Difficulty losing the last lbs

dreamob · March 2015

So I have been on my "fitness journey' for about a year now. When I first started, I lost a few pounds easily from cleaning up my diet & working out (I did Zumba regularly and some weights). I was happy with my weight but wanted to lose 2-3lbs more and tone up, so I started to see a trainer who gave me more strength training workouts and less cardio- so I quit Zumba and got myself a gym membership.

At this same time I started a new job that completely took over my life and I started really slacking on my workouts and took an entire month off and wasn't as strict with my diet (a few nights of drinking and 2am burritos..yikes!) ... consequently I gained all my weight back and then some.. nothing extreme, I have always been thin with a high metabolism so my heaviest which is now, is about 122-123 lbs. (im 5'3 and 26 years old)

I have been working my a** off the last 3 months to lose the weight (realistically I would be happy with 6 lbs off) and I have maybe MAYBE lost 1 inch and 1 pound, which probably made its way back in the last week or so. Its really frustrating and taking a toll on me by adding a lot of stress and disappointment as I am literally doing whatever I can to get it off and im not seeing any results.. like at all.

My current routine is 3 strength training/weight days at the gym (40-50 min sessions each) and 3 cardio days (20-30 min HIIT on the treadmill or bike). Ill occasionally throw in a pilates class or an at home workout. My eating has also been super clean, I will throw in a cheat meal here and there for my sanity, but ive always been a healthy eater, (organic, salads, lean protein, tons of veggies.. etc), so food has never been an issue for me.

My trainer just upped my calories to around 1500 to see if more calories would help (I was at 1200 or so for a couple weeks to see if that would work, but no) . She also gave me my macros as : Protein: 135g, Carb: 112g and Fat 60g. Its only been about 2 weeks on this plan so we will see if that helps ( so far nothing) .. but any advice would be GREATLY appreciated as I am about to lose my sanity by working my butt off and not seeing any results.

nikkib0103 · March 2015

I think those last couple of pounds are hellish. They just don't like to leave the stage. I think all you can actually do is keep eating right, exercising, drink water and be patient. I don't think there is much else for it. You COULD I suppose vary your calories day to day. I have gotten unstuck that way in the past. Not for a long period just a few days and see if that helps. And drink more water.

Jubee13 · March 2015

nikkib0103 wrote: »

I think those last couple of pounds are hellish. They just don't like to leave the stage. I think all you can actually do is keep eating right, exercising, drink water and be patient. I don't think there is much else for it. You COULD I suppose vary your calories day to day. I have gotten unstuck that way in the past. Not for a long period just a few days and see if that helps. And drink more water.

So true. I recently went through this very thing, and it was soooo frustrating! I did ^^^. Just kept at it, and it finally came off. I just had to be patient, and yes it was hard but SO worth it!

dreamob · March 2015

Jubee13 wrote: »

nikkib0103 wrote: »

I think those last couple of pounds are hellish. They just don't like to leave the stage. I think all you can actually do is keep eating right, exercising, drink water and be patient. I don't think there is much else for it. You COULD I suppose vary your calories day to day. I have gotten unstuck that way in the past. Not for a long period just a few days and see if that helps. And drink more water.

So true. I recently went through this very thing, and it was soooo frustrating! I did ^^^. Just kept at it, and it finally came off. I just had to be patient, and yes it was hard but SO worth it!

Thank you guys for responding !! I realized a wrote a novel and figured most people would look at it and be like "eh, that looks intense rather not,," haha but I really appreciate the time you took to read and give feedback !

And If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take to finally come off?

maxiemills · March 2015

Jubee13 wrote: »

nikkib0103 wrote: »

I think those last couple of pounds are hellish. They just don't like to leave the stage. I think all you can actually do is keep eating right, exercising, drink water and be patient. I don't think there is much else for it. You COULD I suppose vary your calories day to day. I have gotten unstuck that way in the past. Not for a long period just a few days and see if that helps. And drink more water.

So true. I recently went through this very thing, and it was soooo frustrating! I did ^^^. Just kept at it, and it finally came off. I just had to be patient, and yes it was hard but SO worth it!

Jubee13 · March 2015

"And If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take to finally come off?"

I didn't lose every week. I'd lose 1/2 pound one week, none the next, then maybe 1 or 1/2 pounds the next week. The weeks I didn't lose any were the worst, but I decided I wasn't willing to cut more calories, or go on a "fad" diet, so I just kept going. I'm happy I didn't give up. I came very close at times, though!

Francl27 · March 2015

You're eating too much, it's just that simple. How do you measure your food?

Christine_72 · March 2015

I lost 25lbs pretty quickly. Now i'm down to my last 6 i'm averaging around 1lb a month!! Infuriatingly slow, but i know it will come off eventually. I could lose it quicker if i reduced my calories, but i refuse to do that at this point, because for me, ultra low calories equal misery

I just have to find some patience....

dreamob · April 2015

Francl27 wrote: »

You're eating too much, it's just that simple. How do you measure your food?

I have a scale I use. Im eating around 1,500 calories a day, some days im a little more and somedays less

dreamob · April 2015

christinev297 wrote: »

I lost 25lbs pretty quickly. Now i'm down to my last 6 i'm averaging around 1lb a month!! Infuriatingly slow, but i know it will come off eventually. I could lose it quicker if i reduced my calories, but i refuse to do that at this point, because for me, ultra low calories equal misery I just have to find some patience....

I completely agree! I tried lowering my calories and it did nothing, I was just tired and lazy and working out was soo tough because I didn't have energy! I rather it take longer to lose then not be able to enjoy eating good food.

lulufee317537 · April 2015

It's difficult. If you eat too little, your body will hang onto those pounds (studies show this, more stress hormone is produced when the calories are too low). So, you have to get to the sweet spot of just enough calories to be below maintenance.
On top of this, the body will become accustomed to your routine, and to exercising in general, becoming more efficient, and so the amount of calories you burn can be much less than what MFP will give. A slip up in snacking or whatever and you can end up, in reality, not actually eating below maintenance. You think, I ate 2000, burned 500, but really maybe you ate 2200 and only burned 300. Generally the numbers on calories in food is pretty accurate, so a source of error could be the calories burned.
A good way to measure calories burned is to get a heart rate monitor with calorie calculator, or you can find numbers online of how many calories you burn according to heart rate, age, male/female, etc. This is what I use, and I've been seeing small but steady loss about 0.5 lb a week.

angelasrescuedog · April 2015

I'm the same that last 7lb is killing me. And I'm on holiday for Easter to Yorkshire UK. I'm dreading it all the sea air and ice cream will be the end of me lol

Difficulty losing the last lbs

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