How to lose the last 10 lbs?

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Hi everyone,

I have been on and off MFP for about a year now (having struggled with eating disorders in the past). Now that I feel I have conquered my eating disorders I would like to lose a little bit of weight!

I currently weigh 143 lbs (65kg) and am hoping to weigh 132 lbs (60kg) by this July- so in 5-6 months time. I am 5'6 (167 cm tall).

I was wondering what your best tips were for me to lose weight? I always seem to be able to start cutting my calories but after a while (5 days to 2 weeks) I start to lose motivation/ feel ravinous/ get an insatiable urge to binge and this time I really want to get past that.

I know it might be a bit more difficult because I am actually at a healthy weight (BMI of 23.3) and have a larger frame, but I just wanted to know some tips on how you achieved your weightloss!
smile

Replies

  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
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    What's your daily caloric intake?

    Are you exercising?
  • krhn
    krhn Posts: 781 Member
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    Keep those calories cut - not too much (between 100-500 calories from your normal BMR) and keep at it - I think that is all the advice that can be given, assuming all your diet is in check initially - it will usually take around two weeks to adjust to the diet - so during this time, you may feel slightly weaker/more tired and hungry!!! But if you keep at it, your body will slowly adpat and it should be fine for the long run - just remember, not to drop those calories like a brick cause it can have the opposite effect of fat loss.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    If you find yourself getting hungry then try only having a small deficit if you've had large ones in the past. With only 10lbs to lose you should be aiming for half a pound a week anyway, which is a deficit of only 250 calories a day. And have a cheat meal every now and again if you want, and if you think you can have it without falling back into bad habits. I have cheat meals reasonably often - just last night I went to a Chinese buffet and ate so much I could barely stand - but I'm losing weight just fine, and I'm the same as you with only a few pounds to go.

    All I can really recommend is stick to it. I haven't done anything majorly different from what I did for the first 40 lbs I lost, other than eating slightly more calories as I approach my goal, and having a few more cheat meals! Now that I'm a healthy weight and pretty happy with my body I'm not so worried about going over every now and again (though if I do go over I generally try to make up for it somewhat by eating less the next day or two). But obviously don't make it too common - you still want to be strictly counting calories most days. Good luck!
  • lauraf130490
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    I'm in pretty much the same situation as you, I'm 5ft 6.5 and around 140 pounds. First few weeks I have so much motivation and feel fine, then after a while I start to feel really hungry n depressed. I've decided that 1550 calories, which is what mfp put me at to lose a pound a week, is just too low for me to be happy with long term. I'm increasing my calories to around 1700 and just incorporating more weights into my gym routine and going an extra day a week. Hoping this will help because I find 1550 calories too restricting to stick to, I'm always either hungry of having to constantly deny myself things I enjoy. This is supposed to be a lifestyle change, not just a diet, so I need to find a way of eating and exercising that I'm happy with.
  • mufamuscles
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    250 calorie deficit + cheat meal once a week for sanity. Slow and steady is how the last 10 pounds should go!
  • harphy
    harphy Posts: 290 Member
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    1. Clean eating 90%, whole foods, plenty of protein to keep you full, try to cut as much sugar as you can.
    2. No calories from beverages.
    3.Workout 5-6 times a week.
    4. Be careful not to be hungry. EVER.
    5. Remove temptations for binge as much as you can.

    I don't know if you can make it till summer but any pound counts.
  • pattyproulx
    pattyproulx Posts: 603 Member
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    I would recommend starting small. Since there's only 10lbs to lose and you haven't been actively losing, you shouldn't have to make too much of a change. Start small and do something that you can see yourself doing longterm. The idea should be to change habits and that takes a bit of time.
    If you have a history of binging if you feel depraved, don't deprave yourself.

    Make a few healthy substitutions and maybe give yourself a cut-off time to stop eating if you tend to snack at night. If you put cream/sugar in your coffee, try to maybe phase it out. Up your vegetables, they're low calorie and they'll make you feel fuller.

    Don't make all the changes at once; pick one or two things and get in the habit of doing those, and then you can start adding anther thing or two.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    forget scale weight and shoot for strength gains from this point on.
    Eat at maintenance.
    Lift 3-4x a week hitting all body parts.
    Sleep 7-9 hours a night.
    Take a high quality fish oil supplement and get at least 1g DHA and apps 650mg EPA.

    PM if you need additional help.

    the last 10 will come off but you'll need to eat more and perform better.
  • LexiMelo
    LexiMelo Posts: 203 Member
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    Hi,

    I did this last year, I am the same height as you are. I lost 10 lbs in three months [140-130] (Jan-March) by cutting out ALL added sugar, eating only unprocessed foods, and running. (I know this is not for everyone, but it did work for me http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5251230 ). I ate a lot of vegetables - tried new ones (like radishes!), and chose good grains to eat with them. Once I got down to 130 I started circuit training, started using added sugar again and reverted to a "more normal" diet. I put that in quotations because I still eat mostly unprocessed foods, but I've added things like commercial granola, some soups, and crackers, etc. back into my diet. While I say I've kept the weight off, (despite spending 3.5 HOURS/day in the car for most of last year!) I actually look better now than I did in March because I've been doing a lot of lifting. Right now I eat between 1800-2000 calories/day and it's easy to maintain. I also look better than when I weighed 125.

    That's what worked for me - not sure if it will work for you. Good luck - and just remember that if you are using vegetables right (two different types at dinner is good!) you should never be hungry because your food will be voluminous. At the end of the day you should never be hungry. Eating full fat foods helps too!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Don't listen to all the terrible advice here. Depriving yourself will only make it harder on you.
    Small deficit, weigh everything you eat... By now you should have a good idea of what your TDEE is. What works for me is a 400 calorie deficit but I don't sweat it if I go over by 200, because my deficit is pretty big. And I've been over by 1000 or something pretty much once every week for a month... I lost 1 lb yesterday. And I'm definitely not eating 'clean'.

    To be fair I guess it depends on how aggressive you are in your goal. Your last 10 lbs won't be my last 10 lbs (I'm 5'5", 137 lbs, would like to lose 7 more lbs, but a lot of women my height aim for 125). But I don't believe you have to eat clean or cut sugars to get there.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Keep those calories cut - not too much (between 100-500 calories from your normal BMR)
    :noway: Do NOT cut from your BMR. BMR is the minimum cals you should be taking in.
    forget scale weight and shoot for strength gains from this point on.
    Eat at maintenance.
    Lift 3-4x a week hitting all body parts.
    Sleep 7-9 hours a night.
    Take a high quality fish oil supplement and get at least 1g DHA and apps 650mg EPA.

    PM if you need additional help.

    the last 10 will come off but you'll need to eat more and perform better.
    I lost my last 10lbs following this man's advice (great thread here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13 ). I did not start eating less, I ate MORE. I did not increase workout time, but I did focus more on strength, spending quality time using my dumbbells and body weight at home. It took some time, but a small calorie deficit worked liked a charm for making the changes I was looking for - losing fat and inches and dropping another size. :drinker:

    Took awhile for the scale to catch up, but who cares - my scale was stagnant while my tape measure and loose clothes were telling me the true story and showing my success.

    Find your BMR and TDEE, take a small cut from the TDEE, and do your best to hit your macros. Grab some weights, a camera and a tape measure and use them. And be patient. Good luck!
  • RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle
    Options
    Keep those calories cut - not too much (between 100-500 calories from your normal BMR)
    :noway: Do NOT cut from your BMR. BMR is the minimum cals you should be taking in.
    forget scale weight and shoot for strength gains from this point on.
    Eat at maintenance.
    Lift 3-4x a week hitting all body parts.
    Sleep 7-9 hours a night.
    Take a high quality fish oil supplement and get at least 1g DHA and apps 650mg EPA.

    PM if you need additional help.

    the last 10 will come off but you'll need to eat more and perform better.
    I lost my last 10lbs following this man's advice (great thread here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13 ). I did not start eating less, I ate MORE. I did not increase workout time, but I did focus more on strength, spending quality time using my dumbbells and body weight at home. It took some time, but a small calorie deficit worked liked a charm for making the changes I was looking for - losing fat and inches and dropping another size. :drinker:

    Took awhile for the scale to catch up, but who cares - my scale was stagnant while my tape measure and loose clothes were telling me the true story and showing my success.

    Find your BMR and TDEE, take a small cut from the TDEE, and do your best to hit your macros. Grab some weights, a camera and a tape measure and use them. And be patient. Good luck!

    ^
    Same here:)
  • madi777
    madi777 Posts: 11 Member
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    Wow! Thanks everyone for such a big response!! I appreciate all your advice!

    Currently I am eating net calories of 1300 (usually ends up being around 1600 gross- as I workout 5-6 times per week).
    What is strange is that yesterday I went off the rails a bit and ended up eating about 2300 calories, this morning when I weighed myself- I had lost 1.5 lbs! And I now weigh 142.5 lbs! Does anyone know why this might have happened? Does it mean I am starving myself and should eat more?

    Also, in the past when I have done weight lifting (and I mean heavy lifting- as heavy as I could manage) I actually (despite what all evidence suggests) started to get bigger! My pants weren't fitting and I looked "puffy". I was eating at a caloric deficit so I simply do not understand why this was happening? I love lifting but not if it makes me get bigger!

    Currently I do a combination of zumba, body attack, body step, body combat and CX works, with the odd walk here and there- so I know my cardio is sufficient!

    Anyway again, thanks for all the responses, it is really helpful to know that others have done the same thing and succeeded!:happy:

    out of interest, how long did it take you guys to lose the last 10 pounds?
  • DirtyCurvesAhead
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    Wow! Thanks everyone for such a big response!! I appreciate all your advice!

    Currently I am eating net calories of 1300 (usually ends up being around 1600 gross- as I workout 5-6 times per week).
    What is strange is that yesterday I went off the rails a bit and ended up eating about 2300 calories, this morning when I weighed myself- I had lost 1.5 lbs! And I now weigh 142.5 lbs! Does anyone know why this might have happened? Does it mean I am starving myself and should eat more?

    Also, in the past when I have done weight lifting (and I mean heavy lifting- as heavy as I could manage) I actually (despite what all evidence suggests) started to get bigger! My pants weren't fitting and I looked "puffy". I was eating at a caloric deficit so I simply do not understand why this was happening? I love lifting but not if it makes me get bigger!

    Currently I do a combination of zumba, body attack, body step, body combat and CX works, with the odd walk here and there- so I know my cardio is sufficient!

    Anyway again, thanks for all the responses, it is really helpful to know that others have done the same thing and succeeded!:happy:

    out of interest, how long did it take you guys to lose the last 10 pounds?
    The puffy is water being pushed into you're muscles to help facilitate recovery. At the begini g this can last for a week or two, but your body quickly adjusts and is able to recover quicker and with less puffiness.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Options
    Keep those calories cut - not too much (between 100-500 calories from your normal BMR)
    :noway: Do NOT cut from your BMR. BMR is the minimum cals you should be taking in.
    forget scale weight and shoot for strength gains from this point on.
    Eat at maintenance.
    Lift 3-4x a week hitting all body parts.
    Sleep 7-9 hours a night.
    Take a high quality fish oil supplement and get at least 1g DHA and apps 650mg EPA.

    PM if you need additional help.

    the last 10 will come off but you'll need to eat more and perform better.
    I lost my last 10lbs following this man's advice (great thread here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13 ). I did not start eating less, I ate MORE. I did not increase workout time, but I did focus more on strength, spending quality time using my dumbbells and body weight at home. It took some time, but a small calorie deficit worked liked a charm for making the changes I was looking for - losing fat and inches and dropping another size. :drinker:

    Took awhile for the scale to catch up, but who cares - my scale was stagnant while my tape measure and loose clothes were telling me the true story and showing my success.

    Find your BMR and TDEE, take a small cut from the TDEE, and do your best to hit your macros. Grab some weights, a camera and a tape measure and use them. And be patient. Good luck!

    Love you!!!!
  • ruthmccabe1
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    Hi, Im new here. Interested in 'eat more' in relation to losing the last 10lbs. That is my max target loss, and in fact I'm more interested in losing fat (belly mainly). Is there any info about what eating more is in relation to? More than maintenance level? More than deficit = lose weight, level? Thanks.
  • jensen1226
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    Sent PM
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    I'm in maintenance and when I feel myself getting to the top of the maintenance range that I set for myself, I remind myself that motivation needs to be renewed daily. It doesn't last for days/weeks/months/years, especially if you changed your eating habits at some point. Sometimes I can have a great, healthy day without even thinking about it, some days I really struggle but I can do it, and sometimes I just can't do it and need pizza and a shamrock shake (cough last Saturday cough). Every morning when your alarm goes off and you sit up, tell yourself you're going to kill it today. Take it one day at a time, even though you are close to your goal...especially since you are close to your goal.

    Hopefully that helps and wasn't too much rambling!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Don't listen to all the terrible advice here. Depriving yourself will only make it harder on you.
    Small deficit, weigh everything you eat... By now you should have a good idea of what your TDEE is. What works for me is a 400 calorie deficit but I don't sweat it if I go over by 200, because my deficit is pretty big. And I've been over by 1000 or something pretty much once every week for a month... I lost 1 lb yesterday. And I'm definitely not eating 'clean'.

    To be fair I guess it depends on how aggressive you are in your goal. Your last 10 lbs won't be my last 10 lbs (I'm 5'5", 137 lbs, would like to lose 7 more lbs, but a lot of women my height aim for 125). But I don't believe you have to eat clean or cut sugars to get there.

    Yah this...

    I eat on average 1700 a day and lift heavy 3x a week and do HIIT 2x...I lose on average 0.66lbs a week ...that is TDEE-15%.

    I am not hungry due to the amount of protien...

    If you love lifting do it...the water retention goes away...

    and to give perspective since I have started lifting I have gone from a size 10 to a size 7, lost 5% BF(total of almost 9%), 5.5inches all over (total of 18 from resistence training) and 22.5lbs since June...the lbs I don't care about it's the 9% bf...