Those last few pesky pounds..

Terree83

So, I've been doing really well and am quite happy with my progress. I had lost a bit before I joined the site, and am down 25lbs in total. I had about 40 that I wanted to lose.

Not to say that the first 25 came off easily, but I have definitely hit a plateau. I change up my workouts pretty frequently so that my body doesn't adapt (I do Crossfit and go to boot camps.. as well as lifting, running and playing a lot of tennis), and eat healthy foods. I have no idea what else to do differently!

Has anyone else been having the same problem? I've always heard that the last 10-15lbs were the hardest to lose, but this is getting to be annoying!

Any suggestions would be great! And feel free to add me

mogletdeluxe

Hear you, loud and clear. I'm 2lb lighter than my initial goal, but do you think I can reach my second one? Nope. I can work out like a beast and watch the carbs all I want, that needle just sticks.

I think that, as you get to the stage when the loss is smaller, it's important to focus on the alternatives to the number on the scale. Weight loss inevitably slows down, and your body shapes up. I saw video footage of me the other day from November 2011 - I'm just over a stone (14lb) lighter than then, which is hardly insignificant, but the physical difference is massive.

I maintain that slow and steady wins the race every time, but the last bit can be positively snail-like. Your body is adapting to a significant change; it takes a little while for everything to fall into place.

Blmarlborough

My suggestion is to increase calories by 100 every week until you get to maintenance. Eat at this for a while, then drop it down to your dieting amount of calories, or you can do the complete opposite and cut more calories and exercise more. Thirdly, just keep on doing what you're doing. You might be gaining lean muscle mass and getting rid of some of the fat. Remember: It's not the weight that matters, but how you look in the mirror.

MTBrob

Hey Terree,

Looking over your diary you are almost doing what I would recommend... But change your metrics to where you are eating 50% protein 30% carbs and 20% fat..

Remove some of the simple carbs from your system like bread, chips, yes even beer and add more complex like veggies just 1 serving of fruit whole wheat etc but stay in your metrics above that are assigned...

For protein eat lean like chicken turkey lean lean beef ( if you have fat to spare) etc.

Be consistent and log it every day and in 2 weeks with your exercise if not sooner that needle will move..

happypath101

I just made a post recently where I talked about this. I joked and said I wanted to call them dog pounds. When you're close and you've lost a pound - think of it as 7. Seriously, they just ARE tougher. You can exercise more, find new foods that fit into your plan and help you stay within calories, but the biggest thing to do is to persevere. Just don't give up.

You may also find it helpful to start measuring yourself more and weighing yourself less. You can do it!

AggieCass09

I'm on the last 5 pounds and have been her for nearly a year (!)

My suggestion is to really take a hard look at your diet and clean things up there...if you are active, your exercise is probably good bit diet is really where you the the most bang for your buck. Cutting down on sugars and making sure you are eating lots of good quality protein is so important!

I did a Whole30 challenge to clean up my diet and I'm inching closer and closer to my goal (3 lbs to go as of today!)

Also, maybe take a look at how you established your goal weight and make sure it is realistic...I had my "original goal" set at an arbitrayr 138 lbs because that's what all the internet calculates say I should be, but when I calculate based on my actual stats and body fat that would put me at 8% body fat which isn't healthy at all! So, just make sure your end goal is realistic and try not to focus so much on the numbers as you get closer to the end!

Good luck!

Unknown

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tomusiakl

Mine isn't much but I am trying to lose the last 3 lbs to get to a new goal weight of 125. There is no doubt, I wont give up. Keep pushing. If you are eating right and exercising it will happen even if it takes month.

knowwhentoshutup

How many calories are you netting at the end of the day?

I would take the advice of the poster above, adding calories. To figure out all the numbers start here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

You should always net above your BMR (base metabolic rate), which is what your body needs to function if you were to do nothing but lay in bed. Again, net means calories consumed minus calories expended during exercise.

Find where you need to be, usually 20% under your TDEE will give you weight loss. If you undercut that amount you are not adequately fueling your body, and will train your body to require less, which can slow your metabolism.

Terree83

Thanks, Kax! The only reason I have a lot of those bread elements in there is because I have to maintain a high fiber diet (long story as to why). It's difficult to get in the fiber when I focus more on the protein, even when I eat beans and lentils, they still have the carbs.

MelisRunning

Man, I was so stuck but the last few pounds FINALLY came off and for hanging in there, a few more came off too! Nice surprise for hitting that wall for so long! It will happen!

Terree83

Man, I was so stuck but the last few pounds FINALLY came off and for hanging in there, a few more came off too! Nice surprise for hitting that wall for so long! It will happen!

That's awesome! It's nice to hear that from someone that struggled with it and won! Congrats to you

geekyjock76

The leaner you get, the less true fat you lose so fat loss become slower. This means you need to adjust your deficit to a smaller value the closer you get to your goal.

lizziebeth1028

I looked at your diary and the last 2 days look good, lot's of protein, a wee bit light on the calories tho. And in going back through your diary it looks like you are all over the map. Not logging somedays, very low protein, way too low in calories.

I would up your calories and keep your protein about 100g!!!!! You are doing some intense cardio workouts. Maybe ease up a bit and make it more straight forward rather than the crossfit type workout routine. Lift weight and strength train ONLY days and straight forward cardio ONLY days (walking, jogging, running, hiking, biking). Keep it in the 30 minutes to 45 range.

Just a few ideas for ya. You seem on the right track:flowerforyou:

*****I MEANT TO SAY KEEP YOUR PROTEIN 'ABOVE' 100gs....not about :blushing:

bizco

Try adjusting your settings. Now that you've lost a significant amount of weight, your calorie limit will be different. If your current weight loss goal is set to lose 1.0 lbs. per week, change it to 0.5 lbs. per week. Leave it there for 4 weeks before making further adjustments. You can then change it back to 1.0 lbs. per week if you like.

If you customize your macros (and you should), you'll need to go back in and change them because changing your weight loss goal will wipe out your customization and revert back to MFP defaults. I lift heavy weights and mine are set to 30/45/25 protein/carbs/fat. Another popular macro setting for lifters is 40/40/20.

To customize go to My Home>>Goals>>Change Goals>>Custom. Save your changes. While there, I recommend increasing your fiber to at least 25g per day and decreasing your sodium to 1800-2100mg per day; the lower the better.

Also, in addition to changing up my workouts and calorie limit, I had to totally cut out alcohol to break my plateau. Good luck hon!

mocha76

bump

gjsmommy

I am in the same boat. I made a few changes to my diet & exercise routine early in the month. I haven't looked at the scale and don't plan to til Friday. Lots of good tips here that I may need to try.

Acg67

Try adjusting your settings. Now that you've lost a significant amount of weight, your calorie limit will be different. If your current weight loss goal is set to lose 1.0 lbs. per week, change it to 0.5 lbs. per week. Leave it there for 4 weeks before making further adjustments. You can then change it back to 1.0 lbs. per week if you like.

If you customize your macros (and you should), you'll need to go back in and change them because changing your weight loss goal will wipe out your customization and revert back to MFP defaults. I lift heavy weights and mine are set to 30/45/25 protein/carbs/fat. Another popular macro setting for lifters is 40/40/20.

To customize go to My Home>>Goals>>Change Goals>>Custom. Save your changes. While there, I recommend increasing your fiber to at least 25g per day and decreasing your sodium to 1800-2100mg per day; the lower the better.

Also, in addition to changing up my workouts and calorie limit, I had to totally cut out alcohol to break my plateau. Good luck hon!

Solid advice, I'd reassess my TDEE and usually shoot for a more moderate deficit then I was previously using. I wouldn't go macro ratios though, instead shoot for around 1g of pro per lb of lbm min and around .3-.35g of fat per lb of bw and then let the rest of my cals fall where they may.

Terree83

I looked at your diary and the last 2 days look good, lot's of protein, a wee bit light on the calories tho. And in going back through your diary it looks like you are all over the map. Not logging somedays, very low protein, way too low in calories.

I would up your calories and keep your protein about 100g!!!!! You are doing some intense cardio workouts. Maybe ease up a bit and make it more straight forward rather than the crossfit type workout routine. Lift weight and strength train ONLY days and straight forward cardio ONLY days (walking, jogging, running, hiking, biking). Keep it in the 30 minutes to 45 range.

Just a few ideas for ya. You seem on the right track:flowerforyou:

*****I MEANT TO SAY KEEP YOUR PROTEIN 'ABOVE' 100gs....not about :blushing:

Haha--I knew what you meant! I have been all over the map because I haven't finished logging a lot lately (on the weekends) due to an enormous amount of baby showers, bridal showers and weddings.. it's too much of a pain to even attempt to log what I've been eating.. even though I have been keeping it healthy.
I keep hearing the same theme with protein.. so I will definitely do that. Thanks!

LenaChelle

My nutrition teacher told us that when we hit a plateau while doing everything right (eating well and changing up our fitness routine) that we should eat a really big meal to "reset" our metabolism. I have tried it once and it worked for me. Maybe worth a shot?

MTBrob

Thanks, Kax! The only reason I have a lot of those bread elements in there is because I have to maintain a high fiber diet (long story as to why). It's difficult to get in the fiber when I focus more on the protein, even when I eat beans and lentils, they still have the carbs.

YOu can always supplement fiber in with powder type drink mixes ( but who really wants to do that ) make adjustments and eat more fiber rich vegetables can help.

skyblu263

Try adjusting your settings. Now that you've lost a significant amount of weight, your calorie limit will be different. If your current weight loss goal is set to lose 1.0 lbs. per week, change it to 0.5 lbs. per week. Leave it there for 4 weeks before making further adjustments. You can then change it back to 1.0 lbs. per week if you like.

If you customize your macros (and you should), you'll need to go back in and change them because changing your weight loss goal will wipe out your customization and revert back to MFP defaults. I lift heavy weights and mine are set to 30/45/25 protein/carbs/fat. Another popular macro setting for lifters is 40/40/20.

To customize go to My Home>>Goals>>Change Goals>>Custom. Save your changes. While there, I recommend increasing your fiber to at least 25g per day and decreasing your sodium to 1800-2100mg per day; the lower the better.

Also, in addition to changing up my workouts and calorie limit, I had to totally cut out alcohol to break my plateau. Good luck hon!

Absolutely agree with Bizco! I read exactly this in my Oxygen magazine. The last 10-15 pounds likes to hang around. I read that your body is actually feeling great and is at a comfortable weight that it's wanting to hang on to it. I've read cutting down sodium a lot and reducing alcohol are key in breaking through. You love I love my wine!! So, happy breaking through girl!!!!! I know you can do it!!!!!!!!!!