Why You Need To Know The Ultimate Cost Of Losing Your Last Few Pounds
Mama, I see you. You’ve been working so hard on your health goals and you’re crushing it. You’re down to the last 5, 1o, 15 pounds to hit your weight loss goal and unfortunately, it’s harder than before. First of all, I want you to know this is completely normal! You’re not broken. The systems you’ve been using aren’t broken. This is just where things get more difficult. Now, let’s talk about why you’re struggling to lose those last few pounds and what you need to do to finally hit your goal weight!
Weight loss is tricky. When you first start out it feels like this is going to be so easy because, with a few shifts, you see results. But the more weight you lose, the harder it is to lose more. And like I said, this doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. Unfortunately, it’s just biology.
When you’re at this point, what you really need is more knowledge! Here are the two things you need to know about losing weight
Why your weight loss slows down.
What it costs to keep the weight loss going.
And I’m not talking about how much more you need to invest in programs or gym memberships. I’m talking about the mental and nutritional cost of continued weight loss.
From there, you need to decide if the cost of being lean is worth it to you. I’m going to walk you through all of these issues so that you can make a decision that works best for you and your lifestyle!
Weight loss slows because your caloric ceiling has dropped
When you started losing weight small changes in your lifestyle like cutting out soda or going for a walk created quick results. However, as I’m sure you know, those small tweaks aren’t cutting it anymore.
Your body has one job: to keep you alive. It will do whatever it can to keep your heart pumping. Sometimes that works in our favor, but when you’re on a weight loss journey it can cause problems.
Your body has a steady-state weight that it tries very hard to maintain. Your body will burn enough calories to keep you alive, but it’s not really concerned with your pants size, or the number on the scale as long as it can perform its basic functions.
As you gain or lose weight, your body needs a certain amount of calories to maintain that weight. Obviously, the more you weigh the more food you need to maintain that. But as you lose weight, your caloric ceiling (how much you eat) drops as well.
For example, if you weighed 200 lbs when you started losing weight, it was easy to cut a few calories and see a big drop. But if you’re at 175 lbs now, you need a bigger calorie deficit to lose the same amount of weight.
As you head into those last 10ish pounds of weight loss, your body struggles to let go of the remaining fat. When it’s time to lose those last few stubborn pounds, you will have to go into a bigger caloric deficit or a cut.
Here’s where traditional diets have messed you up in the past. Most women assume that to lose weight they need to eat less. And somewhere along the way, we were told that women should eat around 1200 calories a day to lose weight.
This info is somewhat sound because 1200 calories would put almost any adult into a calorie deficit. But if you’ve been eating at 1200 calories and your progress slows down, you can’t take away more food because that’s already barely enough for your body to perform its critical functions.
Which is why I do the opposite with my clients! I usually reverse diet my clients up into their maintenance calories, where they’re eating and burning the same amount so their weight doesn’t fluctuate. And then once we’re at that point we can cut calories to drop those last few stubborn pounds.
If you don’t know if you’re at maintenance yet, or if you’ve been eating 1200 calories or less and you can’t lose the last few pounds then let’s chat! I can help you figure out if a cut is right for you or if reverse dieting can help you hit your goals.
You should not be eating in a deficit long-term. If you’ve been eating around 1200 calories for a few months, and you’re stuck then that’s why! Your body is saying it needs more food!
However, if you’ve been eating enough food and your body can handle a cut, then this is your next step to lose those last few pounds.
You have to give up some flexibility
Being in a cut causes you to give up some of the flexibility you might be used to. You’re going to have to dial in your nutrition when you’re in a cut because each calorie and macro counts!
I always tell my clients that there are a few dos and don’ts when you’re in a calorie deficit.
Do
Drink water
Prioritize sleep
Measure everything
Be kind to your body
Don’t
Haphazard track
Drink alcohol
Start a new workout program, but you should keep doing what you’ve been doing.
Go YOLO
Haphazard tracking is when you don’t make or measure food yourself. This includes eating out, taking bites of your kids’ meals, etc. Anything you can’t measure needs to be eliminated during a cut so that you can hit your macros and get the results you want.
Again, I want you to keep in mind, that this isn’t a forever thing! This is for a few months while you’re really pushing toward your goals!
Another important part of a cut is choosing foods that nourish you over fun foods. I do not believe in cutting out foods or restricting foods long-term; however, because you’re in a calorie deficit you need to make smart, nutritious choices.
For example, a sweet potato and a piece of white bread are both carbs, and you may have room for each of them in your macros, but a sweet potato and a piece of white bread are going to nourish your body in different ways.
A sweet potato will give you fiber and complex carbs that contribute to sustainable energy. Whereas, a piece of white bread will give you energy for a few hours but will leave you hungry again soon. During your cut, you should choose the foods that serve you over the foods that sound or taste good.
Giving up food flexibility is a big part of losing those last 10 pounds. It’s not as much fun as having absolute food freedom, which is why you need to decide if you’re willing to pay the price of being lean.
You have to be the one to decide if it’s worth the cost
I do not recommend that people live in a cut for a long time for a few reasons, but the biggest one is that it’s hard.
It’s hard to cook and track every meal.
It’s hard saying no to going out to eat.
It’s hard not to enjoy a drink, especially around special occasions.
It’s hard not having the energy to crush it in the gym.
As important as your weight is to your overall health, sometimes you have unrealistic expectations about your weight. You may think that being 130 pounds will make you happy, but the road that you have to take to that weight might not make you happy.
After I lost weight after having my three kiddos, I decided I wanted to do a body-building show. I loved feeling in control of my body and wanted to prove that I could push it further. In preparation for that show, I went into a huge cut.
I was eating 1050 calories a day for 6 weeks. I spent countless hours in the gym. I couldn’t eat out for date nights or grab ice cream with my kids. I tracked every morsel of food that went into my mouth. I even went on a 3-day family reunion where I packed all 26 meals so that I could be precise about my goals and tracking. I was incredibly diligent with my nutrition.
And Mama, it was hard. But it taught me an important lesson: I can’t live my life like this. I absolutely loved the way I looked. But, as a busy mom who spends her weekends running from baseball games to soccer matches, that intensity around my nutrition just didn’t work for me long-term.
Sometimes it takes going into a cut and learning what it feels like to figure out if hitting the number on the scale is worth it. You might go into a cut and realize that the last 5 pounds aren’t as important to you as having flexibility in your diet.
And that’s OK, Mama! You don’t need to feel bad or like you’re weak for making that decision. Nutrition is meant to fuel your life, not determine how much you love yourself.
If you decide that it is worth dialing things in and really pushing yourself to reach your goal, that’s OK too! You might need to push yourself a little bit outside of your comfort zone to show yourself that you can do hard things!
Both options are acceptable, but you have to understand what’s best for you and if you’re willing to do the work to get there!
If you’re struggling to lose those last few pounds and you can’t seem to get there on your own, then I highly suggest working with a coach. I found that having a coach during my cut was crucial to my success. I needed someone to keep me accountable, to help me work through cravings and keep me focused when my mind wanted to go squirrelly. And trust me, when you’re in a cut your mind will go squirrelly!
For the past decade, I've helped busy mamas shed 40-65 lbs without resorting to shakes, pills, shots, or sacrificing their love for food. And all these wonderful women also learned how to let go of food guilt and shame while reaching their weight loss goals.
If you want to lose those last few pounds without having to sacrifice your food, then let’s chat! Schedule a Healthy Mama Blueprint Call and we can talk about your goals and what it will take to reach them.
