It really is harder to lose when you get a little leaner!

CasperO

It really is harder to lose when you get a little leaner, for lotsa reasons.

I'm still 12 pounds from goal, but i'm a pretty big guy so for me that's getting close. Been stuck for a week or 2. Had some time outta town and eating a little heavy and a little salty.

Interesting phenomenon - When I started out I was somewhere around 35% bodyfat, and wow,,, it was easy. I could drop 5 pounds by skipping lunch and going to the bathroom. Calipers say I'm around 19% bodyfat now, and it's not so easy anymore.

Height- 5'8"
Weight- 212 pounds (started mid-January @ 270).
37 abdomen (was 46 @ New Years ).

Today I started my day with 30 great minutes on the elliptical. Got my 1700 strides in before the 30 minutes, with much time @ resistance level 4. I also broke out the dumbbells this morning, need to set 'em up for 30 pounds each. Want to take 10 minutes and knock in a little upper body stuff 3 morn's a week. Getting leaner, starting to define a little. Man, I've lost a lot of muscle mass from the old days. Don't know if I can build muscle while in a calorie deficit, but I'm gonna work a little and see what happens.

Anywho - I'm noticing that it's getting harder to drop pounds. It's not melting off like before. I think I'm in Banks-Boss's Phase 4, or maybe getting into 5.

I feel great, I've done well and I'm pretty happy in my skin now. I look in the mirror and like what I see. And that's the problem - the fire in the belly is gone. I'm not driven. I can honestly say that if I get stuck right here I wouldn't be heartbroken.

I used to never go over on calories, and now I'm going over more. Starting to think in terms of "Well,,, I'm set up for a 1000 cal a day deficit. If I go ahead and have a 2nd biscuit, then for today I'm only at an 800 calorie deficit, which is still pretty good"". Stuff like that.

Now I am PHOBIC about yo-yoing back up. I'm still weighing and watching and counting,,, but I'm just not as motivated about the program as I was. Not really sure what to do about it.

Valtishia

Your body might be ready for maintenance. Even though we all seem to have that magic number we would like to see on the scale sometimes it doesn't match up with what our bodies are comfortable with. If that is the case then your body is no longer allowing you to lose weight but rather to up your intake so you are maintaining your weight.
You pretty much have a couple choices... you can give it an extra hard push and see if it gets you that extra few lbs you wanted or if you are really ok with the weight you are at then maybe just start living the maintenance lifestyle.
Either way congrats on your weight loss

JessiJean

What is the maintance that you are speaking of??

riveraphx

Maybe you're a little bit burned out and combined with the weight loss pace slowing down it's really getting to you mentally. You can lose you're last 12 pounds. Don't give up. It may take you twice as long to lose your last 12 pounds than it did to lose your first 12 pounds, but don't let that stop you. Just regroup and commit to yourself that for the next 6-8 weeks you're going to count every calorie. Once you get to your final goal, regroup and start maintenance. Remember you do need to count your calories everyday regardless if you reach your goal or not. I've been using MFP for a couple years now and my biggest mistake was not counting my calories even after I reached my goal. You can do it. Don't give up on your goal.

CasperO

Maintenance is when you increase your calorie intake and adjust your program to maintain your current weight - instead of my current program of running a calorie deficit and trying to lose weight.

I just wanted to talk about myself,,, I'll keep with it, probably keep going over my cals once in a while and blow off a workout once in a while and drop a couple pounds a month instead of 2 a week, and just continue enjoying my life. It's all good,,,


Here's Banks' post about the "Phases" BTW - good stuff. I'm at phase 4 or 5, and that's Ok...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

SHBoss1673

Preach it brotha! Tell ya what, if you think that's bad, for me, 190 to 180 was a serious battle. That dropped me from 15% BF down to around 12.5 % bf and let me tell ya, it took like 5 months to do. Not only that, the exercise I needed to do was way more painful (lots more high intensity).

I would say this though Casper, at 19% body fat, I'm not so sure you should be at a 1000 calorie deficit any more, in fact I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be. You might want to look into dropping it down to around 600 or so, it'll give you a little more wiggle room in your food, and give your body a chance to catch it's breath. The pounds won't come off as fast as before (regardless of the deficit) but with the higher calorie total, you'll have a little more energy doing it.

CasperO

Thanks Boss. Funny, my wife said the same thing.

MFP has me at about 1520 a day, and I earn another 450 on the elliptical most days, so I'm eating about 2K a day. My wife is on here too and doing super (down 40, you rock honey), so I cook right for both of us. I can't imagine 2400 a day. Not sure I want to eat that much every day - I'm in the habit now.

I've kinda given myself the option when I want it with my "800 deficit today ain't so bad" logic, so it's good. I'll just keep on keeping on. I do want to see that 1xx on the scale someday.

BTW - you notice I'm 5'8" tall and 212 pounds @ 19% bf? On the charts I'm still 15 pounds above the threshold of obesity, wearing 34" waist jeans. Massive bone structure - I'm a human basset hound. :laugh:

SHBoss1673

Thanks Boss. Funny, my wife said the same thing.

MFP has me at about 1520 a day, and I earn another 450 on the elliptical most days, so I'm eating about 2K a day. My wife is on here too and doing super (down 40, you rock honey), so I cook right for both of us. I can't imagine 2400 a day. Not sure I want to eat that much every day - I'm in the habit now.

I've kinda given myself the option when I want it with my "800 deficit today ain't so bad" logic, so it's good. I'll just keep on keeping on. I do want to see that 1xx on the scale someday.

BTW - you notice I'm 5'8" tall and 212 pounds @ 19% bf? On the charts I'm still 15 pounds above the threshold of obesity, wearing 34" waist jeans. Massive bone structure - I'm a human basset hound. :laugh:

LOL, human basset hound!

I'll say this though, just be aware, eventually, as you do drop more weight and body fat, you're going to slowly slip further into starvation mode, it'll be slow and gradual, so you may not notice it, but it'll happen. That's the main reason why I say to decrease your deficit as you lose weight. I'm not saying you're there yet, I doubt it, but eventually you'll need to watch out for that as it'll really hamper any further weight loss.