Question for those of you who had “less” to lose and got

ecp2698

to your ultimate goal"

I am in need of some motivation, I am in a healthy weight range but really want to lose another 10lbs or so, I still have a good amount of belly fat that I want to get rid of. I am stuck right now, been at this weight for so long, not because of a plateau but because I know I eat/drink those extra things because I have the mentality that I “can.” For those of you who were at this point but were able to get through it and get to where you ultimately want to be, how did you do it? What kept you going and worked for you? I don’t want to settle and stay where I am, but at the same time, I feel like I am lacking that extra “oomph” to get there!

AlwaysWanderer

I'm here with ya... And would love to know the answer to that question too!

blpope

I'd also like to know this! Weekends kill me because I tell myself I can't do too much damage in two days. Oh, I can. And it's not worth the regret.

Elle408

Stop thinking about the numbers and start working on body conditioning! I really REALLY wanted to get to 120, and I did it without exercise (seriously, none! Because on the 1200 cals recommended I could barely function!) When I got to 125 I realised that my body still wasn't what I wanted. I wasn't lean and toned like i expected I would be at this magic number and couldn't see how losing another 5 would help.

Then I hit the gym and started doing cardio 4-5 times a week and strength training 4-5 times a week and my body shape changed dramatically! My weight has stabilised to between 125-130 (and some times as high as 135) yet my body is much smaller than it used to be and my 'problem areas' (hips and thighs) weren't so much of a problem any more. (Ok ok, I hate my thighs, but probably always will, they are smaller though!)

You've got to be really focused and motivated to lose the vanity pounds because your body doesn't want to let go of that fat when it doesn't technically need to! I still had (and have) treats but made sure the majority of my diet was good fresh produce. Try not to focus on losing weight or else it can get really deflating when you lose nothing week after week after week!

Oh and also, I don't still continue with that gruelling gym schedule. I had an injury and had to cut my cardio to zero! And only do some arm weights and crunches at the moment and i'm still maintaining! i'm a little squishier, sure, but the weight's not piling back on so this lifestyle seems perfectly sustainable!

Mommyof3texans

I'm in that place you speak of now, I am in the range I wanted but I want to make some changes to my body composition aka less fat, more muscle lol

I guess what keeps me eating well is that I'm still seeing progress and I keep visualizing what I want my body to look like. Eating isn't my trouble spot, nor is my cardio but I seem to be slow to get the strength training added to my routine.

LorinaLynn

Seeing that you had a baby not long ago... are you sure that it's really "belly fat" you have and not excess skin that's just going to take more time to shrink back?

ecp2698

Seeing that you had a baby not long ago... are you sure that it's really "belly fat" you have and not excess skin that's just going to take more time to shrink back?

My daughter is one year old, and I do have some extra skin there but it is definitely belly fat. I never used to have so much there, so it is probably attributed to having babies but the baby weight is gone.

michalita

I am right with you and the others, right down to starting to splurge a little because I can. I am now focusing mainly on body conditioning too, and less about weight loss. I changed my goals to a half-pound a week just to keep me on track with eating; that way, if I go over those goals a bit, I'm still maintaining. I'm upping the weight training and circuit training to 4 days a week, and lowering cardio to twice a week. I'm also focusing a lot more on protein intake than I had in the past (I'm mostly vegetarian, so it's something I keep an eye on), and working very hard on my sugar intake. I don't want to be skinny-fat anymore!

rybo

Very similar here. I only had about 15 lbs or so to get to where I wanted. I'm a runner so that's the bulk of my exercise, but I also do body weight strength exercises and yoga. I did need to buckle down on calories and portion sizes. filling up on fruit & salads & lean meats/fish keeps me from eating too much other stuff.
Yea one other thing is I did best losing when I set my goal at a half pound a week. Seems like not much but that helped me have enough energy to workout, but still lose weight.

karensoxfan

You've done such an incredible job losing the baby weight, running so often, and doing so much strength training that I think you deserve a huge pat on the back for all that.

At the same time, both times I've lost weight & met my goal, I had a nice reward planned for myself, so it gave me something to work towards, and helped me stay focused, even though the last 10 lb. are definitely harder than the first 10.

It doesn't have to be big or expensive, but something that you'd really like to have (or do), and that you wouldn't normally treat yourself to.

ecp2698

Thanks everyone! I know that at this point, I should be focusing less on the # and more about the changes in my body. Let’s face it, though, I’m pretty sure that # would be going down if I was losing the fat that I still have on my body, kwim? Bottom line, I just have to buckle down with my eating habits and stick to it!

mndamon

As it's been mentioned before I think people pay too much attention to the numbers when it comes to toning and leaning. I've come to the realization that I just have kind of a bulky body type and even if I lean up I'll probably never get below 185-190. I'm perfectly fine with that because the fat is still going away and the amount of muscle I'm putting on is making the weight much easier to swallow. Don't make it a numbers game, just get to where you feel and look the way you want to.

TXHunny84

I'm in the same boat.... I can't seem to slim down past 144. i actually got down to 144 and then started gaining??... I've been eating SUPER HEALTHY and staying at my 1200 calories a day goal!!?? Not sure why I hit the plateau. Then to gain is just depressing. I really want to get to 130 but 135 is what my MFP goal is because it's hard enough just trying to get to that! When you figure out how to break your plateau please share the knowledge! thanks! :flowerforyou:

mndamon

Have you tried over eating your daily caloric intake? Not junk food, but just over eat by a few hundred calories to see if it shocks your system when you drop back down to 1200?