Lean and Hard

This is what my own experience tells me, not what you'll often read on the web. What are the typical reasons given for why losing the last 10 or 15 pounds seems so hard to do?

I've read the following:

1. Your metabolism slows down as you lose weight so your body resists your weight loss efforts more and more as you approach your goal weight.

Reality: While it's true that you need fewer calories to maintain a lower weight than a higher one, the difference just isn't big enough to significantly put the brakes on your weight loss progress. You've heard that your body goes into a so-called starvation mode, and clings tightly to every calorie. You'd think, hearing this, that your cells are somehow able to hunker down and survive on almost no energy at all. The truth is, you need calories to live, and your cells will continue to burn them as needed to get through the day. So that's not the real reason for your halting forward motion as you try to shed those last few pounds.



2. Your body starts stocking away fat like nobody's business when it senses that its days of plenty are coming to an end.

Again, the reality is that this effect may exist, but it's just not big enough to account for the fact that the last few pounds are holding on to your frame like the movie aliens that wrap their spidery fingers around the heads of their ill-fated victims. You can't seem to pry them loose no matter what you try, but this isn't the fault of some amazing, souped up fat-creating stocking mechanism, No, the culprit tends to be a phenomenon that's far more prosaic.

Here's what happens when you get close to your goal: You start to let up. The psychology of it is easy to understand. It's the same temptation faced by anyone who's oh-so-close to attaining a hard-earned goal. You feel you can afford to give yourself a break. After all, you've attained so much! You deserve to reward yourself. So, you're not quite there yet, so what? A little indulgence can't hurt. And so on. Sound familiar? It does to me, anyway.

Whether or not you really do need a little break before that final push to the finish line is up to you, but the little breaks easily turn into on long, extended vacation. Hence, your goal lies out there unattained like a sparkling pool of water in a desert, forever moving away as you try to get closer.

Does this sound like you?

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