Why is it harder to lose 10-20 lbs than 50+ lbs?

voguehoe wrote: »

I am definitely eating at a calorie deficit and have been for over a month

You may want to reevaluate that.

voguehoe wrote: »

Does it ever feel like you are alone in the middle with needing to lose 10-20 lbs but most weight loss advice/tips are geared towards people looking to lose way more than that?

The methods are pretty much identical no matter how much weight needs to be lost, with the exception (IMO) that it makes sense to lose more slowly when only a smaller amount to lose.

I am definitely eating at a calorie deficit and have been for over a month (1500 cals, working out 3x a week + walking when possible) and have not dropped a single pound. Honestly losing the motivation at this point by seeing that I haven't made any progress at all. Ugh!

It's possible for water retention from new exercise to mask fat loss on the scale for a surprisingly long time, but you're reaching a point where that's a more tenuous possibility. If you've gone a whole menstrual cycle (if you have those) or 4-6 weeks, without loss, that's a less likely explanation of literally zero loss.

The more probable explanations (i.e., statistically likely among large groups of people who mention this outcome) are uncounted cheat days, food logging errors, overestimating exercise calories or activity level. None of those are a diss or personal criticism. There's a lot of mythology published about cheat days, no surprise that people believe it. Food logging is a surprisingly subtle skill, and most of us who've done it for a while have had quite a few face-palm moments when we realized where some major calories were slipping through the cracks. Exercise and activity level estimates commonly need some adjustments based on personal weight loss results (expected loss vs. actual loss).

Sometimes it feels like I only ever see online content about people who dropped like 100+ lbs by making life style changes like cutting back on soda and chips, making meals at home and starting exercise; but I don't even eat those foods, I cook most of the time and try to work out during a busy week--and it's still not helping.

Those stories are more dramatic, make better click-bait. Realistically, who wants to read a story whose premise is "Susie lost 8 pounds in 3 months by planning meals a little better and taking a nice walk at lunch hour"? Booooorrrrriiiinggg.

Anyone else in the same boat? How are you staying motivated? Anyone got over this plateau? Please share your stories!

While I agree with Tom up there about the subjective effects of body push-back when getting really lean, there's more in the picture.

I'm not in your boat, but I've (re-)lost around 10 pounds in maintenance after major loss, intentionally very slowly. It was almost painless, but required patient persistence. Key elements were solid food logging experience (I'd been doing it for several years by then), calorie goals personalized based on real-world loss/maintenance experience, and a weight-trending app. (Though even the weight trending app thought I was maintaining or even gaining for a month during the process, when I was sure that wasn't true. I was right - the scale suddenly dropped by the expected amount.)

I think it's normal for us to feel that no one is doing what we're doing, has done what we're doing; that something about our personal path is harder (because we feel it so viscerally), etc. It isn't easy every second for anyone. What's important IMO is to focus on what can be done to make progress. The only productive reason to think about obstacles is to figure out how to get over, around, through or otherwise past them.

In your case, one option is simply to adjust your calorie goal downward another 100-200 calories, and stick with it for another month, see if that helps.

Or, you could work on fine-tuning logging accuracy. If you're not using a food scale, consider doing that. Avoid using database entries that are whole-dish things that someone else made (meat lasagna, ham sandwich kind of thing). When you need to estimate by choosing from the database without full information, choose middling to high estimates, not the lowest one. Finally - as an offer, not an order - if you open your MFP diary, some of the "old hands" may be willing to take a look and see if anything jumps out.

There are other things that can be done, but that's enough for now. People will tell you things like "shock your body by switching exercise" "adopt this restrictive or named diet" and that sort of thing. That's mostly folklore: If it works, it's more coincidence than magic.

Best wishes!

I thought I wanted to lose about 6lbs (vanity) and could only shift the same 2 then regain then lose etc. So I re-evaluated things and thought actually it was more about body composition than the actual weight. The longer I've stuck with the gym the happier I've become with that. My weight still fluctuates around those 2lbs but I can see differences, maybe focus on those kinds of changes for a bit to take your mind off the plateau

Having lost 100 myself, I’d just like to point out, everyone has that last 10-20, whether you need to lose 10 or a hundred.

Same rules apply.

Ye gods, be grateful you only have 10-20 to lose!

There’s a lot of folks out here who’d fall on their knees in thanks that was only the case.