Cut your sodium to 1,000 mg a day.
Drink at least 80 ounces of water daily.
Cut out processed foods.
Abstain from alcohol.
Train at 85 percent of your MHR (maximum heart rate) for 1 hour 5 times a week.

You can do a lot in 30 days — in fact, I can pretty much guarantee you will lose at least 5 pounds. And you'll feel like a rock star!

Replies

  • amelia_atlantic
    amelia_atlantic Posts: 926 Member
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    BUMP!

    Definitely reassuring I'm on the right track (cutting out processed foods and alcohol w/ 5 days of exercise).

    Thanks, Jillian!
  • Karagirl
    Karagirl Posts: 1
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    My problem, is that I already do that stuff...I work out like a nut (strength and cardio), eat strictly (mostly fruit, veggies, and protein), and drink a close to a gallon of water every day (128 oz)....
    I have had my calories at 1200 (I am 5'4 and 135 lbs, on the med-range for my healthy weight and I want to be 125) then nothing budged, so I upped it to 1500.....same story, only now I FEEL fatter lol.
    I need some sort of guidance...it seems like i know and practice all the right things, with little to no results.
  • Helene2611
    Helene2611 Posts: 1
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    I am going through this exact thing! It's weird that Jillian said 8 pounds b/c that is exactly what I have to lose, I am doing the FIRM program- it's really great but it's true, right now it's all about diet. I am tracking my progress here: http://theskinnyblognyc.com so I'll let you know how I do it!!!
  • cappri
    cappri Posts: 1,089 Member
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    1,000 mg of sodium is super low! It would be very, very challenging to hit a decent calorie goal and stay under that for sodium. That sounds like a diet that the second you stop doing it the weight will fly back on. Perhaps it would be good to do the month before some sort of event like a wedding, but not sustainable long term weight loss.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    ...Or you could just eat less and lift.
  • snowmanluv
    snowmanluv Posts: 200 Member
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    carb load to trick the body. high, low, no , low, low high. checkout out skooby workouts.
  • mistesh
    mistesh Posts: 243 Member
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    1,000 mg of sodium is super low! It would be very, very challenging to hit a decent calorie goal and stay under that for sodium.

    Not at all. I start paying attention around the 1500 mark. Take a can of low sodium beans at Whole Foods. About 35 mg for this whole can packed with nutrition. And after a few cans, you won't even miss the taste of salt. Good thing too because your water retention will be improved.
  • cappri
    cappri Posts: 1,089 Member
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    1,000 mg of sodium is super low! It would be very, very challenging to hit a decent calorie goal and stay under that for sodium.

    Not at all. I start paying attention around the 1500 mark. Take a can of low sodium beans at Whole Foods. About 35 mg for this whole can packed with nutrition. And after a few cans, you won't even miss the taste of salt. Good thing too because your water retention will be improved.

    It is hard, when I had my sodium set at 1500 mg, I was often way under my calorie goal in order to stay under on sodium. Especially on heavy exercise days. Now I can generally come in under 2000 mg without much problem, but I'm not working out as much as I was a month ago so my calories are lower. Trying to get under 1,000 mg of sodium a day seems like a very short idea, not sustainable for long term, and most likely only leading to short term weight loss.
  • Alta2000
    Alta2000 Posts: 655 Member
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    My problem, is that I already do that stuff...I work out like a nut (strength and cardio), eat strictly (mostly fruit, veggies, and protein), and drink a close to a gallon of water every day (128 oz)....
    I have had my calories at 1200 (I am 5'4 and 135 lbs, on the med-range for my healthy weight and I want to be 125) then nothing budged, so I upped it to 1500.....same story, only now I FEEL fatter lol.
    I need some sort of guidance...it seems like i know and practice all the right things, with little to no results.

    For TDEE-10% you need 1780 calories for 1-3 hours exercise.
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
    You are very close to your goal weight so you need to put the % low, not 20%. I would up the calories and do more strength to tone.

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