Losing the final pounds

soniams

I have had a very good journey thus far and am nearing the end. My challenge is that my weight loss has stopped over the past three months. Prior to that I was consistently losing 5-6 pounds per month. At the end of 2011 I was eating too few calories, about 1250 per day. I increased that amount at the beginning of February to 1450, still no movement though. I exercise on a regular basis, walking 3+ miles on weekdays and longer on weekends. I have started doing strength training but am not fully committed to doing so on a regular basis.

I would like to lose 20 more pounds. I know that losing those last few pounds is tough, especially from where I started. Compounding this is the fact that I am in the midst of perimenopause.

My question is for those who have been successful with reaching the end of their weight loss journey, how did you lose those final pounds? How did you maintain your motivation when the weight loss slowed.

Thanks so much!

kitkat4141

Congratulations on your weight loss and nearing your goal!

I also plateaued when I was 10 pounds from goal. The things that helped me out of that plateau were to change my diet and exercise. I increased my calories between 300-500 per day, ate only lean protein, some fat, fruits, and vegetables. I eliminated all grains, rice, pasta, potatoes, dairy, and alcohol. I drank water only and lots of it. As for exercise, I was doing double workouts 2-3 hours total per day. My trainer told me to cut back to one workout and take 2 days off instead of one. My metabolism was jolted out of the plateau and I lost 10 pounds in 2-3 weeks.

Everyone's body is different but this worked for me.

Good luck!

melsinct

I plateaued when I was less than 5 pounds from my goal weight. I tried all of the usual tricks that get suggested on MFP: changing up workouts, zig zagging calories, stopped eating exercise calories, ate all of my exercise calories, then tried 50% of my exercise calories...and nothing worked. I had MFP set at a 0.5 lb/week loss so I really couldn't add more calories. I tried eating at maintenance from Thanksgiving to New Years...still no change. The scale was stuck.

From September 2011 until January 2012 I waited. I tried all of the methods I listed above, then said forget it. I just trudged along, eating at a 0.5 lb/week deficit and out of nowhere, 4 months after the plateau started, the scale moved. It took me 4 months to lose less than 5 pounds but I did it! It was hard to keep the motivation up but I started obsessing less and just till being mindful about what I ate.

Bottom line is for me patience was key. Even when I would get annoyed that the scale was stuck, I didn't let it undo all of the hard work I had done to get to that point.

soniams

Bottom line is for me patience was key. Even when I would get annoyed that the scale was stuck, I didn't let it undo all of the hard work I had done to get to that point.

This is really helpful and hopeful. I am so close and know I will get there. I just need to remember how far I have come and how much I have benefited from all of the changes I have made to my life.

themommie

My weightloss also slowed way down the last 10 lbs . I tried zig zagging my cals and switched my exercise started doing different exercise tapes several times a week, with strength training 2xs a week and walking every other day. this seemed to help I still didnt lose quickly very slowly but it did come off. I would say just mix things up, dont give up. It will eventually happen