To lose or not to lose....

JakkiCarter

So, I am having a hard time getting to my goal weight of 115 lbs. I haven't been this small since freshman year of high school, and would love to be this size again. I am currently 120 to 122 (my weight fluctuates a couple of pounds), I am 5'7'' and am 22 years old. I currently exercise 2 or 3 times a week and try my best to watch what I eat, but have slipped more times than I would care to admit.
The largest I have been was 140 lbs about one and a half years ago and, even if I wasn't technically over weight, I felt EXTREMELY uncomfortable in my skin. I am doing this weight loss for myself, to feel confident and beautiful and, most importantly, healthy. I would really love to get to my goal weight, but I am not sure if that goal is unrealistic. I am an athletic person, so a low BMI does not worry me. I set my goal on MFP to 118 lbs to be conservative, but would love to know if my goal of 115 is achievable within healthy standards. If you know of any exercise regimen or diet that would help me past this plateau I am in, please let me know! Any advice, encouragement and even constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

russelljclarke

Are you eating your exercise calories? If not, you could be in starvation mode, which causes the body to hang on to weight, not lose it. There'll be a few responses to this that say otherwise, but you must eat your NET calories if you are to continue losing. And if I get flamed for this, you and the flamers should read my blog (link below) as I too doubted the theory so I tested it.

Good luck

digitalsteel

Do you know your current body fat %

Lotte34

Hey hunny
I lost 5lb in one week on the Diet chef diet (essentially they send you your meals and you can add either a little bit of rice, pasta or bread) I have been on it just over a week and have lost 7lb you can't really loose, its not that pricey and there is a voucher for £10 off on my profile. However if this doesn't float your boat, before i started this diet I was put myself through a week of a VERY strict veagan style diet, nothing but fruit and veg, no egg, no milk, just lots of smoothies and soups and it was actually a lot tastier than youd think. Lost 5lb that week.

Needless to say I have put a lot of the weight from the veagan diet back on but the diet chef thing is REALLY working for me.

Happy dieting

asyouseefit

Weight is just a number on the scales, it doesn't really matter. What's important, as you stated, is to feel healthy, confident and beautiful! Have you achieved that goal? How do you feel right now?

JakkiCarter

I am not sure what my fat percentage is. And no, I suppose I'm not eating the calories I lose from exercising. I've always been under the impression that as long as I eat around 1200 calories a day, my body wont go into starvation mode.

JakkiCarter

At the moment I feel that i could lose a bit more fat around the mid section and the inner thigh. I do feel a lot better about myself now then i did when i started the weight loss. I just don't feel that I am at my personal best yet.

emmab0902

Isn't 115 a little low for someone as tall as you? That would put your BMI at 18 which is underweight.

asyouseefit

I do not have any research to back up this theory but I'm pretty sure the human body has a set weight (usually in the healthy range) under which it will be very hard to go. Maybe you've reached that point? (and from your profile pic, I'd say you have) I know you said you were 115 lbs in high school. But what age were you then? (sorry I'm confused about US school system)

digitalsteel

The way to figure out what you need to be healthy is to figure out your lean mass. Weigh yourself then subtract your body fat. From there you can determine if there are any alterations that can be made to make you healthier than you are now.

If your not looking to build muscle, consume about 1 gram of protein per pound of lean mass.
there are 4 calories in every gram of protein
add up how many calories you need of protein by multiplying your lean mass and 4
Divide this number by 0.35
the answer you get is the number of calories you should consume as fuel (fat/carbs)
if you want to loose stored body fat, consume less than 100 grams of carbs per day (400 calories) and the rest of the calories from fat.

JakkiCarter

I was 14 years old and played basketball for my school team. So I was extremely active.

asyouseefit

I was 14 years old and played basketball for my school team. So I was extremely active.

At 14, your body wasn't even fully developped. Forget about weighting the same or having the same body shape than at that age AND staying healthy. Maybe you could put your cals on maintenance and focus on weight training/strength training in order to get even fitter?

i_love_vinegar

I was 14 years old and played basketball for my school team. So I was extremely active.

At 14, your body wasn't even fully developped. Forget about weighting the same or having the same body shape than at that age AND staying healthy. Maybe you could put your cals on maintenance and focus on weight training/strength training in order to get even fitter?

That's what I was thinking. How tall were you when you were 14? I would imagine at your height, you weren't 5'7" at that age, although I could be wrong....or at least, you might not have had the same amount of curves.

I stopped growing when I was 12 or 13, but I am only 4'10"...

JakkiCarter

I was about an inch shorter than I am now. I too stopped growing at a young age. I do think, however, that you are right about my curves. I don't think my hips really developed until my junior year of high school, but even then I weighed less than I do now.

If staying at the same weight I am at right now is the best thing to do, then of course I will do that. But i would like to know how to completely flatten my stomach and slim down my thighs without bulking up through vigorous weigh training.

Eleanorjanethinner

Hi there,

I'm concerned as I read your message. You say "even if I wasn't technically over weight, I felt EXTREMELY uncomfortable in my skin." That flags up in my mind that it might be more a problem more with your mindset than your weight. Why is it that you don't *feel* confident, beautiful and healthy when you are in fact within the healthy weight range?

And why on earth do you expect to be the same weight at 22 as you were at 14! Have you come to terms with the natural changes in your body as you mature i.e. wider hips, bigger boobs etc.?

Please stay within a healthy weight range and within a healthy calorie intake (including eating any calories you exercise off). If you want to feel beautiful and confident, that's more to do with you mind - see what you resources you can find to help build up your self esteem and confidence. What about talking things over with a professional? (i.e. your doctor, a nutritionist, a counsellor)

Good luck on your journey.

i_love_vinegar

I was about an inch shorter than I am now. I too stopped growing at a young age. I do think, however, that you are right about my curves. I don't think my hips really developed until my junior year of high school, but even then I weighed less than I do now.

If staying at the same weight I am at right now is the best thing to do, then of course I will do that. But i would like to know how to completely flatten my stomach and slim down my thighs without bulking up through vigorous weigh training.

An inch as well as curves can really make a difference...so I wouldn't compare your body to when you were 14 then ^.^

I think the reason many of us seem questionable is because you already look so thin and beautiful in your pic!

I don't know too much in the way of vigorous weight training, but would think toning would be your best bet!

JakkiCarter

I was about an inch shorter than I am now. I too stopped growing at a young age. I do think, however, that you are right about my curves. I don't think my hips really developed until my junior year of high school, but even then I weighed less than I do now.

If staying at the same weight I am at right now is the best thing to do, then of course I will do that. But i would like to know how to completely flatten my stomach and slim down my thighs without bulking up through vigorous weigh training.

An inch as well as curves can really make a difference...so I wouldn't compare your body to when you were 14 then ^.^

I think the reason many of us seem questionable is because you already look so thin and beautiful in your pic!

I don't know too much in the way of vigorous weight training, but would think toning would be your best bet!

That is what i was thinking (about the weight training being my best bet). I just don't want to bulk up or gain too many muscles. I still have deposits of fat on my inner thighs and lower stomach and am not sure if weigh training alone would rid me of these trouble spots.

asyouseefit

I was about an inch shorter than I am now. I too stopped growing at a young age. I do think, however, that you are right about my curves. I don't think my hips really developed until my junior year of high school, but even then I weighed less than I do now.

If staying at the same weight I am at right now is the best thing to do, then of course I will do that. But i would like to know how to completely flatten my stomach and slim down my thighs without bulking up through vigorous weigh training.

An inch as well as curves can really make a difference...so I wouldn't compare your body to when you were 14 then ^.^

I think the reason many of us seem questionable is because you already look so thin and beautiful in your pic!

I don't know too much in the way of vigorous weight training, but would think toning would be your best bet!

That is what i was thinking (about the weight training being my best bet). I just don't want to bulk up or gain too many muscles. I still have deposits of fat on my inner thighs and lower stomach and am not sure if weigh training alone would rid me of these trouble spots.

I've read it's a common misconception that you get bulky while doing weight training. You could try something like the 30 day shred by Jillian Michaels, I 've seen some very motivational posts on success stories about that DVD!

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

I was about an inch shorter than I am now. I too stopped growing at a young age. I do think, however, that you are right about my curves. I don't think my hips really developed until my junior year of high school, but even then I weighed less than I do now.

If staying at the same weight I am at right now is the best thing to do, then of course I will do that. But i would like to know how to completely flatten my stomach and slim down my thighs without bulking up through vigorous weigh training.

An inch as well as curves can really make a difference...so I wouldn't compare your body to when you were 14 then ^.^

I think the reason many of us seem questionable is because you already look so thin and beautiful in your pic!

I don't know too much in the way of vigorous weight training, but would think toning would be your best bet!

That is what i was thinking (about the weight training being my best bet). I just don't want to bulk up or gain too many muscles. I still have deposits of fat on my inner thighs and lower stomach and am not sure if weigh training alone would rid me of these trouble spots.

I read somewhere that us women have naturally more fat stores than males that even female athletes & body builders do still have that excess layers of fat especially around the hips & thighs. We need those fats as we are the one who conceives & takes care of a new human being for 9 months. So your problem is actually not a problem because it is just a part of being a woman. Don't expect to be as lean as a man because males naturally have lesser body fat percentage than us.

JakkiCarter

Do you know your current body fat %

I just interred my measurements on a website that helps calculate body fat percentage and i received a 20.97%.

digitalsteel

so you have 95 lbs of lean mass and 25 lbs of fat.

so you want minimum 95 grams of protein - 380 calories

maximum 100 grams of carbs - 400 calories

about 76 grams of fat - 685 calories

per day

with this your lean mass will stay healthy and any fat that your body does not need should come off

JakkiCarter

why eat so much fat calories in comparison to carbohydrates or any other substance?

loristroud

You're looking for the exact same body type as I am, lean and not jiggly but not bulky. I'm 5'7", too and set my goal at 115 cause that's what I'm comfortable at, but I think 120 would be good for me if I could just slim my thighs and flatten and tone my tummy. Good luck, and let me know if you find something that works!

Shannoncore

Isn't 115 a little low for someone as tall as you? That would put your BMI at 18 which is underweight.

i agree. there is such thing as being a little too thin.

idiocracy

If you want to tone and have a nice shape, do PILATES. They work wonders, they make you look slim and a very beautiful feminine shape. No muscles growing or anything, just toning what you already have. I love them!!!!

JakkiCarter

You're looking for the exact same body type as I am, lean and not jiggly but not bulky. I'm 5'7", too and set my goal at 115 cause that's what I'm comfortable at, but I think 120 would be good for me if I could just slim my thighs and flatten and tone my tummy. Good luck, and let me know if you find something that works!

I'm glad I'm not the only one whose aiming for this. Its not that i NEED to be 115, it's just that i assume that that's about the weight I will be once all my extra stores of fat are taken care of. I have heard that Pilates does wonders, but i can't find a local class that does this during my free time... would you suggest doing a video?

iheartyarn

Try a video, can't hurt right? Muscle burns fat, so if you do some lifting it doesn't mean you will bulk but that muscle you do build will help burn the fat you don't want

JakkiCarter

Wow. That actually makes a lot of since. ok! i'll definitely try both a pilates video and weight training! Thanks!

ninerbuff

My advice. Hit the weights and heavy. You can't gain weight if you don't surplus. And bulking is a term for adding muscle and FAT at the same time.

dumb_blondes_rock

Not to be a debbie downer, but you were 115 and a freshman, you sere still a little girl. Now you are a woman, and most likely have widened out (i.e. hips) and so that extra fivce or seven pounds is probably from just the natural filling out process people go through when they get older.