2 months later, still 5ish lbs from goal

magrieve78
magrieve78 Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been a diligent MFP user for 9 months now. For the last 2 months I've been 5lbs from my goal weight. I fluctuate a pound or 2 in each section here and there, but have not been able to legitimately show a loss in months. So discouraging. :( Over the past few months I've amped up my workouts, hoping to jumpstart something. I even increased my weight loss goal to 1.5lbs per week from 1lb. 2 failed attempts. Very tired of hearing "the number on the scale doesn't matter" and "its muscle weight". Any ideas?? I will do just about anything to see "you've reached your goal!"

Replies

  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    The closer you get to your goal, the harder it is to make any change. Bumping up the amount you want to lose per week is not helping matters. Realistically, you should probably drop the number down to lose 0.5 lbs per week instead. I know you don't want to hear it, but you are reaching a point where making the scale move is difficult and is probably not an accurate indicator. Have you tracked your body fat? I found myself in the same place you're at six months ago. I was between 5 and 10 lbs from my goal, depending on the day, but I could never get that last bit. In the last two months, I've switched over to tracking body fat and doing Insanity. My weight hasn't moved, but I'm down 4" on my belly and three percentage points of body fat. Having another, more accurate metric to track can help wean you off of the scale. Beyond that, I don't know that I have any useful advice.
  • gogoboobzilla
    gogoboobzilla Posts: 91 Member
    The closer you get to your goal, the harder it is to make any change. Bumping up the amount you want to lose per week is not helping matters. Realistically, you should probably drop the number down to lose 0.5 lbs per week instead. I know you don't want to hear it, but you are reaching a point where making the scale move is difficult and is probably not an accurate indicator. Have you tracked your body fat? I found myself in the same place you're at six months ago. I was between 5 and 10 lbs from my goal, depending on the day, but I could never get that last bit. In the last two months, I've switched over to tracking body fat and doing Insanity. My weight hasn't moved, but I'm down 4" on my belly and three percentage points of body fat. Having another, more accurate metric to track can help wean you off of the scale. Beyond that, I don't know that I have any useful advice.

    Awesome advice. Being SO close to goal, I second changing your method of tracking.
  • magrieve78
    magrieve78 Posts: 9 Member
    Thanks guys. Just listed my weekly goal loss to .5 lbs. Fingers crossed!
  • CrankMeUp
    CrankMeUp Posts: 2,860 Member
    Have you been taking measurements?

    Maybe seeing changes in those numbers would be encouraging instead of focusing on just the scale for success.
  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
    Stats? And what sort of workouts are you doing? Do you lift?

    Since I started lifting, my weight loss has slowed waaay down, but I am happier with how I actually look, is why I ask about lifting.
  • m_wilh
    m_wilh Posts: 362 Member
    I've had the same problem for 6 months. I've just started lifting weights 3 times a week in addition to some Jillian Michael's workouts. I'm much more concerned with the measuring tape than the scale though.
  • jstika
    jstika Posts: 18 Member
    I'm in the same boat. Around 10 pounds from my goal and haven't seen the scale move. Granted I haven't been trying super hard...
    I go through short stretches of a few days where I just don't want to log food or think about MFP. I think that refreshes me to start getting back at it. I figure I'll get down there eventually...as long as I don't gain back any weight, I'm fine with it for now.
  • magrieve78
    magrieve78 Posts: 9 Member
    I take bootcamp (running, push-ups, squats....)1-2 times per week, zumba 2x per week and fill in the other days with elliptical, running and biking. I've been resisting lifting until i hit my goal, b/c i knew it would make the scale move in the wrong direction.i definitely should have taken measurements. Regretting that i didn't.

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