Reaching the lowest weight you've ever been - Question for those who are thin for the first time

I once got down to 155...I've been 170 or higher since I started weighing myself at 14. Getting there was much easier than staying there, honestly, because what I was doing (watching my calories) was working. I was so excited and decided have a cheat meal or two to celebrate it and before I knew it-- six months of cheat meals later-- I was almost back to my starting weight. This time I'm aiming for 130 and also can't quite imagine it, so I'm curious what others have to say.

I got smaller than my high school weight - my motivation was I luckily have a mom who keeps everything and she had my prom dresses and I used them at motivation - working to get back there after 2 babies now!

I'm 3kg away from the thinnest I've ever been as an adult and even that is still solidly in the 'overweight' range. I'm aiming for solidly in the 'normal' range.

I used to believe the stories about me being big-boned and large framed and that I simply would never be 'thin'. It wasn't genetically possible for me.

Let's put that into a bit of perspective. Last year I bought a Fitbit. I measured my wrist and came up with a solid 20cm. See. Proves it. I'm big-boned. 20kg lost later I had to buy a new Fitbit. So I went to measure my wrist again. 16cm. My thumb and index now overlap when I hold my wrist. They used to be oceans away from meeting. So I guess... I'm not big-boned after all.

Oddly enough, last time I was that thin, my wrists also looked impossibly big (I didn't take measurements back then so I don't know, but I couldn't wear most bracelets comfortable. This makes me think... I still own one of the ones from back then. I'll put it on and check tonight if that impression is correct).

That 65kg I'm aiming for used to look so impossible. Now. Now it looks like a simple matter of regularly and consistently eating less than my body needs to sustain itself. I don't mean by a large amount even 100cals per day works. I don't care if it takes 1 month, 1 year or 10 years to reach that weight. But I know that with persistence I'll make it.

I have been plugging away at finally losing all the weight I wanted for over a year now (400 something day streak on MFP). I hit my lowest ever adult weight right before Christmas and have maintained since. I'd like to drop a few more, but I'm still thrilled to be where I am now. It's taken commitment and a new found love of running helped, too. I know everyone says this, but honestly, if I can do it, anyone can do!

If stats matter, I'm 47 years old, 5'3" and 121 lbs.

Started this journey January 1st 2016. My weight was 288 pounds my current weight is approximately 208 pounds. I'm a male 6 foot 4.
I set a crazy goal of losing 30 pounds by March 31st period hit 250 that seems so easy to do I said another crazier goal I said what happens if I hit 2:30 I used to weigh that in high school. Set that goal for August and I actually hit it somewhere around June. Had an even crazier idea what would happen if I hit 2:20 I said let me try it may take a couple months I actually hit that goal. At that point I was totally happy where I was and I started maintenance totally screwed maintenance up lost another 12 pounds.

I was one of those people who always said I got to slow metabolism a big boned blah blah blah blah blah blah. It's just a mental Journey you're going on period once you make the decision it's probably one of the easiest things you do if you approach this like an education. Educate yourself about food and nutrition and your body. There is no such thing as a set point period it's a simple matter of eating less calories than your body Burns it may take longer for some people than others but as long as you keep up the process it will work and you will hit your goal no matter how crazy that goal is.

My one last suggestion to you is don't be focused so much on a number but more how you feel or look. If you do any kind of strength training which in my opinion is very important you could hit 135 or even 140 and still look better then you do at 120 without any strength training

there are plenty of posts on the success story and Fitness and exercise boards where you see girls who are heavier than you think but they look a lot thinner due to strength training

I've been thinking a lot about this because I have now reached my goal weight, and it's lower than anything in recorded history Well, my recorded history does not exist as I always avoided weighing myself but I'm pretty sure I haven't weighed this since pre-teen/early teen years. I remember a couple of times when I was dieting or very active (was on a tennis kick for a while) when I got down to a pretty good weight but it never lasted.

I'm 5'10" and 48 years old. May 2015 I was my highest weight ever at 212 (BMI 30) and that finally horrified me into trying to make major changes (not just go on a diet). I set my expectations low - I definitely bought into being a big-boned person who could never be thin. OK, then forget being thin or any goal weight, I just want to be fitter. So I bought a Fitbit, started tracking everything I did - what I ate, how much I exercised in minutes and miles - and joined challenges. When I started making some progress I got more enthused and added other workouts, eventually starting running and joining a running group.

Now I'm at 155 and my BMI is 22 and I'm in maintenance mode. I'm objectively "thin" - which is crazy to me. I sit and feel my ribs all the time, like have these always been here? This week at work someone told me that I've now gone "right past into skinny". Not sure that was positive but again, it's a whole world view away from where I've always been.

And I know I need to keep up the work that I've been doing, I can't go back to the way I was living. I run 6 days a week and that gives me a lot more calories to play with so I feel really satisfied. I also take way more enjoyment in doing active things and seek them out. I have practiced being a better cook and making things that are tasty and fit within my goals for the most part - but I'm also big into having a treat every day and making sure that I still get the things I really love once in a while like pizza and margaritas and chocolate. For me I enjoy the data of it all and consider myself a single subject longitudinal research design.

So I don't believe in any set point, I think it's our habits and lifestyle we need to break through. Best of luck to you OP in reaching your goals and gaining health.

Set point isn't a real thing. Set point behavior develops because you stay a weight for awhile and eat the same foods and do the same exercise so you think your stuck but really you are not, you are just maintaining!

26 here, 5'3 female.
18yo I was 140lbs and size 8 pants, medium tops.
I gained from 18-21yo and maxed at 168lbs, I was size 12 and stuffing into medium shirts.
I lost down to 130lbs in 2012 at age 22, didn't learn the new healthy maintenance at all and went back to old habits.
I regained and maxed out at 175lbs at 23yo.
I have since lost it all again last year and hit 130 and maintained at 25yo until now, 130-135lbs.
Maintenance is way harder than losing, but worth it!
Currently I'm the lowest I've ever been at 128lbs and dropping. I've never been this thin as an adult and it is incredible! I love my new body and am challenging myself with new fitness goals every day. I'm still losing because for the last year of maintaining I've wanted to see what 120 feels and looks like. I have a petite frame but never saw it due to being overweight. I think it will stick this time because I have gotten over my binge eating and been able to enjoy food without being controlling and hoarding to overeat. I can comfortably say no to sweets and put them off for weeks until I have enough extra calories to really enjoy it. Then I can go right back to eating well and not blink. That to me is the thin mentality, something I could never quite grasp before and why I failed at weight loss the first time.

Im 38 and I recently dropped below 200lbs for the first time since I was ~13. So Im smaller than I have been since I was a teen, possible a pre-teen.

First off ... it's not a "lofty goal" so don't look at it like that. Eat Less. Move More. Rinse and repeat daily. In time you will get there, it's basic physics/biology.

Secondly, throw the idea of a "set point" right out the window. Barring some illness or disease, your metabolic rate will change daily. You can down-regulate your thyroid function by eating less, then up-regulate it by slowly eating more. Basically, metabolic rate can be tied to consumption. Mind you there are upper and lower finite limits to this. Eat too much, and you're going to gain, regardless of metabolism. Eat too low, and you can take your metabolism (metabolic syndrome). So eat enough, stay in a small deficit, and you WILL lose ... no set point to worry about.

As for ladies vs guys. I will admit there is some hormonal hurdles that ladies have versus men, but a hurdle is made to jump over.

I don't put my current weight into MFP until I have stabilized at that weight for a day or two, sometimes I will fluctuate up the next day after a new low. But, with that being said, this morning I weighed in at 196.4 ... that is 211.2lbs lost total (instead of the 209 the ticker shows). No surgery, no supplements, no Dr. Oz nonsense, no medicines, no pills ... just honest hard work and time. Don't question whether you can, instead focus on what you want to do when you DO make it.