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2003/08/13, 03:05 PM
Why exactly is the last 10-15lbs so hard to lose? I started at about 287lbs at 6'5" about 1 year ago and am now down to 199lbs. But to go from 220 to 200 was extremely difficult. Now it's even harder for me to lose that final 10-20lbs.
Right now i'm about 199lbs. I went to the Zone's website and found out that i'm at 22% bodyfat. Don't know if that sounds right because at another site I was at 18%.
Anyway, I lost the 87lbs using the Bowflex and by eating healthier. Gave up pop and fast food. For the first 6 weeks of that time I went down to 1500 calories and day and felt perfectly fine! Although I always went to failure on the sets with the Bowflex I found myself not gaining a lot of muscle even when I switched over to eating 2000-2500 calories a day. Some, but not a lot.
Eventually I sold my Bowflex after getting good results with plain old free weights. I don't regret buying the Bowflex though. I'd just say I don't like it for gaining muscle. I definitely noticed a little muscle gain on my biceps after using dumbbells but not a lot. I would always do it the Body-for-life way but now I've decided to do 75% of my 1 rep max for each set of 8. The next day my arms are killing me.
What I was wondering is why my legs are in pain 3 days later when I go to fatigue. When I do lunges I feel like I can barely walk or sit down/get up for 2 or even 3 days! Could it be that 2000 calories isn't enough for me to repair itself that quickly?
Anyway, lately i've been doing my 1 hour of weight training 4 days a week. On my off days I will run at night before bed for about 20 minutes (walking and running actually).
I eat rather well. Right now it's about 30/30 for carbs/protein and then 20% for fat. It seems that in 2 weeks I haven't lost a single pound on the scale, my tape measure says i've lost about 1" off my waist, but that's not really a whole lot. That's not even a pound is it?
It's just frustrating working so hard and not getting much from it. My weight on the scale just seems to go up and down and I still eat normally. I just don't understand it. Maybe I should go back down to 1500 calories to lose my last 10-15lbs.
I think right now i'm looking pretty ok, except for the guy I have to lose. I have just a little bit further to go. Want to try and get down to 6 to 8% bodyfat and gain a lot more muscle. Is it possible to gain muscle so quickly that your FAT loss doesn't even register on a scale? Probably not, but I was hoping that was the case! I know scales aren't that reliable but I never had any major problems with them before with showing me fat loss.
Any suggestions?
One last question. Does the body burn a lot of extra calories while your legs are killing you in order to repair itself? just wondering. Maybe it's a bad idea to always go to fatigue with my legs, they always hurt so bad that some days I have to avoid running!
Thanks for the help someone could offer!
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