13 pounds, that's all I want to lose is 13 pounds. Help me!

closet_fatty
closet_fatty Posts: 109
edited December 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Since upping my calorie intake to my BMR my body has gained three pounds. Now, this may not seem like much to some of you, but seeing as how I had to drag my body kicking and screaming just to lose nine pounds in the last six months! It's a lot of ground for me. Why am I having so much trouble losing weight?

I work an active job, where I am on my feet all day. I drink plenty of water, I take my vitamins, I even Zumba on occasion, usually for 20-60 minutes. I don't understand it. Why is my body fighting me so hard?

I don't eat badly, I avoid fast food at all costs, I haven't had pasta or potatoes in god knows how long. I've been keeping my portion sizes to not much bigger than the size of my palm, my body can't even handle a six inch sub (yeah yeah, bad I know) without feeling like it's going to overflow.

Help me out, what am I doing that's got my body so against me losing weight?

Current stats: 144 pounds, 5.7'' waist: 28'' and inch above the navel. waist an inch below: 33''

Replies

  • laneydawn
    laneydawn Posts: 64
    It could be that your body is at the weight it wants to be. It sounds like you're doing all the right things, so maybe your body is just saying it wants to just hang out at this weight for now.
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    i was going to say the same but then again i have had a very hard time losing weight too, i wanted around 13 lbs too and i started oct/11 and i finally have hit 13 lbs now... in june! 8 whole months to loose 13 lbs and my dr said she would like to see me 5 lbs lighter yet .... not like i had a huge amount too lose but WOW it's been hard!
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
    You are already a relatively small person which means your body will not as willingly release its fat stores. Your best bet (that I've found personally) is to zig zag calories.

    Some people go over their goal one day, and under the next. I progressively up my calories - about 100 per week until I get to just over maintenance and then drop down to 1300 (NET).

    Also, if you had let your calories fall and were NOT eating your exercise calories back, the three lbs you gained are likely a result of getting your metabolism back on track. I would definitely suggest eating to over your maintenance for a couple of weeks- to adjust your body to the higher intake and make it so that when (if) you do drop your calories it makes more of an impact.

    Try not to focus so much on how many you have to lose. It's much less discouraging to just focus on each lb one at a time.
  • mollysonnotice
    mollysonnotice Posts: 140
    Well, first off, take it easy on yourself. I feel the same thing you do and I hear this a lot. I'm also just about an inch taller than you and fought at that weight for quite some time. My word of advice is to sleep a lot and maybe try some sort of insanity or Jillian Michaels workout. Thats how I beat the 140s (now I'm stuck again at 137 >.< ). But also, how much do you sleep a night. If you're not sleeping enough, your body wont repair itself and you wont lose weight as fast. Oh and maybe you can try cycling your Calories

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    This site shows the zig-zag cycling that maybe can help get your metabolism going again....

    Just some thoughts though. Let me know how it works and feel free to add me if you like :)

    Good luck!
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    I think your weight is fine, you may want to keep working on toning and changing the fat you have into muscle, which of course wont change your weight, but my goal at 5 8 is 150, im 162 now so im struggling to lose the last ten, twelve. it sucks but you have to be uber strict with what you eat and workouts is my opinion. i wasnt willing to do that yet. so this week im hitting it hard! im no expert, but depending on your frame also your weight may not change much. ive always been bigger girl, my wrists are 8inch and i wear size ten shoes.
  • closet_fatty
    closet_fatty Posts: 109
    I think your weight is fine, you may want to keep working on toning and changing the fat you have into muscle, which of course wont change your weight, but my goal at 5 8 is 150, im 162 now so im struggling to lose the last ten, twelve. it sucks but you have to be uber strict with what you eat and workouts is my opinion. i wasnt willing to do that yet. so this week im hitting it hard! im no expert, but depending on your frame also your weight may not change much. ive always been bigger girl, my wrists are 8inch and i wear size ten shoes.

    IDK what my frame is. I have a six inch wrist though and 8 size shoe.. is that bigger?


    @molly... I normally always try to get at least eight hours a night. usually I end up with more if I'm not working the next day.
  • iwantniceabs
    iwantniceabs Posts: 357 Member
    I'm in the same boat - 5'8" and my body refuses to go below 147, no matter how many calories in the deficit I am! Grrrrr!
  • selig0730
    selig0730 Posts: 509 Member
    i lost a lot of weight right away and i was so happy and then 4 or 5 months later i didnt lose as much weight as i was before. i was getting so fusterted that the weight didnt come off. so i changed what i was doing, eating more calories actually, drink more water and excercising more. and lost a little but didnt help. then i started a challege 3 weeks ago to lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks and i wasnt sure how i would do, but get motivated by so many new friends and me motivated i had a all new attidute that i could do this. After 3 weeks i already lost 6 pounds. in the 3 weeks ive only gone over my calories twice, drink 8-10 cups of water, and walk as much as i can did a couple 5k walk/runs and run around my house as well and gym. enough about me but try to do something different cause your body is used to the same things, i hope this helps as much as i did as my peaking.
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    I think your weight is fine, you may want to keep working on toning and changing the fat you have into muscle, which of course wont change your weight, but my goal at 5 8 is 150, im 162 now so im struggling to lose the last ten, twelve. it sucks but you have to be uber strict with what you eat and workouts is my opinion. i wasnt willing to do that yet. so this week im hitting it hard! im no expert, but depending on your frame also your weight may not change much. ive always been bigger girl, my wrists are 8inch and i wear size ten shoes.

    IDK what my frame is. I have a six inch wrist though and 8 size shoe.. is that bigger?


    @molly... I normally always try to get at least eight hours a night. usually I end up with more if I'm not working the next day.
    sounds like your goal is doable then, i think you are smaller than i am.
  • angelashay42
    angelashay42 Posts: 286
    I think your weight is fine, you may want to keep working on toning and changing the fat you have into muscle, which of course wont change your weight, but my goal at 5 8 is 150, im 162 now so im struggling to lose the last ten, twelve. it sucks but you have to be uber strict with what you eat and workouts is my opinion. i wasnt willing to do that yet. so this week im hitting it hard! im no expert, but depending on your frame also your weight may not change much. ive always been bigger girl, my wrists are 8inch and i wear size ten shoes.

    IDK what my frame is. I have a six inch wrist though and 8 size shoe.. is that bigger?


    @molly... I normally always try to get at least eight hours a night. usually I end up with more if I'm not working the next day.

    You're a medium frame.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Considering your stats, you're pretty close to goal (not even considering weight). To put it in perspective, I'm only 5' 1/2" and my waist is 28" above navel (I'm a lot shorter and same waist!) So you don't have a lot to lose.

    Maybe you can let the number on the scale go and work on "toning" … building muscle through lifting, which will probably result in trimming down whatever fat is left. Even with an active lifestyle, it's probably going to take some extra exercise to change your body composition.

    Also remember, the closer you get to goal, the slower the weight loss is going to be. People who have 50+ pounds to lose can take of 3-5 lbs a week for a while, those of us with <15 pounds need to work a lot harder to lose just one pound a week.
  • Erihppas
    Erihppas Posts: 121 Member
    13 lbs? You got this!

    Calorie reduction, it's as simple as that!
  • olong
    olong Posts: 255 Member
    I don't know if this will help, but here's my two-cents... play with your macros a bit. You're already cutting down the carbs (I gather from your post), but maybe upping your carbs a bit or upping your protein may help. I had my macros set at MFPs default, and that was fine for the first 20-30 pounds. Since then, I've noticed my body loses weight more easily with 40/30/30 (C/P/F). Now, on heavy workout days, I don't really strive to eat my calories back. Instead, I make sure I eat my protein back (usually this means I don't eat all of my carbs) even if it has to be with whey protein shakes.

    Hope this helps.
  • closet_fatty
    closet_fatty Posts: 109
    So, change up my calories, zig zag. Is that everything? I feel like I must be missing some hidden truth about dieting or something.
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