Is it true that the less weight you have to lose the harder it is to lose it?

[LadyWithNoManors]

So I was just over 11 stone 6 weeks ago and through a healthy diet and exercise I've lost a stone. My target weight is 9.5 stone. But will the last half stone shift? will it fuck.
I'm doing lots of high impact exercise and therefore turning fat into muscle but I was just wondering if others have found the last bit of weight the hardest to shift?

Yes the last stone is hardest for various reasons:

a) the longer you diet, the more efficient your body gets, making each pound harder to loose.
b) similar to above as you get near your goal weight your body doesn't want to part with its fat reserves
c) as you have identified you might be building muscle; but I have body fat scales so can see if thats happening....

I shifted the last bit by changing my diet, still on roughly same number of calories but significantly cut down on carbs, even ditching fruit for a few weeks. Have increased the carbs a bit now at goal weight (esp fruit) but still eat less carbs than before. Interestingly I lost half stone more than I intended to as once I cut down on carbs I was back to loosing easily and thought why not.

Thanks fro that Forever
What was your typical daily diet?

I have porridge for breakfast.
Salad with either boiled egg, cottage cheese or ham for lunch.
Or sometimes carrot soup with ryvitta. Or beans on toast.
Then a weight watchers meal for tea.
For snacks I have fruit or fat free yogurts.

Before I went low carb diet was:
shredded wheat and milk for breakfast
sandwich (brown bread) and fat free fruit yoghurt for lunch
griddled chicken plus veggies for dinner
fruit as snacks

To loose the last stone more like:
omelette for breakfast plus yoghurt with oatbran
tuna salad for lunch
griddled chicken and stacks veggies (tried to minimise intake of starchy veggies though) for dinner
natural (greek) yoghurts as snacks plus maybe 1-2 fruit (berry) yoghurts a day.

Now am at target, still wouldn't eat ready meals, cook everything from scratch, and do eat more carbs IF UNREFINED eg porridge, ryvitas, fruit, granary toast, and don't worry about starchy veggies.

I just looked up a couple of weightwatchers ready meals, and the first one had first and main ingredients of white rice (44%) and only 13% chicken, second one similar ratios with potatoes and beef. And third one similar ratios with pasta and beef. Here is ingredients for a fish pie:
"Reconstituted Potato (39%, Water, Potato Flake),Savoury Sauce (Water, Skimmed Milk Powder, Modified Maize Starch, Wheat Flour, Salt, Sugar, Onion Powder, Flavourings (contain Fish), Stabilisers - Sodium Polyphosphates, Sodium Phosphate ,Citric Acid, Spice, Colours - Beta Carotene, Curcumin, Paprika Extract, Vegetable Oil) ,White Fish (19%) ,Broccoli ,Carrots ,Breadcrumbs (2%, Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt, Paprika, Turmeric) ,Skimmed Milk Powder ,Butter (0.4%) ,Salt ,Flavouring (contains Milk, Smoke Flavouring) ,Cream Powder (Cream Solids, Skimmed Milk Powder) ,Spice Extract"

I think I only did a couple of months low carb (although as I ate low fat dairy oatbran plus some starchy veggies it wasn't a ketogenic diet). I didn't add the high fat foods that say atkins allows.

how can fat turn into muscle? Isn't it a completely different animal?

Fat doesn't / can't turn to muscle. You loose fat and gain muscle, so overall weight may happen to stay the same....

ah right, thanks

just read it in the op and thought how nice it would be if it was true