At goal weight...now what? with Pics.

chile_chicken

I have reached my goal weight but I am still extremely unhappy with my body. I look down and all I see is fat. I have gone from 167.2lbs down to 120lbs over three years as I had a baby at the end of 2009 and put back on the weight I had lost, so I have had to lose the same amount of weight twice!
I know I have slimmed down but I still have flabby arms, a pot belly and no muscle tone. I guess I need to reassess my goals but I kind of feel let down as I thought I would look good and feel confident when I reached my goal weight. has anyone else ever felt like this and what did you do?
Here are my before and after pics if anyone is interested too.
taken at my heaviest in December 2007
taken about 10 minutes ago!

Jena_72

Congratulations! All you need to do now is make new goals for toning! You CAN do it! :drinker:

chevy88grl

You look great! Congrats on your loss!

What to do now? Strength training. Build muscle. Tone up.

lizzys

you look good try target toneing it will help with your fat areas that you dont like but great job feel good about your self

jessmars

you look GREAT!!!! let yourself be proud of what you have accomplished.......strength training is going to be your new best friend now...BUT YOU LOOK AWESOME

cm40

well i think you answered your question. Many people are concerned about weight when they should be concerned with overall fitness.
You may weigh less but can you do 50 push ups in a row? Run a 5K in under 30 minutes? Deadlift twice your own body weight?
If you want to look like an athlete you have to train like one. Cutting the food and cardio may burn fat, but does not build much muscle. Women think that they should avoid weight lifting because they'll get bodybuilder bodies. It's not true. You don't get buffed up and swollen overnight. You get that with supplements, high weight/low reps, and bodybuilding training.
But if you want definition you need to lose the fat layer AND work on building lean muscle.

cvaneaton

Congratulations! That is awesome!:flowerforyou:

eyespy32

Hey!

First off, you look great BTW! Well done!

I had the same problem. When I was at my thinnest (120 lbs) I still felt fat and unsatisfied with the way I looked. I was happy with the numbers on the scale, but I also still felt I had flabby arms and a tummy. I dont have a solution for you unfortunately....I guess one problem I had, was that even though I was eating 1200 calories, a lot of what I was eating was crap. Have you been weight training? If not, give it a try...or if you have, maybe consider a personal trainer that might be able to help you tone up in the right places

gameovergt

YAY! Congrats

rosemadderv

I'm in a similar position~ gone from 216 to 137, and working towards a goal of 135. Now that I'm so close, I'm thinking I want to go a little lower, but I'm trying to face the fact that I won't look the way I really want to unless I get my butt in gear with exercise. If you are not doing any now, start with some cardio perhaps and if possible, work with a personal trainer to give you some guidance.

You've done great so far, so don't lose sight of that!

June_bozeman

Congrats. You look great. Even though I still need/want to lose 20lbs, which is why I just joined this site, I would highly recommend you find a boot camp class in your area. I began one back in March of 2010 and am now in my 8th 6 week program. Since starting I have not lost 1lb yet I dropped two pant sizes. It has been addictive for me, due to how I feel because of participating in this, but it is only 3 days a week for 1 hour. I actually am planning to go on a week long fitness vacation this year. Best of luck.

sislee

You look really good, great job. I have losted 60 lbs and need to loose 72 more, it is :happy: slow but it is working for me I know that I will have extra flab to get rid of but in my clothes I sure do look better. Everyone makes nice comments on how great I look now so it makes it nice to know that they can see the change.

DustinReiner

Hi chile_chicken,

Congradulations on getting to your first goal!

You really didn't think it was over did you? In the perfect world, what did you think was going to happen next? What ddid you expect?

After working so hard fr so long, did you really think it was going to all be over? It's not, only the first part is, your firsy goal. Now you have to figure out what's next. What do you want to do. You certainly don't want to go back to where you were, you've already been there and it wasn't a place you wanted to be in.

We all have flaws, now is time to do some fine tuning which can be done. You said you take an exercise class once a week, well now you need to do it more often. When you exercise find out what works for you and decide if theat is the next goal you want for yourself and go for it!

Again congradulations on your first goal!

cm40

Here's a few articles and blog posts i thought you may want to read:
In 3 parts: http://graemethomasonline.com/skinny-fat-not-just-hollywoods-problem/
Another article: http://www.crossfitsouthbay.com/2011/05/skinny-fat/

mom2my3angels123

I just wanted to say that you look wonderful!! I'd be very proud to accomplish what you have done, and to look THAT good after. I was going to recommend the same things others here have. So i'll just congratulate you instead

chile_chicken

I do a sort of boot camp once a week and run on the treadmill, so yes now I think it is time to do some strength training. All those machines just look a bit daunting!

gertbyc

Just want to say congratulations! You are so beautiful, so take time to enjoy your body and your accomplishment!

Juneliliy

You are not the only one that feels that those machines are a bit daunting. I recommend getting the assistance of a personal trainer, sometimes they provide a complimetary session, to prepare you for the basics. If you have any questions on any machines let me know. The best advice I can give you, is take your time with the muscle you are working out, if you go too fast you are using too much momentum and not letting the muscle fibers actually flex and tear. Tearing is good because then it can repair and grow. Make sure you have enough healthy protein so that your body can recoup. The other baby steps you can do is trying push ups and crunches using your own body weight. When that gets easy, try the machines to add more weight. Wish you luck! Let me know if you have any questions. I love weight training, myself. I actually plan to get back into it this summer, as soon as school ends!

FK1983

but I kind of feel let down as I thought I would look good and feel confident when I reached my goal weight. has anyone else ever felt like this

Yup :frown:

frankbo25

Now you celebrate your success and enjoy it, and constantly aim for new fitness goals no matter how big or small!!

missbp

I do a sort of boot camp once a week and run on the treadmill, so yes now I think it is time to do some strength training. All those machines just look a bit daunting!

I would give Yoga a try as well. You look fantastic BTW!

Michelle

DESIREE1210

Congrats, looking at you, I think toning strength training would benefit you.
Myself, i have no help with that, my arms and everything can onky be corrected with surgery. I'm seeing a surgeon next Weds.
I would like my arms done this summer, if he thinks I should wait, I will as I want to lose another 40-60#'s.
Then I'll get my tummy tuck.

JeanneTops

I have reached my goal weight but I am still extremely unhappy with my body. I look down and all I see is fat. I have gone from 167.2lbs down to 120lbs over three years as I had a baby at the end of 2009 and put back on the weight I had lost, so I have had to lose the same amount of weight twice!
I know I have slimmed down but I still have flabby arms, a pot belly and no muscle tone. I guess I need to reassess my goals but I kind of feel let down as I thought I would look good and feel confident when I reached my goal weight. has anyone else ever felt like this and what did you do?

I just posted something about this on another Success story but I'll repeat it here.

Just as we work on controlling our eating and exercising more, we have to work on getting our thoughts under control and turned in a positive direction as well. It's absolutely critical to long term success.

There are lots of ways you can tone up your physical body but you have to tone up your thinking and self-image as well. Sooner or later, life is going to throw you a curve ball and you've got to have the inner strength that comes from loving yourself to survive it.

My advice is to stop thinking of yourself as a fat person who has lost a lot of weight. Give yourself permission to think and see yourself as normal sized person. Just as you stop yourself from binging, stop yourself from binging on negative thinking. Every time you start, catch yourself and stop. If flabby arms or a pot-belly bother you, stop looking at them and focus on a positive aspect of your body instead. You have a lot of self-discipline skills for eating and exercising - you can develop the same for control over your thoughts as well.

There are all kinds of ways to reinforce positive thinking - you can do the research and find them. I just can't stress enough how important this is. Let go of the old you as if she had never existed.

The praise and recognition from your friends and family is going to slow down and stop, it's inevitable. You are the only person who is going to continually be recognizing what a great job you're doing and how good you look now. If you don't, then no one is going to be giving you the positive feedback that is critical to your long term success.

Good luck! Be as loving to yourself as you are to your baby!

dawgla

Congratulations on your success. That takes willpower and self discipline to achieve those kind of results. From your post, it sounds as if you know what needs done. My health journey has been the inverse of yours, taking a fitness first approach followed by intake control. Have lost 22 pounds so far, but have leveled out, and am taking the next step of reducing calories while continuing fitness training. Have just begun the diet component and have for the last 4 months been working out. Thanks to my training program, I feel so much better about myself and have been amazed at the results of fitness training that are not physical. I think it's because I'm becoming more aware of what others see in me, both physical and emotional. My stress is controlled, and have become so much more focused on others, and less so on myself. Just go check out a gym, or YMCA, to get started. Hire a coach to help you establish measurable goals that are geared toward feeling better about yourself. It'll be hard to schedule with your parenting responsibilities, but the benefits to your family, friends, and yourself, far outweigh the initial uncomfortability of getting started. You've come so far, now just complete the journey! Go getum!!!

bkthomas2004

:drinker: Congrats on your success!!! Don't fret. now that you've met your goal make a new one with toning workouts!:bigsmile:

As we all know this is a lifestyle change and I am very sure your life has changed a lot since you've lost all your weight. So now it's time to make it fun and incorporate all the good stuff into your new lifestyle. The good thing about that is you dont have to worry about any weight hiding those great muscles you're gonna get soon! Good luck and know that you can do it!! :happy:

rgoodearl

Congrats !!!!!

Truhvn

I second the idea of Yoga. I'm still working on reaching my weight loss goal but I've been doing Yoga and I can notice my belly and arms toning everyday, even when I'm not exercising! Power yoga (Ashtanga or fit yoga are other names) focuses more on getting fit and losing weight than the enlightenment aspect of yoga and can be done and sessions range from 30 min to 1 1/2 hrs. Maybe you can start with the yoga and build your upper body strength and core before moving on to the machines! There are a number of videos for Power Yoga or you can view many clips on you tube!!! Keep it up though, you are an inspiration to many!

NeuroticVirgo

You've done great Just get on board with some toning exercises, like lifting weights, AB work outs etc. You'll definitely be able to tone up (I've seen proof right here on the before & afters of MFP, some of the ladies who post really buffed out its awesome).

I wouldn't watch your weight while your working out though. Just try to eat what you should be eating (MFP tells you) and work out. There is a good chance your weight will fluctuate while you build up muscle.

BrandNewMia

You look GREAT!!! :flowerforyou:

Congrats on reaching your goal weight! Now it's time to tone, you can do it!

nitarongish

You look terrific. Don't be so hard on yourself. Toning can come now...Go to YouTube and take a look at their toning exercises for different parts of the body. Great job on your goal!

beckyinma

Congratulations, you look wonderful! I'm finding the 30 day shred to be a nice toning workout. 3-5 lb weights to start and maybe move up from there...congrats again, great job!