Any clue why it's harder to lose weight closer to goal?

[steph_co 9]

When I first started this whole thing, weight DROPPED off. I'm past the halfway point and instead of losing a pound a day or every other day, I seem to stall easier (I just want to add - I KNOW this is normal and I'm not complaining...this is just such a different place for me to be...close to goal).It's very discouraging. I know some people stall for much longer than I do, so I should be grateful that I'm still losing. But seriously - I have a bad case of ADD, so it's hard to stay motivated on something if I don't see results.

I was just wondering if there was some kind of scientific explanation? Technically I'm only 10.5 lbs "overweight," so...harder to lose weight when you're no longer "obese?" I was looking around for some kind of article or something, but couldn't see anything that answered my question.

I'm starting to see that what worked at the beginning will no longer work for me and I need to try a different tack.

Edited November 22, 2008 by steph_co

[MacMadame 81]

The smaller you are, the less calories it takes just to run your body ... make your organs work, breathe, pump blood, etc. So now you are operating at less of a calorie deficient than you used to (assuming your calories are the same).

At the same time, the farther out people get, the more they try things that they might not have tried in the beginning. So you may be eating more and drinking and exercising less.

Finally, your body gets used to whatever you do to it and adjusts/compensates.

The first one you can't do anything about and it's a good thing -- it means you are healthier. The last two are in your control though. If you evaluate your lifestyle and find some room for improvement, you can implement them. Even if you are doing pretty good in the diet and exercise department, you can kick start your body by mixing things up.

I tend to mix things up anyway just because that's how my life works. I don't always exercise on the same day, I do different kinds of exercises all the time, and I vary how many days I exercise each week. Also, I get a lot of calories one day and hardly any the next.

All that kind of stuff can help. I know that as a dieter, I've never had a stall, and I'm hoping as a WLS patient that I'll continue my streak.

[tonya66 13]

ditto to the previous post.

I will say the closer you get to goal, even though its hard to lose a pound, every pound makes a huge different. 2 or 3 lbs can sometimes make me go into a whole size downward. Remember when it took 10 to 20 pounds to go down a size?

So keep you head up, even though it takes longer to lose lbs, it makes a bigger difference now.

We're about the same size I think, not sure how tall you are, but I'm 5'5 1/2 and weighing in at 167. Last night I was at Bass Pro Shop and decided to try on these pants, guess what size I fit into - 8!!!!! This was the first time I fit into an 8!!!!! Most of my clothes I buy I have to take a 10. But I believe another 5 lbs I will be buying a size 8!

You will have to tweak your diet too, and up the exercise.

Again, best wishes to you.

[CapitolChick 1]

Here is some real useful information for you:

Here are 2 web sites that you should use to figure out your base metobolic rate PLUS your TDEE (which is your total daily energy expenditure) -you have got to use both at least to get a full picture of your daily calorie needs etc.

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php

Basal Metabolic Rate - BMR

Once you know all that then you can use simple math.

1 pound is equal to 3500 calories. Therefore to loose 1 pound a week you would have to reduce your calories by 500 calories a day (500 calories/day x 7 days in a week = 3500 calories per week:lost1lbs:)

Edited November 22, 2008 by CapitolChick

[SanDiegoPhotog 0]

I can say that it's a lot of freaking work to lose ONE pound. ugh!

[steph_co 9]

Very good info, guys. I appreciate all the responses and I'll be looking into those websites. Seriously - too much calories is DEFINITELY not the issue. To be entirely honest, I think I border on anorexia sometimes because of my paranoia. I definitely need to figure out what would be a good number of calories for me and stick to that (and quit dipping too far below it). Also, I'm sure exercise would really help me out. My circadian rhythms are all screwy from working nights 4 times a week, which makes it hard to get up the energy to want to do anything at all...but I do a 15-min workout every workday that supposedly burns about 140 calories. And I also do a good bit of walking for my job. But I need to get into something a little more hardcore on my days off.

Thanks again!

[Jachut 487]

there's a couple of reasons, but technically, if you have a 1000 calorie per day deficit, you should be able to lose that 2lb per week. Doesnt really work like that in real life.

I know now - I need less calories - what maintains my weight now is LESS than I was eating to lose fast in the beginning.

I'm a runner, I've run diligently for three years now. My body is super duper efficient at it, its second nature, it barely raises a sweat. Even though I now run 10kms per run instead of 3, it is not as much as an effort and shock to my body as it was. It doesnt burn as much calories as the charts say it should.

I'm also nowhere near as zealous as I was at the start. I dont feel urgent about my weight. I like how I look now, I can buy what I want to wear, I've had 3 years of denial and the motivation is just not there to be really strict. I have no problem eating well, but maintaining a big enough calorie deficit to lose means that I have to hardly eat anything and I cant be bothered to be frank. I'm already a healthy weight, and yes, 10lb more would take me down another size, but meh, it would take work too.

I think its a combination of all those factors.

[volcano lady 0]

I wondered if it might be extra loose skin that was contributing to weight we didn't have before?

[Jachut 487]

Excess skin isnt skin you didnt have before though - its skin that was filled out. So it cant make you weigh more!

Or do you mean its excess skin over and above what another person meant to be the same height and weight would have?. If so, yes, many people might have a couple of pounds worth, but not 20 pounds! We also have slightly heavier bones than someone who's never been obese. And even maybe a bit more muscle tissue if we've managed to preserve it well during weight loss.

I know that I weighed 70kg as a 20 something for a year or two and i was fatter than I am now. I'm way slimmer at 70kg this time - at least a size smaller and I think it can only be because my body composition is different - more muscle and heavier bones from running and from having been heavier. Because you dont expect to be actually smaller at the same weight after having had three babies!

[steph_co 9]

I know that I weighed 70kg as a 20 something for a year or two and i was fatter than I am now. I'm way slimmer at 70kg this time - at least a size smaller and I think it can only be because my body composition is different - more muscle and heavier bones from running and from having been heavier. Because you dont expect to be actually smaller at the same weight after having had three babies!

I'm finding that I'm at a smaller size at a higher weight this time around, too. It doesn't make any sense to me because I'm really not exercising as much as I should (yes, yes - I know...things are being revamped here, shortly). So I have no explanation whatsoever as to why I'm in a 10 now at 169 when the last time I was this weight back in 2002, I was like a 12/14.

[volcano lady 0]

Jachut, I think it would depend upon how much weight was gained. Yes, the skin stretches, then fills in. When weight is lost, that extra skin remains, some might shrink back, but some will just hang there.:laugh:

If it is surgically removed, I would image a few pounds should be lost.

[HeatherO 7]

The smaller you are, the less calories it takes just to run your body ... make your organs work, breathe, pump blood, etc. So now you are operating at less of a calorie deficient than you used to (assuming your calories are the same).

At the same time, the farther out people get, the more they try things that they might not have tried in the beginning. So you may be eating more and drinking and exercising less.

Finally, your body gets used to whatever you do to it and adjusts/compensates.

The first one you can't do anything about and it's a good thing -- it means you are healthier. The last two are in your control though. If you evaluate your lifestyle and find some room for improvement, you can implement them. Even if you are doing pretty good in the diet and exercise department, you can kick start your body by mixing things up.

I tend to mix things up anyway just because that's how my life works. I don't always exercise on the same day, I do different kinds of exercises all the time, and I vary how many days I exercise each week. Also, I get a lot of calories one day and hardly any the next.

All that kind of stuff can help. I know that as a dieter, I've never had a stall, and I'm hoping as a WLS patient that I'll continue my streak.

She said it all. Not to mention, carrying around a lot of excess weight is quite a workout in itself. If you try to pick up 50, 75, 100 pounds and carry it around with you all day as you go about your life, it is not easy work.

It is kind of amazing to think how much more me I used to have to haul out of bed, up and down the steps, etc. I certainly feel light on my feet now.

It is definitely hard to lose close to goal. The last few pounds are taking months, lol. I feel your pain, but it is not such a bad place to be. I would take a few pounds from goal going slow any day over being obese and having it fall off quickly.

[MacMadame 81]

As far as loose skin goes, you could easily have 10 - 20 lb. of it depending on how big you were before and how elastic your skin is. I've been watching a lot of Big Medicine and those patients almost always lose around 15 lb. of skin when they do those big operations where they contour the lower body.

I don't think I'll have that much, but I started out with only 90 lb. to lose.

[lindata 1]

Hey Steph! I'm with you, girl. I eat barely anything and the scale rarely budges. Maybe 1 pound per month if I'm lucky. And I'm also a smaller size this time around per body weight than the last time I was at this weight. Weird. For me it takes a loooong time of watching what I eat, then I can physically feel my body getting smaller, even though the scale stays the same. Then about a week later I'll lose a pound. Then I have to stay at that weight or even a little above before the scale will move down again the next month. What I don't understand is how I would ever have lost weight with typical diets pre-band - like weight watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins, etc. I tried them all and lose a few, and then that would be that. Now I know that for what my body needs to lose weight is really hardly anything - like two glasses of milk a day and maybe an orange, something like that. It's absolutely ridiculous.

[Jachut 487]

I have been trying to get my mum to understand that. She believes that if i have truly learned new habits, I should be able to manage with minimal restriction in my band. She simply cannot understand that what SHE can eat in a day to maintain her healthy body weight is much more than what I can - and she's 68 (albeit a very fit and active 68 year old). I simply must remain at 1500 calories or below to maintain my weight. Which, whilst it is a good amount of food and leaves room for indulgences, is RIDICULOUS for someone of my height, weight and activity levels. The numbers just do not compute. That is WHY we need a band, we need to eat artificially low levels of food to stay at a reasonable weight. Whether that's why we all got fat or whether its a sad result of having been obese, its just the way it is. People who have never had a weight problem would need help to do what we have to too!