Scientifically Are the Last 10 lbs REALLY the Hardest?

I've been thinking...
So many people talk about how the last few pounds (10 or so) are the most difficult to lose, how they are very stubborn and slow to go, and it doesn't make sense to me at all.

Scientifically/mathematically speaking, since weight loss is calories in<calories out= weight loss, If you are eating at a calorie deficit it shouldn't matter whether the 10 pounds take you to your goal or whether they are somewhere in the middle of your journey, 3500 calories is still a pound. Right?

What am I missing here? Is the thought that "the last 10 pounds are the hardest to lose" just an old wives tale? Maybe it just feels like they are the hardest because you're so close to goal and just want to get there? If it's true, how is that explained? What's the deal?

Anybody here a dietician/nutritionist that knows?

This is THE LAST PLACE you should ever come for informed information from educated people based on science or fact. If you're looking for people spouting myths and misinformation as if they did in fact have degrees in kinesiology and nutrition then you've come to the right place...

There is an "essential" fat level at about 4% for men and I think around 10% for women (could be wrong on the exact numbers). Presumably if you get that low and continue to try to caloricly restrict your body would switch from getting calories from fat and start to burn your muscle instead. My understanding though is that this process is switched on only when you get down to essential fat. You can see evidence for this in competitive bodybuilders who maintain extremely high muscle mass while cutting down to 4-5% bodyfat. The suggestions I've seen here about it actually getting harder seems to be that when you get low percent bodyfat (like 8-10% for a man) that your body starts to "resist" losing fat.

I'm not sure that is true...I am skeptical of that and would want more than a "common sense" explanation before I accepted it. If I have learned anything from science its that peoples common sense has a real bad reputation for describing actual reality.

It's actually very hard to lose fat without losing muscle at any weight.

There was actually a study done that showed that plenty protein and weight training is enough to not lose muscle.

There is, I believe, also the "hill factor".
If you watch runners or cyclists (non-professional) go up a hill, they'll do various forms of attack and persist until they get ALMOST to the top. Then they stop trying so hard because... they're almost there. They've put in so much effort so far, surely they can just rest a little bit before the top... etc. Think about a common phrase we use to help people through things: "Keep going, you're almost there!".

Continuing to pursue your goal with the same vigor when you are near the end as when you did at the beginning is tough. For some close is enough to stop the effort required (even if they don't change their goal). This is where a lot of dissonance sets in and things get "uncomfortable". You think of all the effort you've put in and you "deserve" to be at the end already..... but there's still more work ahead.... is that last bit really worth it?

Plan on having it feel hard. Really hard. Plan on needing every ounce of self discipline to make it through to your actual goal. Be ready for that challenge. It will come.

I think you all are ignoring the feedback loops the body has to protect itself from starvation. You're also not defining "last".

Are you talking about going from 26% body fat to 25%? Probably not that hard.

Are you talking about going from 10% to 8%? Totally different ballgame.

I think you all are ignoring the feedback loops the body has to protect itself from starvation. You're also not defining "last".

Are you talking about going from 26% body fat to 25%? Probably not that hard.

Are you talking about going from 10% to 8%? Totally different ballgame.

This exactly! As you aproach essential bf% and below your body begins to fight and adjust where it pulls it's energy from, making fat loss a fight of balancing your deficit and exercise. You need to push the body to keep muscle out of necessity while keeping energy expenditure just above intake to slowly coax the body to burn fat.

As you lose weight at any point you have to continue to increase energy expenditure or decrease intake to keep the same deficit. So in this aspect each lb is harder than the last. But when they say the last 10lbs I believe it is ment to describe the last 10 to reach your essential bf%.

Study to back this claim up?

Personally I think there's no science to back this up because...that "last 10 pounds" is often just in our own head...while our body might not need to lose it...say "vanity pounds"...because you might not need to lose it, it makes it harder?

Personally I think there's no science to back this up because...that "last 10 pounds" is often just in our own head...while our body might not need to lose it...say "vanity pounds"...because you might not need to lose it, it makes it harder?

Good point.

Also your body doesn't know what the hell the "last 10 lbs" are. It's very common for people, especially once very overweight and obese people, to set goal weights that actually leave them still overweight. They pick a number that seems "normal", or the highest possible "healthy" weight on a chart, and aim for that. Then you see people struggling with the supposed "last 10 pounds" who actually could quite safely lose another 10-20 on top of that.

I think the point where people truly run into physiological resistance to low bodyfat levels, say 10% or less for men, or 18% or less for women, is a level that most once fat people never, ever even reach. Going from 13% down to 10% or sub levels is understandable. But what happens when a man is talking about the impossibility of the "last 10 lbs" when he's actually at around 23%?

How many formerly obese and very overweight people do you see with goal weights, and goal bodyfat percentages, that are in the truly "difficult to shed" category?

Personally I think there's no science to back this up because...that "last 10 pounds" is often just in our own head...while our body might not need to lose it...say "vanity pounds"...because you might not need to lose it, it makes it harder?

Good point.

Also your body doesn't know what the hell the "last 10 lbs" are. It's very common for people, especially once very overweight and obese people, to set goal weights that actually leave them still overweight. They pick a number that seems "normal", or the highest possible "healthy" weight on a chart, and aim for that. Then you see people struggling with the supposed "last 10 pounds" who actually could quite safely lose another 10-20 on top of that.

I think the point where people truly run into physiological resistance to low bodyfat levels, say 10% or less for men, or 18% or less for women, is a level that most once fat people never, ever even reach. Going from 13% down to 10% or sub levels is understandable. But what happens when a man is talking about the impossibility of the "last 10 lbs" when he's actually at around 23%?

How many formerly obese and very overweight people do you see with goal weights, and goal bodyfat percentages, that are in the truly "difficult to shed" category?

I've gone from clinically obese to 18% once and am on my way there again.

So really, they are not more difficult or more stubborn to get rid of, the only difference is that your deficit has been dialed down to match your newer TDEE so it takes a longer period of time to reach the 3500 calorie deficit. Did I get it right?

By the way, "Duh" isn't really a kind response when someone is asking an honest question.

Additionally, since MFP doesn't tell users to decrease their calorie deficit as they get closer to goal, there are potentially many people that would continue rocking their initial deficit setting all the way to their goal weight and they'd never know that it should have been changed. So I'm not sure it's "common sense".