Does your body have a natural healthy weight?

I'm not really sure, but here's a thought: instead of focusing on the number on the scale, try strength training and focusing on body composition. You can look awesome without the scale ever moving.

I do think there is a set point. But I think it goes up as you age! Right now my body would easily maintain at 140, but since I am just over 5 ft 2 inches, that would be overweight for me. I am currently at 124 and fighting hard to get back to 115, with very little progress being made. My hunger does not match my slim body! I got down to 112 a couple of years ago, and I felt like that was as low as i should go, but now I cant get back there. Without truly being hungry (I am talking eating about 1100 cals a day!)

I would love to be able to maintain on a calorie number that would allow me to enjoy treats from time to time, eating out, an occaisional glass of winte, etc. But unfortunately that does not seem to be possible for short women over 40! I seem to maintain at 1500-1600 calories a day, and that is just enough to not feel starved or deprived, but not enough to treat yourself, unless you plan carefully ahead and restrict another meal. That is what I do--if I know we are having a celebration or going out, I eat about 200 cals for breakfast and 200 cals for lunch. Then I can have a moderate dinner (or eat at a party). If I dont cave in at 3 pm and eat the sofa!!

^^ what you said reminded me of research that has showed that if the mother is dieting or food restricted in pregnancy, the baby is more likley to develop obesity. The theory is that the fetus gets signals that food is in short supply so will be more prone to storing fat to counter this.

This article discusses something similar but seems more focused on the carb intake of the mother.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/pregnant-mothers-diet-linked-to-child-obesity-study-2270283.html

I've been stuck around 180-183 for 2 years now. My goal is 165. I eat at a deficit and should lose 1lb/week but never do.

I hope my body has only plateaued for a crazy long time.

Well yes by changing routines you can loose weight and maintain but it doesn't mean the set point is changed mainly because you still have to restrict to maintain, by counting calories or lowering portions, by deprieving your body and mind. There is a difference between a set point and maintainance with restrictions. By changing your routines to healthier ones you are making healthy lifestyle changes but it has nothing with set point, it is about health. If you are restricting yourself and deprieving your body even the slighted your body notices and as time passes it sends more stronger signals for you to eat because it wants to get back a stable weight, the one that your body (not necessarly you) feels comfortable in.

Of course you can loose and maintain but my opinion is you should let your body be at the happy weight itself. Eat when you are hungry, no deprieving your mind and body. I am all for healthy lifestyle and routines but of course everything in moderation.

Why i came to believe that this is the case is that when i came down to a BMI of 15 and decided to recover i must've eaten 8 000 calories every single day, my body was deprieved and i was never satisfied and hungry all the time, both physically and mentally and as i was getting to my pre ED weight my hunger diminished more and more. I reached a slightly higher than my pre ED weight and over time got back to my pre ED weight as my hunger and apettite stabilized. Now it fluctates a few pounds up and down but i know my set point, respect all my hunger signals. Even the mental ones and do not deprieve myself and therefore i believe everyone ha a set point. At the beginning i though i was just going to eat 10 000 for the rest of my life and become obeese but our bodies and smart and they want to keep you at the most healthiest weight for them.

I'm just wondering if for most people there is a general 'healthy' weight that can be almost permanently maintained?
For me it's 125. I am able to eat well, work out and maintain this weight My body seems happy there. However, I wish it were lower.
Though it seems when I drop my calories to try and achieve this I am hungry, irritable and just generally cannot maintain and never really lose weight. Maybe a pound or two after 3-4 months.

125 is my no means 'over weight', but I suppose I am just asking if I push myself to say 115 will I ever be able to stay there?

Actually a couple doctors wrote a book called Best Weight my friend/co-worker/nutritionist/diabetic educator gave it to me. She received it by going to a seminar that they spoke at.

It's teaches other physicians how to approach and properly teach patients to lose weight without falling into unsupportive or false information pits.

What it talks about is teaching patients how to reach their "Best Weight" which is not a one size fits all category. It's important to be healthy and happy but even if you lose a bunch of weight, if you are not eating at a limit your are comfortable with or eating foods that you are not able to with joy for the rest of your life, you will gain it back and possibly plus some.

For you, 125 may be your best weight. Sure you may wish to be lower but there is nothing wrong with maintaining 125 as long as you're able to do while being comfortable/happy with the lifestyle that is keeping you there.

It has been relatively easy to maintain between 141-144 at 5'8". I got to 139 for a couple of weeks but it was significantly harder to maintain it. Could be just in my head that I was "in the 130s" but either way, my happy place is 141-144

135-140 lbs is really easy for me to maintain, without paying too much attention to calories in vs calories out (I'm 5'8" age 42).

In my 20s I struggled to gain beyond 125-130 lbs. I seemed to stick there no matter what I ate.

I feel like I'm at my best physically at around 130 lbs but it takes more considered effort nowadays to achieve that.

ETA I eat anywhere between 1600-2500 calories on any given day. Exercise usually comes out at ~300 cals but I'm irregular (some days no workouts, some days major energy spends)

I've been stuck around 180-183 for 2 years now. My goal is 165. I eat at a deficit and should lose 1lb/week but never do.
I hope my body has only plateaued for a crazy long time.

You're clearly not at a deficit - your profile gives you the clue why not...

I like the food but have only a vague idea what I'm eating 50% of the time.

Know what you are eating and then you can lose the weight.

I sit easily around 130 and I am 5'4". I have gotten under but have had to work really hard, but when I gain weight, I lose easily back to this point. I was about 130 and then got pregnant and gained 50 pounds, and lost back to 130 afterward.

I'm 5'9" and the place I maintain easily without any effort is in the 140-145 range and it's a good look for me. I got down to 130 before my pregnancy but I really had to push it to get there.

The idea that bodies want to be healthy has been proving to be real for me. The catch to that is that this means listening to only your body, as opposed to billboards and the like. Mind you, this means that you can use the sale sheet to buy a cheap variety of food - but what it doesn't mean is ordering a "meal" at McDonald's because there's a price break for buying more food. I decided to flip into maintenance and cut advertisements from my diet and the scale did its intial spike from getting to start stashing carbs... and then it started to drop again, probably because my body is still bigger than it wants to be.