[smartgirl575]

I'm almost down 40 lbs. (hoping to hit 40 at weigh-in tomorrow) and think I'd like to make 50lbs. my ultimate goal. I know the last 10 is going to take a lot longer, as I've spent about 3 weeks on a semi-plateau already, but I really want to do it. I look good now, and for a while 40lbs. was my goal. Who knows, I may stop at 45 lbs., but I do want to keep losing for now.

How do you motivate yourself for the last 5 or 10 lbs? I just don't have the level of enthusiasm I once had. I am still on program, exercising a lot, etc....but without that super excited mental outlook I'm afraid this is going to be really hard. Tips? Advice? What worked for you?

[ShanIAm]

I have no tips but just wanted you to know that I am eagerly awaiting responses from the other featherweights. These last 10 pounds are a killer! But losing 1 pound now gives me the same feeling as it did losing 5 pounds when I was at my heaviest. My fear too is that I'll reach my goal and still think I have another 5 to go!!

[lysa25]

Hello ladies,
7 lbs to go....and I feel like It's almost impossible!!!! We'll see if I can make it to the 120's by the end of the long weekend!! I wish you all the best of luck....we're sooo close!!!

[skinny fast]

Personally, I don't think the last 5 or 10 lbs are really harder to lose than any other weight. It's all about adjusting your diet & exercise to your new body.

If you continue to eat the same number of calories & workout the same as you did when you first started to lose, then your progress WILL slow - b/c the smaller you are the less calories you burn during the day, ie, the less you need to maintain. If you adjust your calorie intake (lessen) as you lose weight, you should continue to lose at the same pace. And as your body gets used to workouts it isn't working as hard - you need to change it up, step it up & work harder.

Did that help

[ShanIAm]

Originally Posted by skinny fast

Did that help

Yup! Thanks!

I think because I built up quite a bit of muscle I got a false sense of security believing I'm burning more calories now than when I had more fat on me. So I didn't adjust my calories. So because it has been beaten in my head that muscle burns more calories than fat I figured my diet could be exactly the same. Yeah, well -- not so much it seems!

I did break through 132 tho finally and I saw 131 on the scale this morning. I'm going in the right direction at least. I cannot wait to see 120-something!!

[skinny fast]

Cool. You're SO close to the 120s!! Keep up the great work! Congrats on 131.

BTW, I don't live too far from you. Not that this matters in the slightest, but one off my BFFs is in Richmond. I'm north of DC.

[banananutmuffin]

I'm a mid-Atlantic girl too... just west of Frederick.

I feel your pain about the last 10 pounds. Sometimes I feel like I'm ALWAYS 10 pounds from goal. For me, it's hard because I think to myself "Well, I look pretty decent right now, so why focus extra hard?" It's basically laziness, as I am an inherently lazy person.

At my height, though, 10 pounds is a full clothing size, so I try to use that as a motivator.

[Jubilee]

I have apparently lost 2 lbs, putting me only 3 lbs away from my goal weight. Granted, I weighed myself right after the gym so it's probably water weight. I suppose I look a tad thinner but my two problem areas are still problems. I really don't know what my goal weight should be and I'm feeling too lazy and unmotivated to really push for my goal. What do you guys do to get motivated?

[singing]

PHP Code:

If you continue to eat the same number of calories & workout the same as you did when you first started to lose, then your progress WILL slow - b/c the smaller you are the less calories you burn during the day, ie, the less you need to maintain. If you adjust your calorie intake (lessen) as you lose weight, you should continue to lose at the same pace. And as your body gets used to workouts it isn't working as hard - you need to change it up, step it up & work harder 


Great reminder! Thanks a lot skinnyfast.

[kurisitaru]

I'm not on my last 10lbs yet... but I can see how this would be hard.
I get so disappointed with slow weight loss. I should be ecstatic every time I lose an inch of the scale drops down, but for some reason it's never enough. I don't want to be fat now, I want to be skinny.
Those last ten pounds will be hard, but I figure, as long as we made a life style change, they will go away. Adjust our calories, stick to regular work outs, and drinks lots of water... the pounds should drop off, and it will be like maintaining it! I guess that's how I look at it. When I get to those final ten pounds, I'm practicing my maintenance with just a little more work involved.

Good luck, and I really hope I get where you are soon. ><

[bananapancakes]

Signing up for a 1/2 marathon gave me added motivation and I did lose over 10 lbs during training which took me to goal a few days before race day which made me feel great. Since I'm at goal I have decided to try drop another 10 lbs so I've signed up for another even (Tough Mudder). Have you ever considered participating in a race?

[banananutmuffin]

Bumping up this thread because I could use some inspiration, too.

I've got about 12 lbs left to go to goal weight (2 more than 10, true, but who's counting? lol). I find myself struggling every day with thoughts like:

"I look pretty decent now. Why go through the effort?"

or

"One day of eating crap won't matter. I'm pretty close to where I want to be anyway. It won't do too much damage now."

ARG! I know these are defeating thoughts! What to do???

[fitmom]

Get into your tiniest swimsuit and burn the image of how good you look into your brain for motivation. When it gets down to the nitty gritty, you have to do things like that to push yourself along toward the finish line. It seems extreme but the bikini thing-ey worked for me. Good luck.

[Dorian5]

Originally Posted by fitmom

Get into your tiniest swimsuit and burn the image of how good you look into your brain for motivation. When it gets down to the nitty gritty, you have to do things like that to push yourself along toward the finish line. It seems extreme but the bikini thing-ey worked for me. Good luck.

I love this! I already had a picture of myself on my phone looking sub-par in my new tiny bikini. Not bad, just... okay. A little chubby in places. I just made it my phone background. I definitely won't be ordering any fatty delivery food if I have to use my cell to call the number! As soon as the screen lights up I'll be inspired to go find a salad!

[Swiss Miss]

I've been struggling with decreased motivation too, and I finally got why when I realized that weight loss (especially a huge loss like mine) is like remodeling a house.

I've remodeled two places, and each time it's exciting to start ripping stuff out and painting and replacing flooring and seeing cabinets go up, but by the time you get to replacing the trim in the closets and putting up the last of the outlet covers you just don't care as much anymore and you're pretty much done, even though what's left isn't necessarily any harder than the earlier projects.

I think it's because you already see the big picture of how your work turned out, the last little bits are not anything most people would notice. And the last four or five pounds I'm working on are not anything anyone else is going to notice, they're solely for me (no one is going to catch me in a bikini in this lifetime!).

And while I'm taking care of all my hard weight loss work very carefully by counting every calorie, almost never going over maintenance calories, and working out as hard as I ever did, a lot of the time I want to enjoy living in my new body instead of constantly worrying about making it better, better, better. Kind of like spending time cooking in a brand new kitchen instead of spending that same time putting all the knobs on the cabinets!

Anyway, I'm down to being happy losing a pound or two a month and doing better being motivated since I realized why I was so lackadaisical about the last few pounds.