Alright, you’ve been working hard to make amazing progress towards your goal weight. Then when you’re sooooo close, the scale stops moving—even though you’re still doing everything right.
It’s a brutal fact that the closer you get to your goal weight, the harder it becomes to slim down. The reason why is because now that you’re smaller, your body needs less energy to maintain it’s new size. So to shed those last few pounds, you might need to be more meticulous in your nutrition and exercise.
1. Start Tracking Your Food or Start It Back Up Again
If you haven’t used Myfitnesspal before START NOW! Food journaling is a huge eye-opener on a lot of your behaviors you might be doing without realizing it—like having 4 servings of peanut butter instead of one or mindlessly snacking all day long.
It could also be that you used to be very diligent tracking your calories at the beginning of your weight loss journey but started getting lazy once the pounds began coming off, try picking that habit back up! Until you reach your goal weight, and even for a while afterward, keeping a food journal can be key!
2. Increase Activity
Now you’re probably thinking, “Tanya, I already work out 5 days a week! How much more activity should I do?” Let me explain. When losing weight, physical activity increases the number of calories your body uses for energy or “burns off.” After you lose weight and stick to the same activity routine your body might need to change things up. It doesn’t have to be dramatic! Now if you’re working out 5 days a week but maybe you’re only getting in 5,000 steps a day it could be to increase your activity and try to hit 10,000 steps a day. It could be going for a 30-minute walk 3-4 times a week. It could be starting every workout with a warm-up by walking/jogging a mile.
Bottom line is to stay in a calorie deficit consistently, move a little more than you already do on a weekly basis and you will see the scale start dropping again. You’ll lose the last 10-pounds in no time!
Learn more about Tanya and her company The Diet Doc Sedalia here.
Have a great Tuesday!
-Coach T
