Reflections

Corina1143

How much did you weigh in high school, college, early adulthood? Were you happy with that weight? What is your goal now? How does it compare?

My bmi in high school until I was 30 was 22 to 23. I felt good, but didn't like full-length mirrors. I was bottom heavy, the fattest sibling, the fattest in my class. I would occasionally lose down to 21 bmi. I looked great, loved mirrors, but slept more, was always tired, my grades fell, etc. Fast forward to age 45 or so. My bmi was 36. Fast forward again til recently. Ive lost 2" in height. My goal was bmi = 24.99, just healthy range. Just about what i weighed in high school. Now that I'm getting close, I wonder where my happy spot will really be. The same weight as high school? Or the same bmi? Or can I go lower now? Do I want to? My calories have gone way down. So has my appetite. My body has changed drastically, but so has my opinion of myself. I'm now top heavy-shoulders, not bust. At 15 pounds more and 2" shorter, I'm proud and pleased with my body. My goal now is Sparkle! Energy! Happy!

What's your story?

AnnPT77

Since you haven't been getting many replies (and I find that frustrating when it happens to me), I'll comment . . . even though I don't think I have much of a story.

I was what I guess I'd call chubby during high school and when I entered college. I don't remember for sure how much I weighed, but I think maybe up to BMI 24-point-something, and under-muscled, so flabby. I felt awkward, unconfident, and had the usual female adolescent self-doubt about appearance, plus I've never had what anyone would call a conventionally pretty face. (It's quirky, large-featured, heavy eyebrows, big dip at the bridge of my nose, square face.)

In college, unlike what a lot of people report, I lost weight. I got a physical job, I was on a large campus walking and biking several miles daily to get to classes and events. I was eating in the cafeteria 3x a day, and too busy to snack in all my free time like I'd tended to do in high school. Somewhere in there, I started a regular yoga daily yoga practice. I got slimmer, stronger, more flexible. At one point, my weight dropped down to BMI 18.2 briefly, which was very thin. Most of the time I was around BMI 20. I felt pretty good about my body: It was slim, strong, flexible, could do a lot of things.

Post college, I got a desk job, got married, became less active, ate more, gained weight. It was gradual. By my 40s, I was up to around BMI 32, at peak weight. I didn't make many serious attempts at weight loss along the way, I think just one where I got down to around BMI 22-23. I don't really remember how I felt about my body; my life wasn't focused on that. It was more head stuff, career stuff, hobbies, social life.

When I started losing weight at 59, I was thinking of a goal weight around BMI 22 or so. I'd been most satisfied around BMI 20 in my 20s, but "everyone says" we should weigh more when older. As I got closer to that weight, I could see that it wasn't right. I'd gotten quite active, athletic even, after cancer treatment in my 40s, as part of recovery. I was at least close to the same body composition I'd been in college and my early 20s. I revised my goal downward, to more like BMI 20-point-something. I got there, overshot it, got down to BMI 19.3, which seemed too thin. I went back up again to more like BMI 20-point-something.

These days, I'm in maintenance. There have been ups and downs over the 7+ years, all in the healthy BMI range, all in the same jeans size, so to me it's all maintenance. My goal weight is around BMI 20-point-something. Right now I'm up a bit, working on a super-gradual down swing, this morning at BMI 21.6. (To anchor us in reality, that was 129.8 pounds at 5'5", or 58.9kg at 165 cm. I'm sticking with 5'5" for estimates, though I'm shrinking from there according to my osteoporosis specialists.)

I'm pretty happy with my body in recent years. I'm not Cutey McCuterson, and never will be. I've got that same face, only with more wrinkles, and thinning very grey hair. (At least it's a nice grey! ) I don't do much of the appearance-tending stuff that's common for women of my age in our culture (hair, nails, makeup, etc. There's nothing wrong with doing those things; it's just not me). Then there's the bilateral mastectomies without reconstruction, which many people seem to consider a disfigurement. (I'm fine with it, don't think that.) I have more muscle mass than average for a woman my age (68), and that's a good thing.

I don't like my osteoporosis (caused, in part, by the life-saving cancer treatment). That has me maybe a couple of inches shorter than in my youth. I don't like my osteoarthritis (caused in part by all those years of obesity and under-exercise, so my own -bleep- fault).

But I can still do all the things I really want to do, can hang with much younger people in my sport of choice (on-water rowing), mostly because my endurance is good despite early-stage COPD. (I don't like the COPD either) My brain is far from as good as it once was (chemotherapy and some poor life choices along the way), but it still works OK for normal things. I'm pretty happy, overall.

JoLightensUp

I was slim in high school with a BMI of around 19. I naturally ate lightly during the day and Mum cooked nutritious dinners. I have always eaten fairly small meals.

Funnily enough my parents owned a bakery; you would think it should have presented a challenge for our family's health and weight, but it didn't. The bakery foods were still considered treats and it wasn't a free-for-all.

I tried to lose weight a couple of times as a teenager (even though I was teetering on being underweight) because I didn't like my thighs. One 'strategy' I had was to eat only an apple for lunch. Unsurprisingly my attempts didn't last long!

I stayed slender in my 20s and early 30s without trying. I didn't take much notice of my weight. I didn't own a set of scales so rarely weighed myself. I would have been in the middle of the healthy BMI range. I've never been sporty, but back then I played in a tennis comp, swam and went skiing some winters. I walked a fair bit too, around university and getting to and from public transport. Plus I had part-time work where I was on my feet all day.

I think mine is a common story in that I gained weight after having children. After my second, I was at the top end of my healthy weight range and felt really uncomfortable. I did Weight Watchers and got the weight back down. I didn't need to lose much to feel good.

I initially felt a little self-conscious going to WW because I realised my start weight was like some other people's goal weight. But I think the experience of weight really is different for everyone and the same weight can feel different - and be more or less sustainable - at various stages of life. At the time, I felt huge.

My weight crept up again and I used MFP in 2017 to get it back down to a BMI of about 22 to 23. I was trying to go a little lower but I'm not sure it is sustainable for me.

I am now 54 with a sedentary job and not as much incidental movement. The weight crept back on through the last few years, which have been stressful times for me. I was snacking my way through it all. I knew that I was putting on weight but did not have the energy to care (at least that's how I felt anyway).

This time I am aiming for a slightly higher goal of 23 to 24 BMI. I will see how it goes. I am much happier to lose at a snail's pace than I used to be. I'm trying to make changes that I feel I can keep doing into maintenance. My cholesterol is up a bit so I'm trying to get that down.

So far I am really enjoying the process this time around. The two keys for me are firstly, logging all my food in MFP even if it's a guesstimate and secondly, not having a timeline for weight loss.

CrazyMermaid1

My mom had body dysmorphia, thinking she was overweight. Every morning she would step on the scale and if that number was bad(most of the time) we all had a bad day. She had me on a diet in 2nd grade because I thought I was fat. This dieting continued through high school. There was even a liquid diet (horrible stuff) that I was on for 2 weeks. No solid food. I routinely lost and gained 10 lbs every 2 weeks, routinely passing out when I got down to a 300 calorie day. In my early 20’s I had enough and stopped the madness but ended up with a binge disorder.. Don’t know my BMI but I ballooned. It has taken me decades to finally get it right.

springlering62

I was so underweight into early 20’s my mom had me seeing a doctor or nutritionist (I’m thinking the latter) who sold her a giant barrel of powdered protein to fatten me up. I was maybe 12 at the time.

Believe me, protein powder in the early 70’s was NOT what it is today. I gagged down a few glasses and went into full mutiny. She tried for months to get me to take more and ended up having to throw it out - a costly error for a family that was perpetually strapped for money.

On the other hand, mom was already obese by then, and prone to picking on me for being too thin. In retrospect, it was a weird vibe. Like “I’m gonna fatten her up so her momma don’t looks so big by comparison”.

In my early 20’s I raced small singlehand sailboats, which was a guy thing back then. I was so thin I couldn’t make “legal” minimum weight, even with a sack of lead shot strapped to the tramp. (Tramp being a part of the boat, not a judgement, lol). Some of the guys would file protests, others were like “nah, let her race, you wusses” and so the others’d cave in.

I didn’t put on too much weight til after having kids. I would stuff my face at my desk, until eventually eating was a second, full-time job.

I didn’t realize til after I finally quit after 30+ years how unhappy I was. I was a mean girl, too,to my employees, which shames me terribly to this day, but I was miserable, so was sharing the “joy”.

Quitting, which I didn’t want to do (looong story) left me at loose ends and forcibly retired- even unhappier, and snacking 18 hours a day. Husband, who is a spreadsheet kinda guy, analyzed my future and said I could go back to school, but there wouldn’t be much of a return, as he planned to retire himself in eight years, and would want me with him. So he told me just to consider myself
retired and enjoy myself.

Then I got sick- piling on even more weight, bedridden and on a walker for a few weeks, and the illness left me with joint pain. It wasn’t the first time, so I did some analyzing myself. “What can I do to make sure this doesn’t happen again”.

Well, it was pretty obvious. Weight loss, but I didn’t want to own up to it, til I complained yet again to my doctor about fatigue and GERD. She handed me the weight loss flyer she’d given me for years, and a prescription for thyroid meds.

That was what brought me up face to face with the wall. The Wall of Weight. And finally started me on my journey.

So after 30 years of being overweight and then obese, I turned it around. I’m now middling “average BMI”, but I’m also pretty muscular.

Right now I’m hanging several pounds above where I’d like to be. Some is residual weight from several weeks traveling, some is excess water weight because I’ve hit a joint-pain cycle. Sounds yucky, but believe me, it’s waaaaaaaaay better than it used to be.

These few pounds gain, however, seem to be retriggering my GERD From Hell, so I’m making a concerted effort to drop a few back to my happy spot.

I’m a totally different person. As the kids on Reddit say, I went “No Contact” with people who stressed me out, both relatives and friends. I started doing things for myself. I just “let go”. Some of the woo yoga stuff actually resonates with me now. I can’t believe the peace I get from a great yoga class or a challenging training session. I am so much happier and satisfied with my life now.

Weight loss helped immensely, but so did reevaluating everything and realizing it wasn’t my burden to make others happy, nor my right to make others miserable.

kminnucci

What a great question. I never really considered my entire life weight loss journey. I was 120 in high school, thinking about weighing that now seems absurd. I'm 5'5", it's doable I guess but wow.
In college, 130's and felt fat. But what I would give to be 130 again. My goal is 150 right now. Maybe as I got closer it might change but loosing 50 pounds seems doable. I haven't been that weight since I was 30. Right before kids.
I've bounced as low as 160 and as high as 205. I'm 57 so that's over a course of 27 years!!!
When I see the charts recommending weights it seems so low to me after being at 200 for so long, wrapping my head around the lowest range seemed impossible but the reality is at one time 30 some years ago it was my number. Why can't it be my number again!

mareeya88

I weighed 150 pounds (I'm 5'4") until I was about 27. Not super skinny but no visible fat that bothered me. Then I started gaining weight even though I eat pretty much the same, and now at 35 I'm at 270. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, but I think aging is what killed my metabolism.

Seriously, aging sucks!

springlering62

kminnucci wrote: »

What a great question. I never really considered my entire life weight loss journey. I was 120 in high school, thinking about weighing that now seems absurd. I'm 5'5", it's doable I guess but wow.
In college, 130's and felt fat. But what I would give to be 130 again. My goal is 150 right now. Maybe as I got closer it might change but loosing 50 pounds seems doable. I haven't been that weight since I was 30. Right before kids.
I've bounced as low as 160 and as high as 205. I'm 57 so that's over a course of 27 years!!!
When I see the charts recommending weights it seems so low to me after being at 200 for so long, wrapping my head around the lowest range seemed impossible but the reality is at one time 30 some years ago it was my number. Why can't it be my number again!

At 5’7”, I got within two pounds of my wedding day weight of 125, and was prepared to keep going because I’d felt heavy at 125 back in the day.

Weight sits very, very differently at 25 than it does at 58.

Even lifting weights several times a week, I still lost muscle. I looked like death warmed over. Thankfully, I had people in my life care enough to say “enough!” and encourage me to put some weight back on.

Be careful about fixating on a youthful weight. In retrospect, I was approaching a fine line between a perceived goal and an eating disorder, and I’m grateful something got said.

cwolfman13

I'd never want to go back to high school weight...for one thing, I'm a grown *kitten* man now and not a kid. I was borderline underweight in high school and skinny as a rail. This wasn't by choice, I did everything I could to gain weight at the time but just couldn't. I was a competitive track and field sprinter and jumper, wrestled, and did swim team and water polo in the summer and played a couple of years of football.

I went into the military after high school and was put on double rations in boot camp to get my weight up. When I went in I was around 138 Lbs and when I graduated 3 months later I was around 150 Lbs. During my 2 year military tour, I put on another 25 Lbs or so to 175 Lbs...this was mostly muscle and I still sat around 10% BF.

I was pretty much lean all through college and my 20s. In my 20s I rarely owned a car and walked and biked everywhere. I also worked in landscape construction in the summers and did warehouse stocking during the school year. I was also just active in general so never had an issue with weight.

I didn't have to lose weight until I got into my late 30s. At my best I got down to around 180 Lbs and 12% BF and maintained that for about 5 years. It took a lot of work and I was very engaged in endurance road cycling/racing which meant I spent about 100+ miles per week on my bike and 2-3x per week in the weight room. It was a lot and when COVID rolled around in 2020 I decided to "retire" and now my exercise is largely active recreation and my sweet spot weight wise for that is around 190 Lbs. I'm currently sitting at 200 Lbs and working towards 190 Lbs

nossmf

During high school I was a typical scrawny nerd with glasses to match, not overly thin but just a healthy weight (BMI 22.1). Earned my letterman's jacket as a runner (sprints and cross country), got no love from the ladies. Gained 10 pounds of muscle during military boot camp, was quite happy with how I looked as I entered adult life.

Unfortunately, my first posting called for 24-hr long shifts cramped into a room only 10 feet wide by 20 feet long and crammed with all sorts of communication equipment. When my shift ended I'd be too tired to work out, plus it was in North Dakota where the winters last forever and the temperatures drop so low only a fool spends time outdoors when not absolutely necessary. Between the poor dietary choices in an effort to stay awake during these shifts (a 2-liter of soda each day plus lots of fried tater tots) and the lack of exercise when off shift (and zero room to do anything but sit during shift), by age 25 my weight had ballooned by 60 pounds, moving my BMI to 32.5. I was constantly tired, I couldn't climb a flight of stairs without gasping for breath, my knees throbbed, I missed the way I used to look, and it was only through the grace of God I found a woman who liked me for me.

When I left active duty a buddy recommended I try weight lifting, since my knees could no longer handle the running I used to enjoy in my youth. I had dabbled with lifting in school, but it never really appealed to me. Now, something clicked, and I became addicted, a passion which is still with me almost 15 years later. At the same time I was introduced to MFP, where my inner geek could satisfy my need to manipulate numbers (calories, protein, etc).

So here I sit at age 46. I've lost some weight from my peak, though my BMI of 28.2 says I should keep losing more. But my physique looks nothing like either my school days nor my military days; I traded 60 pounds of fat for 30 pounds of muscle. I've lost almost 9 inches off my waist from my peak weight; my arms now are the same size as my legs back in school. My knees no longer hurt, I love my image in the mirror, I have enough energy to keep up with (and sometimes exceed) the teenage boys in my son's scout troop. I tell you, if I had the testosterone from my 20's combined with the knowledge/will I have today, the result would be something special. As it is, I feel content with where I'm at now, and confident in my ability to remain living independent in the future, not needing to live in assisted living homes.

xbowhunter

Male 5'7" 54 years old now.
In high school I was around 130lbs.
Then I met my Italian wife at age 17. I gained 30lbs!
Then after marriage gained another 20lbs. uggg!!
So there I was a 21 year old 30lbs overweight.
Stayed that way for many years.
Then I discovered running and exercise.
dropped back to 150lbs 4 times now.

Currently hovering from 145 to 150 and couldn't be happier with myself.

The main difference now is I have cut way back on alcohol and really watch my calorie intake. Going to do my best to maintain current weight...

Cheers

kshama2001

• I was at a good weight for my age in high school.
• There was a period after HS and before I joined the military where I was partying too much. I needed to lose about 10 pounds before graduating boot camp.
• I lost way more that than in boot camp and tech school. I wouldn't want to go back to that weight.
• I liked the weight I was 20 years ago/mid 30s when I was a full time yoga teacher, working out, and walking a lot as part of my life. That's my goal weight.

TxDesertFox

I can't say I knew what my BMI was or kept track of it much until later on in life. But my weight did fluctuate throughout.
In high school I thought I was chubby, and I grew up in the 90s when those stupid low waisted jeans were in style so I was obsessed with being wafer thin.
In my early 20s I actually got to be wafer thin but weirdly didn't workout and ate nothing but fast food. I guess hauling around 15 pounds worth of books and walking about a half mile from the parking lot to the other side of campus, and then taking several flights of stairs was all the exercise I needed. This was about the time I became self-conscious because I didn't have any curves.
Then around my mid-20s I was going through a depressive state and put on a good deal of weight. Coupled that with starting a new job, starting my career, and then trying to figure out which anxiety meds worked for me, had me at the heaviest I'd ever been before.
Then in my late 20s and into my early 30s was when I got heavy into fitness, and then endurance running and got down to around 98 pounds at 5'2". And I was eating a lot, but I was eating nutrient dense food that were leaner so I didn't get in enough calories to keep up with all my running. I was back to being insecure about being stick thin and started laxing on my diet, eating more calorie heavy foods and lifting more so my body filled out a little more. I think on the average I sat anywhere between 105-115lbs for most of my life, except that depression stage where I got up to about 160 pounds.
Now that I'm in my 40s and have been running for some time now, I don't burn as much, and the weight is more stubborn but I sit at comfortable 115-120 for the most part. I've found that over the last 2-3 years weight disbursement has changed. I used to be mostly top to middle heavy, now the weight seems more evenly distributed between my bust and hips.

MujerVieja72

Though I was bullied and made fun of by middle school for being overweight, at my short height thought , I've managed to stay below 170 all my life. Though at my height when i hit about 163, my BMI is consider right at the obese mark. Today I clocked in at 160.8. I have had quite a few periods of thinness throughout my life.


As of late, I don't experience the anxieties I used feel over my weight & appearance, but do want to try to get back down between 105-110. I know it sounds loq, but with my shortness it's still within healthy BMI limits.

IzzieD93

I weighed about 116lbs when I was in secondary school (so when I was 16)
When i was 17 I probably got to like 132 lbs.
Then at 19 I got to my biggest weight of 158lbs.
I'm 5ft 2. (Probably like 4ft 11 now... sucks as you age you shrink in size lol) and I have hips, all my weight goes to my hips so unfortunately I can struggle if I get past a certain weight with lower back pain.
When I was 16 I saw myself as overweight and not fitting in with all the other girls as they were thin and I had hips. Major insecurities about it.

When I was 17 I was in an unhappy relationship, got out of that and managed to lose a tiny bit, again not happy with my weight.
When I was 19 I got to my heaviest... I was 158lbs and struggling to be able to do anything really without being in pain. I couldn't see the weight gain (again I was in a relationship then and gained weight fast over a year) bad eating habits... I wish I was the size that I was when I was 16.
Fast forward 10 years and at 30 (and not in that relationship anymore) I am now 119 lbs near the weight I was when I was a teenager.... I STILL see myself as overweight... I guess I can't let go of that image of when I was 158lbs, even though I've gone down in size in jeans and tops and feel much fitter... I'm still not happy.

Looking back I wish I wasn't so harsh in myself and also was more educated in food and exercise.... my anxiety doesn't help and played a big part in growing up... I do have a bit more confidence but my self love still needs some working on.

HoneyBadger302

Female, 5 7" - smallish frame. 45 y/o.
Honestly no idea about when I was in high school - as a kid, I never struggled with weight, I was always the scrawny one. Growing up I was homeschooled in a small town, so it wasn't something I was really faced with.
I didn't pay much attention to it until I was in my 20's and working, dating, etc. I was generally okay with my weight (around 128), and generally felt good and strong, although I usually felt I could stand to lose a few pounds to feel more comfortable in a bikini (in my family, ANY extra weight goes straight to our midsection).
While my weight went up a tad bit, well into my early 30's I was staying in the 125-132 range. If I got to the top end of that, I'd just cut back on the fast food and candy snacks, and the extra would drop.
THEN, I got the dreaded "desk job" (well, or a job that had me mostly sitting on my butt all day). My weight rapidly rose into the 150's, and ever since I have struggled with it. At a high point I got up to around 166ish. Most of the time I've yo-yo'd between 150-159, with a couple dips into the 140's when I was religiously tracking and working out.
The lowest I've seen with regular tracking and workouts was 139.8 in 2019. I was feeling good at the time, and much more confident with my weight. Finally started to see the saddle bags decreasing in size, and felt like I was within 5 or so pounds of where I would be happy with my level of "trim."
Life, stress, and giving in, however, and that is now a distant memory.
Earlier this year I was doing well, but fell off the wagon HARD over the late summer/fall/early winter, creeping over 160 again.
Many other ares of my life I've sorted out, so my #1 goal this year is to get down to my goal weight once and for all, and make it how I am and live, not a temporary endeavor. For the past several years while it's been a goal, it's been lower on the list. This year, it takes the #1 spot.
Not going to be easy. My appetite has never adjusted to what my body will currently burn. It's like it has never reset from when I had active jobs, and with a desk job there's just no way I can replicate the same energy expenditure. Working on some ideas to help increase the activity like an under desk treadmill, since burning enough to make up for the appetite seems to be key for me. When I'm active enough, losing weight is easy - it's like my appetite barely changes regardless of my activity (a little with cardio focused workouts, but still, not enough to blow my weight up).
It's frustrating, because my choice is workout like a fiend (not sustainable) or be hangry all the time (also not sustainable) or figure out ways to mostly be moving most of the day (the most feasible with the proper stuff).

xbowhunter

5'7" male
High school weight around 130lbs.
Then I met my Italian high-school sweetheart at age 15 gained 30lbs in one year. ugg!
Got married to her and ballooned up to 180lbs. double UGG!
Now I'm at 150lbs and happy with my weight.
I should lose another 5 or 10 for bathing suit weather!