The stubborn last 5 pounds.....

THuffman1967

I posted this in my group forum, bus so far no replies so thought I'd try here.

I've often heard that the last 5 to 10 pounds are the most difficult to lose. I want to know why?? Is it physiological or psychological? I have been hovering around 130 pounds for a couple of weeks now. I did fluctuate up and down a couple of pounds with the holidays. I have 8 weeks until my beach vacation and would really like to hit my goal weight of 125 before then. Any tips on losing the last 5? Should I just keep doing what I'm doing? My calorie goal is set at 1200/day, and I eat back my exercise calories. Some days I do go over a little bit, but not too much and some day's I'm under. I work out almost every day, running (training for my first half-marathon) or Body Pump.

jellybeanmusic

Maybe your end goal is too low and your body is happy where it is?

aliciab307

Not sure of your stats but you deficit may be too large for the last 5 lbs you have less. Your goal on mfp should be 0.5lb/week.

lilpoindexter

You ain't lying about that last bit of fat...Usually when I've plateaued in the past, my fix was to change my exercise pattern, which usually meant jacking up the cardio...but I don't really want to do more, because I don't think it would be sustainable long term. Cutting back my calories would probably be the best answer, but I like to eat too much.

Firefox7275

Take more rest days and/ or cycle your training hard and easy weeks as athletes do, marathon training and diets are tough on the body you may be putting the body into a state of stress. There are three days a week half marathon training plans.

VictoriaWorksOut

It is probably the internal fat, fat that is around organs. Research it online. You will have to step up your healthy eating and be smart with exercise.

acogg

You are close to your weight and calorie equalibrium. The closer you are, the slower you will lose.

csinor373

I recently did the HCG diet (greatly restrictive high protein veggie and fruit based diet for 21-30 days, then maintenance diet afterwards) and lost 25 pounds. This particular diet says that in the maintenance phase you can break a plateau or you can lose weight quickly if you gain 2 lbs after a particular day of "overeating" (like Christmas) by having an apple or steak day. An apple day consists of all the water, coffee, unsweetened or stevia-sweetened tea that you want along with 12 apples throughout the day. A friend of mine does this and it works for her. With my schedule though (and because I think I would balk at that many apples!), I prefer the steak day where you have all the water, coffee, unsweetened or stevia-sweetened tea that you want and then for dinner, you eat the largest steak you can handle with either an apple or a tomato. No salad, no veggies, nothing else but the steak and the tomato (or apple).

I didn't believe it when I first heard about this but I went up 2 lbs at Christmas due to having some wine and some cream-based foods. I did a steak day and lost 2.5 lbs! I treated myself again at New Years with some wine and pasta, gained the expected 2 lbs, did another steak day and lost 1.8 lbs. Now this week, my eating was off because I had to travel. Between long days in court and the flight, my weight went up 2 lbs. I did a steak day yesterday and dropped 2.5 lbs this morning.

I still can't figure out how this works considering my fluid intake is greater than most days, but there's something about eating only the protein that causes the body to burn off whatever it does't need to hold on to. In talking to various people, I've been told that athlete will do steak days like this if they have to lose weight in order to weigh in before a wrestling match.

Two key points though - only do a steak day "once in a while" to jump start the body. The HCG diet said once a week at most if you're struggling with the maintenance phase of your diet (where you've reached your desired weight and want to maintain your weight) What's nice though is that it seems like when I do a steak day, my body "resets" itself and then it's easier to go back to eating healthier (not splurging or having those carb cravings) and I'll start to lose 0.5 lbs per week again.

betoarango

bump for April when I hope to need this advice....

lin7604

how tall are you?

Helloitsdan

OP you need a very slight deficit from TDEE to get your 5lbs.
Its going to be difficult.

A couple things you can do is add 1 day of intervals on an empty stomach (water only).
Be sure you lift to maintain lean mass or youll just shrink.

Info here on figuring your TDEE http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Helloitsdan

I recently did the HCG diet (greatly restrictive high protein veggie and fruit based diet for 21-30 days, then maintenance diet afterwards) and lost 25 pounds. This particular diet says that in the maintenance phase you can break a plateau or you can lose weight quickly if you gain 2 lbs after a particular day of "overeating" (like Christmas) by having an apple or steak day. An apple day consists of all the water, coffee, unsweetened or stevia-sweetened tea that you want along with 12 apples throughout the day. A friend of mine does this and it works for her. With my schedule though (and because I think I would balk at that many apples!), I prefer the steak day where you have all the water, coffee, unsweetened or stevia-sweetened tea that you want and then for dinner, you eat the largest steak you can handle with either an apple or a tomato. No salad, no veggies, nothing else but the steak and the tomato (or apple).

I didn't believe it when I first heard about this but I went up 2 lbs at Christmas due to having some wine and some cream-based foods. I did a steak day and lost 2.5 lbs! I treated myself again at New Years with some wine and pasta, gained the expected 2 lbs, did another steak day and lost 1.8 lbs. Now this week, my eating was off because I had to travel. Between long days in court and the flight, my weight went up 2 lbs. I did a steak day yesterday and dropped 2.5 lbs this morning.

I still can't figure out how this works considering my fluid intake is greater than most days, but there's something about eating only the protein that causes the body to burn off whatever it does't need to hold on to. In talking to various people, I've been told that athlete will do steak days like this if they have to lose weight in order to weigh in before a wrestling match.

Two key points though - only do a steak day "once in a while" to jump start the body. The HCG diet said once a week at most if you're struggling with the maintenance phase of your diet (where you've reached your desired weight and want to maintain your weight) What's nice though is that it seems like when I do a steak day, my body "resets" itself and then it's easier to go back to eating healthier (not splurging or having those carb cravings) and I'll start to lose 0.5 lbs per week again.

Dont listen to this person.
She doesnt know what shes doing.

THuffman1967

Maybe your end goal is too low and your body is happy where it is?

I had thought of that.

THuffman1967

how tall are you?

I am 5'4".

elka67

how tall are you?

I am 5'4".

We could be twins, I'm also 45 5'5'' 130 lb and wanting to shift 4-5 lb more, exercising 4-5 times per week at spin/bodypump mainly.
No answers but hoping it'll happen at some point, I do see where it could come off me.
Is it just a number you're after or do you see that you still have extra fat?

successgal1

Lay off the running and try a different type of cardio?