Deluding myself...the 10 pounds that just won't budge

[Govtgirl]

I feel like I'm never going to lose these 10 pounds! The scale moves down a little, then a couple days later I'm back where I started. No, I haven't been on a diet, and I guess that's what I need to do, duh, rather than making small changes. I mean, if I seriously stuck to a 1500 calorie diet, I'm sure it would come off. I just hate being hungry!

I'm 5'4" and right now weigh 135 and I probably eat about 2300 calories a day, if I'm honest with myself, to maintain that. I guess that's a lot, huh? According to the numbers, I could maintain 125 pounds on 2200 calories a day (100 calories a day over a year equals 10 pounds), so if I just suck it up a while and DIET down to 1500 cals a day, later I could go back up to 2200, right? Is 2300 actually a lot to eat, given that I weigh 135? I read some article where this guy said he used to eat 2500 calories a day and he weighed 200!

May I ask, how many calories do you eat a day to maintain your weight, and approx how many hours do you work out a week? I need a reality check, what do real people eat and how much do they exercise to maintain their weight??

 

[Pearlstrand]

I don't count calories so I can't answer that, but I work out 6 days a week, an hour a day minimum, with three cardio and three weight workouts a week.

I am 5'6" and 118-120 lbs., but I have a very small frame. What is your frame size? You may naturally need to be heavier because of a larger skeleton.

I'm no expert, but your calorie count seems high. Rather than go on some drastic plan, why don't you consider cutting a little bit her and a little bit there? It will be a slow loss, but over time, the weight should creep away.

For me that's been the easiest way to lose weight and keep it off. You have to be able to live with it long-term.

Good luck!

 

[dorothyrd]

Maybe this is a good weight for you. When I am at 140 and I am 5-4, I am in a size 4. My muscular frame would not support 125. I spent many years in my life trying to attain a weight that my body could not support. No matter how hard I tried, I would get to 135 and bounce right back up. By trying to get to an unhealthy weight, I ended up messing up my metabolism and ended up on the other side of the coin around 180 for years. Now I know my happy place is about 140-145.

 

[Shadowpup]

My baseline metabolism has shifted from slightly under 1200 to slightly over 1400 calories a day, for instance! (5'7") The kicker is, the 1200 baseline for me was measured (MedGem, at my local hospital) at a weight of 180. My current metabolic rate was measured again at a shade over 1400, at a weight of 127. I've significantly changed my body composition through exercise. It took about eight-nine months to take off the weight - I didn't do anything radical, just clean eating and calorie counting and exercise ... well, for me actually clean eating WAS radical I'm 48, was perimenopausal when I started, and am SO much healthier than I was in my skinny-fat twenties - I was about the same weight but looked entirely different. I'm also a size 2 now, lower body anyway, and was a size 6 then.

One thing, taking off the weight was the 'easy' part. That 'just' meant discipline, learning to get out of plateaus, and so on. The keeping it off means a healthy lifestyle, while that's an enjoyable challenge, I need to work at it constantly. My lifetime of bad habits didn't vanish overnight!

As for how much I work out, right now I'm enjoying STS Or would be, if I could shake this flu I picked up I started out walking, and half an hour was an effort. I found that working up to steady state cardio was helpful for about the first third of the weight loss, but had to add strength training after that to keep making gains, and gradually strength training and HIIT has taken over from steady state cardio.

 

[earlyexerciser39]

I agree!

I agree that you might just be at your "happy weight". I am dealing with the same thing now. I am 5'4" and about 135, too. I can pretty much eat what I want at this weight (and activity level, which is pretty high).

I work out pretty intensely for an hour per day about 5-6 days per week. I have been doing ChaLEAN since January, but some other cardio, too.

I estimate that I eat around 2400 calories per day, but I don't really count. Maybe we both should just accept where we are as success and be happy!!
Jenn

 

[LaughingWater]

I'm just under 5'7". My routine consists of 3 days of weights (1 hour) and 3 days of cardio (15-30 minutes).

At 1400 cals, my body will hover around 127. At a mix of 1400 and 1600, my weight goes up to 132. At 1700 and up, my weight climbs up to 136 roughly. I can't imagine what would happen if I ate more than 1800 with regularity. Without question, my metabolism has changed with age (I'm going to be 39 in April).

I seem to feel quite happy and strong at 132. I plan on increasing cardio as warmer weather approaches, which may affect that number, but I'm not going to try budging it. I'm more interested in my body composition and strength gains.

 

[gidget1978]

A good place to find out your calorie range is freedietingtools.com
I followed the zigzag pattern and lost 5 pesky pounds in no time! But of course after Christmas I gained a couple of them back but I maintain 124 by eating pretty much whatever, but within reason. I wouldn't pig out or anything. Realisticly I probably eat between 1800-2000 cals a day. Not in meals either, picking is where I pick up those extra cals so when I cut back and actually cut out the picking, Im not hungry.

 

[Timber99]

What makes you think that you need to lose the 10 pounds?

I have no idea about calories, but would suggest that you look at your food intake and decide if it is reasonable. Are you eating too often or making bad food choices? Can you clean those up a bit? Can you put yourself on a little bit of a schedule to eat less often? If you made a few changese, would you fel as if you were strictly dieting? (Because to me, that's no way to live!). If you feel like you are eating well and not too often, consider that perhaps this is your good, healthy weight.

I'm six feet tall and have been told I have a small frame, though I always joke that at 6 feet, nothing is small about me! I used to work really hard to stay closer to 160. I say it that way because it was really hard to get there and even harder to maintain. I was exercising at least 5 - 6 times per week (an hour each) and eating very well. I was having the exact issue that you are having now witht he one pound up and two down and back up three, etc. As I got a little older, I just ate for a bit the way I wanted. Healthy but not too restrictive. What I thought was reasonable. I just tend to stick at 165. I kind of feel like that might just be my natural weight and have decided to be comfortable with it.

Just something to consider!

 

[gidget1978]

Timber makes a very good point. Before I had DS I was 128-130 and if I was bad, I was a little above 130. In order for me to get to 127, I had to be very restrictive and as soon as I ate normal (which wasn't bad) I would gain those couple of pounds back again. It was an on going battle, no matter how much I worked out or how far I ran, 130 seemed to be my weight.
In the meantime, I can't say that I was ever comfortable with it b/c for some reason I wanted to be 125. I thought that this was where I looked my best.

Now...since having DS, I got down to 117. Im not sure how it happened but I would imagine it was a combo of chasing after a baby, not getting to sit and eat proper meals b/c he would whine or cry. By the time I crawled into bed at night I would think " Im hungry" but I was to tired to get up and get anything. A yr later, I am 122-124 and I think I eat the same as I did before DS, why I am smaller? Not sure. Probably b/c I am still chasing him around (he is 2). My mom says, "no wonder your so small, you don't get to sit down".

Point being...are we ever really happy with ourselves? Even at 117 I still had no waistline,(probably b/c I have no hips and am short waisted!) the thing that I thought I would have if I reached my desired goal weight. Now that I am 124, I would like to be 120 again but Im pretty sure I would have to go through the samething that you are going through right now.
Sometimes I think we really need to make sure we actually need to lose weight b/c if it coming back when we look at food or even smell it...prehaps its our comfortable weight?

 

[Timber99]

Timber makes a very good point. Before I had DS I was 128-130 and if I was bad, I was a little above 130. In order for me to get to 127, I had to be very restrictive and as soon as I ate normal (which wasn't bad) I would gain those couple of pounds back again. It was an on going battle, no matter how much I worked out or how far I ran, 130 seemed to be my weight.
In the meantime, I can't say that I was ever comfortable with it b/c for some reason I wanted to be 125. I thought that this was where I looked my best.

This was exactly my issue! I've seen this happen to many people. I now don't bother with the ongoing battle (other than when I gained from hurting my back, etc.) and simply try to stay at my comfortable weight & be happy with it.

 

[cakebaker]

Making the 10 lbs. disappear

I feel like I'm never going to lose these 10 pounds! The scale moves down a little, then a couple days later I'm back where I started. No, I haven't been on a diet, and I guess that's what I need to do, duh, rather than making small changes. I mean, if I seriously stuck to a 1500 calorie diet, I'm sure it would come off. I just hate being hungry!

I'm 5'4" and right now weigh 135 and I probably eat about 2300 calories a day, if I'm honest with myself, to maintain that. I guess that's a lot, huh? According to the numbers, I could maintain 125 pounds on 2200 calories a day (100 calories a day over a year equals 10 pounds), so if I just suck it up a while and DIET down to 1500 cals a day, later I could go back up to 2200, right? Is 2300 actually a lot to eat, given that I weigh 135? I read some article where this guy said he used to eat 2500 calories a day and he weighed 200!

May I ask, how many calories do you eat a day to maintain your weight, and approx how many hours do you work out a week? I need a reality check, what do real people eat and how much do they exercise to maintain their weight??

It CAN be done, but do it very slowly. Make small changes that will not cause you to feel starved like adding more fiber to your diet & making substitutions such as those featured in the "Eat This, Not That" books. I lost 14 lbs over 4 years ago (it took about 6 months) and have kept it off with no trouble after hanging at the heavier weight for years. Last time I went to the docs, I'd lost another 2, bringing me to my lowest weight since the early '80's!