How to decide when to stop?

axmxax

Ok, so.

I've been losing weight nice n slowly for a few years (I did this deliberately, as I struggled with eating disorders before and I felt like very low calories/quick weight-loss would be detrimental to my mental health). I'm now at a kind-of dilemma.

I'm 167 cm tall (roughly 5'5, I think?) and 59 kg (roughly 130 lbs). I'm definitely at a healthy BMI, and I feel like I look okay, and I definitely want to start lifting weights.

The thing is, sometimes I feel unhappy with how I look. I can't tell if it's legitimate or maybe I'm just overly critical of my body, but I know I can technically lose a few more kilos and still be healthy. I'm just not sure what to do, but I reckon my options are:

1) Stop losing weight, maintain, and focus on recomp/weight training.

2) Lose a few more kilos, slowly, but constantly reassessing my body and decide where to stop from there (knowing I can stop at any time).

What would you do in my situation? Or if you have been in my situation - what DID you do? How did you know when to stop?

quiksylver296

#1, for sure

sardelsa

Definitely start lifting. I would recommend #1

What I did in the past? Kept losing and lost muscle and became more unhappy with my body composition. So now I'm at a good weight but want to work on the bod (post-pregnancy) so I've learned from my mistakes and I am recomping instead.

Shortgirlrunning

Would absolutely recommend #1. Most of the time when people are at a healthy weight, I think recomp is much more likely to change their body the way they want over more weight loss.

sijomial

Option 1.

You are going to have to stop losing weight at some time anyway so why not now?
Even if it turns out to be a pause it's still good practice.

Don't wait to start lifting - lift now. What has prevented you from starting?


"How did you know when to stop?"
I lost the last few pounds in a series of steps of pausing/maintaining alternating with very, very slow weight loss with periodic reassessment of where I was and where I wanted to be.
I also later stepped back up a few pounds as my physique changed and my fitness goals changed.

PAV8888

#1

axmxax

sijomial wrote: »

Don't wait to start lifting - lift now. What has prevented you from starting?

To answer your question - what has prevented me from starting - well that's the thing. I DID start, back in October; I was solidly at it for a couple of months, then drifted away from it. Then started again, in a new gym, back in February; and then the virus hit and the gym shut its doors a month after I started. I have a couple of 3kg dumbbells, which don't do much for me, at home; and weights of any kind seem to be sold out everywhere. I've been doing yoga or bodyweight exercises sporadically, but not in a routine enough to see any physical changes.

I think part of me has been very lenient with starting to lift regularly because I wanted to reach a point where I was happy with my weight, and then focus on body fat/muscle composition; but I think I've sort of realised that there isn't an 'ideal weight' in which I'll magically be happy

sijomial

axmxax wrote: »

but I think I've sort of realised that there isn't an 'ideal weight' in which I'll magically be happy

Wise words!

AnnPT77

axmxax wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Don't wait to start lifting - lift now. What has prevented you from starting?

To answer your question - what has prevented me from starting - well that's the thing. I DID start, back in October; I was solidly at it for a couple of months, then drifted away from it. Then started again, in a new gym, back in February; and then the virus hit and the gym shut its doors a month after I started. I have a couple of 3kg dumbbells, which don't do much for me, at home; and weights of any kind seem to be sold out everywhere. I've been doing yoga or bodyweight exercises sporadically, but not in a routine enough to see any physical changes.

I think part of me has been very lenient with starting to lift regularly because I wanted to reach a point where I was happy with my weight, and then focus on body fat/muscle composition; but I think I've sort of realised that there isn't an 'ideal weight' in which I'll magically be happy

Speaking as someone about your size (5'5"/165cm and 127.4 pounds/57.8 kg this morning):

If you're not fully happy with how your body looks, start strength training now. For a start, as I think you know, you can use a good bodyweight program with some progressions, and even start learning the proper form for some lifts, using your 3kg dumbbells or suitable household items.

A browse through the recomposition thread might provide some insight into why we're recommending this. (There's technical information, plus progress photos from others.)

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

You're at a healthy weight. If you've had a history of eating disorders, I think you'd likely be off to a better start by thinking in terms of recomposition, at least for a while. That will be a more viable strategy, I think, if you don't beforehand lose weight all the way down to maximum thinness.

If someone's very thin, muscle gain by bulk & cut cycles (cycles of intentionally gaining and losing weight) can become a more realistic way to make progress, because they don't have as much residual bodyfat to draw on for recomposition. The small amount of residual fat is an energy source, right? Bulk & cut can be a good strategy even for slightly heavier people within a reasonably healthy weight range, who don't have any potential contraindications to gaining/losing intentionally, but for someone with a history of ED . . . maybe not the best idea? At least not at first, until you gain confidence in reshaping your body via strength training? (You and your treatment team know best: I'm just speculating.)

I'm guessing you know this thread has recommendations for good beginner bodyweight routines, not just lifting routines:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

As far as how I knew when to stop: As I got closer to my initial provisional goal weight, it became clearer to me how I wanted to look and more importantly feel. Using those ideas as benchmarks to look for, and having slowed my weight loss way down intentionally by that point, I literally woke up one morning and said "I'm here", and started trying to hit maintenance calories. I think two things differ between us, though: One is that (I'll bet) I'm much older, and not very appearance-motivated at this point (I was 60 when I reached goal weight, 64 now); and to my surprise, when I neared goal, I found that I actually had some nice li'l ol' lady muscles under the fat layer already, from having been very active for a decade plus while still obese. I'm motivated to maintain strength for independence/health/fitness reasons, but am not shooting for full-bore recomposition.

Couple things I'd observe: If you start eating at maintenance, there's a chance you'll see an initial scale jump. Try not to let it worry you, it's a normal water weight and digestive contents adjustment with a little more food in your system, it's not fat regain. Also, if you keep working out, and eating at maintenance, you may find that after a while (few weeks to few months) you start to slowly drop a little more weight. Some people - not all - find that they have a little subtle, maybe even invisible, energy increase in maintenance that translates into a somewhat higher than expected final TDEE.

IMO, that's an additional reason to recommend you start seeking maintenance sooner rather than later. If your TDEE increases a little, either because of that adustment or the strength training itself, you may see a little more slow loss before you can make an intake adjustment.

Best wishes!