Somebody tell me, Why are the last ten pounds so hard to lose?

For 2 months I've been sitting at my last 10 pounds. I know I'm not the only one.... what the heck? I work hard, eat right, yadda yadda....

The closest I got was 8.9 pounds to go.

Any tips or tricks?

My goal weight is 143, I was thinking of changing it to 135. I'm 5'6 1/2, 34 years old, female. Currently 152. Haven't seen the 140's yet. . .

Anyone else having the same darn issues?

I do, I do!

I am at my last 6-7 pounds (my goal is 115, but I am short - 5ft 2.5 in) I don't look overweight by any means but that stubborn belly fat and last 6 pounds drive me crazy (and make me look like I am 2-3 months pregnant)!! I am starting to suspect that CC gives me a wrong estimate of how much I burn per day @ lightly active level... I know EXACTLY how much I eat per day - I weight 95% of my food (excluding milk, other liquids that I measure in cups) so the problem gotta be in how much I burn per day, right? 

I made another post asking people who own bodybugg/gwf to share their experiences - did CC correctly estimate their daily burns?

With this said... Igloocal, please, please, please let me know when you find out how to successfully drop those last nasty pounds! We gotta do it!! I have Hawaii trip planned in 3 weeks :-(((

I will let you know. Thanks for posting.

I wish my last few would come off in a month, but judging how it has been going, it doesn't look so good.

Here's my weight log since I joined in November. (I started at 199, but joined CC at 174)

2009-05-29 151.60 

2009-05-25 152.60  

2009-05-22 154.00

2009-05-15 152.60

2009-05-11 154.00

2009-05-08 153.60

2009-05-04 153.80

2009-05-01 155.40

2009-04-24 154.40

2009-04-22 155.60

2009-04-11 153.80

2009-04-03 153.00

2009-03-27 155.40

2009-03-20 157.40

2009-03-13 157.40

2009-02-20 156.00

2009-02-15 157.00

2009-02-06 157.40

2009-02-01 158.20

2009-01-23 158.40

2009-01-10 157.00

2009-01-02 161.00

2008-12-26 163.00

2008-12-19 164.00

2008-12-12 165.00

2008-12-05 166.00

2008-11-28 170.00

2008-11-24 174.00 

Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated!

Oooh Hawaii!  Have a fabulous time.

I too am guilty of the last few pounds.  For the longest time the scale would not budge.  I am now 4-5 lbs away from goal.  What I did to move the plateau was to increase the amount of cardio each day.  This doesnt always happen, but I strive for it.  I also cut the percentage of fats and carbs and bumped up the percentages of proteins.

Check your journals, your deficits and percentages, check your activity levels and change something.  Something has to shift in order to break up that last few bits of pounds.

Good luck!

change ur exercise routines. introduce the element of surprise. i.e. hiit instead of a constant speed walk/run. your body gets used to the same old same old. maybe try a different activity. change it up! even if you just change up the timing of your reps when you lift, its still introducing new things your body needs to react to. arnold taught us that.

last 5 are hardest! you gotta really want it!

Oh I feel ya!  I have only hit my half-way mark (had 60 pounds to lose, have lost 30) and I'm noticing that the weight-loss is slowing down quite a bit!  It's very frustrating.  I'm trying to add more protien into my diet (like Devilish_Patsy suggested) and I think that's helping.  I've also upped my cardio and strength training.  My body got used to Power90 DVDs, and I plateaued for awhile, so I switched to running.  Now I think my bod has gotten used to running, so I'm back to DVDs.  Good luck to you!  I wish I only had 10 more to go!  That's awesome! :)

You have to get strict to lose the last few pounds and really get fit. If what you're doing is not working, you're doing the wrong things. I would elaborate but it's best to keep researching until you find something that works. You can't just focus only on calories and keep losing until you look amazing.

My calories are normally good. I have a good deficit during the week and generally maintain over the weekends. Zig-zagging scares me. (Does anyone have a suggestion for zig-zagging btw?)

My workout routine consists of NROLFW Mon, Wed, Fri. I run (steady state) 5.5-6 miles in one hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On weekends I try to have one rest day, but usually get about an hour of tennis in and a 2 mile run or bike ride.

I also play tennis in a league on Thursday nights. (Just started) That's quite a workout in itself. :)

Do you think changing my steady state runs to HIIT on Tues and Thurs would be enough to change it up? Also, HIIT is like 20 minutes! I spend an hour running normally. What do I do the rest of my time at the gym? Or is that it?

I've been told it's because you don't have as much water weight to lose. So it's all mostly fat, which comes off slower. I don't know if thats true or not, but it kind of makes sense.

Been there, done that - got the tshirt (a bit snug) to prove it.

I have been told by doctors that a body ( a woman's body) in particular holds onto the last bit of weight as a protective means against starvation in the event of a famine.

In the early days of civilization, it might be a while between mastodon kills (or whatever) so the body needed a fat store. A woman in particular, needed a "cushion" of nutrient protection in the event of a pregnancy.

Altho I also agree with everything posted on this thread.

My ideal weight is around 140, no lower than 138. I am currently 142.

Where I have been before.

and before, and before.

Mastodon burger anyone?

Original Post by strawberry-roan:

 

My ideal weight is around 140, no lower than 138. I am currently 142.

 Curious as to what your stats are? Age/ height / etc Thanks.

Well, I am about 5 foot 5, sixty years old.

I exercise a LOT so have some muscle weight, just a little flab covering those abs but I am sure they are there.

At my age, when I get below 140 I start to look older in the face and neck than I want.

I wear size six jeans and skirts, size ten tops.

A younger person would probably want to weigh closer to 120 or so, I remember weighing 118 for a long time and looked fine. Of course, back then I didn't exercise too much - had four kids in five years, that was enough running around for me.

SUE

Original Post by igloogal:

My calories are normally good. I have a good deficit during the week and generally maintain over the weekends. Zig-zagging scares me. (Does anyone have a suggestion for zig-zagging btw?)

try this site for calorie cycling. I've tried it before and it did work.

Another thing that worked for me was to give it a break (did this while on vaca). I ate maintenance cals for 2 weeks and when I got back I felt renewed and ready to tackle those last few.

igloogal, you are my weight twin!

I am 153/154 and trying to get down to 143 as my goal weight. I stayed at 155/154 these last 3-4 weeks working out HARD and really staying between 1200-1600 calories per day depending on my activity.

If you find the magic solution - let me know!!!

I will let you know!

I was just doing a little research and I may be eating too little??? I thought I was around a 500 deficit during the week. Apparently it could be more like 1000. Probably too much for too long.

I'm going to try zig zagging officially starting Monday. How long should I do that for?

Adding HIIT? I may wait to see how the zig zag effect works for me :)

I swear you stole my weight log!  I'm 5'5", at 151lbs, and trying to get to 140lbs (though I might decide 135 would be better...) But the last ten pounds have been like pulling teeth, and I'm afraid the next ten will be worse. :-(

So my solution is that I'm trying to do P90X starting today actually... Like others mentioned, I'm thinking that changing up my workout will help.

Good luck!  Keep us updated onhow the zig-zagging/HIIT works for you! :-)

So I am 5' 6.5'' as well. I currently sea-saw from 149-153. All I want to do is be consistantly under 150. My goal weight is 143 too!

I find that changing my diet every other week is helpful in losing. I believe whole-heartedly in 'shocking' ths system into action. So for breakfast, I typically do either yogurt, cottage cheese, hard boiled eggs - always with some almonds/cashews or other type of good fatty acid. Lunch is always salad with protein, or because of the job I work - a lean cuisine. I try as much as I can to vary the types of food I eat.

The last 5-10 pounds are the hardest, well at least they have been for me. I think you  just have to really really really want it. And you have to experiment with your body to see how it reacts to sudden changes in diet and excersise.

If anyone finds the secret, please do forward it along =)

Sometimes I just want to starve myself, but I would never.

My weight is fluctuating so much. I am doing the New Rules of Lifting, so I am always wanting food!

My plan is to zig-zag next week to see how it goes. I am starting Monday. I am going to continue my regular workout routines until my first stage in NROLFW is complete. (couple more weeks) I will take a full week off (reluctantly) before I begin Stage 2.

I'm hoping this kicks me in to high gear. Man I wish I could wear a 2 piece swimsuit without the gut. (and stretchy skin for that matter)

One more thing for those of you who do HIIT on days between lifting?

This only gives me a 20 minute HIIT session and a 5-10 minute warm up. What else do you do on those days, if anything?

I'm used to spending at least an hour at the gym working out. Should I feel guilty if I only spend 30-35 minutes?

Thanks