I reached my goal weight! ... and I feel like crap.

swimrfly14

Hey all,
As the title says, I reached my original goal weight finally (120). The problem is, I am so low on energy, and super weak, compared to when I was "overweight" (148). At that weight, I was an athlete with intense daily trainings and an active job where I was able to lift more than the guys. I did have extra fat on top of all the muscle, though. So when an injury forced me to quit competing, I decided to try and lose that and get to a weight in the "normal" range. Now I'm there, and I can honestly say it sucks. I like how I look now better before, and i get compliments on it often, but I felt a whole heck of a lot better then. Thoughts? Any one else have this issue?

BeeerRunner

I'm the opposite. I've never felt better, but I was a couch potato before I started losing weight. Now I eat much healthier and am more fit than I've ever been.

BasicGreatGuy

Are you eating a healthy diet and are you consuming enough calories a day?

DancingMoosie

I'm guessing that, because of your injury, you did not workout during your weightloss? If so, you probably lost a lot of muscle. Getting enough calories and lifting will help you build back up.

canadianlbs

i haven't tried losing just weight without all the exercising. and the last time i weighed around 125 without being active, i was in my 20's and did not have rheumatoid arthritis. i'm 51 now, with the RA, and have been lifting seriously for two years. so 'feeling like crap' is kind of hard to compare across so many years and such a range of circumstances.

yet the only recent time i did get my weight back down into that range, i felt like crap too, as a lifter and cyclist. i'm more like 135 now, and i am still sort of fighting the fat. but i feel like i know what you mean, because i've noticed 140 seems to be my 'feel really super-fantastic physically' sweet spot. and i'm still 5'4", without having gained phenomenal amounts of muscle in teh meantime. so i kind of agree that i feel physically most comfortable when i'm 10-15 pounds 'over' weight.

cnbbnc

I felt this way too. You weigh 120 but at what height? Have you lost too much possibly? That was the case for me. I think anyway.... I dropped my weight a bit further than I originally planned because I wanted to lose enough fat to do a bulk. When I finally hit that point I felt a bit weak, irritable, and just kinda crappy overall. Now that I've bumped up my calories again I feel a lot better. Are you eating at maintenance now?

Dano74

I'd bet your calories could be bumped up. Time for a reverse diet and the joys of more foooood! Maybe?

Ninkyou

How many calories are you consuming? Low energy and feeling super weak are usually symptoms of not getting enough calories.

OneWayOnlyCycles

Bump up those calories!

nossmf

Don't get too caught up in somebody else's idea of "ideal weight", especially if it's society prompting you. Unless a doctor says to lose weight, any weight can be a good weight for you, if your body comp is good.

I'm right now 25# heavier than "normal" weight according to many graphs and charts, especially anything to do with BMI. But I feel great and my doc has no concerns. Sure I have a few pounds of fat I could lose, but that would be just for vanity-sake, not health.

If you were an athletic 140 before, maybe you should consider working back up in weight now. Not necessarily all the way back to 140, especially if you're no longer competing. But you'd be amazed what adding just a couple pounds can do for the way you feel, even though it doesn't make a difference in the way you look.

teetertatertango

140 at 5'4" is within the normal BMI range, but I get the difficulty when your "feel best physically" and "look best" weights do not coincide. I go for feeling best, but I can envision scenarios where I or others might choose differently.

Are you back to exercising yet? In terms of feeling best, exercise plays into that a lot more than I would expect, regardless of weight.

singletrackmtbr

No one's talking about macros? Are you getting enough carbs and fats? These are your sources of energy. Anecdotally, if I don't get enough of either one I feel like I can't get moving.

ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken

This is one reason I don't have a set in stone goal to reach. I know there is that one sweet spot where I will feel like it's just right. When I get there I will try and stay there. Maybe you could try getting some workouts in if you don't already and build some muscle? If you were super active previously and and that is no longer true now you could also be suffering from what I think of as activity withdrawal. I used to run several miles each morning, When I was forced to stop it really messed with me. I needed that exercise and time to be alone with my thoughts.