Knocking off the final ten pounds. . .

[Sedona]

. . .is always the hardest. What are you tips and tricks. I usually keep pretty trim, but am looking forward to about a week en femme (fall vacation time), and have a month to knock off about ten pounds of spare tire and excess "cushion."

I'll be exercising more and eating better/less. What are your tricks for knocking off those last few tough pounds?

On another note, who finds that their CDing activities keep them from gaining much weight, as you want to be able to fit into the clothes you have and not have to buy bigger ones?

[Kiera79]

In my endeavors I drink a cup of coffee in the am, walk and stretch in the afternoon and eat a light lunch(turkey sandwich or salad) and at night I eat a light supper. I just cut my calorie intake down. I'm still losing inches and loving it. But my chest it seems to be getting fuller. Weird I know but I'm loving it.

[Tasha McIntyre]

Hi Sedona, I relate closely to this as I really wanted to drop the excess flabby bits when I started getting out and about. my CD activities play a huge part in keeping my weight in check these days.

Getting rid of the last few pounds is the hardest, and for us is usually around the middle to lower tummy area. I found that by far the best method is a calorie controlled high protein / low carb diet coupled with regular aerobic exercise. This diet has its detractors for a long term diet, but for a short burst of a month or two it works like nothing else.

By low carb, I mean no potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, cereals, fruit, sugary drinks like beer, coke, and flavoured milk. Also strictly avoid junk foods like cakes chocolate, biscuits etc.
By high protein, I mean lots of lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs and cheese.
When I am on this type of diet I take supplements including sugar free fiber powder such as psyllium husk powder and a multi vitamin.
If you can manage 40 minutes 3 times a week on a treadmill or cycle your results will be seen quicker.

This is a tough regime to follow and you'll need will power to keep it up because we tend to crave sugary / fatty foods. The results however, are well worth the short term sacrifices.

This diet has been enormously successful for me in the past.

Good luck.

Tash

[docrobbysherry]

About 5 years ago I wanted to lose my "spare tire". It looked gross and NOT fem with bare midriff and tite outfits!
I quit excersizing because the definition in my arms and legs isn't fem looking!

At that time, I changed a few eating habits:

Quit my evening beer for red wine.

Still eat big or fast food lunches, but eat only meat and salad, veggies, fruit for dinner. Smaller portions at nite, too. Drink more liquids!

I drink LOTS of iced tea. No sugar, lemons only. NEVER drink soda/soft drinks!

The weight has stayed off, too. Unless I stray WAY off that diet. Like during our cruise this summer!
I needed to lose about 5 pounds for SCC.
When I need to lose weight quickly, I simply switch to salads for lunch and salads, veggies and some fruit for dinner. I can lose nearly a pound a day on that "diet".

A Tip: DON'T buy cookies, crackers, ice cream, etc. for snacking! If they're NOT in your home, u CAN'T eat them!
Try nuts, dried fruit, carrot and celery sticks, pickles, anything u like NOT loaded with calories!

[Sedona]

Thanks for the tips ladies! DocRobby, I tend to follow a "knock off weight" diet more like yours than Tasha's though. I'm not much of a meat eater, so I don't do anything styled after Atkins/SouthBeach etc. . .

But no problem doing that short-term if you eat more meat than I do.

My main thing is I knock the junk food back to basically nil, and stop eating bread/rolls etc. . . I'm very nutrition savvy, and eat a high veggie diet anyways, and love my fruit. For the next month, it'll be a lot of fruit, leafy greens, teas, fish, eggs (I remove most of the yolk), and moderate amounts of nuts. I hear you DocRobby about exercise, but I'm not interested in trading overall fitness for muscle mass. I'll still get my cardio four or five times a week through bicycling and fast walks. The trick is not eating a ton of extra calories because you just burned off some through exercise.

That's great advice (and one which I frequently disagree with my wife about) about NOT bringing any junk foods home.

I'm at about 198 now, and am targeting the mid/high 180s, which is my college weight, and a weight I can usually get to in the late summer/fall.

My wife always rolls her eyes, as she says I'm in great shape already, but understands the desire to fit into clothes at the smaller end of my wardrobe.

[suzy1]

I eat bread, potatoes, meat, chicken, nuts, veg, and so on.
But I don’t eat junk food. I don’t eat sweet things [such as mars bars, or is that sushi bars in the U.S.?]
The way to keep your weight down though is………. EATING LESS!
This takes self control I know but self control is like a muscle, the more you exorcise it the stronger it gets.
I know not everyone agrees with me on eating bread or potatoes but I find I keep to my target weight over the years, and stay very fit and healthy.
Works for me anyway.

SUZY

[kimdl93]

I find that I hit a limit on what I can lose by cutting back on food. like doc, I dropped the evening beer and added another 30/40 minutes of exercise at least a couple days per week, on top of the 4 days I was doing. The extra exercise seems to help get me past a plateau.

[JenniferR771]

Keep a tape measure in you desk. Check your waist every day. Subtle--but powerful--motivation to get down to the next lower dress size. You will eat less and not even realize why.

[Sedona]

Jennifer, if that works for you, that's great advice I think. I usually ignore the scale, but right now, I'm weighing myself each morning. Daily weight fluctuates for sometimes random reasons, but over time, it trends downward. The scale always works for me.

[Nicole_P]

Another great tip- WEIGH YOURSELF EVERYDAY- when you go up, you'll know that what you ate/drank the day before made you do it. Likewise, when you go down, you'll know why too- it really works well!! I've lost about 30 lbs. and am still losing. If I wanted to gain it back, I would just eat/drink differently. It will change how you eat/drink, I guarantee it!

Nicole

[busker]

Three university sports medicine departments have finally concluded that exercise does NOT help loosing weight. It will help you maintain the weight you have when you get to it. Standing is better than sitting (a test proved that more people lost weight just standing thatn sitting for a whole day). Count calories is a very good short term means so you can eat anythig so long as it is not more than what you need and preferably a little less. You burn 100 calories an hour doing nothing so 1600 calories or less (depending on your metabolism) should see you throught the day--you burn 800 while you sleep. Eat your big meal around mid afternoon if possible, no evening snacks after 9 pm and get 8 hours of sleep. get postassium and manganese into your diet (yogurt, nuts, fruits (dates and raisins are very good and cheap) and water helps the cells do their thing.
good luck--I've lost 30 pounds since jan and it is staying off nicely.

[Christy_M]

As hard is it is to do, I lost 80 pounds over the last 18 months through diet and exercise. I maintain less than 2000 calories a day and try to limit those calories to protiens and vegetables. Occasionally I will have some grains like whole wheat bread or brown rice but usually not. while I hated admitting it for many years, the calories that go in have to go somewhere. For me they usually hung out around my lower tummy area. If you are not burning off what goes in, you won't lose the weight.

[Sedona]

Three university sports medicine departments have finally concluded that exercise does NOT help loosing weight.

Finally? Citation please? Assuming no (or very few) additional calories go in, this is simply misleading, or at worst, inaccurate information.

[busker]

It was in the NYTIMES and as soon as I find the citation I will give it to you. They were major universities so I don't think it was either a hoax or misleading.
the article is weighing the evidence on exercise
a snippet
The newest science suggests that exercise alone will not make you thin, but it may determine whether you stay thin, if you can achieve that state."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/"18/m...e&ref=homepage

[Sedona]

The link didn't work for me, but the key phrase is "exercise alone." I know plenty of people who start exercising and complain that they don't lose any weight. Simply put, they're just eating more.

Here's the scenario:
1. No exercise: Burn 2,500 calories a day+eat and assimilate 2,500 calories a day=no weight gain or loss.
2. With exercise: Burn 3,500 calories a day+eat and assimilate 3,500 calories a day=no weight gain or loss.

Whatever the articles say, the math is the math, and if the stories are legit, the math will bear this out. Exercise or don't exercise, but 1-1 always equals 0.

It's not supposed to be easy, but nothing rewarding ever is.

[busker]

try this link
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/ma...e&ref=homepage
otherwise I'll pm the whole article to you. The jist of it is that when you begin to diet, your body chemistry does different things and makes an effort to STORE food as fat and then works agaist your exercise. The body thinks it is starving due to dieting and also does work against you.
try the link, if not let me know for the full text.

[Sedona]

This link worked. Thank you, very interesting, and doesn't contradict anything either of us have said, just adds to it. Really fascinating stuff about the female body, given that GGs are genetically programmed to make children, and conservation of energy would be important.

I read a paper a few years ago about people who evolved on islands, like Fiji and Samoa, which enjoy lots of lean, healthy foods in prosperous times. They conserve calories/energy especially well, and as these islands go through periodic drought periods, little food is available. Meaning, islanders who put on and stored weight easily had a genetic advantage over those who didn't. Makes it tough for islanders who are living in these modern times, where low quality/calorie laden food is everywhere it seems.

[DonnaT]

You can't target where the weight loss comes from, but if you only have excess around the middle, then that is where is will come from.

Sounds like you need to build muscle mass, which will increase metabolism, and reduce fat. You can build muscle without building bulk by adding aerobics/swimming every other day and weight lifting on other days.

Of course, if you have $1500 to $2K sitting around, you can have your body sculpted by freezing the fats cells forming the love handles. This freezing does destroy the fat cells that get frozen.

[busker]

Building muscle can be a two- or even a three-edged sword. By converting fat to muscle, you don't loose any weight, you may wind up gaining weight, your clothes won't fit especially if you have WOMEN'S clothes because women have more fat on the butts, hips, thighs, and breasts--in other words--all the nice places--and the places where clothing tends to look the best if well fitted.
We need muscle so there is going to be some trade offs but get to the weight you want, then try to strenghten your muscles rather than add to them. I THINK!!!! Unless, of course, the goal is to look like a guy in a dress.

[docrobbysherry]

I lost 5 pounds in 3 days!
I haven't been below 155 pounds since hi-school! I got DOWN to 155 from about 167 using the methods I listed above, for the SCC.

I got back from the SCC on Sunday with a bug I picked up. Started taking pseudophedrine for my runny nose. Between that, catching up at work, and the euphoria of SCC, I completely lost MY APPETITE! I even forgot to eat dinner Monday nite!

By Thursday, I was down to 150! Now, if I can STAY sick a few more days, maybe I can FINALLY reach my goal weight of 145! What I weighed on my 16 y/o drivers license!

So, if u want to lose 5 pounds quickly, just get a virus!

[danica d]

Ephedrine or any other stimulant will work, but eventually mess with the body's natural balance of neurotransmitters...hence why people twitch after too much caffeine. The best way to drop pounds is to limit or even eliminate carbs and get tons of aerobic exercise. That's not an easy proposition by any means but it will produce results.

[Kathryn Martin]

I eat nothing in the morning but a soft boiled egg and slice of bread at lunch. I eat no carbs after 2:00pm and eat veggies and protein, meat, fish, etc for supper. I started middle of July and lost 18 pounds so far and still dropping. I have lost little on my chest but my belly has melted away.

Kathryn

[debbeelee1]

I've lost 65 pounds over the last year. I'm at 200 pounds and my final goal is 185. I've done it with diet and exercise. I do between 35-45 miles per week of combined walking, elliptical trainer, swimming laps and a diabolical escalator type stair climber (up to 100 floors twice per week on that one!). I lift light weights with high reps, do crunches, stretching and yoga exercises twice a week and go to yoga class once a week. Yoga is NOT for wussies and is pretty intense once you get into it!

I watch what I eat 5 days per week, eat normally once a week and pig out once a week so I don't feel "deprived".

I think the key is to stay motivated and don't give up. I try to mix it up and add variety. Sometimes I'll skip an exercise night, but get back into it the next one. My goal is to lose that last 15 pounds by the end of the year. Size 12, here i come!

[Tracy_Victoria]

At present i'm on a diet, but to be honest it nothing to do with my dressing, though I have to add, it is benefiting from it. basically over the years my wieght has climbed and climbed, and my health has certainly gone the other way. Sadly I admit it, I thought I was invincible, and then I got caught by a DVT and a clot in the lung, and then I got picked off by a massive infection in the DVT site 3 years later.

Basically I still have a long way to go, and to be honest as yet I don't know what my final wieght will be, I know my fitness levels have increased, I feel better for losing wieght for sure, so really to me as yet there is no final ten pounds, cause that part is no where in sight yet. but all I have done is cut out the rubbish and eat better. personally I'm using replacement meals for lunch and dinnertime meals (slimfast) and then eat a smaller but normal evening meal. result so far about 5 stone/30kg but thats just a start. I hope to be down another 30kg by christmas. we will see.

but above all, I think the key to losing wieght, is to really really want to, and then to just really watch everything you eat. (change from snacks to fruit) and avoid the sugars and fatty meals, it's working for me

[Sedona]

One technique I used a few years ago is the one-less philosophy. I just wanted to lose 5-10 pounds over the course of a couple of months. Not a big deal. I noticed that I ate a good healthy diet, but did eat some sort of treat each day, a candy bar, doughnut, bowl of ice cream, two on occasion. I simply cut out one treat a day, and left everything else the same. I dropped a pound every seven-ten days or so, and hit my target very easily.