Is it possible to see a 2lb loss anymore?

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mrsbastone
mrsbastone Posts: 83 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
After losing 60 pounds I am on to my last 20. I use to be able to knock out 2.25 pounds a week no problem. Now I am super lucky just to get one. With the amount of effort I am putting in, I am getting increasingly frustrated. I've hit every weight loss goal I gave myself, but because of this dramatic slow down in weight loss I am not sure I can hit my final one. I hired a trainer and lift weights 3 times a week, I do about 5 hours of cardio a week. (training for race). Myfitnesspal and sparkspeople say I should be eating 1200 calories a day. I've calculated what people here on say about total daily expenditure and slimkick. I'd be around 1900-2100 calories a day with that. I've tried both 1800 calories weeks and 1400 calorie weeks but neither are giving me the results I am looking for.
I will do anything I need to do to get myself back on track..but standing still at this weight is not an option. i have to see progress. Please help me. What can I do?

Replies

  • Jenny111372
    Jenny111372 Posts: 87 Member
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    My losses have slowed too. I was pretty consistent with 2.9 weight losses every week and the last two weekly weigh ins have been 1.5 and 1.3 losses. I only have 15 pounds to reach my goal so I had changed my weekly weight loss goal to the MFP recommended 1 pound loss. I'm at least meeting those goals. I've come to accept that getting closer to my goal is just gonna take patience and hard work! :) I know it's frustrating but keep at it and I'm sure you'll get there! :)
  • adswillis27
    adswillis27 Posts: 76 Member
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    The closer you get to your goal the harder it will be to lose. When I started I lost 9 lbs in 3 weeks. Then I didn't lose much for the next month and only about a pound each week for several weeks. Now I am 1-2 lbs from my goal and the scale flucuates every time I get on it. I don't let that discourage me though. I am toning up and still losing inches (barely). Just remember that a loss is a loss.
  • katielauren2001
    katielauren2001 Posts: 171 Member
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    I know it is hard but slower weight loss will result in keeping the weight whereas if you lose weight fast you are more likely to gain the weight back. And even if you are not seeing progress on scales you may be losing inches and toning :)
  • mallory3411
    mallory3411 Posts: 839 Member
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    I agree with a lot of what has been said. The smaller you are the slower your weight loss will be. Unfortunately when you have such little to go to reach your goal weight you will not be able to keep getting the same losses you did before while remaining healthy :(

    Just keep plugging away and you will get to your goal. Have you reset your weight loss goals? With only about 20lbs left a goal of one pound per week is best for you.

    Good luck!
  • coconutbuNZ
    coconutbuNZ Posts: 578 Member
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    I feel your frustration! What do we have to do to lose the last 10lb? Freakin starve ourselves?!!!!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    You can still lose that much, but a large % of the loss will be lean muscle, not just fat. The less you have to lose the smaller your deficit should be, this means slower weight loss. Here is a guide when setting weekly weight loss goals that are appropriate for you:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    Now I am super lucky just to get one.
    Most of my weight was lost at a rate of 0.5lb a week.

    You need to get your head around the fact that if you're not going to put all the weight back on, you're going to have to restrict your intake for the rest of your life, it's not as if you have to get that weigh off so you can go back to eating "normally" so what's the rush?

    The exercise you're doing is giving you far more benefits than losing fat, focus on that and take measurements. Seeing inches reduce might cheer you up when the scales aren't playing ball.
  • gyerxabody
    gyerxabody Posts: 1
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    Measure the right thing at the right time. I bet you're losing inches or gaining muscle.
  • lwoods34
    lwoods34 Posts: 302 Member
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    I agree with what everyone else has said. The last 10-20 lbs are the hardest. Heck, even 5 lbs is hard. It took me almost 2 months to lose 5 lbs that I had gained over Halloween. I was losing about 1/2 lb per week and it took me until the beginning/middle of March to lose it and I was working out hard and eating super healthy.

    Just dont give up! Keep pushing for your goal and you will get there!
  • LesaDave
    LesaDave Posts: 1,480 Member
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    Did you measure? How many inches did you lose?
  • nixirain
    nixirain Posts: 448 Member
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    I would try switching your focus. With being so close to your goal, I would suggest to up your calories and change your goals. You want the weight off for good right? The best way to do that without having to worry about a huge change once you get to your goal weight is you lose slower. Once you get this close you will likely lose muscle instead of fat with that little of food intake (1200). I would start off with increasing your weekly goal to 1 to .5lbs per week and focus on strength training (after your race of course).

    Make sure you are netting at least your BMR. Once you lose at that then increase to your BMR + 20% to net.

    EDIT: I would also start tracking your Body Fat and Measurements.
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    I think it's very possible to see a 2 lb. loss. I know when I got down to my desired look, I tried to stop the weight loss and was still losing 1-2 pounds a week in spite of myself until I finally got up to my maintenance calories.

    I was doing a TON of cardio though. I was training for a Half-ironman race and working out 10-15 hours a week, at least 10 of it cardio. Most people don't do that because most people aren't crazy. :laugh:

    OTOH, once the off-season for triathlon came around, I embarked on a heavy strength program. And gained 5 pounds. But I also was able to fit into my tightest jeans. That's because, once you get within sight of you goal, it's not about the number on the scale, but on body composition. I look so much better with that extra 5 pounds of muscle and I'm glad I adjusted my goal to get it.

    I love this article to show that you have to stop looking at the number on the scale once you get near what's normal for you:

    http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/06/22/attention-scale-addicts-part-2/
  • jameswestlund
    jameswestlund Posts: 9
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    You can't really eat less than a certain amount - you'll hit a point of dminishing returns in terms of how much energy you have to run your body.

    Really, at that point, all you can do is try to turn up your training a notch. This means one of two things - go longer or go harder. For me, going a little harder always seemed to work best. But your mileage may vary!
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    if you have only 20lbs to lose, you should set your goals to 0.5lb week, so if you are eating 1200 that is way too little and probably the reason you are not losing. Unfortunately as you get smaller, your body can't support as much of a deficit so the loss slows down.

    If your TDEE is 1900-2100 then you should eat AT LEAST 1650 - 1850 (250 deficit for 0.5lb/week loss)

    have a look at this, its really helpful for working out what you should be eating :-)
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    The closer you get, the slower it goes, sorry. You just need to adjust and set goals that meet what you can realistically lose closer to your goal. You should probably be aiming for .5 to 1 lb a week now.
  • Bencribb
    Bencribb Posts: 21 Member
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    Plateau's happen. Don't set super ambitious micro weight loss goals, especially after a few months into a dietary based weight loss. Especially as your body gets closer and closer to the weight you'll ultimately be maintaining, you just get these plateau's that are very hard to force your way through. To be clear, if you just continue with good habits, you will begin losing weight again, and weight loss will become quite rapid again when that time comes, but, in the short term, you can't make your body lose the weight you want it to at a moment's notice. The body isn't a big jug of fat or something, where if you pour out a constant amount it loses weight at a constant rate, it's a complicated machine and there are many factors interacting with each other in weight loss.

    I went about 2 weeks without losing any weight while my diet was set to loss at "2 pounds a week" and I was very aggressive during that time, working out about 10 hours a week and often overestimating my dietary input.
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
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    think about it this way, just using round numbers, but say you started at 200lbs. A 2 lb/wk loss is 1% of your body weight. Now, you are at 150 lbs so a 1.5 lb/wk is now 1%. You are probably still losing at about the same rate by body weight percent, but your actual loss changes.

    So, at 150lbs to keep your 2 lb/wk actual loss rate, you would be trying to lose 1.33% of your body weight per week. That doesn't seem like a big change, but that would be increasing your weight loss rate by 33%.

    These numbers are just for example's sake, but think about it from that standpoint. It seems obvious that someone that weighs 300 lbs would be able to easily lose 5 lbs, but it is really hard for someone that is 110 lbs. Its all relative.

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