How do you know when to stop losing?
victoria_1024
Posts: 915 Member
Hello everyone! I can't believe I am so close to being here. I am down 74.2 pounds, my goal being 75 pounds. My question though is about knowing when to stop losing weight. I picked my goal weight because it was the very top of a healthy BMI, and because 75 pounds sounded like a nice number! Also, this is what I weighed in college and when I got married and when I look back at the pictures of myself I feel like I looked amazing. Now that I am less than a pound from my goal, I DO feel amazing. When I see pictures of myself, I think I look great. I'm wearing a size medium/8. A far cry from my size 18/20 that I started in. But of course I'm still noticing all the fat on my tummy and thighs. The weight is still coming off pretty easily for me but I don't want to get to a weight that is hard for me to maintain either.
How did you all decide to stop losing?
How did you all decide to stop losing?
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Replies
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congrats on your loss, you've done great
Its great to feel amazing and you're wearing a size 8 which is awesome Only you can decide how much more you need to lose. You can work on the wobbly bits by incorporating a mix of strength training and cardio now, you'll be amazed and how your body starts to change shape.
I got to my goal and then thought I'd lose a few more pounds, then I thought maybe a few more....except when I would take them off they weren't easy to keep off/sustain so I settled on my happy weight, which for me is a range between 130-134lbs 0 -
Thank you so much! Yes I'm already doing some strength training. I've had 4 babies so I have a lot of loose skin on my tummy that may never go away. I just want my weight to be something I can maintain for the long-term. I am probably someone who will need to always log to maintain and I am ok with that, but I'm only 5'2.5" so I can't eat as much as a taller person and I don't want to be starving forever.0
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Congratulations on your loss! Thank you for posting the question. I reached my goal weight but then it seemed like I wanted to go ONE more pound (nonsensical, I know) and that last pound has decided to stage an all-out war with me.
I hear you on the tummy woes, too. The standard answers are that belly fat is often the last "to go", and that heavy lifting will "solve" the problem. I know that I will (probably) never be a heavy lifter. I do what I can with light weights and body weight exercises. There's a point where you really just have to say: good enough!0 -
Congrats on your weight loss. My suggestion is give you and your body time to adjust to your new weight and work on firm up activities. After you've done that for a while then you can decide if going a bit lower is right for you. Everyone has level of food and activity level that is sustainable. No reason to drive yourself to a "suck all joy out of life" weight.
I'm with you on the logging even in maintenance. It keeps me honest in terms of what goes in vs. out. Also it is amazing just the thought of having to log something gets you to think twice if you really want something.0 -
Congratulations! I just got to a point where I was completely content. Happy with my body, happy with my exercise level and happy with my way of eating and I didn't want to get any smaller.
I didn't have a goal weight (I did have a goal dress size in mind though) so my experience might have been different.
I still continue to plan and track my meals. It worked well for me during weight loss mode so I have not plans with stopping.
Good luck to you!
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Maybe you want to start focusing on recomposition now - increasing lean body mass while dropping body fat percentage, which btw, may help with the abdominal area. I have no personal experience with it because I'm not at goal weight(or even close) yet. But this is something I keep reading in the forums.0
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I got to my goal (fairly random favourite adult weight) so stopped.
After a few months I reassessed and then made a few adjustments in a series of small steps.
What you decide now doesn't have to be forever and your body continues to change at maintenance if you work at it.
Work on enjoying maintenance and making it sustainable.0 -
My weight goal was 125 pounds but for some reason, my body blew past it and settled at around 118 pounds. I have been fluctuating a pound or two around 118 for over six months now so I listened to my body and decided this is my new maintenance weight. While I am now at 18-19% BMI, I still have a little buddha belly after two C-sections. I have been weight training and while it has really leaned me out, that tummy is the only holdout and I may have to keep it! (It has been the same measurement for six months) Right now, my new goal is to be able to do chin-ups/pull-ups and if my weight training flattens out my belly a bit, I won't complain. However, neither am I going to stress over it. I am just enjoying where I am out right now!0
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I got down with 7 pounds of my goal weight and started the recomp... best thing I could have done...
You will just know when you get to the "happy" number or close to it...By then you are already searching to try something else like get leaner and/or build a little muscle and get definition within your body... Mine was both.
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Mirror and calipers. I was happy with what I saw and the calipers reported 10%. Once fall rolled around it was #teammarshmellow time.0
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victoria_1024 wrote: »Hello everyone! I can't believe I am so close to being here. I am down 74.2 pounds, my goal being 75 pounds. My question though is about knowing when to stop losing weight. I picked my goal weight because it was the very top of a healthy BMI, and because 75 pounds sounded like a nice number! Also, this is what I weighed in college and when I got married and when I look back at the pictures of myself I feel like I looked amazing. Now that I am less than a pound from my goal, I DO feel amazing. When I see pictures of myself, I think I look great. I'm wearing a size medium/8. A far cry from my size 18/20 that I started in. But of course I'm still noticing all the fat on my tummy and thighs. The weight is still coming off pretty easily for me but I don't want to get to a weight that is hard for me to maintain either.
How did you all decide to stop losing?
I didn't. I just let my body tell me.
When I stopped losing weight and found that it was easily maintainable, I just came to the conclusion that my CW is where I should be.
Have maintained 2+ yrs now w/zero regain.0 -
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Congrats!
First time I didn't know. I kept losing and losing, but instead of my body looking better, it just looked worse. I figured out the problem was my body composition. Second time around (after my bulk) I knew right away when I was done, just a hint of stomach definition without pronounced abs is my sweet spot.0 -
Congrats! It's not about a number so much for me but rather a look and feel. When you see what you like and feel great then you can start to maintain. If you feel like you would like to lose a little more then do that. Numbers on the scale are really not the best guide but just a rough meassure but I think when you get to where you want to be you'll know it.0
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A few of you say go by mirror and calipers but I'm guessing when you want to reach maintenanace you will keep having to step on the scale to check your at maintenance and do this once in a while to keep check that your still sitting at maintenace? I'm also the same I'm at happy weight but not happy with my body fat % so thinking of working my way up to maintenace and continue to keep lifting heavy and some cardio0
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This is how I see it. You will be reaching your goal pretty soon, which also happens to be a weight you are happy with. Key word: happy You had great moments at that weight, and your next step should be to maintain it. Sometimes people are so focused on slaying away at the weight they forget how challenging it is to maintain it once they reach it. Go on, enjoy your feat.0
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I used this to help me figure out my final goal: http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html
But honestly I'd say whatever you're comfortable with and whatever's easiest for you to maintain. I agree that you may find that you're more unsatisfied with your body fat % rather than your actual weight, so that may be something to consider. You could maintain and incorporate weights if you feel like this is a maintainable weight for yourself.0 -
A few of you say go by mirror and calipers but I'm guessing when you want to reach maintenance you will keep having to step on the scale to check your at maintenance and do this once in a while to keep check that your still sitting at maintenance? I'm also the same I'm at happy weight but not happy with my body fat % so thinking of working my way up to maintenance and continue to keep lifting heavy and some cardio
If you are happy with your weight, you will have to tweak your diet and your workout. Do some low intensity cardio along with that lifting.0 -
I picked my weight because it was the upper limit on what was listed as a "healthy weight", I went a little below that, total of 60 pounds lost over 3 years. I decided to stop, because I was tired of being in weight loss mode. I have been on maintenance for 3 months now. I have gained about 5lbs in water weight, but in general I'm doing okay with it.0
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Thank you all! Lots to think about. I feel like I would like to lose a few pounds still but slowly. I'm happy with where I'm at but I don't feel like I'm quite there yet. I'm a mom with 4 young children and honestly as much as I would love to have 6 pack abs I just don't think that's in the cards for me right now. And I'm fine with that. I may switch to losing a half pound a week and just enjoy a more relaxed weight loss mode while continuing with strength training. See what happens from there!!0
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Be careful not to get stuck on the idea of 5 more pounds.... and then 5 more pounds.. and then 5 more. That can lead to disordered thinking. At this point you've hit your original goal weight, so it might be a good idea to try body recomposition before doing any more weight loss. Start a lifting program and do that for a while, eating at maintenance. Your body will change in appearance. See what you think after you've done the work. If you still want to lose some body fat, then you can start eating at deficit again, with a specific goal in mind.0
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stillMR305 wrote: »A few of you say go by mirror and calipers but I'm guessing when you want to reach maintenance you will keep having to step on the scale to check your at maintenance and do this once in a while to keep check that your still sitting at maintenance? I'm also the same I'm at happy weight but not happy with my body fat % so thinking of working my way up to maintenance and continue to keep lifting heavy and some cardio
If you are happy with your weight, you will have to tweak your diet and your workout. Do some low intensity cardio along with that lifting.
Ah okay well I've been doing 5x5 programme 3x a week and HIIT cardio/running twice a week for about 20/30 minutes0 -
I am now down to a weight that I was just before my first daughter was conceived back when I was 19. NINETEEN! But I'm 44 now and have had 5 children (last two being twins) so my body does not look as good as it did when i was 19. The days of high and tight are over for me. As long as I feel like I look good in my clothes, I'll be happy. I'm looking to lose about 6 more pounds and hopefully, that'll be enough. I don't think I'll ever be truly happy with all the squishy parts but I'm not a fitness nut and have no money or desire to purchase weights or go to a gym. 0
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For me, my initial goal was similar to yours (a few pounds under a BMI of 25), but as I took up running/triathlons, and am looking to qualify for the Boston marathon in another year, I'm now aiming to be closer to a BMI of 20 as it is roughly optimal for male marathoners. Given the free speed improvement from weight loss, it is easier getting to that weight (w. 5-8% BF) than upping my training regiment to pick up extra speed.0
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This is what I'm trying to work out now. I have finally just gone under my initial target weight. But my BF% is still quite high I think, probably around 18% ish. But I think that my main issue now is actually the lack of overall muscle.
I think I'm getting to the point where I'm looking scrawny, I think it's probably time for me to move in to maintenance for a while and then re-evaluate in a few months time. To see if I want to cut down more.0 -
I used this to help me figure out my final goal: http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html
But honestly I'd say whatever you're comfortable with and whatever's easiest for you to maintain. I agree that you may find that you're more unsatisfied with your body fat % rather than your actual weight, so that may be something to consider. You could maintain and incorporate weights if you feel like this is a maintainable weight for yourself.
This puts my "ideal" weight at 155# to 165#s with a max at 174. Forty years ago, when I got out of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, (running 3 miles in 16 minutes, 100 sit-up in two minutes and 20 pull-ups) the best shape of my life, I weighed 185, 10 pounds over "Ideal"? I don't think so. I'm ast 196 now, shooting for 190. I figure that 5 pounds over my best "fighting weight" is good enough. I really don't see where these ultra low numbers come from. I haven't been 155# since eighth grade, was in shape then but still hadn't grown. Charts and calculators be damned, 190 here I come.0 -
I had mini goals but when I finally got in the middle of a healthy weight range, I took a little maintenance break and just tried to get used to my body (and tried a recomp). After a few months I could see I wasn't quite there yet and tried to lose again, with the hopes of getting lean enough to start adding muscle mass.0
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I used this to help me figure out my final goal: http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html
But honestly I'd say whatever you're comfortable with and whatever's easiest for you to maintain. I agree that you may find that you're more unsatisfied with your body fat % rather than your actual weight, so that may be something to consider. You could maintain and incorporate weights if you feel like this is a maintainable weight for yourself.
This puts my "ideal" weight at 155# to 165#s with a max at 174. Forty years ago, when I got out of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, (running 3 miles in 16 minutes, 100 sit-up in two minutes and 20 pull-ups) the best shape of my life, I weighed 185, 10 pounds over "Ideal"? I don't think so. I'm ast 196 now, shooting for 190. I figure that 5 pounds over my best "fighting weight" is good enough. I really don't see where these ultra low numbers come from. I haven't been 155# since eighth grade, was in shape then but still hadn't grown. Charts and calculators be damned, 190 here I come.
I don't think calculators are the be-all end-all by far, but I like that this site uses four different formulas as well as a healthy recommendation for BMI. Which are all wildly different, I think it's a good indicator of what's healthy but also a good indicator that you're going to have to experiment, see what you're comfortable with, and what's more realistic to maintain.0 -
"Which are all wildly different..."?
There is a ten pound difference from the heaviest "ideal" to the lowest "ideal". Your defination of wildly different is wildly different from mine. ;-)
Anyone have any stats showing which country has the greatest percentage of it's population within these "healthy" weight ranges? And what that percentage is?0 -
I used this to help me figure out my final goal: http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html.
That puts me at 99lbs which I think is about right for my height (5ft0- small framed). The lowest for BMI purposes is 95Lbs- so about the same (ish).0
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