How DO you lose 20 pounds? (contest on my blog! win a box of protein/snack goodies!!)

Most of the folks who will read this post have done this many times over--lose 20 pounds.  20, 40, 80, heck 200 pounds!  But, another WLS postop friend and I have been discussing how you lose that LAST 20 pounds...  You can probably remember times in your past when you'd been to Weigh****chers and seen those folks who had just 20 pounds they wanted to lose...  And, if you can remember those times, then you probably also remember thinking--if only!  LOL  If only 20 pounds was all you had to lose, you probably wouldn't have been at WW...  You may even remember thinking that you could probably lose 20 pounds just by having a good bowel movement...  LOL  Many WLS postop folks have lost hundreds of pounds and some have done it more than once.  Some of you have lost 100 pounds several times over via Weigh****chers, Atkins, or some other diet.  You dropped and subsequently regained that 100 pounds at least once.  You may even have thought that losing 100 pounds was easy.  But, now you are SO close to goal.  You have just 20 more pounds to lose to get to your final goal weight and the weight just isn't budging!  You eat right.  You keep your carbs low.  You exercise.  You get your fluids and protein in each day.  You shake things up from time to time in both your eating and your exercise.  Nothing seems to make a difference.  So, HOW do you lose 20 pounds? The above info is from a post on my blog.  And, as part of that blog post, I'm having a contest/drawing and giving away a box/assortment of WLS friendly snack/protein items.  To enter the contest, click over to my blog and post a comment response to that blog entry! BTW, this post is a repost from Saturday.  There were responses to that one.  CLICK HERE if you are interested!  And, get over to my blog to post and enter to win!! Hugs, Lea

Hi Lea, tough question, especially by the guidelines you specify (already doing all the right things) I guess, under those cir****tances you do NOT loose the so called "last 20 lbs". :-)

I guess that is part of the question though--what ELSE can you try?  These last 20 pounds are the most frustrating of the whole 200+!  I mean, I have lost 212 pounds.  How freaking awesome that makes you feel is off the charts...  Then, you get to 198 and just sort of stop.  It feels like more than a plateau...  And, as I lost several inches in Jan/Feb, I can't really even call it a plateau either.  SO, what else can we try???  LOL Lea

Karen, another postop at this last-20-pounds point, surfed the Weigh****chers boards for clues and scavenged the following info: 1. Staying on track over the weekend is HUGE...  Many of us have been there and understand the issue.   Down time often means bored time and we tend to eat more when we're bored... 2.  If you only have 20-30 pounds to lose, you really have to be diligent--no matter what "plan" you follow. 3. EXERCISE!  She said it seems to come in all capital letters a lot!  Most folks seemed to be doing SIX days a week of cardio/weights combined. Many people were what she said she would call obsessive about running/cycling for MANY miles each day. 4. The Weigh****chers folks were adding calories to their daily intake (points in their language) for this added exercise.  It seemed to be in the form of dairy/protein or (get this) protein shakes...hhhmmmmm Here's a neat concept Karen sort of "borrowed" for us...  It's called the 21 day plan (21 days to form a habit). You decide what the habit is you'd like to start/break.  You begin counting each day you meet that goal. At the end of 21 days of success you begin the cycle again to ensure the habits become embedded in your lifestyle. If you "fall off the wagon," you reset your count and start over. So, for example, if I wanted to stop eating something--let's say chocolate, I would make that my goal.  If I managed not to eat chocolate for 4 days, I would be at C1, D4 (cycle one, day four). If I then ate a Hershey's kiss, I would have to start again the next day at C1, D1. The day after C1, D21 is C2, D1 as we start a new cycle after 21 days of success...  Same thing/concept works for maintaining an exercise program, getting in your fluids or protein, etc.  This was an interesting list for a maintenance program plan: 1. EXERCISE (there's those caps again) 2. Attend support meetings 3. Track your food 4. Try something new (recipe, exercise, etc.) to shake things up and keep them interesting 5. Deal with gains and off-track behavior quickly None of that is new, right?  But, how often can you say you do all 5?  Not just how many DAYS, but how many weeks or even months??  This is a level of diligence that most can't report for a prolonged period... 

I would love to loose 20 pounds actually 57 more and i would really be happy!!!!!!