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.

[MarilynL]

Reasonle, why do you think you need to be lower than 125? It sounds like a totally fine weight to be at for your height. Perhaps you need to up your weights and now resculpt your body?

Why I say this is that I am 5'4 and when I reached my goal of 135 I saw that I needed to loose a bit more or resculpt. I once was 127 but did not like it as even my butt was gone and thats not cute ) This was many years ago.

 Now have two goals - once again to hit 135. I am now sitting at 142. The goal is to be at 135 by April 25th . That was the last time I was at that weight ,last year. Then I am going to move towards 129 and see what it looks like this time. I am 63 so dont want to look like a bit of dried out jerky, so it might mean that I am supposed to exercise more .

In my opinion the way to loose weight is all in the eating . The exercise is for health and toning and we need to do it. I was a personal trainer for many years and exercise is totally important but if the eating is not right you will be a very healthy seal not a healthy herring LOL!

Your food intake sounds good to me and eating when you are hungry is the perfect time to eat. The only question I have is what do you mean by "slightly hungry" when you go to sleep? My philosophy is to feel satified at each meal, and that means to me, to eat delicious tasting food when you are eating. That does not mean junk or sugar or whatever but just tasty food. In that way one also feels full faster too.

I look forward to hearing what you think.

[MarilynL]

Reasonale , what is your body fat? is it under 21% 

Have you considered Bikram (Hot ) Yoga? I do believe that this is your missing piece.

If you are doing weights perhaps do less weight but more reps in the area that you want to loose that fat that could help too.

[MarilynL]

Resonale, Haybale has some good advice there. I also want to remind you that muscle weighs more than fat but that weight is good weight. The thing you are aiming for is toneing and shaping now.

To my mind you are eating well so keep at it and ajust your workouts - to get rid of that excess fat and add muscle to those places you need. Dont forget the yoga too. Hot yoga or perhaps Ashtanga, both use a lot of muscle power as well as excellent for streching and toning. I am going to listen to my own advice and up my yoga too. its especially important for those of us who are a bit older:)

[MarilynL]

Lew, dont for get that BMI for a man and woman is totally different. Also, BMI is not such a good indicator of what weight one should be at as it does not take into account those of us that are all muscle and no fat. (Wish I could be counted in that bunch ...:()

Neverthess, Resonale needs to perhaps take a good look at her weight routine. She says she has good leg and ab muscles so perhaps her routine is concentrating on lower body to the detriment of her upper body? What have you to say about that Resonale is your workout equal?  

To improve muscle mass you cannot work out less than 3 x a week and 4 is better. If you do 4 x then alternate between upper and lower each time so that the worked out part has a time for rest and recovery. Haybale is a font of great info 🙂

[BurdsNest]

Wait.....jmeisalive. 5'6" and 115-120 pds.  I picture you very, very, thin.  I'm 5'3: @ 131 pds and I wear a size 4 and I'm petite.  You and I eat approximately the same amount of calories, and I can't lose 3pds no matter how hard I try.  My husband seems to think that this is "your weight" even thou I've been down to 125 on Weight Watchers (which I still follow) before. Until I started running on the treadmill, I fluctuated between 127 and 129.  I was good with that.  This over 130 is killing me.  Just say....

Sincerely,

Frustrated again!

[MikeSF]

Have you tried IF (intermittent fasting)? Twice a week cut your calories to 500 on those days. I think this is a best way to lose the last 5. 

[Heybales]

---

@MikeSF wrote:

Have you tried IF (intermittent fasting)? Twice a week cut your calories to 500 on those days. I think this is a best way to lose the last 5. 

---

Should probably be thrown in there that for the other 5 days you eat at maintenance level - no diet.

Then the 2 days are 25% of your average daily burn, just in case you burn more than 2000 calories even.

That's why in the study men ate 600.

[DaveGF4G]

I agree... losing too much weight isn't great either. Get a BMI calculator and go for the middle of "ideal weight for your height, age, and gender. You can find them on line (ie... free). OR (and this is NOT a commercial advert) buy yourself an Aria (a Fitbit scale). It uses your WiFi at home to send data to the Fitbit dashboard. If you are bent on losing another 5lbs, this baby will give you the incentive. I love mine and weigh myself daily in the morning before I have eaten or had anything to drink.

[dancefoxtrot]

We can all meet our goals if they are reasonable. In the middle of the healthy BMI zone sounds good. I'm 2.5 lbs from my 140 lb goal and I'm 5'7" with good muscles especially in my legs. If I could lose a little more from the abdominal area that would be even better. 

The last five may go a bit more slowly but they are going. Hopefully I will be 140 by Mother's Day in 3 weeks. We can all do this together. 

I think our healthy weight is determined by bone structure and muscle mass.  

For most of my younger adult life, under 50 yrs, I was in the low to mid 130's but that was decades ago.

For now I will continue to do the steps, burn the  500-700 calories a day more than I eat and see where I am in 3 weeks. If 140 looks too pudgie in the middle I'll try for a few more pounds. 

Seems like the middle adds pounds easily and hangs on for dear life when trying to lose them. Thankfully I have good muscle tone in the ab area from crunches, etc.  Good bye padding.

Best in health to all,

Barbara G

[BurdsNest]

Hey MikeSF, I'm hoping you mean to cut my daily caloric intake by 500 calories, or do you mean to have a 500 caloric intake for the entire day.  My popcorn is 250 calories.  OMG!  Talk to me brother!

SIncerely,

Confused!

[MikeSF]

Hi, Yes, just eat 500 calories for one day (2 or 3 times a week). It’s not easy for sure. But it will help you drop pounds in a short amount of time. I find it hardest at night because being hungry keeps me awake, so I take a melatonin to help me sleep and get though the night. 

[BurdsNest]

Thanks....that is difficult because I eat about 1300 - 1500 calories daily.  To maintain my weight of 130 pds, I should eat a little under 2000.  So with this deficit, I should be losing weight......I eat healthy, no soda, low sodium, carbs, lots of fruit and vegetables, and 100 + oz of water daily.  Gym rat, Sunday - Wednesday appropriately 600 calories burned and over 10,000 steps per day.  Can't seem to drop those last few pounds.  Trying Jennifer Lopez's fat burner and detox formula for 7 days, and a replenish for another 7.  We will see.

Sincerely,

I just don't know....

[dancefoxtrot]

Burd

You might try the fasting and only drinking water or herbal tea for 1/2 a day and then only eat 500 of super healthy food. But I wouldn't do that more than once a week and see if it helps. 

I know that I get mighty hungry after missing breakfast and lunch. Let us know if the cleanse works.

Good luck,

Barbara 

[ekfatloss]

Hi hope you are doing well with your weight loss

[MarilynL]

I, unfortunately am not doing well in the weght loss dept 😞 I know why ... just got to get a hold of this over eating 🙂

On a different note I must say that I disagree with eating only 500kcals as a way of loosing weight it just stresses the body and thats it in MY opinion:)

[BurdsNest]

Hi dancefoxtrot, I'm really in no hurry to lose 5pds.  I just have a number in my head (psychological) and I don't like to go over it.  I'm embarrassed to say that I only want to lose 4pds, when so many are struggling with so much more.  I lost my initial weight in 2013 (40pds) and was able to maintain under 130 until Feb of this year????  No biggie, not enough to stress myself out over a few pounds.  That's the least of my worries.  🙂  Healthier eating, not necessarily thin.  Although, I do look good if I may say so myself!  🙂

Sincerely,

Always open for suggestions.

[FitNthick2015]

Hello, to shred off 5-7 lbs I suggest buying Kutting Weight Sauna suit it's on Amazon. I swear by it. I lose 3-7lb of sweat each time I use it, of course you gain that back once you eat and thought the day but If you eat clean drink plenty of water and use the suit. U will see a difference. I've been on my weightloss journey for years like a yoyo but since January over lost almost 20lbs. I plan to be my goal weight by July. If you would like to know more of my workout routine and my stack let me know.

[Gatorredd]

How much water are you drinking a day? You need to hydrate your body so if you are 100 lbs divide that by 1/2 and that is how many ounces you should be drinking. This also rebs up your metablizm.

[cylon]

I completely feel your pain.  Calories in vs calories out only worked for me to a point....a plateu. I've been working the last several pounds several times in the last few years.  Recently i started cutting out processed carbs from my diet and filling them with more vegetables.  Since i've started I've dropped below 200lbs, which hasn't happened in 15 years.  

I think it's different for everyone, but this really worked for me. Good luck. 

[TonyMoroney]

'Fake obesity experts' - 3 minute clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I02aVkdi_M