[QUOTE=joyfulloser;3893797]Goals are important to my success (as I am learning), so my new goal is not to reach a certain weight, but to incorporate heavy weight training for my legs like wall squats, romanian deadlifts, etc.



Your journey is very inspiring. Thanks for sharing your pics. It is always helpful to see that success is possible and important to remember that hard work is a key ingredient.

I've had a health issue that prevented me from doing any meaningful exercise for almost 2 weeks, but I was able to compensate by cleaning up my diet a little more and decreasing my cheating on "cheat day" and the scale managed to stay steady. Now I just need to get back to the light exercise that I'm able to do and not lose momentum. Love the support and motivation on here. It's really great to read the success stories and also know you're not alone with the struggles.

bunnabear --- I'm sorry to hear about your health issue but I hope you are feeling better every day that passes. Good job in compensating with the eating, however! Just ease your way back into exercise and keep up the great work!!

Got back to some light exercise yesterday. You really lose a lot of stamina in 2 weeks so I'm taking it slow. The scale was down a pound at weigh in day so I'm not losing my motivation. I'm almost exclusively drinking water, unsweetened tea and coffee with skim milk only which is a step up from my flavored coffee, multiple sweetened sodas, and sweet tea each day.

I'm in the 140's too!! Just started 3FC today!! I am 146...I was hoping to be 130 by this date for my brothers wedding in a couple weeks, but that didn't happen. So.....I'm on a mission.

And advice for tips on trying to lose the last 15 would be MUCH appreciated.

Way to go!!

Welcome! I hope you find motivation and tips here that will help you with that last 15. I was stuck on a plateau for a while but the scale is starting to move down gradually again. Sometimes it helps to reasses what you're doing and see if you can identify anything you can do better or change to make those small differences. For example, I found that without realizing it, I had become a little complacent and was "cheating" more than I realized and all of those little things added together meant more extra calories than I realized. Recently my husband switched up the timing of his exercise routine and that helped to jump start things for him again. Good luck to you!

Ah, the last 15. My nemesis. My first 10 lbs came off reasonably easily, but I have been in the 145-149 range forever. I wish I had some good advice but I don't. I just keep plugging away with good exercise and the best clean-eating diet that I can maintain. My daily calories vary from 1300-1700 so I inadvertently calorie cycle to a degree.
Just keep swimming!

Why oh why are these 10-15 pounds so hard to lose?? Drives me nuts too, ladies! I don't believe in "set points" with weight but I do believe your body is just comfortable and healthy at a certain weight and it clings onto it for dear life. It's only when does it realize you aren't giving up it will finally "say uncle" and you will start seeing losses again on the scale. Of course, the logical part of me doesn't believe my body is that smart or vindictive but it's an explanation that makes me feel better!

One of the biggest issues as we get closer to goal -- and thinner -- is that it takes less energy to go from point A to point B. So we are burning LESS calories now than when we were very overweight/obese. That's why strength training is key for us right now because muscle burns more calories than fat even when sitting around doing nothing.

This actually makes me happy because I much prefer focusing on weight training vs. cardio!

Just sneaking in here to post to your reply...I'm still in 150's land

I think we tend to be a bit more relaxed than we think when we are closer to a goal. You may not notice it, but a bit more food here and there may disrupt the fat burning cycle. Remember when you were bigger, the fat burning cycle was faster because it had more to lose, so when you started your diet and exercise, that drastic change kicked it into high gear.

Now your body is like an efficient performing body. Think of a high performing car. It needs less fuel to go far cause the insides are clean, and it just uses up the fuel that is readily available (the last consumed meals). But a car that has been running on crude oil will go slow and need more fuel (cals) to go far. Don't know if you get the analogy, but basically, just think of your body as being a healthier, calorie efficient burning body. That is a good thing...

Now to answer the question of how to get that last 10-15 off...hmmm good one! I don't know...I guess at this point the exercise cals burned matter more than creating a cal deficit from diet. Again that analogy with the car, it's like your body now needs to face the reality of searching for fat as fuel, and now that there's less of it, it's harder to find it and take it away, where as before it was easier to find it. Hmmm, not such a good comparison with the car analogy this time...but you know what I'm getting at! Lol

Btw, I'm no expert on fitness, but I have always seemed to think this way about my body as I lose 10-15 pounds, and pushing the exercise helped me speed through the last pounds.

Anyways, I am thoroughly jealous of all of you in this thread. I hope to be here soon. I'm making it my goal to be here in July, so hope to NOT see you here then, but if so, make it low 140's! LOL

Congrats! I'm so excited you started this thread, because I started in the 140's and am stuck in a BIG rut. You will be my motivation to power through...also hopeful to pick up some tips on what is working for others at this weight.

Beila, don't worry - when you officially join the 140's club in July, I will no doubt still be here to welcome you!

Hi! I'm cheating a bit, since I am 152 pounds, but I know I will drop quickly to 149 and then take forever to get to the 130s! I've been doing this journey on my own so far, keeping a food diary and logging my excercise online. I'm on Day 55 and have lost 21 pounds.

I'm doing a 100 Day Challenge. 1200 cals/day and excercise 4-5 times a week. If workouts burn more than 200 cals, I add on a protein shake for that day. Pretty boring, but it's working.

I'm just hitting an emotional plateau where I'm feeling grumpy, tired and just BLAH!!!

Welcome ChickieChicks! How are things going? I'm still plugging away, making glacially slow overall progress...but not gaining. That is the bottom line for me right now - I do whatever I have to so I DO NOT gain back.

How are the 140s ladies doing lately???

149.5 this morning!! I am in this club as of this morning!

WOO HOOO!!

I have been wanting this for SO LONG! You don't even know how long....Seven months and twenty one days to be exact.

I can't wait to get down down DOWN even more to reach the weights of the other chicks here.

Who's still here? Post back and let us all know how you're doing!