To those struggling with scale changes and body image (most of us?!)
ARGriffy
Posts: 1,002 Member
I'm posting this to hopefully, help at least one other person in a similar situation.
Do you over obsess over your goal weight? Did you hit it once and never see it again and a matter of 2 lbs drives you insane? I did. I let it eat up a year... more even of my life.
So below are 2 pics. One is my last year's weight graph, and one is a pic of me at (nearly) goal weight, and me now. The weight graph is to show you i was driving myself crazy over some numbers that actually, were very small and rational people would tell me that at a glance!
The pic is, me at 1 lb over "goal weight" and miserable because i wasn't there. The second pic was last week, 2 lbs under goal weight. I personally would say the change looks larger than that, and that's exactly my point. once your into maintenece, don't scale chase. It makes you crazy! Just work on improving yourself and your fitness if you still don't like what you see. I really, really hope this helps someone.
Do you over obsess over your goal weight? Did you hit it once and never see it again and a matter of 2 lbs drives you insane? I did. I let it eat up a year... more even of my life.
So below are 2 pics. One is my last year's weight graph, and one is a pic of me at (nearly) goal weight, and me now. The weight graph is to show you i was driving myself crazy over some numbers that actually, were very small and rational people would tell me that at a glance!
The pic is, me at 1 lb over "goal weight" and miserable because i wasn't there. The second pic was last week, 2 lbs under goal weight. I personally would say the change looks larger than that, and that's exactly my point. once your into maintenece, don't scale chase. It makes you crazy! Just work on improving yourself and your fitness if you still don't like what you see. I really, really hope this helps someone.
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Replies
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You don't want my opinion, but if you post stuff on the internet I'm sure you're aware that unsolicited opinions will happen. So here it goes:
I know it's probably the lighting, because 3 lbs cannot be noticed by the human eye... but the "before" picture looks more feminine, and hotter.7 -
2lbs is nothing to stress over. You are going to drive yourself insane.
I have a maintenance range of 10lbs. I don't have the mental energy to agonize over every single fluctuation. If I go over the 10lb range, I go back to calorie cutting. Below, I eat more. But within the 10lb range, eh, who cares. My clothes do not really fit different, no one can tell too much. *shrug*1 -
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TitaniaEcks wrote: »You don't want my opinion, but if you post stuff on the internet I'm sure you're aware that unsolicited opinions will happen. So here it goes:
I know it's probably the lighting, because 3 lbs cannot be noticed by the human eye... but the "before" picture looks more feminine, and hotter.
Yeah, cheers. The lighting made a massive difference but the entire point was to show how a few pounds isn't the end of the world and you can change massively within those few pounds and the scale isn't the be all and end all. You're right, I posted this for encouragement to those struggling so cheers for the knock back on a positive post luckily I'm secure now so the Un solicited opinion of if I look "hot" or not hasn't changed my body image.10 -
TitaniaEcks wrote: »You don't want my opinion, but if you post stuff on the internet I'm sure you're aware that unsolicited opinions will happen. So here it goes:
I know it's probably the lighting, because 3 lbs cannot be noticed by the human eye... but the "before" picture looks more feminine, and hotter.
Yeah, cheers. The lighting made a massive difference but the entire point was to show how a few pounds isn't the end of the world and you can change massively within those few pounds and the scale isn't the be all and end all. You're right, I posted this for encouragement to those struggling so cheers for the knock back on a positive post luckily I'm secure now so the Un solicited opinion of if I look "hot" or not hasn't changed my body image.
In the interests of balance - here's my unsolicited comment "you look hot in both photos".
Well done in making peace with your weight fluctuations and finding a perspective on how it's just a piece of the jigsaw. Just a small piece as well compared to health, happiness and fitness.8 -
Ah good someone got the point of the post 2
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struggling with THE NUMBER myself.
another mindf*ck that i often toy with is OTHER WOMEN'S GOAL WEIGHT. i think to myself "oh no. she's 5'5" as well, but her goal weight is 15 LBS LOWER THAN MINE - wtf is wrong with me"!?
stupid numbers. they hold too much power over us, sometimes.9 -
Oh the other Gw of people used to drive me insane, I stay away from those threads now as it's not good to compare!0
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Not gonna lie, I wish that 'how clearly we can see my abs' was my struggle at this point.6
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Thank you, thank you! This is perfect for me...now I have to really get it inside my mind0
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fabulousmo wrote: »struggling with THE NUMBER myself.
another mindf*ck that i often toy with is OTHER WOMEN'S GOAL WEIGHT. i think to myself "oh no. she's 5'5" as well, but her goal weight is 15 LBS LOWER THAN MINE - wtf is wrong with me"!?
stupid numbers. they hold too much power over us, sometimes.
Too funny, I'm just the opposite, I look at some of women's goal weight, my same height and age and think WTF why do you think you need to be that underweight? I suspect many are skinny fat and would benefit from more exercise rather than less weight. You can lose all the fat you want but if there is no underlying muscle tone what you have left won't be all that great--still soft and squishy.6 -
OP, sorry to sound daft, but I'm completely missing the point of your post.
My understanding of it, is that i can see a noticeable difference in the 2lbs you lost in your before and after pic. So my takeaway, is yes a piddly 2lbs can make a visible difference.1 -
Christine_72 wrote: »OP, sorry to sound daft, but I'm completely missing the point of your post.
My understanding of it, is that i can see a noticeable difference in the 2lbs you lost in your before and after pic. So my takeaway, is yes a piddly 2lbs can make a visible difference.
Yep - I'm with you.
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Go for inches and body fat, not goal weight. The whole "muscle weighs more than fat" rumor is real0
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Thank you for sharing this. I've been maintaining for about 3 months now. My original goal was 110, then 105. I got as low as 102. Now I'm hovering around 106, trying to get back to 105. Your post helps me. I am aware that I need to focus on how I feel and how I look rather than a stupid number on the scale. But, I also need to keep an eye on the scale weight as it is a unit of measurement that tells me if I am going out of control.0
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I'm glad i got old enough to stop letting numbers control me. I used to base my value on them alot- age, weight, pants size were the big ones. No one can see any of those things on me.1
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For me it's 10 lb to lose back off. I had no access to a gym for several months due to having to move several times. The house we were going to move into fell out from under us so to speak and we were struggling. I am now permanently housed and back to the gym. As I am 47 years old, short, prediabetic, arthritic and menopausal, you can figure how challenging the weight loss is. I am trying to focus on doing the right things each day more so than attempting to press fast forward on the scale. In your photos, both look beautiful so take heart. Just do the right things each day and if doing those right things has you 2 or 3 lb more than you anticipated, then try looking at your fitness improvements and your measurements to help get an accurate picture. You clearly have a lot to be proud of. 3
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Christine_72 wrote: »OP, sorry to sound daft, but I'm completely missing the point of your post.
My understanding of it, is that i can see a noticeable difference in the 2lbs you lost in your before and after pic. So my takeaway, is yes a piddly 2lbs can make a visible difference.
Yeah I'm confused too. You say not to let numbers on the scale control you yet you worked hard to lose 2-3 more pounds and it made a huge difference in your body. Kind of contradicting yourself.1 -
BikeTourer wrote: »fabulousmo wrote: »struggling with THE NUMBER myself.
another mindf*ck that i often toy with is OTHER WOMEN'S GOAL WEIGHT. i think to myself "oh no. she's 5'5" as well, but her goal weight is 15 LBS LOWER THAN MINE - wtf is wrong with me"!?
stupid numbers. they hold too much power over us, sometimes.
Too funny, I'm just the opposite, I look at some of women's goal weight, my same height and age and think WTF why do you think you need to be that underweight? I suspect many are skinny fat and would benefit from more exercise rather than less weight. You can lose all the fat you want but if there is no underlying muscle tone what you have left won't be all that great--still soft and squishy.
To both: Important to keep in mind that we generally have little information about others' body configuration, or their circumstances.
I'm 5'5", with a goal weight (current weight) toward the bottom of the normal BMI range (120 pounds, BMI = 20).
Why?
I have no breasts. Not tiny, none - bilateral mastectomies; I'm concave. I have a narrow pelvis - very "boyish" shape. I have wrecked knees from my obese period: The lighter I am, the less pain I have. I had stage III (i.e., advanced) estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer a few years back, in both breasts, 6 tumors: As a post-menopausal woman, the lighter I am (within a healthy range) the less estrogen my body manufactures via aromatization, reducing my risk of metastatic recurrence. My doctor is aware of my weight goals, and supports them. I don't always mention all of this detail when the goal-weight subject arises.
And I have quite a lot of muscle, thank you, especially for someone my age (60), and look it.
My weight is not an appearance thing. I don't give a rats' a** how I look. It's not a fantasy about "ideal weight". I just kept losing until I felt good.
@fabulousmo, I'm sure you'll look and be great at your goal weight, and if you decide differently, you can adjust to be the best you possible.
While I support questioning truly unhealthy behaviors, I feel like mostly we should each worry about our own body type, our own health, feeling good ourselves, our own preferences, and leave others to theirs.5 -
Christine_72 wrote: »OP, sorry to sound daft, but I'm completely missing the point of your post.
My understanding of it, is that i can see a noticeable difference in the 2lbs you lost in your before and after pic. So my takeaway, is yes a piddly 2lbs can make a visible difference.
Yup fair enough! Very hard to type and in visage how each individual will read it! I guess I thought the visual was obvious that I'd changed my body through conditioning as 2lbs wouldn't have as much visual impact alone, apologies for any confusion. But the whole point was find another way to love yourself rather than chasing a magic number. Sorry again!
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victoria_1024 wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »OP, sorry to sound daft, but I'm completely missing the point of your post.
My understanding of it, is that i can see a noticeable difference in the 2lbs you lost in your before and after pic. So my takeaway, is yes a piddly 2lbs can make a visible difference.
Yeah I'm confused too. You say not to let numbers on the scale control you yet you worked hard to lose 2-3 more pounds and it made a huge difference in your body. Kind of contradicting yourself.
Again, sorry to be un clear originally! I should specify now that my 'hard work' that ended up in losing the few lbs actually came after I stopped chasing the numbers, found a conditioning sport I love and accepted myself for what it is, the weight move came after I stopped obsessing. 0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »OP, sorry to sound daft, but I'm completely missing the point of your post.
My understanding of it, is that i can see a noticeable difference in the 2lbs you lost in your before and after pic. So my takeaway, is yes a piddly 2lbs can make a visible difference.
Yup fair enough! Very hard to type and in visage how each individual will read it! I guess I thought the visual was obvious that I'd changed my body through conditioning as 2lbs wouldn't have as much visual impact alone, apologies for any confusion. But the whole point was find another way to love yourself rather than chasing a magic number. Sorry again!
You've apologized several times . . . you have nothing to apologize for.
IMO, your post was not unclear, even though part of the way you phrased your post was a bit tongue in cheek. I disagree with others who've commented to the contrary. Some people may not understand that the difference between the two photos is clearly fitness, so it's nice that you clarify so kindly. No apology is necessary.
You rock. Your results speak for themselves, you look healthy and strong (substantially stronger in the after picture). The very best part - as I think you're saying - is the sense of mastery and confidence that you gained in the process of letting go of the number on the scale, and instead embracing health and fitness.5 -
I read your post in the way you intended and it was very helpful to me especially having just hit my goal after taking weeks to get that last 1lb off.
You can really see all the hard work has paid off as you look great and inspires me to really keep up with my own strength training rather than aiming to lose any more on my scale.1
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