How do you know if you have reached your ideal weight?

mcgeevercaitlin

Hi everyone,
I have been loosing weight very slowly the past few months (1 pound a month if that) is it possible I am at a healthy weight and will not lose anymore? I am 155 and 5'6 - my goal is to lose about 5-10 more pounds nothing crazy.

jemhh

If you are eating in a deficit you will keep losing over time. Ideal weight is based on a personal preference, not a biological stopping point.

JaydedMiss

Im 155 at 5 ft 3 and close to stopping because i like my body how it is Youll be losing slow because your pretty small.

lorrpb

There really isn't a specific "ideal weight". With the healthy range, which is quite wide on the BMI chart, It's just what you're comfortable with, what looks good on you, what you feel you can maintain etc. I lost 149 pounds like clockwork, every month for more than 2 years. Since I've gotten to 155 I've had a very difficult time losing the last 5, which would be the bottom of my maintenance range. I know it's because I'm not being a restrictive as I was before. When you have little left to lose, you have a very small margin of error on your calorie estimates. It is easy to be off by 100-200 cals per day, and that's enough to wipe out that 1-2 lb per month loss. I am still trying get down there, but not stressing about it. The parts of me that others see look great, and I mainly chose that number because I want to say I've lost "half" of my starting weight. Right now I can say "almost half" which is just fine!

CharlieBeansmomTracey

mcgeevercaitlin wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I have been loosing weight very slowly the past few months (1 pound a month if that) is it possible I am at a healthy weight and will not lose anymore? I am 155 and 5'6 - my goal is to lose about 5-10 more pounds nothing crazy.

the less you have to lose the slower its going to be,thats just how it is. no need to sweat it.

_Justinian_

When I am in the green (bmi chart) and/or I can see my abs, I'll be satisfied.

MelanieCN77

I'm trying to decide, too. I'm 5'5 and currently 148, with my goal set for 139. My loss has slowed way down. I am set to 0.5lbs per week/sedentary which puts me at 1430. I have no interest in restricting any more so I am settling in for the long last 10 I guess and we'll see how it goes.

GottaBurnEmAll

When you feel happy with your appearance and your doctor is happy, start thinking of a range of 5 or so pounds that you'll be comfortable staying within. The scale never stays still, and maintenance is a game of staying within a range.

I still go back and forth about deciding between maintaining and losing more. Right now, I'm in a losing phase.

cwolfman13

jemhh wrote: »

If you are eating in a deficit you will keep losing over time. Ideal weight is based on a personal preference, not a biological stopping point.

Oishii

The good thing with weight loss is you can always change your mind. You can lose more and if you don't like it, just eat more again.

I'm intentionally losing slowly because I don't feel as able to concentrate and control my emotions when I'm hungry all the time. If your current rate of loss is comfortable to you you can do it as long as you like.

LisaTcan

I'm also 154 and 5'6'', at this weight we are just within the normal range for BMI..but that doesn't mean much. Ideal weight means different things to different people but to me it is a weight that you feel comfortable at and that you can maintain without too much deprivation or spending all day at the gym.

My ideal weight is around 135lbs. I recently had a baby and I'm working to get back there.

runshellersrun123

I set my ideal weight to how much I weighed for years before suddenly putting on about 35 pounds. I also want to get the largest part of my belly under 35 inches, which is the tipping point for health problems for women.

It's going to be very individual, person to person. I would re-evaluate as you go and think about whether the factors that motivated you to lose weight in the first place have been met.

victoria_1024

I am 5'2.5" and when I got to 138 I was considered a healthy weight so I stopped for a while and maintained. After maybe 3 months I decided I wanted to lose more so I got down to 123 and felt great there. I still have fat I could lose but I'm honestly just content where I'm at. I don't want to spend the rest of my life wanting to lose another 5 lbs. I wanted to reach a point of just feeling good and enjoying my weight.