Minor rant...do you get the "stop losing weight" comment

tigersword

Don't get too wrapped up in BMI and what is "overweight". Most any woman can be perfectly healthy at 154 pounds. Focus more on how you feel and what your goals are, not some arbitrary number that only applies to "average" people, when nobody's average. On the other hand, though, don't ignore what others around you are saying. While others can see that you're looking better than 99% of women, you could still be obsessing over the little bit of fat that's stuck on your thighs.

Please don't say that. There is no number that would be perfectly healthy for MOST women. If she thinks she needs to lose a bit more then just take her at her word. You aren't helping - you're doing the same thing she's complaining about.

However, basing your goal weight strictly on BMI, which is only intended to represent broad population groups, and means absolutely nothing for individual people, is not always the best way to go about it. For instance, for me to get down to a "normal" BMI, I'd have to drop down to 0% body fat and amputate both of my arms. So while BMI says I should weigh no more than 160, I'm perfectly happy walking around at about 200. Relying solely on the scale isn't really the healthiest way to go.

ckoudsi617

i tell them they should stop gaining weight.

LOL! (BTW: Loved the "cake post", too!)

kikkipoo

Kikkipoo, please don't take this the wrong way, but the bmi is only the ratio between your height and weight. The bmi doesn't know how much fat is on your body. According to the bmi, bodybuilders are overweight.

If in the future you decide you want to build lean muscle, your bmi will show that you are overweight, even if you have a 10% body fat percentage.

I don't care about my bmi, I care about my body fat percentage, because it lets me know how much fat is on my body and if I am going in the right direction. When I get down to my body fat percentage goal, my bmi will still state that I'm overweight and I'm fine with that. My body fat percentage will say I'm healthy.

I hope I haven't offended you with my comment.

Zero offense taken. You're absolutely right, and I do stay highly aware of my body fat % as well. It's telling the same story. My bf% is just shy of 30. I'm in the high risk zone still. My ultimate goal has nothing to do with my BMI. I'm aiming for approximately 140 pounds, but achieving 20% bf%. So, I'm trying to lose another 25 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle. I want to be lean but have great strength and definition. I have just recently opted to bump my calories up, reduce cardio and go hard on strength training. At my old regimen I was losing muscle as fast as I was fat.

Hurrricanejane

I get it all the time. My parents get upset when I refuse to go out to eat pizza. I'm so focused on my goal, I don't want to risk getting off track. Do what you want as long as you're healthy.

isabellammm

It's so annoying! I decided to listen to everyone about a month ago when i was 3 pounds away from my goal (i only wanted to lose 14 anyway) so I started eating more and exercising less.. and now a month later I've put on 7 pounds that I spent so many nights working out to lose :-(

So stay strong! Don't let them influence you. You're doing what's right for your body. Awesome job so far though :-)

kikkipoo

I get it all the time. My parents get upset when I refuse to go out to eat pizza. I'm so focused on my goal, I don't want to risk getting off track. Do what you want as long as you're healthy.

Agreed! I think the fact that I do refuse to do things I used to is what get's upsetting. Like I'm now taking away from them too because they only want to spend time with me doing the same unhealthy habits that we always did, mostly drinking and eating. So, yes, I'm being selfish and saying no a lot more and to them I am being obsessive and unsocial, but geez, ask me to go to the park or for a walk or to go bowling or anything else and you may see I'm not quite as bitc*y about having to repeat myself on the constant about how that stuff doesn't fit into my new lifestyle.

kikkipoo

It's so annoying! I decided to listen to everyone about a month ago when i was 3 pounds away from my goal (i only wanted to lose 14 anyway) so I started eating more and exercising less.. and now a month later I've put on 7 pounds that I spent so many nights working out to lose :-(

So stay strong! Don't let them influence you. You're doing what's right for your body. Awesome job so far though :-)

One of my biggest fears and backsliding and defeating the purpose of all my hard work. I admit I'm an all or nothing kind of person, at least until something becomes routine....and that's just how it's got to be.

DakotaKeogh

Listen to you heart. And nothing else.

kikkipoo

Thanks to all for the encouragement. I like that I am in the best shape of my life, but I'm more excited now than ever to see what I'm capable of. What's great is that it's my body to do as I please with,and with the many programs available I am capable of experimenting to obtain not only what looks best on me, but what makes me feel the healthiest and most energetic. Right now I want to gain muscle, but I know that if I get bulky and dissatisfied, I can quite easily alter my approach and lean out. If I feel too thin, I can add bulk in all the right places. There's nothing I can't undo, so I might as well just see what suits me best.

lmelangley

I got that for the first time today. I'm at 147, and 145 is just in the normal zone for me. My coworker asked me if I was done losing, and I told her my goal was to be 5 - 10 lbs lower than overweight, and that I'd re-evaluate when I got there. She then told me she thought the BMI ranges were bogus and I didn't need to weigh less. Seemed a little disgusted, really. I personally don't care. When I started this journey, I really didn't think I'd be able to lose more than a pound or two. The reality is that I want to be healthier and less weight is a start in the right direction.

aregensb

Don't let it bug you. I haven't had an issue with family and friends yet, but I have had a problem with coworkers. They try to peer pressure people into eating donuts or another slice of birthday cake. I know I'm not the only one either. There's a guy I work with who lost a ton of weight (from 300+ lbs probably to an extremely fit ~180-190 lbs) and even though he's maintaining now, people still say, "Stop losing weight, you're too skinny, etc."

I do think that in part, it's a way for them to rationalize their own eating. They see very fit people who have a strict diet and who don't eat a lot of sweets, and they think, "Why, I would never want to do something so restrictive! In defiance, I'm going to eat another slice of cake!" I think it might be a skewed sense of what is healthy as well. I live in the Midwest, and a huge percentage of people are overweight or obese in this part of the country. People think that being overweight is normal.

I agree that perhaps it's jealousy as well. They wish that they had the motivation to exercise regularly and eat well.