Help with the last 13 lbs...

Julie7741

i have lost 52 lbs since January. I love cardio- spend lots of time on my bike and elliptical (30-60 minutes, 6x a week). I am 13 lbs away from my goal weight. I had stalled for the past 3 weeks. I recently decided to increase my calories and introduce some strength training. I'm not really into weights, but am interested in shedding the last of my weight and increasing endurance on the bike. I figured the tdee thing and played with my numbers. I discovered that if I set mfp at 1/2 lb per week, and add in my exercise cals, it puts me in the right neighborhood of tdee with a 20percent deficit (1700-1800). I also decided to try and increase my protein intake. In the past week I have gained 2 lbs. I'm not sure if it's all water, or if I need to decrease my calories back down. I was netting around 1400-1500 on a given day before I made the changes. I feel like it's right to lose the last bit slowly and ease into maintenance, but gaining is the LAST thing I want to do! Any advice from folks who have reached goal?

Julie7741

Bump

psuLemon

Its all water, its your body adapting to more calories. The best thi g to do is cut cardio and increase resistance training. This way you inprove the chances of losing fat instead of muscle and fat which you previously lost. You can look for classes like body pump if you want something a bit more fast paced. Also, you should expect that the last 10 lbs to take up to 6 months. But if you work more on body composition, your body will be tighter and more lean.

boogersnut

When you get closer to your goal weight, it will be harder to shed pounds, more so...fat. Without looking at you, it would be very difficult to recommend a plan of action.

But here are some generic pointers. Do not worry about your weight at this point. Your primary goal from here should be the re-compositioning of your body. That means gaining more muscle and losing the excess fat. If you could keep the weight you are at, have more muscle, and less fat, you would look much better if you just lost 13 pounds.

So lifting weights is something you need to seriously consider.

Secondly, try cycling your calories. For example, on days that you workout, eat 10% more calories than usual. then on days that your rest, eat 20% less calories.

Next, if you very brave and want even quicker results, narrow your eating window from 12pm to 10pm everyday. You can eat late, just not after 10pm. In theory all you are doing is waking up and skipping breakfast and just eating lunch. Before your lunch, try to train in the fasted state as well. When you are fasting your body actually produces Growth Hormone, so every workout counts more toward results. Also, any cardio done in the fasted state burns more fat.

When you are fasting, your pancreas secrets a hormon called glucogon. Glucogon utilizes body fat to regulate blood sugar. So in other words, when you are fasting, you are burning fat. It is a myth that fasting burns muscles, and it's also a myth that eating five or six times a day increases your metabolism.

Keep your cardio to a very minimal amount. You don't need to sweat your fat away, you just need to move around a bit more than usual. Walking in the fasted state is a great exercise.

Hope this helps.

Steve

Julie7741

Thank you for your replies-

I sort of do the calorie cycling, as I do eat less on days that I don't work out. I'm also trying to cut back a bit on the cardio, and include the weight training.

I think it's really more a mental adjustment for me at this point. I want to look less "fluffy" more muscular, so increasing the calories and adding in the strength training has to be the right thing to do. I also know this last bit might take much longer...

Stinks to wait that long for 13 measly pounds... but I want them to stay off. So slow and steady should win the race.

psuLemon

How did you even pick your weight goal? If you just erroneously picked it from eithe a weight from XX number of years ago, then you should rethink that. Below is what is required to figure out a good weight goal. As an example, if I picked my high school weight (175), I would have to lose over 15 lbs of muscle to get there. My goal weight now is 187 so I maintain my lean body mass. The more lean body mass, the better you will look.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/684493-how-to-determine-weight-goal?hl=how+to:+determine&page=1#posts-10001020

Julie7741

I used BMI-

13 lbs. to the healthy BMI category on the chart. I currenly weigh 158, need to get to 145.

psuLemon

I used BMI-

13 lbs. to the healthy BMI category on the chart. I currenly weigh 158, need to get to 145.

Be careful with BMI. If you are or plan to have any type of athletic build, BMI will not work for you. Body composition is much better. According to BMI and weight, I will be obese, even at 187 lbs @ 6% body fat. BMI essentially is bad if you have a lot of lean much mass.

Julie7741

My body fat percentage is at 34%, which is actually pretty high for my height/weight. I'm 5'4, 158 lbs. I'm pretty curvy, and haven't lost much in the chest department- which was kind of shocking to me. After 52 lbs, my band size went down, but my cup size has stayed a DD. My legs and rear end are pretty muscular, not much fat there- probably from the biking. However, I am still way too "fluffy" around the waist. I really think my waist is where the majority of my body fat sits!! So, my pants are all baggy in the butt and legs. I have to get size 12's for the waist, but my butt and legs could probably wear a 10, or maybe even an 8. From what I've read, the belly fat is the kind that you DON'T want.

So, I would love to lose the fat around my waist and replace it with some muscle. Which is why I'm going for the weight training at this point. If I really work on building some muscle, don't gain weight, and stay in the 150's that could possibly be a healthy weight in spite of the whole BMI thing?

The number on the scale really doesn't mean much to me now. Sadly, it meant everything in the beginning, but as I've progressed I find myself focusing more on health and how strong and fit I feel and look.

rhondagraymond

Have to agree with Steve. I lost 37 pounds through low carb dieting (http://www.dukandiet.com/The-Dukan-Diet/4-Phases) and I noticed that as I neared my goal weight, it got tougher to lose the last few pounds. In my case, I took up my workout another notch- put ten extra minutes on the treadmill and increased the weights and continued eating as usual. I lost the weight in 4 months and have continued to keep it off.