Lose weight but stay curvy

madisonrmartinez

Hi guys!
I'm 5'9 and started at about 254lbs and I'm down to 247 so far! I want to be somewhere around the 200 range (with lots of muscle

lalepepper

It is hard to know what our body shape will be until we actually lose the weight. I am 6' and can tell you that at 190, I definitely still had plenty of curves, but was also plenty flabby. Often people will drop to lower than their goal weight to lose the extra fat, and will do recomposition to gain muscle and round things out. I would take things as you go, rather than committing to a hard line goal weight of 200.

I say this not to be mean, but to be up front. To be honest with you, 200# at your height is right on the cusp of obese (BMI of 30) in the BMI range. It is good to have plenty of muscle, but unlikely that you will be carrying enough to offset the negative effect of that extra weight on your health. We're talking about a 30# difference from the limit of healthy weight range (BMI of 25). No, BMI is not the end-all, be-all, but it is a generally good guideline unless you are an exceptional athlete. 30# extra is still 30# of extra force on your joints and organs.

For a long time I told myself my best weight would be higher, because I thought I already had a lot of muscle. I told myself for years that BMI wouldn't really apply to me because I am so tall. The truth is I was fooling myself in to aiming for something that wasn't as intimidating. I dropped to within 10 lbs of a healthy weight and had plenty of room to go down. I only was able to get so close because I stopped trying to convince myself I was an outlier, and started aiming for a healthy weight.

It is fine to set goals and see how you feel. But I don't think it is realistic to expect to be a fit 200# at 5'9" without some extremely serious training and cutting/bulking.

4legsRbetterthan2

Unfortunately it varies from person to person how they will look after weight loss. I tend to gain and lose pretty evenly across my body, so when I change weight I am just a slightly larger or smaller version of the same figure. The plus side is I know what I will look like, the down side is it takes a pretty decent weight change to notice much of a change for me.

There are other people who tend to carry their weight in one location or another, so losing weight can drastically change their figure.

Since it sounds like retaining muscle mass while losing is important to you, make sure you don't try to lose too fast, and are lifting weights as part of your exercise routine.

amtyrell

I am 5 ft 10. I started at 228 and am down at 177 trying to get to 174 normal bmi and then see maybe goal around 160.
Why not give yourself the interim goal of 200 and then look at it and determine then how you are doing and if that is your goal or not. Take it one step at a time.
Oh on the curvy side of things my bra size has gone from 38c to 34d I actually look much more hourglass then before as I have lost weight and decreased the belly.

rainbow198

I'm maintaining now, but when I was losing I chose to focus more on fat loss and monitoring my measurements rather then scale weight. I had no idea how I would look at said weight so I just kept going until I was happy.

Unfortunately you can't spot reduce and your body shape and where you store fat has a lot to do with genetics, but I kept working hard and hoped for an hourglass figure.

I strength-trained often and made sure I was getting enough protein. I didn't do any extreme exercise or had a high calorie deficit and I lost weight on the slower side because I didn't want to lose muscle.

The cool thing for me is that I lost a lot in my belly. So even though I lost a lot in my hips too, my smaller waist gives that illusion of what I want. Also I went from a DD cup to a C, so I didn't lose too much there, but with the strength-training I didn't experience much sagging with the weight loss. Actually they are more fuller if that make sense.

I did reach my goal of having a solid curvy body with a little visible muscle. I'm 5'11 and maintaining a range of 165 - 170 in the spring/summer and 170 -175 in the fall/winter. 170 pounds is my sweet spot though.

Good luck and congrats on your progress!

Edited to add - Sometimes clothes can be a pain. I have to get a lot of non-stretchy clothes tailored to fit my figure and I'm almost always in between sizes. A small is usually too small in the bust area, but fits perfectly in the waist and a medium fits great in the bust, but way too big in the waist.

Also it's tough to find jeans and pants off the rack without having that "gap" of extra material around the small of my back. With all that said it's totally worth it to me.

madisonrmartinez

Thank you for all the advice! To clarify, 200 is not a hardline goal: it's simply what I'm shooting for for now, and to be honest I'm being realistic as my entire family is extremely active and healthy, but definitely carries a lot of muscle (including the women). I used to weigh more than this (before even starting my actual fitness journey) and I've kept a naturally hourglass shape thus far, who knows what will happen as I continue to lose weight, but I believe I'll stay a similar-ish shape. I've been incorporating plenty of weights into my exercise along with my cardio and eating clean. As for BMI, I don't really care if I'm being completely honest. BMI is a good general* measure but is often inaccurate when it comes to muscle mass, and as long as I'm eating well, working out often, and becoming stronger and more physically fit that's all I want. I have a history of severe restriction/disordered eating so if I focus too hard on the numbers I get obsessive. Hope that makes sense.

kristen8000

I'm 5'11 and in 2011 I weighed 193. Was in a TIGHT 14. Was too vien to go by 16's. Decided that was enough. But honestly I thought I needed to lose maybe 20lbs. That a size 10 would be the smallest I'd ever get in. I told myself, I'm tall, I have wide hips, etc. I learned along the way that I look amazing at 150. I wear a size 6. I'm not too small, I still have plenty of curves (I wear a size 32G bra with 40in hips).

I think your goal to get to 200 is commendable. But I think you'll need to lose more. You'll need to see what your body fat % is when you get there. Good luck!