It's Time to Lose the Last 10 Pounds

It's Time to Lose the Last 10 Pounds

The last 10 pounds of your weight loss goal are often the hardest to lose. If you have lost a lot of weight, it can be frustrating to be so close to your goal but unable to lose the last 10 pounds. This difficulty occurs for several reasons, and understanding them may help you get those last pounds off.

Weight Loss Plateau
You may be at a weight plateau on your diet to slim down. Plateaus occur when your weight loss gets "stuck" at a certain level, and you find it difficult to lose more weight. You can increase your weight loss by increasing your activity level.

Biology
Your body is designed to resist losing too much weight and has protective mechanisms that kick in when your calorie intake decreases below the amount of calories burned. As an evolutionary process, your body holds on to some fat stores to avoid starvation.

Other Factors
Although you are biologically programmed to resist losing too much weight, there may be other reasons your weight loss efforts have stalled. Keep a diary of your food and exercise routine to make sure you haven't allowed old habits to creep back in. You may need to increase your exercise level to boost your weight loss again. Make sure you are not eating too little. If your calorie intake falls too low, your body may believe you are starving, causing your metabolism to slow down.

Acceptance
You may need to accept that your weight may not reach the lowest level you're aiming for. Focus on other factors, such as inches lost and fitness level, instead of the pounds on the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat, so it is possible to lose inches and clothing sizes even if your weight on the scale doesn't dramatically change.

If your weight loss results have leveled off and you are struggling to lose the last 10 pounds, you are not unique. After shedding even as much as 100 pounds, most people have difficulty losing the last 10 pounds.

That being said, there are several techniques you can use to increase your fat burning processes and lose the last 10 pounds. You should be able to lose the last 10 pounds by using one or a combination of these suggestions.

1) Workout More: Most people attempt to counteract a weight loss plateau by reducing caloric intake; this is a less efficient approach than increasing how often you exercise. By performing additional cardio, you will probably have greater success compared to just reducing the number of calories you consume.

By incorporating a couple of cardio sessions per week, you can jumpstart your body's fat burning metabolism and lose the last 10 pounds to get down to your desired weight.

2) Up Your Intensity: If you don't have the time to add additional cardio workouts or they just weren't effective for you, the next step you should take is to increase the intensity of your routines. You may increase your metabolism by performing your workouts with greater intensity, putting you back on the track to losing the last 10 pounds.

If you really want to lose the last 10 pounds, you must exert yourself more to achieve that goal.

3) Slight Caloric Reduction: If increasing your workout intensity is not successful, it may be time to slightly reduce your daily caloric intake to lost the last 10 pounds and break through your fat-loss plateau.

Remember that too large a caloric deficit will cause your body to activate its "famine response" which works to store additional fat to protect against future starvation. Therefore, you should begin by reducing your caloric intake by 200 or so calories and see if that restarts your fat loss.

4) Eat More Often: It can also be beneficial to eat more often during the day. This does not mean that you will consume more calories; instead you will just spread your caloric intake throughout the day into smaller meals that will be consumed more often.

You can elevate your metabolic rate and the rate by which you lose fat by eating more often. The body will have no need to store additional fat since it is receiving a constant stream of required nutrients.

The idea of extra meals may seem counterintuitive when you are trying to lose the last 10 pounds, but this principle works.

5) Don’t Overindulge: It is ok to occasionally reward yourself for all the hard work you have done to lose weight, but you must remember that you must minimize these "cheat" meals. That being said, you may find it beneficial to discontinue these cheat meals when you are struggling to lose the last 10 pounds.

6) Stay Hydrated: Maintaining adequate hydration is a key element in ensuring maximum efficiency of your body's fat burning processes. This is one of the simplest steps you can incorporate to get the best results and lose the last 10 pounds. In fact, it might just be the step you were missing.

7) Sleep More: A good night's rest is a necessity for weight loss, and sleep deprivation has negative effects on your body's capacity to burn fat and increase lean muscle mass. A full night's sleep guarantees that your body will have stable hormonal levels, adequate recovery after exercise, and enough energy to power itself through workouts and daily tasks. An extra 30 or 60 minutes of sleep a night may be enough to assist you to lose the last 10 pounds.

8) Adjust Macronutrient Ratios: Change the proportion of calories you obtain from the three major macronutrients to lose the last 10 pounds and reach your desired weight. It is wise to begin by cutting fats and carbs and increasing protein consumption.