Question for those of you who had “less” to lose and got

I'm here with ya... And would love to know the answer to that question too!

Stop thinking about the numbers and start working on body conditioning! I really REALLY wanted to get to 120, and I did it without exercise (seriously, none! Because on the 1200 cals recommended I could barely function!) When I got to 125 I realised that my body still wasn't what I wanted. I wasn't lean and toned like i expected I would be at this magic number and couldn't see how losing another 5 would help.

Then I hit the gym and started doing cardio 4-5 times a week and strength training 4-5 times a week and my body shape changed dramatically! My weight has stabilised to between 125-130 (and some times as high as 135) yet my body is much smaller than it used to be and my 'problem areas' (hips and thighs) weren't so much of a problem any more. (Ok ok, I hate my thighs, but probably always will, they are smaller though!)

You've got to be really focused and motivated to lose the vanity pounds because your body doesn't want to let go of that fat when it doesn't technically need to! I still had (and have) treats but made sure the majority of my diet was good fresh produce. Try not to focus on losing weight or else it can get really deflating when you lose nothing week after week after week!

Oh and also, I don't still continue with that gruelling gym schedule. I had an injury and had to cut my cardio to zero! And only do some arm weights and crunches at the moment and i'm still maintaining! i'm a little squishier, sure, but the weight's not piling back on so this lifestyle seems perfectly sustainable!

Seeing that you had a baby not long ago... are you sure that it's really "belly fat" you have and not excess skin that's just going to take more time to shrink back?

I am right with you and the others, right down to starting to splurge a little because I can. I am now focusing mainly on body conditioning too, and less about weight loss. I changed my goals to a half-pound a week just to keep me on track with eating; that way, if I go over those goals a bit, I'm still maintaining. I'm upping the weight training and circuit training to 4 days a week, and lowering cardio to twice a week. I'm also focusing a lot more on protein intake than I had in the past (I'm mostly vegetarian, so it's something I keep an eye on), and working very hard on my sugar intake. I don't want to be skinny-fat anymore!

You've done such an incredible job losing the baby weight, running so often, and doing so much strength training that I think you deserve a huge pat on the back for all that.

At the same time, both times I've lost weight & met my goal, I had a nice reward planned for myself, so it gave me something to work towards, and helped me stay focused, even though the last 10 lb. are definitely harder than the first 10.

It doesn't have to be big or expensive, but something that you'd really like to have (or do), and that you wouldn't normally treat yourself to.

As it's been mentioned before I think people pay too much attention to the numbers when it comes to toning and leaning. I've come to the realization that I just have kind of a bulky body type and even if I lean up I'll probably never get below 185-190. I'm perfectly fine with that because the fat is still going away and the amount of muscle I'm putting on is making the weight much easier to swallow. Don't make it a numbers game, just get to where you feel and look the way you want to.

Have you tried over eating your daily caloric intake? Not junk food, but just over eat by a few hundred calories to see if it shocks your system when you drop back down to 1200?