The Last 25 Pounds - How did you do it?
sweetpea03b
Posts: 1,123 Member
Hello All... I have been around here for a loooooong time. I guess I've been losing the same 10 lbs for several years now. I don't remember a time I wasn't counting calories. Sure, I'll take a break here and there for a few months but I always come back. The same thing happens every time. I get so close to my goal... but then my weight loss will stall FOREVER and no matter what I do, I can't get the scale to budge.... and you guessed it, I say "screw it" and I stop.... gain 10lbs... come back... lose it... my body and I have been playing this game for far too long. My goal weight (at this point) is 140lbs - 26.6# away from where I am now. I can't seem to get that scale to budge. Sure, I know the scale isn't everything, go by your measurements and take pictures, etc. but I'm not seeing much results on any front at this point and that is beyond frustrating.
My stats: 5'4, CW 166.6, GW 140
Typically I'm a runner but I'm "benched" for 6 weeks with a stress fracture (2 weeks to go). So right now my workouts look like this: Mon & Sat - Toning class (1 hour of HIIT integrating lifting weights and body weight movements), T-F 30-50m of Stationary Bike. I tend to do abs or something like that a few days a week after biking. Sun - Rest. Based on all the TDEE research I have done my TDEE (without exercise) is 1800 so I set my diary to 1600 giving me a built in 200cal deficit and get the rest from exercise. Some days I have a smaller deficit than others... depending on how I feel. I weigh EVERYTHING. I try to keep the "empty" carbs to a minimum except before a workout I'll have a carb-y snack. I try to stick to IIFYM for the most part and let myself have what I want within reason. No fast food, very rarely do I drink soda... but I do love wine. That's my vice. I drink a ton of water every day.
So there you have it. Sorry that was a long round-about way to get to the point. Those of you who have REACHED your goal, how did you lose the last 25lbs? The problem is the less you have to lose, the harder it is. I thought, maybe my diary is too conservative... maybe I should shave off 100cal and see how that goes... but it seems the times I was eating really low calories I wasn't losing... I upped the calories... I lost for a few weeks... now i'm not losing again.
My stats: 5'4, CW 166.6, GW 140
Typically I'm a runner but I'm "benched" for 6 weeks with a stress fracture (2 weeks to go). So right now my workouts look like this: Mon & Sat - Toning class (1 hour of HIIT integrating lifting weights and body weight movements), T-F 30-50m of Stationary Bike. I tend to do abs or something like that a few days a week after biking. Sun - Rest. Based on all the TDEE research I have done my TDEE (without exercise) is 1800 so I set my diary to 1600 giving me a built in 200cal deficit and get the rest from exercise. Some days I have a smaller deficit than others... depending on how I feel. I weigh EVERYTHING. I try to keep the "empty" carbs to a minimum except before a workout I'll have a carb-y snack. I try to stick to IIFYM for the most part and let myself have what I want within reason. No fast food, very rarely do I drink soda... but I do love wine. That's my vice. I drink a ton of water every day.
So there you have it. Sorry that was a long round-about way to get to the point. Those of you who have REACHED your goal, how did you lose the last 25lbs? The problem is the less you have to lose, the harder it is. I thought, maybe my diary is too conservative... maybe I should shave off 100cal and see how that goes... but it seems the times I was eating really low calories I wasn't losing... I upped the calories... I lost for a few weeks... now i'm not losing again.
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Replies
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I'm gonna go with you are over thinking this. Weight loss won't be linear, you won't lose something EVERY week. If you do, congrats, but it usually doesn't work like that.
With the upping and downing of calories I'm pretty sure your body has no clue what you are doing to it. LOL
My advice? Patience and trusting the process. If you enter losing lb/week into MFP, what calorie goal does it give you? I never went with TDEE because the days I didn't exercise I tended to eat too much...so I used the MFP method and ate back 1/2 my exercise calories (because even with a HRM, I didn't really know HOW much I was really burning. Exercise was more for me to eat more.
Do you use a food scale? If not, you may be overestimating how much you are really eating.
I'm 5'11 and 150 currently (in 2011 I was 193, but we won't talk about that) and when I want to lose weight I eat between 1400 & 1600 calories to lose a 1/2 lb week (on average, but I'm usually only aiming to lose 2-4lbs of "opps" weight). I don't work in exercise at all because at this stage it's just a bonus.
You'll notice what worked for the first 25 won't work for the last 25. Some people will tell you to vary or up your intesity of your exercise. I'll tell you that you may have to eat less for a few weeks to see if that helps. I lost the MOST of my weight by not exercising at all. I had no problem. Most people here will flog me for staying that...0 -
Some initial thoughts on looking at your diary: When you have things like "3 eggs" or "2 slices" of bacon or bread, are you weighing those? You have a lot of cups for vegetables or other foods -- are you using the weight and just entering it in cups (like the "1 tablespoon" of Miracle Whip -- is that weighed out to the calorie count the package gives for a tablespoon or did you actually use a tablespoon for it?). How much cream and sugar goes into a coffee with one cream and one sugar? Your meat weights seem really even -- are you rounding them up or are there some meats that you aren't weighing? I see at least one entry for a "medium" banana, I see generic entries for a casserole. Not trying to second guess your statement that you weigh everything, I just want to make sure.
To lose my last bit of weight, I found that accurate logging was super important. That meant that I logged everything possible by the raw weight and avoided generic entries as much as possible. You seem to use a lot of entries that are based on brand name foods. That's fine, but I would double-check some of these to make sure they matched exactly what I was eating -- I have found some database entries for products to be off.
At the end of the day, if your logging is capturing what you're eating and you aren't losing weight, it means that you have found your calorie level to maintain.0 -
Aside from the points about logging above. How are you estimating your calorie burns from exercise and do you eat all of those calories back? How long are you giving it before throwing in the towel on your deficit?
I can go three weeks without a loss, I retain water all over the place so my losses are in fits and spurts.
Basically, you're eating more than you need to lose if you're giving it a good 6-8 weeks and nothing is happening.0 -
As for logging... as I said I've been doing this a loooong time (since 2008) and I am a creature of habit so I eat a lot of the same things over and over. So many times, when there is not a weight measurement its because at some point I weighed it or measured it and figured out the calories and log whatever entry I can find that is pretty close to what it is. For instance... my coffee. At some point I figured out the calories of 1 scoop of sugar, 1 scoop of creamer and the coffee itself and arrived at 40cals which is why I just use the generic now to save myself the hassle of logging 3 extra things. At the end of the day... if its off... its such a small amount of calories its not going to make a big difference. Same with the banana. Typically bananas are around 120cal... so if I'm off my 20 or so calories big whoop, its not going to blow my day. I'm trying to maintain a healthy relationship with food. I don't want this to become an obsession where I am beating myself up over 20 extra calories not logged. Sure, sometimes when my hubby throws a casserole together it is darn near impossible for me to pick out the meat and the potatoes and the veggies to weigh them and figure out the calories so I go with a best guess scenario. Like I said, I'm not expecting exactly a lb loss every single week.. I'd be happy with just a few ounces here and there in the right direction because at the end of the day, its more about health anyway. I'm talking its been 2.5 weeks and not even an ounce difference. I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet, I'm just putting feelers out to see where I could make changes. Good points though... I suppose I really should be weighing my protein powder to make sure the scoop is an accurate measure. I worry more about weighing the high calorie foods where inaccuracies will make the most impact. 20 calories of green beans is not where the problems are lol
For burns, I use a HRM for workouts so obviously that is an estimate but I don't use the # on the machines or anything so I guess that's as accurate as one could hope for.
If I went with what MFP tells me for a 1#/week loss it gives me 1200 cal just like everyone else on the planet it seems but I don't find the "net calories" system MFP uses as.... straight forward I guess. I like just seeing the calories burned and the calories left just a personal preference.0 -
You say you've been doing this forever. Well, I've been doing this since 2011 and I still weigh things when I want to make sure I'm not over doing it. Checks. Because you think the last 25lbs is hard. Try the last 5.
If MFP gives you 1200, try 1300 "Net" for 3 weeks. I have a feeling you might be eating too much.
And MFP doesn't give 1200 calories for 1lb a week to everyone on the planet.
If you aren't losing, you are either underestimating calories or overestimating burns. There is no magic in any of this.0 -
sweetpea03b wrote: »As for logging... as I said I've been doing this a loooong time (since 2008) and I am a creature of habit so I eat a lot of the same things over and over. So many times, when there is not a weight measurement its because at some point I weighed it or measured it and figured out the calories and log whatever entry I can find that is pretty close to what it is. For instance... my coffee. At some point I figured out the calories of 1 scoop of sugar, 1 scoop of creamer and the coffee itself and arrived at 40cals which is why I just use the generic now to save myself the hassle of logging 3 extra things. At the end of the day... if its off... its such a small amount of calories its not going to make a big difference. Same with the banana. Typically bananas are around 120cal... so if I'm off my 20 or so calories big whoop, its not going to blow my day. I'm trying to maintain a healthy relationship with food. I don't want this to become an obsession where I am beating myself up over 20 extra calories not logged. Sure, sometimes when my hubby throws a casserole together it is darn near impossible for me to pick out the meat and the potatoes and the veggies to weigh them and figure out the calories so I go with a best guess scenario. Like I said, I'm not expecting exactly a lb loss every single week.. I'd be happy with just a few ounces here and there in the right direction because at the end of the day, its more about health anyway. I'm talking its been 2.5 weeks and not even an ounce difference. I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet, I'm just putting feelers out to see where I could make changes. Good points though... I suppose I really should be weighing my protein powder to make sure the scoop is an accurate measure. I worry more about weighing the high calorie foods where inaccuracies will make the most impact. 20 calories of green beans is not where the problems are lol
For burns, I use a HRM for workouts so obviously that is an estimate but I don't use the # on the machines or anything so I guess that's as accurate as one could hope for.
If I went with what MFP tells me for a 1#/week loss it gives me 1200 cal just like everyone else on the planet it seems but I don't find the "net calories" system MFP uses as.... straight forward I guess. I like just seeing the calories burned and the calories left just a personal preference.
When I weigh my protein powder, I notice that a serving is about half of what the scoop would lead me to belief. If I was logging the calorie count on the package, I would be undercounting significantly.
No one calorie error is going to keep you from losing weight, you're right. But adding up some each day could make it harder for you to reach your goals.
Is your logging the issue? I don't think anyone here can know for sure. But if I were you and getting frustrated, I'd want to eliminate inaccurate logging as a factor. But I think 2.5 weeks is too early to get concerned. When I was losing weight, I would sometimes go as long as 4-5 weeks without seeing a loss. It was just how my body worked as I got closer to goal.0 -
kristen6350 wrote: »You say you've been doing this forever. Well, I've been doing this since 2011 and I still weigh things when I want to make sure I'm not over doing it. Checks. Because you think the last 25lbs is hard. Try the last 5.
If MFP gives you 1200, try 1300 "Net" for 3 weeks. I have a feeling you might be eating too much.
And MFP doesn't give 1200 calories for 1lb a week to everyone on the planet.
If you aren't losing, you are either underestimating calories or overestimating burns. There is no magic in any of this.
MFP tells me I have a burn of 1780/day before exercise. My typical exercise burn is 350cal which gives me 2130, subtract 500 cals/day for a 1lb/day loss and you arrive at 1630 to be eaten each day... or.... 1280 NET . I'm doing exactly what MFP does... only going by actual calories in/calories out instead of "net" because its more straight forward. I am already taking another look at my logging and trying to "tighten things up" on the logging side. I'm not asking for a "magic" bean... just looking for tips... but thanks for your hostility - I find that always helps.0 -
It's true, when you're down to the last few LBs it's so hard. Sometimes I feel like my body is just going to stay right where it is no matter what I do. However, with patience and time the scale will keep moving. I've been working on 5 LBs forever myself! If I drastically cut my calories and increase my exercise I can drop it in no time, but when I go to maintenance it comes back. I trick my body to keep burning efficiently as well but I make a couple of small changes about every 30 days. I find that works pretty good.0
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20 calories here, 20 there, and there...All of a sudden that's 100, or maybe 200, and you have a 250 calorie deficit. You need to tighten up your logging I'd say.0
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A couple recommendations I have - that I have noticed a change with are:
1) Try changing your protein powder. Maybe a zero carb one. I prefer Isopure because it tastes decent, and the sweetener agrees with me.
2) Don't eat back your exercise calories. Either set your goal to your BMR, or your ideal weight x10 (1400) and eat back half of your exercise calories.
3) This is the hardest one (at least it was for me). Stop drinking alcohol and soda (even diet). Just try it for a couple weeks and see if you feel different, or see a few ounces drop off. Alcohol hijacks your ability to process the good food you're eating efficiently, and contributes to water retention.
4) Lift weights. Heavy weights.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »sweetpea03b wrote: »As for logging... as I said I've been doing this a loooong time (since 2008) and I am a creature of habit so I eat a lot of the same things over and over. So many times, when there is not a weight measurement its because at some point I weighed it or measured it and figured out the calories and log whatever entry I can find that is pretty close to what it is. For instance... my coffee. At some point I figured out the calories of 1 scoop of sugar, 1 scoop of creamer and the coffee itself and arrived at 40cals which is why I just use the generic now to save myself the hassle of logging 3 extra things. At the end of the day... if its off... its such a small amount of calories its not going to make a big difference. Same with the banana. Typically bananas are around 120cal... so if I'm off my 20 or so calories big whoop, its not going to blow my day. I'm trying to maintain a healthy relationship with food. I don't want this to become an obsession where I am beating myself up over 20 extra calories not logged. Sure, sometimes when my hubby throws a casserole together it is darn near impossible for me to pick out the meat and the potatoes and the veggies to weigh them and figure out the calories so I go with a best guess scenario. Like I said, I'm not expecting exactly a lb loss every single week.. I'd be happy with just a few ounces here and there in the right direction because at the end of the day, its more about health anyway. I'm talking its been 2.5 weeks and not even an ounce difference. I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet, I'm just putting feelers out to see where I could make changes. Good points though... I suppose I really should be weighing my protein powder to make sure the scoop is an accurate measure. I worry more about weighing the high calorie foods where inaccuracies will make the most impact. 20 calories of green beans is not where the problems are lol
For burns, I use a HRM for workouts so obviously that is an estimate but I don't use the # on the machines or anything so I guess that's as accurate as one could hope for.
If I went with what MFP tells me for a 1#/week loss it gives me 1200 cal just like everyone else on the planet it seems but I don't find the "net calories" system MFP uses as.... straight forward I guess. I like just seeing the calories burned and the calories left just a personal preference.
When I weigh my protein powder, I notice that a serving is about half of what the scoop would lead me to belief. If I was logging the calorie count on the package, I would be undercounting significantly.
No one calorie error is going to keep you from losing weight, you're right. But adding up some each day could make it harder for you to reach your goals.
Is your logging the issue? I don't think anyone here can know for sure. But if I were you and getting frustrated, I'd want to eliminate inaccurate logging as a factor. But I think 2.5 weeks is too early to get concerned. When I was losing weight, I would sometimes go as long as 4-5 weeks without seeing a loss. It was just how my body worked as I got closer to goal.
Thanks... that is a good point. I do weigh things like my peanut butter, chips, etc. because like you said I found their "serving size" to be inaccurate. I don't know why it never crossed my mind that might be an issue as well. I will try to tighten up my logging a bit for the next few weeks and see where that leads me. Its good to know I'm not the only one that goes a while without seeing a loss though, I look around my news feed and see all these losses and think I must be doing something wrong!
Thanks for the input! 0 -
sweetpea03b wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »sweetpea03b wrote: »As for logging... as I said I've been doing this a loooong time (since 2008) and I am a creature of habit so I eat a lot of the same things over and over. So many times, when there is not a weight measurement its because at some point I weighed it or measured it and figured out the calories and log whatever entry I can find that is pretty close to what it is. For instance... my coffee. At some point I figured out the calories of 1 scoop of sugar, 1 scoop of creamer and the coffee itself and arrived at 40cals which is why I just use the generic now to save myself the hassle of logging 3 extra things. At the end of the day... if its off... its such a small amount of calories its not going to make a big difference. Same with the banana. Typically bananas are around 120cal... so if I'm off my 20 or so calories big whoop, its not going to blow my day. I'm trying to maintain a healthy relationship with food. I don't want this to become an obsession where I am beating myself up over 20 extra calories not logged. Sure, sometimes when my hubby throws a casserole together it is darn near impossible for me to pick out the meat and the potatoes and the veggies to weigh them and figure out the calories so I go with a best guess scenario. Like I said, I'm not expecting exactly a lb loss every single week.. I'd be happy with just a few ounces here and there in the right direction because at the end of the day, its more about health anyway. I'm talking its been 2.5 weeks and not even an ounce difference. I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet, I'm just putting feelers out to see where I could make changes. Good points though... I suppose I really should be weighing my protein powder to make sure the scoop is an accurate measure. I worry more about weighing the high calorie foods where inaccuracies will make the most impact. 20 calories of green beans is not where the problems are lol
For burns, I use a HRM for workouts so obviously that is an estimate but I don't use the # on the machines or anything so I guess that's as accurate as one could hope for.
If I went with what MFP tells me for a 1#/week loss it gives me 1200 cal just like everyone else on the planet it seems but I don't find the "net calories" system MFP uses as.... straight forward I guess. I like just seeing the calories burned and the calories left just a personal preference.
When I weigh my protein powder, I notice that a serving is about half of what the scoop would lead me to belief. If I was logging the calorie count on the package, I would be undercounting significantly.
No one calorie error is going to keep you from losing weight, you're right. But adding up some each day could make it harder for you to reach your goals.
Is your logging the issue? I don't think anyone here can know for sure. But if I were you and getting frustrated, I'd want to eliminate inaccurate logging as a factor. But I think 2.5 weeks is too early to get concerned. When I was losing weight, I would sometimes go as long as 4-5 weeks without seeing a loss. It was just how my body worked as I got closer to goal.
Thanks... that is a good point. I do weigh things like my peanut butter, chips, etc. because like you said I found their "serving size" to be inaccurate. I don't know why it never crossed my mind that might be an issue as well. I will try to tighten up my logging a bit for the next few weeks and see where that leads me. Its good to know I'm not the only one that goes a while without seeing a loss though, I look around my news feed and see all these losses and think I must be doing something wrong! Thanks for the input!
You are not the only one! Good luck. 0 -
ddkreimnut wrote: »A couple recommendations I have - that I have noticed a change with are:
1) Try changing your protein powder. Maybe a zero carb one. I prefer Isopure because it tastes decent, and the sweetener agrees with me.
2) Don't eat back your exercise calories. Either set your goal to your BMR, or your ideal weight x10 (1400) and eat back half of your exercise calories.
3) This is the hardest one (at least it was for me). Stop drinking alcohol and soda (even diet). Just try it for a couple weeks and see if you feel different, or see a few ounces drop off. Alcohol hijacks your ability to process the good food you're eating efficiently, and contributes to water retention.
4) Lift weights. Heavy weights.
1) Good tip - I will look at other protein powders next time I run out.
2) I won't say never... but I rarely do unless i'm running and have a crazy burn for the day.
3) I almost never drink soda.. even diet because the carbonation makes me sick. I LOVE wine so I doubt I will cut it out completely but I know I need to restrict it a bit more. I was doing really well and only having 5oz/day with dinner but It's gotten a little out of hand lately. I know its evil... but its just so good
4) I'm trying not to lift too heavy right now because of my injury I don't want to put that much weight on my foot... and I don't have enough room in my tiny workout room for a barbell but I was doing this with the equipment I have (dumbbells, pulley resistance system) at my disposal (heavy for me anyway - others might not think so but I challenge myself ) 0 -
I've got 20 lbs to go till I hit the middle of my height's healthy BMI range.
For the past couple of months I go at least 3 weeks before noticing any real loss, and I'm below my calorie limit every single day.
This does not bother me.
I know my hormones and water weight hide my loss. I know this because I track my weight and my TOM via apps on my phone (Happy Scale and iPeriod).
Don't give up after 2.5 weeks! If you're logging and weighing accurately and eating at a defecit, you'll experience a "whoosh" soon. Most likely just before or after your period.0 -
I have 11 pounds to go and things are creeping along. I try not to get paranoid about it, but I don't always win that battle.
If you don't want your head to be messed with by being super vigilant about your weighing and logging beyond a certain point, here is another approach : Log and weigh exactly the same way you are now, just cut 100 calories off your daily limit. You probably wont be cutting that full amount, as any small logging errors you will be making will be absorbed by the buffer you have created. You don't necessarily need to cut more calories AND log more carefully, you can probably just do one or the other.
Your experience will feel the same but you will be eating less.
Hope this makes sense.0 -
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