First 40 way easier than last 25!

vegas1776
vegas1776 Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I don't understand something. I've lost 40 lbs by exercising and eating well. I am working out more now than I have in years....5 days a week with few exceptions. I have been keeping to a health low calorie (1800/day) diet with low carbs and high veggies for the better part of 8 months. With all the activity and proper eating I am guessing my metabolism has gone up so I should be burning more calories naturally than I was when I started this.....so Why is it so difficult to get rid of those last 25 lbs. I've been stuck between 227 and 232 for months. I have touched 226 for a day but not in a while.

Any ideas?

Replies

  • cherbapp
    cherbapp Posts: 322
    Actually the 40 pounds you lost burned over 350 calories a day staying alive.

    So the more you lose, the harder it gets to keep up a significant deficit.

    That's my scientific explanation...my personal explanation is that its just plain stupid. Lol. I am really fighting for my last 26 pounds, so I know the frustration!
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    Congrats on your 40lbs.

    You will actually find that as your weight goes down, so does your calories burned. You weigh less, so therefore it takes your body less effort (and therefore burns less calories) to do those daily activities.

    Personally, I would calculate your TDEE and aim for the 10% fat loss, or recalculate MFP to lose 1/2 lb a week. It may give your body a bit of a shake-up. Try using this:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • cappri
    cappri Posts: 1,089 Member
    No advice, but commiseration. Every pound downward seems to be a fight now.
  • Rachlmale
    Rachlmale Posts: 640 Member
    20 pounds to go... slowest ever *bashes head* ... I dunno, it's like your body teases you into thinking you'll get to your goal quickly and then pulls it away quickly!
  • Rodhands
    Rodhands Posts: 54
    58 down, the pace has slowed to a crawl now though so finally adding exercise in! Just keep on trucking and think more about how you look than the number because how you look will change quicker than numbers will
  • 121John121
    121John121 Posts: 11 Member
    41 down :) Been stuck with 20 to go for a couple of months now... more exercise less food.. more food less exercise.. still the same lol.. hang in there It'll happen :)
  • cordianet
    cordianet Posts: 534 Member
    The simple answer is that as you lose weight, your body becomes more efficient. You burn fewer calories at rest, and also when exercising. This means that to maintain the same rate of loss, you'd have to eat less and workout harder. There comes a point when that's no longer safe or healthy, thus for most people, weight loss looks more like the blue line, than the dashed red line:
    16762840_3268.jpg
    (For the math geeks, it's exponential decay, or a negative exponential curve.)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,422 Member
    Good luck. It is slow going when you have little body fat to lose. The human body likes a little padding of fat to guard against illness or food shortage. It's going to fight you for that last safety storage. You may be at a healthy weight already. Lots of times people pick some number that their body doesn't agree with.
  • kalch
    kalch Posts: 45 Member
    it's called a logarithmic curve (negative exponential)
    ;)

    mix up your exercise every day/week/2 weeks, and really push. Ensure your heart rate gets up there to the appropriate bpm for your age/sex/etc. Do that for a couple days and you might bust through. If you're not doing resistance training, do it, but do it BEFORE cardio, after cardio your form will suffer and you can hurt yourself.

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