So, how hard were your last 10 pounds?

[Wolf Goddess]

Once I dropped two pounds below a plateau at 128, I was able to lose the rest much more easily. I had to really work harder on the elliptical, and I increased the amount I was lifting, but I guess I was able to kick-start something!

[BlueToBlue]

The last ten proved to be impossible for me. My goal was to get down to 110 and I never made it. The lowest I got was 112; I wasn't able to maintain it and doubt I could get that low again. But I suspect I have more muscle now than I did back then. I finally decided to be happy with 116 and am now trying to hold onto that.

I lost a pretty consistent 1 lb per week until I got down to 125 lbs. At that point things really slowed down. Now, if I can lose .5 lb per week, it's a banner week. And I absolutely cannot lose during the week before or week of TOM. So that's two weeks of every month where I simply can't lose any weight.

One thing that has really helped me get off plateaus is to add HIIT to my cardio. This has worked multiple times. When I plateaued at 125 lbs, I started my first experiments with HIIT. My weight loss picked up again (and, as a bonus, it was way more interesting than the cardio I had been doing). Then I stopped doing HIIT due to an injury. Weight loss stalled. When I picked up HIIT again, my weight loss picked up again. During another recent plateau, I added more HIIT to my routine (starting doing intervals on the elliptical in addition to the TM) and my weight loss picked up yet again.

Once, and only once, I was able to get off a plateau by increasing my calories. It was the first time I started doing HIIT. I also significantly increased the intensity of my strength training at the same time (new, very enthusiastic personal trainer). I struggled with hunger for a couple of weeks, then finally add 100 calories per day (from 1300 up to 1400) and started losing again. Other than that, I've always had to drop calories to lose weight. Although these days I'm loath to do it, I do sometimes need to drop my calories down to 1200 to lose.

[alinnell]

Two years ago I did hit goal (and now I'm trying to get back there). I remember someone comparing weight loss to a roll of paper towels. On a new roll (when you start the diet) the roll is big and each towel (pound) barely winds around the roll so it is easy to get off. When you're near the end of the roll, each towel is wound around several times and you have to turn the roll a few times in order to get the towel off.