Why is the last ten-fifteen pounds so durn hard to lose?

[kellymch2006]

That's my question for the day...

I've seen people write on here about self-sabotage. We get close to our goal and get scared because we don't really know that person.

I think for me, at 5'10", ten pounds doesn't make a huge difference in how I look. I can be 170 or 180 and it's not a huge deal.

The problem is that if I'm at 180, I can be at 200 in a heart beat. That's why I keep working at it.

Early morning rambling again....

[zoewmu]

Good for you for knowing that about yourself.

You'll get there!

[gman]

VERY interesting post!

So maybe behaviorally that's why it's gradual loss when you are close, so you can adapt to that new person?

I've also wondered if you ease up and get a little complacent, then when your guard is down the stresses of life tip you back to comfort foods and the slippery slope. If this is so, is one long-term key to success learning how to win over stress?

Also, I posted an article that might have something to do with this at a more organic level.
How do some people keep weight off?

Thoughts?

[blueberrylady]

That's a great article, gman. Very illuminating for answering the question of why the weight comes back so easily. I'm having the problem right now of having to reduce my intake of calories because I've lost 25 lbs. and am stuck because I am eating too much now although I lost weight at this level just a month ago.

I copied and pasted the article to my computer for future reference. Thanks for posting it.

[gman]

No problemo glad to pass along a very good article to help us all.

The article starts out:

"So, you ate less and exercised more and lost weight. But now the pounds are piling back on. You're hungrier than ever, and you can't seem to resist food. Once again, it's all your fault, right?
Wrong. Blame evolution, and the fact that for the vast majority of human history, famine was a bigger threat than flab. Even your seeming lack of will power is part of a complex biological system that drives humans who have lost weight to regain it, according to new brain-scan research by scientists at Columbia University Medical Center."

Health Journal - WSJ.com

[determined2shrink]

I wish all them people that told me i was crazy 7 yrs ago could read this. After i lost the weight i decided to go off atkins, but when i did i found out i could only eat between 1000 and 1200 calories a day or i started putting on weight. Everyone told me i was crazy and that i should be able to eat like 1600 to 1800 to hold at the same weight (hovered between 135 and 145).

[redfoxglove]

Very enlightening discussion here.

[blueberrylady]

I was the same way, determined. When I weighed 130, I ate next to nothing. I had 1/4 cup of grape nuts with 1/4 cup skim milk for breakfast, 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese for lunch and a very small portion of whatever I cooked for supper. Any more than that, and I was gaining weight. I know now that it's biological and that's the way it has to be. It's a little discouraging at times to think about not being able to enjoy some foods but I'm happy on Atkins and hope that I can add back some foods, in moderation, and not gain.

At the moment, I'm back on rung 1 of OWL. I had gone to rung 2 because I thought I missed things like cottage cheese and ricotta cheese, but once I ate some, I realized I really didn't miss them. I tried rung 3 too, but once I start eating nuts, I can't stop, mostly because of the salt so I'm better off without them.

[MojosRising]

I think its important to remember the basic equation of calories consumed - calories burned. Even if you are consuming a tiny bit of calories, if you don't expend those calories you will gain weight.

If you are eating more than you are burning you will gain, and vice versa. Also resting muscle burns more calories than resting fat.... so thats why extremely fit people like Michael Phelps need to consume more calories. There muscle demands the energy.

I think that exercise/ active lifestyle are key components to keeping weight off long term.... although I haven't reached that in my life

[redfoxglove]

My journey has included self sabotage, and also getting stalled last year because I "didn't know who that is" if I lost back down to 160. I knew that my self image was the barrier, or rather, my inability to visualize myself as a trimmer, fitter, woman. I couldn't seem to shake it so I just decided to maintain the weight at 187, which I did for a year. It was a conscious choice to maintain, until I could muster up a new vision of myself. Then my routine changed and I gained back 9 pounds of it over 6 months.

Now I'm back to paying close attention, and I have the benefit of a high self esteem that has somehow appeared, I don't know exactly why, probably for the first time in my life. Now I can picture myself as trimmer, fitter, and much healthier. This discussion gives me the idea that it's the psychology of weight loss (like Dr. Atkins puts it in DANDR) that may be the key to my ultimate success...

And maybe, now that I know about this leptin thing, pausing after a 10% of body weight loss, may have been just the ticket...