How do you decide when to stop?

bear2303

Im just curious as to when people have decided when they have reached a point where they are ready for maintenance? Or I guess how did you even set your original goal weight? Is it when you've hit a certain number on the scale? When you're no longer in an unhealthy BMI? When you're at a weight you've been previously and wanted to get back to?

For me i set my goal as a number that i thought was reasonable and maintainable for me but now that I'm here im tempted to try and lose another 10 lbs but not sure if pushing myself to that is worth it.

LyndaBSS

I'm about half way through. I set a very rough goal based on the range I felt healthy at before. When I get close to it, I'll see how I feel emotionally, physically and what my doctor says. I'm sure there will be some bouncing around before I settle down.

ellie117

Joining this thread as I too would like to hear from people with experience entering maintenance - I'm about 15-20lbs from my weight goal so I've been thinking about what maintenance will look like next year.

neugebauer52

Initially MFP did all the necessary calculations and suggested my daily calorie consumption. I chose the macros which are ideal for my daily meal plan. I do set myself mini goals: 5 kg weight loss at a time. So far so good, 575 days later and 43 kg lost but lots more to go. I'll think about that question again sometimes in late 2020 / early 2021.

cwolfman13

I don't give a rats *kitten* about some arbitrary number on the scale. I stopped when I was at the point where I didn't have a gut or love handles and my health markers were good. I never had a goal weight as I didn't remotely know what that number would be when I got where I wanted to be aesthetic and health wise. I was also more muscular when I stopped than when I started...so the scale would have also been a *kitten* measure of my goals on that front as well. I have zero desire to be "skinny" or even super lean.

quiksylver296

I don't care what the scale says. I go by what my mirror tells me.

ElizabethKalmbach

I generally shoot for the middle of the healthy BMI range and decide from there if I want to recomp/convert or keep shrinking based on my visual appearance. Give it a month or two at your maintenance level before making a call to keep going or not, because it can take a bit for things to "settle." Sometimes I still end up overshooting because maintenance calories aren't always where I thought I left them.

hesn92

I originally wanted to get to a certain weight because I had been that weight before and was happy with the way I looked, but as I got to about 10 lbs over that number I just decided I looked fine and to stay there.

corinasue1143

Are you still losing easily or are you getting very hungry when you drop calories? How comfortable will you be with maintenance calories now vs. 10 pounds less? Just more things to consider.
I’m seriously thinking about setting my ultimate goal at the point where maintenance is 1600 calories because that is what I can eat easily and happily long term.

nighthawk584

My ultimate goal is to get back to where I started 18 years ago to 180 lbs. This would also put be in the normal BMI range. I started at 280 lbs last April and have moved the goal posts several times along the way.. I am currently at 201 lbs and never dreamed I would even get close to this number even. Now that I am here, I am working on the last 20 some lbs to fine tune the old body. I ultimately may end up being comfortable at 190ish. One thing I didn't have back 18 years ago was the tools and knowledge I have now to make this permanent this time!

Melolson14

I started at 192.4lbs
CW - 171.4
I’m going to maintain this weight for a few months then start losing again.
I’m thinking I could still try to loss so in my middle sections .
I’m thinking I need to weigh myself every day to keep me on track.
Do you weigh yourself everyday or what do you do?
I’m up for ideas.

NovusDies

Different people are going to give you different answers. A person who liked the way they looked at a certain weight will have a goal number in mind. A person like me that has been overweight since junior high has no idea what that number should be.

The important thing to remember is that the decision is reversible. You can stop short of being 100 percent happy and practice maintaining for a period of time before going for the rest.

riffraff2112

I stopped when I reached a point where I was happy with my food intake, and couldn't afford to replace my wardrobe again!

bear2303

riffraff2112 wrote: »

I stopped when I reached a point where I was happy with my food intake, and couldn't afford to replace my wardrobe again!

Omg this!!!! Part of the reason i don't want to push to lose another 10 is the fact that all the clothes i bought are for the weight i am now! and i'm short so if i drop another 10 pounds all my clothes won't fit me.

babyluthi

Melolson14 wrote: »

I started at 192.4lbs
CW - 171.4
I’m going to maintain this weight for a few months then start losing again.
I’m thinking I could still try to loss so in my middle sections .
I’m thinking I need to weigh myself every day to keep me on track.
Do you weigh yourself everyday or what do you do?
I’m up for ideas.

weigh daily, use the free Libra app to track your trends

IremiaRe

I have a goal Clothing Size - 6. Not sure if that will be the final goal - but that's the initial one. The number on the scale is so random - it changes from one day to the next and is heavily impacted by lean muscle mass, so - size six could weight 140 or 165... definitely a size.

ObviousPanda

My goal weight is to stay a size 8. It was too hard to maintain size 6.

kenrodz422

I definitely agree with the folks stating that the mirror is the ultimate test of satisfaction. I use the scale for a bit of motivation since I just joined the MFP familia and got back on the Focus T25 video workouts.

Jezreel12

I will stop when I see my face creases showing up lol

rheddmobile

I let my body decide for me - once I got to a healthy BMI (164 lbs) I set myself to what was supposedly maintenance calories, but continued to coast downwards. At about 150 lbs I stopped losing weight. That seems like where my body wants to be now. I would love to lose another 15 pounds for the sake of appearance and to be a faster runner (ideal weight for me is supposed to be 137) but it’s a lot of work - I’ve gotten down to 147 for a while, but it would take serious dieting - tight logging, and accounting for every calorie - to get below that and for me it’s not worth it for vanity pounds. At 150 it seems like I can more or less eat whatever I like as long as I’m active and still have a 14 lb buffer below the top of healthy weight, and cutting calories to get to an arbitrary lower weight doesn’t appeal.

I’m continuing to work on muscle building and body composition, but staying at more or less the same weight.

yukfoo

I'll ease off when I look good naked...

flotek72

I'll start maintenance when I calculate my body fat % to be 10-12%. My goal is to see my abs, so I figure that starts around 15% body fat.

amusedmonkey

I picked a goal range, not a number and dieted down to the upper end of that range then asked myself if I wanted to go further down into the range, and the answer was yes. At some point (a couple of months later), I started spinning my wheels because I kinda liked how I felt and looked so I didn't really have the motivation to lose more. I could afford to lose more, but I felt meh about the idea. I also considered my maintenance calories and thought if I go any lower I may not be able to maintain.

If I did decide to diet further down, my red line go no further stopping point would have been 20 BMI, just as my red line keep dieting until you hit it point was 30 BMI.

koalathebear

I picked an indicative goal weight based on BMI. I'm female and 150cm (five feet) tall so it said healthy BMI was a range of 41.6 - 56kg. I picked 50kg as an indicative goal, just so that I had a starting point but agreed with my PT that when I hit 60kg, we'd discuss. My stating weight was 86.6 kg.

As I approached 60kg, we said that maybe 54-56kg might be better. In the end I decided I'd go to 54-55kg as that was a size 8 or 10 in women's clothing and I was pretty happy with where I was at. I would have liked my waist to be a bit smaller, but overall I was pretty happy with how I was looking and feeling. Part of felt as though I should have gone all the way to 50kg just because it was my initial goal, but that would probably have just been silly pride.

jswigart

I used to ask that question myself. I have finally reached weight and fitness level where I feel good about my body. It’s hard to explain but I can tell when I go up a pound or down a pound without ever getting on the scales. Start by figuring your BMI, then once you’ve reached it, ring where you feel your best.

tecat810

I am completely following this thread and am interested in others journey. I lost 40 pounds j a year and a half and am at the the top of healthy bmi and weight for my height. I am 5 foot 3, 140 pounds, and stronger and more fit than I have ever been! I look good, I am in a clothing size I am happy with.

I still have body fat in my middle due to three children and my nutrition choices previously. I'd love to firm that up. I've been trying to focus on meeting my macro and calorie goals and hoping my intensity. So I think recomp essentially.

Thanks for posting and for the discussion on this topic.

rainbow198

I let my weight pick me, but I did have a dream dress size I wanted to wear.

I just kept going until one day I decided that I was happy with my size, with the way I looked in the mirror and how I looked in clothes.

Also at the time I was also happy with my eating and exercise/activity so I thought it would be a good time to stop losing weight and start working on improving my body composition.

I ended up losing another 5 pounds to give me a 10 pound year round maintenance range.

It took some work and time for me to be happy with my body out of clothes, but all of the hard work paid off.

HoneyBadger302

My goal is a flexi-goal right now. The "main" number is what I weighed from my 20's into my early 30's, BUT, I've been doing a lot more focused weight lifting the past couple years, so I realize that I may be just as happy at a slightly higher scale number than I used to have.

Primary goal is still to get the shape I used to have, and get rid of the saddlebags. Once those are gone, I'll be pretty trim (they're the last thing to go), and really am not too concerned about the scale number once I get to that point. I'm finally to a point where they are starting to decrease in size (10-15 pounds to go), so I'll just keep an eye on my overall appearance as I get into the range I'm thinking I'll end up in.

whmscll

I set my goal to a weight I looked good at when I was younger. Then decided to lose three more pounds so I’d have a bit of wiggle room in maintenance. Unintentionally lost two more than that. Then went on vacation in France, got sick once I was home, then had oral surgery, and have gained 4 pounds back. So those “wiggle room” pounds have been helpful! Currently trying to drop 2-3 pounds, which will also help keep me from going crazy during the holidays.

psychod787

I shot for lean.... Well got there..... wasn't very happy there. Decided to let my diet and lifestyle define my weight in reverse. I believe in something called ideal weight vs goal weight. Ideal is a place where you feel pretty good, perform well enough, and don't have to be a nutcase to maintain. for some, its to look good naked, for others, lose the gut. For me, it's just "happy". I am willing to live a life outside the "norm" for my goals. Ask yourself..... what do you want?

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