choosing the right target

hmadrone

I'm confused about what my target weight “should” be. How do you (especially other women) decide how thin is thin enough and how thin is too thin?

In 2006, I was obese. I lost 80 pounds from 2006-2009, and stayed in the normal range from 2008 until the tail end of 2012. I'm currently 2 pounds above the normal weight range/body fat percentage for my height.

My question is where in the normal range is right for me.

There seem to be places my body likes to sit: 162 pounds, 157 pounds, 152 pounds, 148 pounds. All of those are in the normal range. I've thought that I'd like to get to the low end of the normal range (low 140s), but I also wonder whether that might be too thin for my body type.

It's hard to blast through 162 (sigh, that's coming right up for me), but I feel like I'm carrying too much fat on my hips and lower belly at that weight. I just don't feel like the thin, svelte person I want to be at that weight.

157 is pretty good in a lot of ways. At 157, I've lost almost all of the pooches, but haven't yet had my bust decimated. The thigh gap is good, my face is balanced, and I maintain that weight pretty well without heroic effort.

152 feels great in a lot of ways. The hips, belly, butt, and thighs look awesome at that weight. Bust has shrunk noticeably, and I don't like to go low-cut because there's some wrinkling in there at that weight. Face is cute and gamine. Muscle definition in arms and shoulders is beautiful. I still don't have cut abs at that weight (which would be fun). At that weight, my disease resistance might be compromised a bit, and I seem a bit more prone to lingering coughs and slower recovery from injury. Friends and family start to tell me I've lost enough weight already.

It feels like almost everything I lose between 152 and 148 comes off the chest. Bust has shrunk alarmingly, but the bottom half shows continued improvement. Thigh gap is most satisfactory, and all the little pooches on belly and hips have vanished. Disease resistance seems to be quite compromised, though, and recovery is impossible without putting on weight at the same time. Bone structure in face is very visible, but skin and eyes look fine. People start telling me I've lost too much weight. Strangers, on the other hand, seem to think I'm a teenager.

How do you decide where you want to be? There are tradeoffs, for sure. Do I stay at 157 and hang onto my bust, or blast on down to get a more sculpted form? I'm not sure whether my observations about disease resistance/recovery times hold water, but I do believe that being healthy trumps being thin.

I've wanted to get down to 145, which was the weight I was in my 20s. My more muscular, post-childbearing, post-menopausal body is not the same beast my 20-something body was, though, so it might be that a different weight is better for me now.

Mokey41

I find family and friends are not good ones to listen to because they are seeing you as different than what they know, not that it's good or bad. I like to stay on the low end for my weight and I really don't care if I have boobs or not. You can buy those if you want them. As for disease resistance, I only find a difference when I'm eating crappy or I don't exercise. I ran all last winter outside in the snow and never got sick once despite my families insistence that I was going to get a cold and never recover. I don't think health and resistance has much to do with your weight but what you eat to be at that weight and what you do can make a huge difference.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

From what you describe sounds like 157 is the best. The actual number doesn't matter. If you're happy with what you see in the mirror, great.

How tall are you?

hmadrone

I'm 5'8".