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.

[dancefoxtrot]

Way to go cylon. Kick those processed carbs to the street. Fresh veggies are the best, or frozen if in a time crunch. Glad to read that you broke through. You are on your way to better health and the slimmer you. 

Barb G

[dancefoxtrot]

Marilyn,

Have you asked yourself why you overeat? Maybe journal when you are eating for emotional or stress reasons. It helps because then you can find better ways to deal with the stress or emotional needs. 

I can't bring home food that is addictive and even healthy nut snacks I have to measure not to go crazy on. 

Logging your food makes it clear what and when we are over indulging and is eye opening.  Loving ourselves includes firm limits and boundaries. We can find better ways to care for ourselves.

Good wishes for courage to change,

Barbara 

[juicysgot]

Best way to lose any extra weight?  Cut out suger (sugar hidden in processed foods), dairy (includes yogurt, cheese, butter), and wheat (no wheat bread, no wheat pasta).  Trust me.

I am a fitness trainer and cancer survivor, and I've recently been on the Gerson Nutritional Therapy Diet.  In the first 3 weeks of being on this diet, I lost 10 lbs.  That's ten that I didn't think I needed to lose.  Since starting 14 weeks ago, I have lost 20lbs.  I am eating ~2000 cals a day, but none from sugar, dairy, animal or wheat.  I eat rice pasta, ALL the vegetables I want!  All the fruits I want, save berries.  Too much sugar.  Brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes..... EVERYTHING.  All the complex carbohydrates.  Nothing from a box, bottle, jar, bag, or can.  Just organic, fresh fruits and veggies, all day long.  

When I started, I had in my head "do it or DIE", but you can say "do it or don't get what you're after". 

It's kind of a game.  Trying to figure out ways to cook and blend foods.  Just try it for one month and see what happens!!

Good luck!!  🙂

[fiercemom]

I totally get it, I do.

Those last 5 or even 10 are the toughest.  Clearly you have done many things right to get where you are. But those things will not help you at this point.  It sounds like you have some problem areas you are unhappy with (girl, we ALL do!).   All the cardio in the world is not going to change those areas.  Strength training is the answer.  Unfortunately the scale will not reflect this- you might even see those scale numbers go up.  The good news is you can still track your progress by measuring arm circumference, waist, hip, leg, etc.  Investing in a few sessions with a trainer would help you get a plan down- even for home use.   Don't totally stop cardio, just do it on days you are not lifting.  Make sure good, clean protein is the mainstay of your diet.

Here's the truth-   you need to celebrate your progress and not focus on the negatives!  Fitness and Health are not destinations you finally "arrive" at, they are journeys to be embraced. Set goals beside a number on a scale- that is a deceptive prize.  

Good Luck!

[dancefoxtrot]

Agree fierce mom.

Barbara G

[HelenaFitbit]

Congratulations on the excellent health results you've accomplished @juicysgot, dedication, consistency and determination will get you everywhere. 

[feelinghealthy]

Maybe you should add more protein to your diet especially dinner, i try to stop eatting after 8 pm. If i need a snack i choose  fruit like watermelon 1 0z or pineapple,grapes. you shouldn't go to be hungry.I hope this helps. also losing those last five lbs maybe you can increase your reps and also increase your workout time,add 15 minutes.

[taz1265]

I have been trying to lose a stone since january. I do a spin class 4 times a week and bodypump 1 time a week, i also partake in running and sometimes swimming. i have only lost 3 pound and it is really getting me down. i am 5ft 8 and i weigh 11stone 3pound. i wish that i could get down to 10stone 3pound. I have started to eat my 3 meals a day and only have one treat a week but nothing seems to be working 😞 !

[Heybales]

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@taz1265 wrote:

I have been trying to lose a stone since january. I do a spin class 4 times a week and bodypump 1 time a week, i also partake in running and sometimes swimming. i have only lost 3 pound and it is really getting me down. i am 5ft 8 and i weigh 11stone 3pound. i wish that i could get down to 10stone 3pound. I have started to eat my 3 meals a day and only have one treat a week but nothing seems to be working 😞 !

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I hope you aren't stressing your body out and making it adapt by attempting a bigger than 250 calorie deficit?

That's reasonable for amount to be lost, 14 lbs.

You list all that exercise as if that should be causing you to lose weight.

Side effect of exercise is weight gain, mainly and first water weight.

Only thing exercise has to do with weight loss is making you burn more during the day - then when you take a reasonable deficit - you may be eating enough to adhere to the diet plan.

Eating less than you burn is what will cause weight loss - I'm hoping you want only fat loss, not any weight.

You don't mention much about diet - those 3 meals could be more than you burn.

Have you been meeting your eating goal - or missing it?

Since a goal is something to reach, I hope not adding stress to body by missing it.

[fatgymrat]

let me start off by saying i dont consider myself a proffessional in any way; ive just done alot of trial and error over the last 8 years.  next i want to say dont pay attention to the BMI scale and "healthy range" because its all BS, pay attention to your body fat %, set a body fat % goal and go for it.  BMI doesnt take into account a fat couch potatoe with no muscle vs a healthy individual with lots of muscle.  theres no way you can say phil heath, my olympia, is morbidly obese at 5'9" and 280lbs.

i was 360 and one point and down to 290 now at 6'2", i dont think ill ever get under 235lb without giving up muscle and "healthy" for me is around 180 according to BMI.  ive tried many things but what seems to be working best is combining lean gains intermitten fasting with John Romaniello's idea of over eating one day a week.  basic idea is (and i encourage you to take an afternoon and read about it fully) your body burns more fat when in a fasted state so limiting the times you eat - not the amount - will cause you to enter the fasted state so you can go work out and it be more effective.  the other part of the equasion is Leptin production which is what decides if you are in "starvation mode" which resets easily according to Romaniello by one day of over eating and fasting the entire next day to offset the calorie intake.

basically im finding wonderful results (for me, everyone will be different) with protien intake of 1.8 grams per KG (or 2.2lbs for us dumb Americans) per day, load up on BCAA and EAA (sip on those through the day to fight hunger and sick feelings while fasting and prevent muscle catabolism) i would recommend USP Labs Modern BCAA and i mix it with Purple Wrath BCAA mix since i couldnt decide which to use so i use both.  stop eating at 8pm wake up in the morning and get some weight lifting in FIRST then do cardio.  its key to switch up routine just to work more muscle groups.  doing the eliplticle every day is less beneficial than eliplticle one week, treadmill the next week, bike the next week, flipping tires another week ect.....a way to make it easier is i bought a punching bag and some kettle bells (look up 7 most important kettle bell lifts) so days i dont get to the gym i can still work out easily at home.

dont know if that helps, i get everything from amazon since its the easiest way to get it and i cant make excuses of the store closed or i dont want to go out right now - click order its there, no excuses.

my results after about a month is about 20lbs overall weight loss with a >2%(at 290 lbs) muscle mass increase.  i would welcome any good ideas from anyone else that is a proffesional with research to back it up. ive spent over 40k paying weight loss experts that all said the general same BS and it never worked including personal trainers, dietitians, nutritionists and doctors.  my insurance has paid another 500k but finaly figuring it out.

[AraK]

I found the key. The secret. It WAS hard but now it is easy. To lose 2 pounds overnight: Only have coffee, tea, water all day and at dinner eat a steak. Any size, any cut and ONE apple. The next day you will be down 2. If you do this once a week you can lose the 5 pounds in not time. You can do it twice in once week if you'd like to get it over with.

[healthsidekick]

Same way you lost the original weight. Pretty simple answer. Congrats btw

[birdiefu]

I know this thread is pretty old, but I wanted to chime in as I have a soft spot for 5'6" ladies at 125 lb who still think they need to lose more weight...as I have been there myself.

One problem with losing a good deal of weight, especially if progressive strength training is not done, is the loss of lean body mass along with fat mass. This can lead to one to end up with a normal or even low BMI but "flabby" - not due to too much fat, but due to being undermuscled. Muscle is what fills out and gives shape to your frame so you aren't mostly bones and flab.

At some point, continuing to lose weight once you are pretty light is no longer the answer and you will need to reevaluate things. At the very least, taking a diet break and eating at maintenance calories can help normalize hormone levels that change at a caloric deifcit. However, many people don't realize that it is normal for the scale to go up with in increase in carbs/food bulk, and often freak out and drop cals again.

Eating at maintenance and lifting weights to stimulate retention or at least a slight increase in muscle mass can effect positive body composition changes without having to "lose weight" further, and likely you will feel mentally and physically much better doing this after a long cut. I actually would suggest eating at a slight (~250 cal) surplus over a few months to get even better results, but many people (women especially) get freaked with the idea of gaining, so sticking with maintenance for a bit and seeing how eating some more will *not* make you a fatty can be a good first step.

If you do decide to gain while lifting, you likely would find losing fat later on easier the second time around, and much more pleased with the results at the same (or higher) scale weight. Many women also get afraid they will look "manly", but it is extremely difficult for women to put on quality muscle and believe me, you won't wake up one day "too muscly" without realizing it! It takes lots of "extra" supplementation plus years of intense training to get anywhere near what BB-level women look like.

It took me 4 years of heavy, consistent training as a competitive powerlifter to get the results below, with several bulks/cuts and not fearing getting "fat" once in a while (lack of eating at a surplus for a long time will also limit you from getting "big"). Yes, I was 126 with a saggy bum and saddlebags but boney shoulders, and ended up looking far better (IMO) with another 26 lbs added, lol. Just wanted to illustrate that sometimes losing *more* to look/feel/perform better does not have to be the only choice.

http://imgur.com/WfPlfA4

http://imgur.com/AZBKKQE

http://imgur.com/ECweCvz

[Heybales]

Beautiful! Needed another like ability.

As many would call it - recomposition, or recomp.

That may be more the tactic needed if the mind can't be overcome for gaining a small amount of fat.

Eat at maintenance - don't try to lose or gain - but main workout focus is heavy for you lifting.

Gotta give the body reasons to be torn down, so it can expend the energy to build it back up and stronger. That extra energy coming from the fat as all your food is used for repair and workout related.

And as you point out - that last 5 probably won't even matter then.

By the time the body reshapes, it'll probably appear like you lost 10 lbs total, rather than the 5 you think you need to lose.

[spol]

Please correct me if I am wrong..trying to loose my final 10 lbs, I am 5'5 and weighing 145. I maintain my diet and exercise 5 days a week and eat on the Fri, Sat, and Sun and go up to 146 ot 147 😞 

.Will I be not loosing weight if I eat less calories than I burn?

For example if I burned 2300 calores for the day do I need to eat 2300 calories? 

[healthsidekick]

Thats assuming you know what your correct calorie in rate really is. FITBIT for me is off 300 calories a day. To lose the last bit of weight you need to be more accurate. To say if I eat less than I burn I will lose weight is a correct statement, but you need to have the correct numbers for that statment to be an absolute.

[missmia]

It was always my thought, to loose weight, eat less calories than you burn. 2,300 calories in and 2,300 calories out means no weight lost, no weight gained.

[missmia]

I started this thread. It was me trying to loose those last five pounds. Well since then, I have learned that no one else can really tell I need to loose five pounds; the scale goes up and down depending on so many different factors and most of all, if I don't go up, I am doing good.

I am 5'9" at 163. I weight train  3 days a week and my diet is ok. I have no problem with exercise, its the food that gets us. Portion control; what we eat and for me, why I eat. I have appetite changes during pms. It gets kinda bad. Nothing is satisfying except bread. I gain weight fast and am hard on myself when I see my pooch.(stomach from either 3 babies or hereditary) Maybe changing my perspective and fitness goals is the key.

[healthsidekick]

Losing the last 5lb is simple and attainable, but to do it you need the absolute truth. That is not to say you or anyone else will do it, but at least you will know you can. Whether we do it or not is up to us once we have the correct information. It is simple.

[missmia]

I agree. We just have to find what works for us individually. Every body is different. Once we find what works, there's no stopping us. I love as humans that we can keep experimenting and trying different things. Whether not eating any bread or not eating after 8 p.m. or drinking a cup of water before each meal. We don't give up until we find it.