When to accept your body

Never.

Quickest way to a relapse is to become satisfied with yourself.

Honestly, sounds extreme, but most people who reach their goals, lose motivation.

Set new goals: Build muscle, become leaner, run a marathon, swim 10k whatever you fancy just don't stop.

You look fine by me girly! Its all in how bad you want it or if you are okay with how you are now. Its okay to maintain if you are okay with that. I wouldn't give up though if you want something specific. Were you unhappy with any parts particularly we can help you out on? I think as women we will always be unhappy with something, lol.

for losing weight: when you find a happy medium between your activity level, the amount of calories you're allowed so you can have food you enjoy and your body image

for getting swole: never. the day you started weight lifting was the day you became Forever Small

I think it's totally healthy to get to a point where you decide that more fitness/weight loss isn't something you need to do. For some people, fitness is a great hobby, and they are motivated by continually improving athletically and aesthetically. It seems like most of us need goals or we lose motivation, so getting stronger or leaner keeps us going. But the idea that you need to be constantly improving your body is BS, in my mind. Get your body to where it serves you and your needs- feels good, looks good enough for you to be confident, allows you to do fun things.

I go back and forth with this- I'm already at a healthy weight and fit enough to do most of the activities I want to do, so I'm well aware that the "second 10 pounds" are completely for vanity reasons. I have other goals- I want to be stronger and more flexible, and do an obstacle race, none of which require me to lose more weight. Vanity is pretty motivating, though!

Vanity is a phenomenal motivator!

Never.

Quickest way to a relapse is to become satisfied with yourself.

Honestly, sounds extreme, but most people who reach their goals, lose motivation.

Set new goals: Build muscle, become leaner, run a marathon, swim 10k whatever you fancy just don't stop.

I must strongly disagree with this. If you enjoy feeling like a constant failure then by all means never try and be satisfied with who you are. But being satisfied with who you are is not the same as being complacent about your faults. When you stop viewing exercise and food as punishment, and start viewing them as a source of nourishment, it will do wonders for overall self-acceptance and for sustaining a positive relationship with food. People who think "I am never allowed to feel satisfied with who I am" inevitably miss out on the best behavioural modifier ever: positive reinforcement!

Fair play, as far as a disagreement comment goes it's well justified and I can definitely see your point.

From my experience, the line between self-acceptance and complacency is far too thin. You only have to look at all the MFP who are on maintenance complaining about how difficult they find it because they begin binging. Not to mention that 4 out of 5 people who lose more than 5kg of body fat regain it within 3 years.

Relapse is a serious problem. I am not suggesting that you do not give yourself credit for what you have achieved, just that you keep pushing forward and strive for the next goal. That shouldn't make you feel like a failure, but should make you feel a sense of accomplishment and something to strive for.

I do not disagree with your post, but perhaps my response was too opinionated. It is probably a case where it works for some and not others.

Cheers, Mike.

I definitely see your point...I think it's probably not complacency that makes people regain or binge, though -- it's restrictive or unsustainable patterns in the first place. But, yeah, I accept that for each person the line between complacency and satisfaction can be different or blurry. And I agree with striving for new and better stuff...I think that's important, just that you can do that from a point of satisfaction.

From the sound of your post- You are where you should be- I would put myself on maintenance at this point ! CONGRATS !! You look great !

the answer to when to accept your body: now always now. be proud of all the hard work and all the good things you have done for your body.

When I'm dead. I love me, but I love me more when I push myself

I'll never be satisfied. There are always ways to better yourself. I can't imagine a period of time where I just became complacent. It's not in my nature. Keep moving forward!

"Self-improvement is *kitten*." - Fight Club

I like that attitude!

wow.. Congrats on the weight loss! for me. the first thing I do is accept my body. I realized that I can't keep looking so disappointed when I see myself in the mirror or a reflection of myself. So for me I do it first and then I try to fix it. I mean if your weight won't go down anymore. You can try to get toned!

Everybody has a different point with their weight where they will feel comfortable and content which will vary from person to person. Once you're at a healthy weight I think that it largely doesn't really matter from a broad perspective. There will be a different point for everybody where the lifestyle sacrifices required to cut that extra bit of body fat will no longer be worth it. Not only that generally, the leaner you get the harder it is to cut more bf and the more strict and tightly controlled you need to be with your diet.

If you're healthy and happy then maintain away. It's not like maintenance is a permanant decision anyway. You can always maintain for a little while and then decide to cut some more at an appropriate time.

I think once the weight loss is largely finished it helps to set fitness goals so you can keep up a healthy lifestyle

For it's like...never...I know I will always look at those thinner leaner women and hate myself for being stupid and not able to lose weight.

It wasn't until recently that I started to accept my body, after spending most of my adult life wishing it was different. I'm never going to be tiny, always be pear shaped, and my bone structure will never change, and all of that is okay. However, that doesn't mean that I'm not working towards making it the best machine it can be. I decided to work with what I've got, and make it a strong and amazing body, and push myself to do more things than I ever thought I could. So I say accept your body for the things you cannot change, and push hard for your goals on the things you can and treat it with the respect it deserves, regardless of what shape it's currently in.

I think Nature hasn’t produced just one type of bird, flower, tree, rock…why should it produce just one type of person? We are all different. Some pear shaped, others apple shaped, some with stumpy legs and others are quite lean. It’s just to make life interesting.
We are bombarded by a beauty ideal that it’s unattainable. We are comparing ourselves to computer generated images and getting depressed over having a bit of cellulite, a stretch mark here and there, a bit of a belly and it wouldn’t surprise me that some of us are upset with the fact that we even have pores.
I want to go back to my previous shape – and that shape was far from perfect. But the way my body is/was has never stopped me living my life. I’ve travelled the world, lived in 4 different countries, dated some pretty hot men, went to amazing parties, lived and learned. And I bless that. I am extremely grateful that regardless a bit of extra weight that I am carrying at the moment I am healthy. And this extra weight will go away because I am working on it. I just know so and every time I step on the scale and I see I lost a wee bit it makes me happy. And if I don’t lose as much during one week I don’t stress myself as I can lose more on the week after. I don’t sweat the small stuff.
I accept myself fully. More important than being thin is being happy and my happiness depends in loads of different factors. Not only how much I weigh.