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My understanding was, your cells make hormones/signals while they sit around doing their thing. Fat cells make different signals than muscle cells which make different signals than thyroid cells which make different signals than bone cells. Those hormones/signals get in your blood and travel around to other parts of your body, like your hypothalumus in your brain. All those hormones are in a certain quantities.

In a normally functioning body that's got excess of the signals that are made by fat cells, the brain says to the rest of the body to "put down the fork, you already have enough fat cells, why don't you go hang out with your wife for a while or just chill out for the winter, we have enough fat to make it until spring."

Then in a normal body that has too few of the signals made by fat cells, the hypothalums says to the rest of the body "EAT EVERYTHING IN SIGHT. We don't have enough fat cells to make it thru winter!"

If you have a normal function brain that senses your number of fat cells is within a target range, it says to the rest of the body "There's a chance winter will be here before you know it. Here's some energy, go hunting. Go till the fields for a while." If you can't let go of the last 10 lbs, it's because your brain wants to use that to hunt for more food all day. Stay active, it will come off. Just slowly.

It's a self preservation instinct. Our bodies evolved needing extra fat for envergy in times of famine. Now food is readily available in most of the world, but our bodies haven't evolved to realize it yet. It's only recently in the existence of humans that food has been always abundant and plentiful (it still isn't everywhere in the world). So, our bodies will do everything possible to hold on to those last reserves, "just in case".

My understanding was, your cells make hormones/signals while they sit around doing their thing. Fat cells make different signals than muscle cells which make different signals than thyroid cells which make different signals than bone cells. Those hormones/signals get in your blood and travel around to other parts of your body, like your hypothalumus in your brain. All those hormones are in a certain quantities.

In a normally functioning body that's got excess of the signals that are made by fat cells, the brain says to the rest of the body to "put down the fork, you already have enough fat cells, why don't you go hang out with your wife for a while or just chill out for the winter, we have enough fat to make it until spring."

Then in a normal body that has too few of the signals made by fat cells, the hypothalums says to the rest of the body "EAT EVERYTHING IN SIGHT. We don't have enough fat cells to make it thru winter!"

If you have a normal function brain that senses your number of fat cells is within a target range, it says to the rest of the body "There's a chance winter will be here before you know it. Here's some energy, go hunting. Go till the fields for a while." If you can't let go of the last 10 lbs, it's because your brain wants to use that to hunt for more food all day. Stay active, it will come off. Just slowly.

That makes sense, thank you! I'm down to the last 15 and WHAM, it's practically stopped moving. Thank you!

I LOVE THIS REPLY! Are you a writer?

Thanks for the compliment!! I used to get paid to write for a tech blog, for like a minute, but the pressure of deadlines is very stressful! Lately people have been telling me I should teach science to middle school-ers, since I can break down and explain complex chemical/biological processes, like the kreb's cycle or whatever, into everyday language that makes sense.

Another perspective is that when you're so close to your goal, the number of pounds is kind of irrelevant. The ratio of muscle to fat in your body becomes the key factor in how you actually look - not the number on the scale.

Personally, I can be 140ish pounds and still chubby-looking, because I dieted without exercise (and thus lost some muscle), or I can be that same weight and look pretty fit, because I did a combination of weight training and cardio to get to my goal. That raw number of pounds can be the same while your appearance varies wildly.

To add to that, if your goal weight is unreasonably low, of course it's going to be near impossible to lose the last pounds. Not necessarily saying that's your problem, but you definitely see that on here.

To me, it all adds up to knowing that when you're near to your goal, you should be paying attention to measurements and your body fat percentage, not your weight. Weight without context is a very poor measure of success!

Another perspective is that when you're so close to your goal, the number of pounds is kind of irrelevant. The ratio of muscle to fat in your body becomes the key factor in how you actually look - not the number on the scale.

Personally, I can be 140ish pounds and still chubby-looking, because I dieted without exercise (and thus lost some muscle), or I can be that same weight and look pretty fit, because I did a combination of weight training and cardio to get to my goal. That raw number of pounds can be the same while your appearance varies wildly.

To add to that, if your goal weight is unreasonably low, of course it's going to be near impossible to lose the last pounds. Not necessarily saying that's your problem, but you definitely see that on here.

To me, it all adds up to knowing that when you're near to your goal, you should be paying attention to measurements and your body fat percentage, not your weight. Weight without context is a very poor measure of success!

this makes sense too. Well I am 140 and still quite chubby..I want to lose all the weight I can with just diet alone..and then when I've truly stand still-ed, I'll go to the gym (I dread that part)..I really don't like the gym..Been there, done that..never enjoyed it.

Who says you have to go to the gym?

I think a much more positive attitude would be finding something active that you like - hiking? Long walks? Classes with other people? Personally, I burn a good amount of calories playing volleyball once or twice a week. I've enjoyed zumba and yoga classes. Sometimes when I'm bored I just go walk a lap or two around the mall. There are a million things you could do that are better than putting off fitness until later. And honestly, you can lose as much weight as you want, but I can pretty much guarantee you'll never be happy with your body when you lose weight through diet alone. You'll just keep thinking you're 5 pounds away from your perfect weight, you'll continue to lose muscle, and you'll be less healthy overall than you could be

Aaah I don't want to sound depressing! It's much more about finding something fun, maybe something with friends, and so forth. Volleyball is on my calendar, so I'm guaranteed to get something of a workout each week. I'm sure there's something out there you could get excited about. Good luck