Do you think everyone has a natural body weight?

There is a healthy body fat percentage range, which for women is 18-28% and for men is somewhat lower but I can't remember the exact figures.

If you have a healthy lifestyle, healthy diet and good portion control, there is no reason for most people to not be in this range. and how much someone weighs when they're at a healthy body fat percentage will depend on a whole lot of different factors, including height, frame size, body proportions, how muscular they are, etc. So in that sense everyone does have at least a healthy weight range that's specific to them which will not necessarily be the same as for someone else who's the same height as them.

I would caution against anyone whose body fat percentage is high to assume that they're just built that way; even if they exercise and eat a really healthy diet, it's likely that their portion control isn't so good. I think there are some people who are more inclined to overeating, and those who are more inclined to undereating, and this can make things more difficult but it doesn't mean you are at an ideal level of body fat for your body. It could just be you're one of those people who finds it more difficult to not overeat. I've seen on other forums young men who are very skinny who have a really hard time eating enough to make muscle gains, that's the opposite problem, and it doesn't mean they're genetically predisposed to never gain muscle, only that they are predisposed to undereat. When they manage to eat enough they make good gains in muscle and strength, and when people who are predisposed to overeating get a good handle on portion control, they lose fat. MFP is the ultimate tool for portion control if you have a decent kitchen scale. Medical issues like PCOS and thyroid throw additional spanners into the works and make fat loss difficult, but again you don't have to accept that as your destiny, you can get medical treatment for thyroid and there are approaches to fat loss that work for women with PCOS, even if you have to do things a little differently.

I do not believe there is a physiological reason for most (and by most, I mean over 95%) people to have more than 20% BF. I am not discounting psychology; just saying that the difficulty is likely not due to some physical wall. It is harder to lose the remaining fat when you get closer to goal.

?? A physiological reason to have more than 20% BF would be consuming enough calories to maintain a BF > 20%.

If you mean there is no physiological reaon most people can't drop their BF below 20%, I suppose that's true. All one needs do is consume less net calories. But that doesn't make it ideal for everyone..

Yes, that is what I meant.

I have lost weight twice in the past and i always seem to settle at 9 1/2 stone. But Maybe that was more me being happy with that weight and not pushing for more weight loss.

I have lost weight twice in the past and i always seem to settle at 9 1/2 stone. But Maybe that was more me being happy with that weight and not pushing for more weight loss.

I think this is the most likely answer.

Just for the record, I am not overweight and my BF% is normal.

I do not believe there is a physiological reason for most (and by most, I mean over 95%) people to have more than 20% BF. I am not discounting psychology; just saying that the difficulty is likely not due to some physical wall. It is harder to lose the remaining fat when you get closer to goal.

Wha? Do you include women in your "people"? Because 20% body fat is pretty low for a woman.

I do not believe there is a physiological reason for most (and by most, I mean over 95%) people to have more than 20% BF. I am not discounting psychology; just saying that the difficulty is likely not due to some physical wall. It is harder to lose the remaining fat when you get closer to goal.

?? A physiological reason to have more than 20% BF would be consuming enough calories to maintain a BF > 20%.

If you mean there is no physiological reaon most people can't drop their BF below 20%, I suppose that's true. All one needs do is consume less net calories. But that doesn't make it ideal for everyone..

Yes, that is what I meant.

20% may apply to men, but for women, you should amend that to more like 25-31% (average range). Once corrrected, I agree.

Weight alone isn't a complete measure of health, as many topics on this board have addressed before. You can be 150 pounds of flabby lumpiness and be a size12 or you can be 150 pounds of lovely toned muscles and be a size 8. Therefore, it is better to use additional tools like body fat percentage and body measurements to figure out where you should be and how much further you have to go.

For instance, I have about 17 more pounds to lose to get to my inital weight goal but depending on what my BF% is then and how I feel my body looks, I may have more work to do. I may need to lose a bit more weight and focus more on better eating to get my body fat down and LBM up.

Just because you feel comfortable at a certain weight and have a hard time losing those last 20 pounds doesn't mean that's where your body wants to be. It just means you have to make the commitment to work harder and you definitely have to give it more than a month or two to see if it will work. Every change you make takes time to set in. The body doesn't react as quickly as want it to or as quickly as we think it would. You won't lose weight overnight just by quitting soda (not real weight anyway, maybe a bit of water weight) or eating 200 calories less than the day before or hitting the gym for an extra hour. In fact working out more may actually stall your weight loss or make your gain a bit initially as the body's reaction is to retain water and glycogen for muscle healing.

Bottom line - be patient, take care of your health and stop making excuses. Set small very reasonalbe/achievable goals and don't give up!

I used to think I did but now I just think its a plateau to break through. Like you I was a size UK 14 (I'm only 5'3) and got down to about 10 st 3 on weight watchers. Then I changed to doing a low carb, high protein diet (Dukan) and lost a further stone. It seemed that a different approach got my body going and I'm a happy and fit size 12 now! When I put on a few pounds then I go back on Dukan and lose it immediately.

I am 5' 7" and have been 12 stone 4 pounds / 172 pounds since March. I would like it to go down a bit more but for some reason I cant. I have tried lots of ways to change things and I always end up at 12st 4. I

http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/

Check out the Starvation Mode and Plateau sections.

Yes and no.

I'm 5'9, and I can easily maintain at 150. My body likes this weight. I've maintained it for about five years now, after a weight loss of about 30lbs.

If I watch calories and exercise more I can get down to 140, but my body really doesn't like it. That puts me at about a U.S. size 2-4. I don't look healthy, and I don't feel healthy.

My blood lab results are consistently the best when I'm between 145-155. My A1C is good, fasting glucose is perfect, high HDL levels and low LDL levels, no problems with anemia.

The same isn't true at 140lbs. The highest LDL and lowest HDL cholesterol levels I've ever had have been at 140 lbs, and the only time my triglycerides have been high was at 140. My fasting glucose numbers weren't great, either, and even with iron supplements I stayed borderline anemic.

So I absolutely believe that there is a higher weight that my body prefers to a lower weight. I can change that weight if I work hard enough, but for me, I don't think it's worth it. (It is worth noting that I'm kinda a "special snowflake." I have a rare genetic collagen defect, so my body is just weird).