Last ten pounds are tough

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vinnymickey
vinnymickey Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started at around 230lbs and now down to 209lbs and been stuck here for three weeks. My goal is 200/205. I been eating same amount of calories and added some exercise too. At the beginning I was losing 3/4lbs a week and now seems I am maintaining weight but didn’t change anything. Total time of life change is 9 weeks.

Thinking I should add more exercise and try to maintain muscle and keep going to see if I can drop 1/2 pounds in the next week or two. If I don’t I will be maintaining my weight by for 4/5 weeks then maybe I should consider dropping calories?


Thoughts thnx

Replies

  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,124 Member
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    You need to adjust your current weight, because it will lower the number of calories you need. You need to lower your calories to lose the last few pounds. However, you could also be retaining water due to increased exercise which may be part of it also. You need to adjust your weight loss rate to .5 lb and put in your current weight to get a new calorie level to eat. Sounds like you could be eating close to maintenance at this point.
  • Kiwi2mfp
    Kiwi2mfp Posts: 166 Member
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    I stalled out too and then life got crazy and I slacked off a bit on my logging and diet. I still made mostly healthier choices but I was cheating a lot more. This went on for about two weeks. Then I jumped back on the weightloss journey. I had gained 2 pounds. But that two pounds dropped right off within a couple of days as I focused on drinking water again. Then the weight kept dropping off. In the last week I have dropped almost 5 pounds. This is not the rate I aim to keep (the water weight week is almost always impressive) but I broke that wall I was at unintentionally. I guess my body wanted a break from that strict diet. I thought I had messed things up and set myself back when, in fact, I did exactly what I needed to. Maybe you could use a week or two of a break and then come back hitting the ground running. You might find that the weight does drop right off again.
  • Kiwi2mfp
    Kiwi2mfp Posts: 166 Member
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    vinnyolito2481 wrote: »
    I started at around 230lbs and now down to 209lbs and been stuck here for three weeks. My goal is 200/205. I been eating same amount of calories and added some exercise too. At the beginning I was losing 3/4lbs a week and now seems I am maintaining weight but didn’t change anything. Total time of life change is 9 weeks.

    Thinking I should add more exercise and try to maintain muscle and keep going to see if I can drop 1/2 pounds in the next week or two. If I don’t I will be maintaining my weight by for 4/5 weeks then maybe I should consider dropping calories?


    Thoughts thnx

    One other thing. Part of the reason I stalled out was I took a job renovating a house. We had a ton of heavy lifting to do for a few weeks at first. I expected my weight loss to stall for a little bit there do to the added muscle gain. But then I burned out and slacked off of my diet. It sounds to me like you are gaining muscle but likely not giving your body the nutrients to work out the weight loss. With that in light, I am even more convinced that your body likely needs a break. Even just that week or two. If you up your calorie intake goal to maintain for a couple weeks you can still watch what your eating and give yourself a break. I know, no body wants to do this when losing weight but as I said before, it's not counter productive, it's part of the process sometimes.
  • vinnymickey
    vinnymickey Posts: 6 Member
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    The is all makes sense I did adjust my current weight in the app but calories stayed same. I will have an off day this weekend and again in two weeks. I’m going away for 4 days so it’ll be a drinking wanting feast :) the I’ll jump right back in.

    I been adding more and more exercise as I get stronger so it can be water and some muscle weight. Think I’ll focus more on body fat and muscle ton for the last ten pounds max thanks for the input. I’ll se how it goes over the next few weeks/month. I’m so close to my goal and only way I can do this is counting calories :)
  • bojaantje3822
    bojaantje3822 Posts: 257 Member
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    Are you saying you were losing 3 or 4 lbs per week? Or 0.75lbs a week?
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,111 Member
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    vinnyolito2481 wrote: »
    The is all makes sense I did adjust my current weight in the app but calories stayed same.

    FYI, you need to do more than just update your weight. Try changing your rate of loss or activity level, and then changing it back. My calorie goal never changed on MFP simply by updating my weight.
  • vinnymickey
    vinnymickey Posts: 6 Member
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    bojaantje3822 wrote: »
    Are you saying you were losing 3 or 4 lbs per week? Or 0.75lbs a week?
    bojaantje3822 wrote: »
    Are you saying you were losing 3 or 4 lbs per week? Or 0.75lbs a week?

    The first 6 weeks average was 3lbs a week now last three weeks I’m maintaining weight at 208.
  • vinnymickey
    vinnymickey Posts: 6 Member
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    Lietchi wrote: »
    vinnyolito2481 wrote: »
    The is all makes sense I did adjust my current weight in the app but calories stayed same.

    FYI, you need to do more than just update your weight. Try changing your rate of loss or activity level, and then changing it back. My calorie goal never changed on MFP simply by updating my weight.


    Yes that worked now I see a change….
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,071 Member
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    vinnymickey wrote: »
    bojaantje3822 wrote: »
    Are you saying you were losing 3 or 4 lbs per week? Or 0.75lbs a week?
    bojaantje3822 wrote: »
    Are you saying you were losing 3 or 4 lbs per week? Or 0.75lbs a week?

    The first 6 weeks average was 3lbs a week now last three weeks I’m maintaining weight at 208.

    3 pounds a week at 200-some pounds is aggressively fast loss, and aggressively fast loss can increase stress-related water retention after a while, masking ongoing fat loss on the scale. On top of that, you've been increasing exercise, which will also tend to trigger some increased water retention.

    There isn't going to be much muscle gain in 9 weeks, sadly. Muscle gain is worthwhile, but pretty slow. Two pounds a month would be a good rate for men, maybe a pound a month for women, under really good conditions (such as a good progressive strength training program faithfully performed, good nutrition (especially but not exclusively adequate protein), relative youth, and a calorie surplus.) The more aggressive the calorie deficit, the slower the muscle gain, as a loose rule of thumb. Still worth pursuing, and even keeping existing muscle is a plus!

    Strength gain from exercise increases can be much faster (from better recruiting and utilizing existing muscle fibers); so can looking a bit more defined (from fat loss uncovering existing muscle, plus a bit of water retention in the muscles for repair). Those things can make people believe that muscle mass gain is happening, before much of it has occurred.

    I wish it were faster and easier. 😐

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