Who's working on those last 5-10 lbs?

kateroot

I'm down to about 8 lbs left to lose and I've hit a plateau. It's super common with those last few lbs, so I'm just wondering if anyone else is going through the same thing, and what your breakthrough strategy is.

GalaxyDuck

Without viewing your food diary, there isn't too much advice I can give you. For me I found the last 10 lbs depended more on my diet than how much I was working out. I suggest tracking your sodium and sugar, if you aren't already. Trying to stay under 1500 mg sodium a day (daily recommended intake for adults) helped me, as well as not going over on my sugar.

If you open your food diary and describe your exercise routine and whether or not you eat back your exercise cals, people might be able to offer you better suggestions

lloydrt

2 month plateau here, but even though the scale isnt moving, I lost 2 inches in my waist in this 2 month time period.........be wary of scales when youre this close, you may be losing inches and not pounds.............great job though ,keep up the good work......Lloyd

Jessicaruby

i am 5'7 my CW is 130lbs and my goal weight is 12olbs. no matter what though i can not lose anymore weight(i also dont gain) and my measurments stay the same. it gets frusterating sometimes but i am still working at it! i am damn deteremined!

sjcply

I am down to my last 7lbs.....I am eating very lean (fruit, veggies, protein) 40%protein, 30 fat and 30 carb and I have kicked up my exercise.....so we will see! My goal is to lose that 7 lbs in 4 wks! :sad: oh lordy!!

sunshineshica

I'd also like to know about getting over the plateau. But I think most people will say you'll need to drastically change your diet or your exercise regime.

mamayoga

Me too. I'm not sure yet what my breakthrough strategy is! I am considering: lower carbs. drink more water. exercise more. take a break (eat more, a la Curves diet plan) and then start over again. cut off an arm. J/K.

sunshineshica

2 month plateau here, but even though the scale isnt moving, I lost 2 inches in my waist in this 2 month time period.........be wary of scales when youre this close, you may be losing inches and not pounds.............great job though ,keep up the good work......Lloyd

awesome job on your weight loss!

sjcply

i am 5'7 my CW is 130lbs and my goal weight is 12olbs. no matter what though i can not lose anymore weight(i also dont gain) and my measurments stay the same. it gets frusterating sometimes but i am still working at it! i am damn deteremined!

5'7 and 130lbs....wow I would think that would be a healthy weight to stay at!

tararocks

i increased my calorie intake for about 9 days...not completing, i still had a few days in there were i was at my normal calories and i actually didn't increase on purpose it just kind of happened. When i had my last 9 pounds to go i stayed at the same number for about a month, no gain but no loss. After those 9 days it restarted me or something and i have steadily lost since then, i am down to my last 3 and still doing great back on my normal calorie count. Good luck!

circusmom

I've got 2lbs to go, it just won't GO! Honestly, if I don't get there for a while thats fine, I know I'll get there someday ( I wish someday was sooner rather than later).

kateroot

Macphean, I could open up my food diary but it wouldn't help because I'm terrible at tracking lately. I know the calorie and protein/carb/fat breakdown I'm sticking to, so I tend to add it up in my head throughout the day rather than track it all. I need to get back in the habit of tracking though! I think that will help...

I'm also considering going lower carb, I'm at about 150g of carbs a day and 80-100g of protein.. Thinking about 75-100g carbs and 100+g protein to see if the shift helps. My fat intake tends to stay around 35-45g. I've been eating about 1600 calories a day and I do high intensity cardio 5x a week and weight training 2-3x. I think lowering my carb intake will help - also been trying to drink as much water as possible, and add more interval training to my cardio. So I guess only time will tell if it works!

peterson_jessica

I totally agree. I have hit a couple of mini plateau's along my way (I am almost down 30 pounds now) and for me, bumping up my calories for a few days without exercise or with light exercise seemed to "restart" my body. It has worked multiple times for me so maybe it could work for you. I have 11 pounds left to go and I'm hoping I don't hit any more

kateroot

i am 5'7 my CW is 130lbs and my goal weight is 12olbs. no matter what though i can not lose anymore weight(i also dont gain) and my measurments stay the same. it gets frusterating sometimes but i am still working at it! i am damn deteremined!

I'm 5'7 and shooting for 130-135. Are you sure 120 is an ideal weight for you? Your body might be fighting losing the weight because 130 might be your body's ideal weight. Just asking though, not judging... If you have a small frame, 120 may very well be a reasonable weight for you.

jmruef

I'm down to the last 5 (well, last 3.5 now as of this morning! WOOT!) I tried raising my calorie intake, drinking more water, working out harder (not necessarily for longer, just pushing myself more)...I'm not sure what did it. I know I was pretty far below calories yesterday so maybe that was it.

The thing is, I know I'm losing mucho inches, so the numbers are becoming less important as I go on. I'd *like* to be at my goal weight so I can say I did it, but I've accomplished a lot regardless.

katyk00

I am definitely part of the club. Down to my last 5-10 lbs and its been 3 weeks. And no downward movement at all, very frustrating. My diary is open, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

melsinct

In 2 pounds I will be at my goal for a total of 30 pounds lost.

I plateaued with 10 pounds left to go for about 2 months. Setting my loss on MFP at 0.5 lb/week is the only thing that broke through it. Also, when I came into the last 5 pounds, I stepped up the exercise. I was just doing cardio but now I have added Pilates for strength training a couple times a week. Now I got rid of the fat, I want to tone up a bit!

bodyzen

I'm 5'4 and 127lbs. Looking to get down to about 115-120. I've been really struggling for the past few weeks. I'm upping my cardio and strength training to try and get past it.

MissMaryMac33

If your settings are still at 1200 net and 2lb a week --- you need to change them. When you have only 10-20 to lose, the goal should be 1/2lb a week. And for most people, 1200 is too low anyway ---

I broke my plateus by upping my calories to 1400 and I changed my default to 45% protein, 25% carb, 30% fat. ..
Lean mean, fish, quinoa, greek yogurt and protein shakes....

I didn't change my diet much, or my exercise ..I just started to eat more and eat more of my exercise calories back.

clumsymofro

The biggest thing when you get to the point where you only have 5-10 lbs to go is that you are making sure that you are getting enough calories in your body because if you don't your body will take all the calories you consume and "store" them away as opposed to burning them, helping to lose those last few pounds. I've also drastically cut out sugar in my life and only try to eat, at most, 25 grams a day. You also have to beware of protein shakes and bars because even though they are packed with protein, a majority have a whole day's worth of sugar in one bar or shake. I definitely recommend trying the Atkins Advantage protein shakes and bars because they have an adequate amount of calories and fat and like no sugar or carbs. I try and replace one meal a day with those and its definitely helped me continue to shed those last few pounds...I only have 11 left to go! Good luck!

rockstarginaa

I have 3-8lbs left to lose and they are slowly, but surely coming off. I usually will lose 1-2lbs a week then have 1-2 weeks with no change, frustrating.

kelfly

I have a total of 10-15 lbs to shed, and am just beginning with MFP. My goals in MFP are set at 100 net calories and I do a combo of cardio and strength training 4x's week. I am approx 5'4" and at 139 right now. I see from this topic that some people are going up to a higher net calories when they are down to 5- 10 lbs to go. Am I starting too low?

Kntu

That's me! At 143lbs, 133lbs would be amazing but my mini goal is to be below 140lbs so not far to that! I'm 5'7" and was steady at 133lbs for 4 years without really having to watch my diet. Feel free to add me!