Last few pounds

Hi all, just looking for some advice on losing the last few pounds. My target weight is 125lbs and I'm drifting between 129-131 for the last few weeks. Mtp calories are down to 1299 which is a struggle to stick to. I'm 5ft 3in and around a size 10 now I think and pretty happy with my size. Run 4 times a week. Would I be better to abandon the calorie deficit now and focus more on exercise and weight training and measurements rather than weight?

Replies

  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    If you're happy with your body shape/composition/etc. then the # on the scale is not really important?

    But if you are wanting to lose the last few pounds it is the same as the first few pounds. Eat at a deficit. But since your body is smaller now, your deficit may be smaller (smaller body uses less energy) so accuracy becomes more important. Food scale for solids as often as possible. Limit scenarios where you must estimate nutritional content, because more estimation leaves more room for error.

    Is your weight loss aimed at losing 1 or more pounds per week? Perhaps change to .5 which is a 250 daily deficit. And if eating back exercise calories, be careful not to overestimate them.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,810 Member
    That does seem like a really low calorie level. Are you exercising now, and do you eat those calories, too? If so, what exercise(s) are you doing and how do you estimate them?

    I'm surprised you're not losing weight at that calorie level, wondering if there's some water retention in the picture, a thing that becomes more probable to happen (and to stick around longer) after having been in a pretty steep deficit for a long time period. (It's an effect of cumulative stress, both the calorie deficit, which is a physical stress, additive with any other physical/psychological stresses you may have in your life.)

    I'm around your size, as the context for saying this (5'5", 125-ish), but (I'll bet) older (65). I've been in maintenance, gradually up and intentionally down a few pounds well inside the healthy range, for 5+ years now, after previous literal decades as an obese woman.

    I think it could be a good strategy to focus more on fitness goals (via a combination of enjoyable cardio & strength training), and perhaps gradually increase calories alongside for a while (like add 100 daily calories every 2-4 weeks) and see what happens. I'd suggest phasing in exercise increases gradually, especially if you're not working out much now, to keep from increasing physical stress even more. (Even if one goes 100 calories daily over true maintenance calories, it takes over a month to gain a pound of fat: I'm betting you know how to lose a pound, so the worst that can happen in this scenario is pretty minor, in my view.)

    You might even consider a diet break, going straight to maintenance calories for a couple of weeks. More info about that here:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

    Adding even a small number of calories, or increasing exercise, always hold the potential for water-weight gain right away. If the scale jumps from either of those, without an eating increase or movement decrease big enough to explain the number of pounds, don't let that freak you out. It's not fat. Sometimes, people who are feeling anxious about regain over-react and cut calories steeply when that happens, and that's counter-productive. Just hang in there for any mini-roller-coaster ride on the scale, and things will settle out again, probably within around a month.

    If you do some of the above, you may find your weight is willing to creep down a bit more. Sometimes, a little stress reduction (including maybe a bit more nutrition/calorie intake) can perk up energy level, increase spontaneous movement (less of maybe-subtle fatigue, so move more), plus decrease water retention, and have that effect. Focusing on fitness and letting that sort itself out seems like a good idea.

    Best wishes!