losing the last 10lbs

It took about 5-6 months to lose that last 10 pounds (.5 pound loss/week), although it felt like it was longer. The last 10 pounds took me from a BMI of 22.4 to 21. I'm not going to sugar-coat it; it was the hardest 10 pounds to lose. During this time, though, I had really increased my exercise, including moderate strength training. Big calorie burn days or extra intense work outs always resulted in a temporary weight gain, so my loss was never linear. I also had a cheat meal most every Saturday. After over a year of being in weight loss mode, I needed that meal to look forward to and keep me motivated. I lost on 1600 daily calories, plus ate back a portion of my exercise calories (based on an HRM). If you are already eating only 1200 calories, I would not go below that number. Any lost weight would be regained quickly once you started eating somewhat "normally" again. You want your loss to be a "true" loss, not a temporary dip due to practically starving yourself. Be as accurate as you can in your logging and keep at it. Good luck.

Hi - I have 2 and a half pounds left to go til I reach my goal weight, and I'm now at BMI 20.8.

I'm guessing you're underestimating calories a bit; at 1200 calories, you'd lose more than 1 lb every 6 weeks.

I've been eating 1200 calories a day for three months. I've lost a steady 6 lb per month, and the rate hasn't changed as I get closer to my goal weight. I'm hungry a lot.

The last pounds feel hard because I'm impatient. I wish I could just do some all-out crazy fast to shed the last 2 or 3 except that I have to function at work. So, I'm weighing out my snack of 10g of sliced almonds and 10g of ultra-dark chocolate. So tiny. Sigh.

I'm battling the last 12lbs (ish) and at the moment. I am currently 70kg (154lb) I am aiming to get to my goal weight (64kg - 141lb) by the end of January. I am 5ft 2in, and I aim at 1300 calories a day. Getting to 141lb will take my BMI into the 'healthy' section, and is what I used to weigh in college! I now have normal blood pressure, which is the reason I started losing weight, and so some of the motivation has dropped off.

It helps to bear in mind the reasons you're doing this, rather than fixate on the scale - although I am obsessed!

Overall, I am happy with my lifestyle changes, I feel much healthier, I eat better (I eat less, which is cheaper, and i eat more healthily), but I am acutely aware of everything that I put in my mouth. Which is scary!

As it's not just about the number on the scale. I'm going to aim for some other goals - run 10k, lose 2 inches off waist, lift xxkg, etc.

For weight loss intermittent fasting seems to work for me. 1 or 2 days a week at around 500/600 calories. Also, I get the feeling that there's no way to avoid feeling hungry at this stage and I just need to live with that for a bit!

My Mantra - Eat healthily. Measure everything. Drink water. Sleep lots. Enjoy life!

Keep going and remember, losing weight and keeping it off is a long game.

It's hardcore, but look into the 5 bite diet. You should lose your 10lbs in a week, which is way long enough to eat this way.
Basically it's eating 5 bites of whatever food you want for lunch and dinner and unlimited raw veggies throughout the day.

this news will suck and many will disagree- i had to gradually go sub 1000 ( i started around 1500) to get to my goal look (not weight).
- the plan then is to go in reverse slooooowwwlllyyy rebuild my cals and cut again
- just saying you can try if you feel ok with it to cut lower. liek i said people will disagree but its about you as long as you feel ok

christinev297 wrote: »

It's hardcore, but look into the 5 bite diet. You should lose your 10lbs in a week, which is way long enough to eat this way.
Basically it's eating 5 bites of whatever food you want for lunch and dinner and unlimited raw veggies throughout the day.

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

christinev297 wrote: »

It's hardcore, but look into the 5 bite diet. You should lose your 10lbs in a week, which is way long enough to eat this way.
Basically it's eating 5 bites of whatever food you want for lunch and dinner and unlimited raw veggies throughout the day.

Please don't do this. It's unhealthy and shouldn't even be on here because it's promoting unhealthy eating habits. When you get to the last 10 pounds you have to be super strict with your calorie counting and above all you have to have patience. It won't be as fast of a weight loss as the rest of the weight. It took me a year to lose the last 10, but I'll be the first to admit I wasn't super strict like I could have been.

christinev297 wrote: »

It's hardcore, but look into the 5 bite diet. You should lose your 10lbs in a week, which is way long enough to eat this way.
Basically it's eating 5 bites of whatever food you want for lunch and dinner and unlimited raw veggies throughout the day.

I'm going to strongly disagree with this advice. As you lose your last 10 pounds, you want to be transitioning towards maintenance. Most people who have the mindset of 'sprinting' those last few pounds to goal, then see the 'race' as over have a really hard time maintaining. The things you are doing to lose the weight, you should be doing for the rest of your life to keep it off. What you are doing now needs to be sustainable. All too often the people who have a drastic difference between 'diet' life and 'maintenance' life struggle to keep the weight off.

So what if it takes you 6-8 months to lose those last 10 pounds? When those 6-8 months are up, what do you think you will be doing for the next 6-8 months? You should eat moderately, continue your workout routing, and log log log! It shouldn't be all that much different, you'll just have an extra 100-300 calories a day to eat.

You have been doing this for a year. You can do this for the next year, and the next and the next. Don't see your goal weight as the end of this journey. And if 1200 a day doesn't seem realistic to continue - try working in a little more daily activity. (Doesn't have to be sweaty workouts if that's not your thing). More activity = more calories you get to eat.

ana3067 wrote: »

a) your goal is too steep, has been this entire time. You should be aiming for 0,5lbs/week.

b) You are probably eating more htan you think you are. Buy a food scale, weigh your normal portions, see how many cals it adds up to. As already mentioned, you'd be losing more than 1lb/month eating 1200 calories.

c) calculate energy needs from exrx.net or similar websites. If you like eating back exercise calories then just estimate your needs for non-exercise maintenance. and then log and eat back exercise cals. For 0.5lb/week loss, subtract 10% from the maintenance number the website(s) gives you.

Cannot disagree with you on this one other than to say my l