when is enough really enough?

kmillers

I started this journey 2 years ago at 5'4" 190 lbs. I worked by a** off 6 days a week and logged everything to get down to 120. I went through 3 month plateaus, soreness, hunger, you name it. But now I don't know if I should keep going or maintain. This is my ultimate goal but my first utimate goal was 125 and I keep changing it. How do I know when enough is enough? I guess another way to ask is when will I be confident enough to stop wanting to be thinner?

emergencytennis

This is a question only you can answer.

Morenna

I'm at the same boat. My first goal was 115 and i changed it to 110. I hope that is going to be the real final goal. The important thing is to be healthy :-)

catlbeginagain

ENOUGH...there, feel better

I'm not there yet, so you may wish to speak with someone who has achieved their goal, but it sounds to me that you've achieved where you need to be, and you look great! I think you're now at the point where you need to accept that and accept yourself. Your work (other than maintaining) is now mental, rather than the physical.

AhlaWahda

I started this journey 2 years ago at 5'4" 190 lbs. I worked by a** off 6 days a week and logged everything to get down to 120. I went through 3 month plateaus, soreness, hunger, you name it. But now I don't know if I should keep going or maintain. This is my ultimate goal but my first utimate goal was 125 and I keep changing it. How do I know when enough is enough? I guess another way to ask is when will I be confident enough to stop wanting to be thinner?

I know what you mean. I'm there myself. My goal has changed many times along the way.It's because I have specific goals, like that my thighs no longer touch anywhere etc. I think it's okay to change your goals but be careful so that it doesn't continue like that and you'll never be satisfied. Maybe think of what you want to obtain? What's important to you? If it's only the confidence that's missing, then work on that instead. Good luck to you! :-)

JesterMFP

Confidence comes from within (cheesy, but true). When people lose a lot of weight, it can take a while for their brain to catch up with what they really look like. It's fine to aim for a particular look (if it's reasonably achievable) but if your confidence/self-esteem is tied to being thinner, no matter how small you get, then you're going to have to stop at some point, and accept that you need to draw confidence from somewhere else. You're a healthy weight, and from your picture, you look fit and healthy - you look great. A lot of women would give a lot to have the figure you have now. So. There is no real need to lose more. Any decisions now shouldn't be made on getting that scale number smaller, but how you look and feel.

I do understand where you're coming from, as I've been struggling with the same thoughts. My advice would be - why don't you try to maintain for a few months and see how you get on. Your mind will get used to how you look at this weight, you'll get used to carrying your body as it is now etc. As you become more comfortable with your size/shape now, I think you'll know over time if you want to get a little leaner, and it won't be from a confused or panicky state, but from just looking in the mirror and knowing logically, calmly, that you'd like to be a bit leaner. And then you can work on that. For some people, maintenance can be a scary thing. It can be hard to let go of losing, to let go of seeing progress on the scale, and seeing your body change. I think some people keep losing sometimes just to avoid having to get their head around maintaining.

Also, look at other goals to keep your momentum going, whether they are fitness goals, or even just trying to stay within a certain weight range.

geekyjock76

Maybe you should refrain from focusing on body weight goals. Instead, adopt body composition or fitness related goals. Weight recommendations based on BMI are antiquated since they do not take into account body composition. I'm not going to base my level of self-acceptance off a system devised in the early 1800s when people didn't lift weights to increase lean body mass. When I recover the lost lean body mass I experienced over the years, I intend to be back to about 185 lbs at 5'8" and 9% body fat - which, according to BMI, puts me just shy of the obese category. Funny.

__RANDY__

what's your body fat % ?

Crankstr

Maybe you should refrain from focusing on body weight goals. Instead, adopt body composition or fitness related goals. Weight recommendations based on BMI are antiquated since they do not take into account body composition. I'm not going to base my level of self-acceptance off a system devised in the early 1800s when people didn't lift weights to increase lean body mass. When I recover the lost lean body mass I experienced over the years, I intend to be back to about 185 lbs at 5'8" and 9% body fat - which, according to BMI, puts me just shy of the obese category. Funny.

this.this.this.

BrittneyT2

I know how you feel. I'm 5'4" 111-112lbs. My goal was 108-110, but just recently I decided that I'm comfortable with the number I see on the scale right now. But I'm not yet satisfied with how I look, so I'm going to try to maintain this current weight while strength training so I can hopefully tone up and lower my body fat percentage a little more. Getting past obsessing over the scale wasn't easy and took a lot of self reflection and stepping back to look at the situation logically instead of emotionally. Now I realize that I am at a healthy weight & just need to focus on fitness instead if weight loss. I also know that in the process of shaping my body through strength training, my weight could actually increase while my size decreases, so I'm focusing more on how I look and how my clothes fit rather than the number on the scale.

Congrats on your achievements and best wishes for the next phase of your journey!

lin7604

I so know how you feel i have been going through the exact same thing. I am 5.2 ft and started at 142, my 1st goal was to get to 130, then 125. I figured i would be very happy there, NOT. I then figured 120 because i can bounce around between 120-125 so i will be ok when i fluctuate. I don't like how i looked as i don't look like i did before when i was at 120, so i dropped it to 115 so i can bounce around between 115 and 120. well i almost hit that in dec got to 116.4 and then since the new year i have just gone up and down. doing what i thought i would be happy with. I have been on plateau for 3 months now, can't drop to 115 or stay there...last week i was 116.6 and today i am 119.8. So i think for me it's the bf% still i am not happy with, i have lower belly fat i don't care for, so i am going to try something new. I am getting chalean extreme and i will do that program for the 90 days and hope that it helps me break this plateau and burn some of this bf% off and i will finally be happy. I don't want to go lower then 115 really, but i am not happy so i have to try to change something...

Kelley528

Confidence comes from within (cheesy, but true). When people lose a lot of weight, it can take a while for their brain to catch up with what they really look like. It's fine to aim for a particular look (if it's reasonably achievable) but if your confidence/self-esteem is tied to being thinner, no matter how small you get, then you're going to have to stop at some point, and accept that you need to draw confidence from somewhere else. You're a healthy weight, and from your picture, you look fit and healthy - you look great. A lot of women would give a lot to have the figure you have now. So. There is no real need to lose more. Any decisions now shouldn't be made on getting that scale number smaller, but how you look and feel.

I do understand where you're coming from, as I've been struggling with the same thoughts. My advice would be - why don't you try to maintain for a few months and see how you get on. Your mind will get used to how you look at this weight, you'll get used to carrying your body as it is now etc. As you become more comfortable with your size/shape now, I think you'll know over time if you want to get a little leaner, and it won't be from a confused or panicky state, but from just looking in the mirror and knowing logically, calmly, that you'd like to be a bit leaner. And then you can work on that. For some people, maintenance can be a scary thing. It can be hard to let go of losing, to let go of seeing progress on the scale, and seeing your body change. I think some people keep losing sometimes just to avoid having to get their head around maintaining.

Also, look at other goals to keep your momentum going, whether they are fitness goals, or even just trying to stay within a certain weight range.

this ^^^

I slowed down my weight loss because I needed to get used to what I looked like to decide if I wanted to keep going.
The first 30lbs came off very quickly and I was very happy with what I looked like. I could have been happy if I didnt lose any more but I also wasnt sure. I felt like I should keep losing. Since my goal was 35 lbs I switched my weekly goal to lose .5 lbs a week instead of 2 lbs a week. It gave me time to get used to what I looked like. I lost those last 5 lbs over 3 months ( hit a 3 week plateau at one point). Now I can realistically say I feel like I should lose about 6 more lbs then stop with the weight loss. (I want to lose a few more pounds because I am inbetween sizes and the extra few pounds will make a difference and make buying clothes easier). After that, Its not the weight that needs to change anymore to improve my body. I intend to control my weight and body image with exercise to define the areas that need improvement.

nwg74

I have started to think enough is enough after I have lost about another 3 pounds. I am still technically overweight but I don't want to go any further. It is how I look rather than what some guideline has said I should be. I have been maintain for about a month then it drops a pound or so. I have lost 4.5 pounds so far this year so my body is holding onto everything as long as it can.