Is there a limit to how much you are able to lose?

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Christismylife
Christismylife Posts: 93 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Is there a point where your body just won't lose weight any more? Or will you always keep losing weight if you keep eating at a deficit? It seems to be harder to lose weight the closer I have gotten to my goal weight in the past. Hope this question makes sense.

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  • JDixon852019
    JDixon852019 Posts: 312 Member
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    As long as you are at a deficit you will loose weight. Something to keep in mind is smaller bodies require less energy so the amount of calories you can have to remain in a deficit lowers as you loose weight.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
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    There is a limit to how much weight you can lose in a healthy way. At some point, you hit "underweight" and would not be able to maintain a deficit without malnutrition kicking in.

    Weight loss also tends to slow down as you get closer to your body's ideal weight and your hormones will start to fight you hard (usually with hunger) if you try to continue to lose weight significantly past that point.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    The limit is death.

    The lighter you are the less calories you need to maintain that weight, think of it as a sliding scale.

    But ultimately as long as you consume less calories than you need to maintain your current weight the only thing stopping you is death.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,087 Member
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    I would say there is a limit - your body can only get so low without getting so malnourished that you die - either directly of starvation or of cardiac or renal failure.
    Anorexia does eventually lead to death.

    Even before that Why anyone would want to go below the level of healthy existence I do not know ( unless they have a mental health condition like anorexia nervosa)
  • Christismylife
    Christismylife Posts: 93 Member
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    Thank you everyone. :) I think I just get mentally hung up at a certain point and weight where it seems hard to lose anymore. I am at a healthy bmi, but I want to lose about 23 pounds. It would put me on the lower end of a healthy bmi, so I am not trying to become anorexic. When I graduated from high school, I was at the weigh I am aiming for. It just has been 16 years since I attained that weight, and I did it with the help of a personal trainer and while playing high school sports. I still had to count calories to get there. I just sometimes get a mental block where I think I won't be able to get to that weight again.
  • MsRuffBuffNStuff
    MsRuffBuffNStuff Posts: 363 Member
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    I think our bodies sort of settle into a "set point" as long as they are getting adequate nutrition. That's why my goals have changed over time. It's no longer realistic for me to aim for 115 pounds... Turns out, recomping in the 140's works much better for me. I could continue to lose weight, but it would be at the expense of my health and energy.
  • ItsMariii
    ItsMariii Posts: 23 Member
    edited October 2016
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  • ItsMariii
    ItsMariii Posts: 23 Member
    edited October 2016
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  • ItsMariii
    ItsMariii Posts: 23 Member
    edited October 2016
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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Not really, but the less body fat you have, the slower it will be...the human body is reluctant to be super lean.
  • ItsMariii
    ItsMariii Posts: 23 Member
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    I wonder why MFP isn't posting my whole reply
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
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    There isn't a "limit" but there is a point where your body ramps up the hunger and starts to fight to keep the weight on which makes it harder, but not impossible to loose more.
  • gojaqs
    gojaqs Posts: 471 Member
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    Well, yeah. <-- smart *kitten* answer.

    I believe in the set point theory. One might be able to lose more than that, but it is hard, if not impossible, to maintain that for the long terms.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,087 Member
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    Yes I can get the 'set point of healthy for you' theory.

    If you keep at an aggressive deficit - either by choice or mental illness or because you are in a POW camp or a 3rd world country in a famine or something, you will keep losing weight - but obviously you wont be healthy and you may not survive

    I dont think everybody can healthily be at the lower end of BMI - and aiming for that when you are not a petite frame is probably not a good idea.

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