Overused saying...

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CaoimheAine
CaoimheAine Posts: 195
in Health and Weight Loss
So everyone always says "the last few pounds/kgs are the toughest to lose."
Why is this said? I don't understand why people continue to say this. How can your body determine when you are close to a goal you have made personally?

Key word is personally!!! A goal weight for yourself, not your body.

Someone please enlighten me :s

Replies

  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Because typically someone's goal weight is on the lower end of a BMI/preferred weight for their height/age. The leaner that your body gets, the more difficult it is to lose weight. Combine that with the closer you get to the lower end of your healthy body weight range your body starts wanting to hold onto the weight because it doesn't want to go too low.

    So "the last few pounds" are, literally, the hardest to lose because your body just doesn't want to lose them at that point.
  • goodwille
    goodwille Posts: 28
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    It's all mental. Once you are so close it is easier for people to et lazy and say oh well good enough. the body has nothing to do with just this little parasite in our brains called the mind
  • AI1108
    AI1108 Posts: 488 Member
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    Because typically someone's goal weight is on the lower end of a BMI/preferred weight for their height/age. The leaner that your body gets, the more difficult it is to lose weight. Combine that with the closer you get to the lower end of your healthy body weight range your body starts wanting to hold onto the weight because it doesn't want to go too low.

    So "the last few pounds" are, literally, the hardest to lose because your body just doesn't want to lose them at that point.

    ^^ this

    If your goal is just be able to maintain a healthy weight it shouldn't be too hard, but if you push yourself to get lean it gets harder.
  • zoink66
    zoink66 Posts: 116 Member
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    Half physical, half mental!

    Physically, yes, it's just harder to lose when you get close to your "goal" weight, because your goal weight is typically on the lower end of the BMI, as someone else said. Physically, your body cares if its healthy, being fed well and being taken care of. For my height/frame, this could probably be anywhere between 120 and 160 lbs. In fact, bodies probably prefer a few extra pounds too, in case of famine, disease, pregnancy, etc. Now, I know something like a famine isn't really a great risk in my life so I don't need those extra pounds. I'm fighting my body every pound of the way so I'm closer to 120 (which I like and society likes) than 160.

    But mentally, I think by the time you get close to your goal weight, you've just been at it so long that you're exhausted. You're just like, "Ugh, get off of my already, stupid ten pounds!" You can see your target but you're just not there yet and your body's fighting way harder to keep that weight, when it didn't fight to keep any of that earlier weight.

    And also, sometimes you cheat more (or at least I do, heh). You're so close to your goal you think, "Oh, I can eat this; it won't hurt that much!" or "I don't have to work out today. No big deal."

    So it's tough from both aspects.
  • CaoimheAine
    CaoimheAine Posts: 195
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    Thanks everyone! :):)

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