How do you lose the LAST FIVE lbs? It's rough!

[reasonle]

My weight loss journey began back when I was a junior in highschool (~8 years ago).  At that point I was 165 lbs and I always assumed I was "big boned" for a girl as well as being overweight.  I am about 5' 6" and I guess I just tried to make myself feel better by saying that I was big boned too.

Now that I have reached and lost more than my original goal weight (125), I have discovered my body can go a bit farther!  I have now realized that rather than having a large frame, I have a small one.  So now my goal weight seems to be a few pounds less than where I am now, about 5-7 lbs.

I know that my deficit needs to be small, and believe me, I am going slow!  I don't really track my calories anymore (although I used to religiously, scale and all), I just eat when I am hungry and try my best to eat whole foods amd protein at every meal, but of course I let myself splurge sometimes.

I run, walk, and do bodyweight exercises at home.  My current calorie goal with my fitbit is 2250 cals a day.  Normally I hit it, sometimes during the week I am just under, but on the weekends I am always over.

So my real question is, does anyone have any advice for loosing the last 5?  I am so used to eating just enough so that I am slightly hungry when I go to bed, but should this not be my goal anymore?  I think on most days I eat about 2000 cals.  I know this is an estimation but after YEARS of intense calorie counting and food weighing, I am pretty good at guessing what I am eating.

[1stepcloser]

I know you want an answer but you don't need to lose 5lbs. You say your 5' 6" and 125? You're probably underweight since i'm 4'11" and my ideal weight is 115 so you have me beat by 7 inches you can easily be 20 lbs heavier then my ideal weight and still be fit and healthy. So maybe your body wants to keep those 5lbs. It's just an observation. What does your doctor think? Your friends? Partner? Co-workers?

[carl669]

here's another thought.  don't aim for a specific number.  aim for a weight range.  your weight can fluctuate up to +/- 4lbs from day to day depending on what you ate, water retention, star alignment etc.  you could drive yourself crazy trying to maintain one particular number.

[reasonle]

My friends and family don't give me any input really.  I just see fat in places where I don't want it to be!  I have done heavy weight lifting in the past and I know that I need to increase that to get the look that I want but I also realize that I do have fat that just needs to disappear!

What I want right now is to lower my BF percentage, but I already have enough muscle in my opinion!  That is what I really need help with I guess.

[1stepcloser]

Here's where I'm coming from. My daughter has had a friend for the last 8 years. She is a size 00. Yet she always see's fat on her. Last summer trying to lose those last 5lbs she dropped her weight close to 80lbs.  She is your height.  That's why I'm asking if you actually need to lose those 5lbs, or are you seeing something no one else is.  I know it happens with me. I'm down 40 pound this year, My neighbors see it, my co workers see it, my family see it....I dont see it! I don't want you in the same boat. I just don't want you focused on the last 5 lbs when you may be healthy right now. The body must have fat on it. I hate that, but it does. In the end I just want you healthy.

[Heybales]

So it sounds like you are saying you ended up skinny fat.

Weight range is healthy, but likely the fat % is higher than healthy, or at least desired, or at minimum in the wrong spots.

Either way, likely was a result of past dieting efforts, and you lost muscle mass.

Sadly only way to get that back is with strength training. You need to show current muscles on constant basis that they cannot handle an increased load and need to build more.

While that is happening, you can finish burning off fat.

You eat at maintenance so you get the best benefit from the lifting. And it's slow, 1 lb swap in probably 8 weeks. And it still doesn't help with where the body takes the fat from.

But muscle is going to be strengthened where you work it, so strong muscle even under fat usually looks better than just fat.

Look up Stronglifts 5x5 for a progressive overload routine if you have access to gym. You might get by with body weight if really pretty weak, but it wouldn't last for long.

[reasonle]

That's the thing...  I really don't think I am skinny fat either!  I do have lots of muscle in my legs and abs.  Other areas I guess I could improve, but like I said, I did do intense weight training in the past when I had access to a gym!

Now I don't have that access though...  I can't imagine that I would have lost that much muscle mass because I have lost weight so slowly...

[Heybales · Accepted solution]

Ok, that's good to know, that would have saved you, strength training and if you always had reasonable deficit as you selected now, good job.

So when was your last diet break, where you took a week and ate at maintenance?

When you have very little to lose, a diet is more of a stress on your body. Stress is bad for weight/fat loss.

Especially depending on other stresses.

You may benefit from an alternate approach with weight being about right, but fat not where you want it.

Like a week on / off diet routine with same small deficit. This allows hormones to reset, and metabolism to remain high.

Or if you exercise 3 or more times weekly, eat at maintenance on rest days, and for 3 days of cardio where you burn more, take 500 cal deficit.

Several options depending on what allows you to adhere to the eating part, but still allows exercise to cause max benefit.

[reasonle]

Well, because I really don't track my calories religiously anymore, my last real "diet break" is hard to figure out!  But honestly, for the past few YEARS, my overall goal has always been to eat less than I burned, even if it was a small amount.

So I think you are right... that I need to let my body recharge some!  I cant guarantee that EVERY day I am in a deficit, but most yes!

And as these days have passed I have been getting more excited about strength training again, I guess I just need to rekindle the love for it a bit and get a better set up for strength going at home!

THANKS!

[LewWagner]

A body mass index (BMI) for a 5'6" person is between 115 - 154 for "normal" range.

Heck, I'm 5'8" and my normal range is 122-164.  I don't think I'll ever be below 155 (my college days fighting trim).  Right now, I'm at 170.

All due respect, but do you really feel you have to lose five more pounds?  The old adage I've heard is that there isn't one woman who doesn't feel she has to lose weight and not one man who doesn't need to.

I'll be happy if I can get down to less than 164 lbs and escatic at 155, but for now, losing 130 lbs from Nov 2013 and being at 170 is something I can savor for a while.

Good luck on your quest to shed a few more pounds, though.

Lew

[MarilynL]

I wonder how old you are as this also makes a difference in the equasion. I am 5'4 and was extatic to be at 135lbs and size 6 but also feel that there is too much fat here and there.  I am 62 so I dont want to look like a scraggly piece of leather LOL! Nevertheless I feel that probably my weight should be in the 129-132lb range. Having said that,  I do think that weight training needs to be added to my routine, but the bottom, bottom line is diet every time. 

Last year I lost 30 lbs in 4 months by cutting the white stuff, dairy and sugar. I basically did a vegan diet and it came off easily and I was not hungry. Once I reached goal I added back animal protein only organic or wild caught. I find that the moment I have bread or the like my stomach immediately puffs, its the worst, even though it does taste nice- not worth it.

So I am now eating to loose once again- mainly soups, smoothies , vegetables but a bit of fruit and then some avocardo, nuts as needed and salads and grilled vegetables. I find that when I eat meat it seems to open the apertite so I keep animal protein for when I am maintaining. So far I am down 2 lbs in 3 days and have at least 7 to go. Lets see how it proceeds 🙂

[Markie2210]

Trying to lose 8 pounds after losing 11 stone in a the past 18 months after massive transformation, my wonderful fitbit flex by my side every single step. Cannot seem to shift the last 8 pounds thought. I've upped my activity levels but cannot shift them.

[bckshld]

I would love to be 150 again, am 5'7".  Guess it depends on how you feel, but 125 sounds too slim.  Good luck to you.

[missmia]

I am feeling very disappointed. I was at my goal weight for one week and now I gained six pounds and can't seem to keep it down. I'll loose two and gain it back. I have upped my cardio and eat more protein. For the last two weeks I noticed I was eating way too much protein so I started eating less. Instead of 2200 calories a day I went to 1800 cal a day and I'm almost always hungry before bed. What am I doing wrong?

[Heybales]

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@missmia wrote:

I am feeling very disappointed. I was at my goal weight for one week and now I gained six pounds and can't seem to keep it down. I'll loose two and gain it back. I have upped my cardio and eat more protein. For the last two weeks I noticed I was eating way too much protein so I started eating less. Instead of 2200 calories a day I went to 1800 cal a day and I'm almost always hungry before bed. What am I doing wrong?

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First thing doing wrong - having a goal weight number.

There are all kinds of valid reasons why your weight fluctuates, usually with water, that prevents keeping a single number.

You should have a weight goal range.

How long did it take to gain those 6 lbs?

Always do the math with fast loss or gain.

6 lbs x 3500 (if you think it's fat) / days it took to gain or lose = calories eaten over or under maintenance to cause that much fat loss or gain.

You'll probably find you did not eat that many calories daily over maintenance to cause that 6 lbs to be fat. Probably couldn't possibly be. Which means you gained water weight.

Stress causes elevated cortisol causes increased water retention causes weight gain - upwards of 20 lbs is possible.

You doing more or hard cardio, mainly carb burning, just asks body to store more carbs in muscles - which always stores with water. Another reason for weight gain.

Diet is a stress too, even though it lowers carb stores (first big water weight drop), and you took a big deficit there for only a little bit to lose, which is probably water anyway. And body isn't happy with that.

[HelenaFitbit]

My advise, don't follow a number on the scale; follow your BF% and overall health and strength. If your diet was too rough, try softening it a bit so you won't bounce back. I'd also recommend to work on toning up the body you have right now rather than continue leaning down to a particular number. 

Best of luck! 

[ReadWriteRun]

You can't always compare goal weights based on just height.  We are all slightly different as far as body composition is concerned. 

[jmeisalive]

I am also 5'6 (27 years old, female) and look/feel my best between 115-120 lbs (which is within the healthy weight range for females our height)

I usually eat between 1500-1800 calories a day. I also lift and use the elliptical 4-5 x per week. I eat a lot of healthy foods and am not really hungry ever. I know that when I eat 2000+ calories per day I usually weigh about 125 lbs. 

Hope this helps.

[SunsetRunner]

How to lose the last 5lbs?


A little flu with intestinal issues..
Lose those 5lbs easily

🙂

[fitnessobsessed]

exactly. Love this. I feel so much better not looking at my weight everyday. It was too frustrating. I felt obsessed. I stopped checking everyday. Now once a week or 2. Good advice.