Am now overweight. Should I lose weight or not?
KrazyKrissyy
Posts: 322 Member
I'm 5'6 and this morning just weighed in at 160.1 (picture below). In 2013 I was nearly 200 pounds and ended up losing over 70 pounds by 2015 at an ending weight of around 120. Since 2015, I've been lazier with tracking although I've remained very active and still regularly lifting weights. In 2018, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I also use public transportation and walk everywhere I need to go. Over the course of 4 years, I've re-gained a total of 40 pounds and am now back in overweight territory according to BMI. However, my family, boyfriend, and friends say I look great and shouldn't try to lose any weight. Most of my weight gain is in my lower half by the way. Even though I'm now overweight, my waist is STILL 25 inches. I still wear the same x-small tops that I wore at my lowest weight. My hips however have gone from 34 to 44 inches since 2015. What should I do? Current pic of me below.
My profile pic is from 2015 by the way so don't be confused by that.
5'6 and 160.1 pounds
My profile pic is from 2015 by the way so don't be confused by that.
5'6 and 160.1 pounds
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Replies
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What do you want? What I think is immaterial.....30
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Do you want to lose weight?
Then go for it. The only one in charge of your body is you. Not your friends, not your family, not random internet strangers. Does it matter if I think you look good if you don't feel good?14 -
Exactly....
What do you want or do you want outside immaterial opinions? Its only you who should judge what is looking back at you in the mirror.2 -
That’s totally up to you. It comes down to what weight you are happy with and can maintain in a healthy way.
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thecrossbar wrote: »Ditto on above. If you're happy with it, you're fine. You might be overweight by BMI...but BMI is not perfect and you're far from serious health risk territory. I too am someone whose "normal " weight was the high end of normal, but I was happy and healthy.
Thanks. That was actually going to be my next question. It's not just my family/friends/etc that's making the decision hard for me. It's whether or not I'm now at certain health risks because of my current weight.2 -
KrazyKrissyy wrote: »I'm 5'6 and this morning just weighed in at 160.1 (picture below). In 2013 I was nearly 200 pounds and ended up losing over 70 pounds by 2015 at an ending weight of around 120. Since 2015, I've been lazier with tracking although I've remained very active and still regularly lifting weights. In 2018, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I also use public transportation and walk everywhere I need to go. Over the course of 4 years, I've re-gained a total of 40 pounds and am now back in overweight territory according to BMI. However, my family, boyfriend, and friends say I look great and shouldn't try to lose any weight. Most of my weight gain is in my lower half by the way. Even though I'm now overweight, my waist is STILL 25 inches. I still wear the same x-small tops that I wore at my lowest weight. My hips however have gone from 34 to 44 inches since 2015. What should I do? Current pic of me below.
My profile pic is from 2015 by the way so don't be confused by that.
5'6 and 160.1 pounds
My main concern is with the bolded. There's a motivational quote I've read that says, "Don't decrease the goal; increase the effort." It can be interpreted multiple ways, but to me, it's a warning about moving the goalposts in weight management. You have a slow creep going on, averaging ~96 more calories than needed every day. Some people who gain weight back decide that they chose an unrealistic goal, and settle in the new weight. Others, however, continue gaining and thus continue the slippery slope back to a total regain. Be honest and diligent, and make the choice from there.
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Neldabg is right. Any why settle for what you can handle vs when you are at your best and healthiest? Change your mind and your actions and feelings will follow. Don't change your mind and you'll find you're back where you started.8
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The fact that you have not maintained but have slowly gained over the past few years paired with what I believe to be my recollection of how you went about losing weight last time around, together with your uncertainty all add up together to saying that you should first concentrate on maintenance.
I.e. switch your maintain upward to maintain downward while continuing to do everything you do. But primarily i would worry about stopping the creep up as opposed to going full tilt at reducing.15 -
KrazyKrissyy wrote: »thecrossbar wrote: »Ditto on above. If you're happy with it, you're fine. You might be overweight by BMI...but BMI is not perfect and you're far from serious health risk territory. I too am someone whose "normal " weight was the high end of normal, but I was happy and healthy.
Thanks. That was actually going to be my next question. It's not just my family/friends/etc that's making the decision hard for me. It's whether or not I'm now at certain health risks because of my current weight.
Is that you on the swimsuit picture??
If so, I would love to look like that..lol
But 120 is hard to maintain at your height.
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KrazyKrissyy wrote: »thecrossbar wrote: »Ditto on above. If you're happy with it, you're fine. You might be overweight by BMI...but BMI is not perfect and you're far from serious health risk territory. I too am someone whose "normal " weight was the high end of normal, but I was happy and healthy.
Thanks. That was actually going to be my next question. It's not just my family/friends/etc that's making the decision hard for me. It's whether or not I'm now at certain health risks because of my current weight.
Is that you on the swimsuit picture??
If so, I would love to look like that..lol
But 120 is hard to maintain at your height.
I mentioned in my post that my profile pic isn't recent. I just never changed it lol. I'm 160 now (picture of me standing forward).2 -
All great advice you've got already so not sure my thoughts could add anything to what's been said.
You're not 200 lb!! Great achievement.
If it was me, I'd be concerned about the 4 year creep too and annoyed that I hadn't been able to maintain (even the same weight for 2 years in a row would make me happy).
I think maintaining is sometimes harder than loosing so just go for that goal. Or aim for what the doctors say.. Just 5% of what you weigh now then see if you can maintain that?
Good luck
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You look amazing to me. I like the view outside of your window, it looks like a nice yard.1
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I think how you look is irelevant.
If your weight is now above BMI limits and there is no good reason for that ( you have not become an elite body builder) then I think you should aim to lose some weight to get back in to healthy range.
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It's up to you not up to us. Never lose weight for others but for yourself. If losing weight would make you feel better you should do it. Some people tell me I don't need to lose weight but I want to lose weight because I want to feel better about myself and I feel better when I'm smaller. As long as you don't starve or do anything extreme then go for it. However it's better to lose weight slowly and make sure it's a lifestyle change. You said you were 120 at your lightest. That is quite small even if your BMI says you're in the normal range. I can imagine that weight would be hard to maintain. BMI isn t very accurate so don't rely on it too much.4
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If you look good (which you do) and feel good at this weight then maintain it, like alot of posters said it's up to how you feel about it,I'm your same height and 120 lb maintenance would kill me plus I carry weight well and at 126(my lowest) I looked sickly,cheers to whatever YOU decide
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Why look to strangers for validation? Do what you think is best for you based on your history and your body.2
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You look fine to me and if your waist is 25 inches then you aren’t unhealthy. If you want to lose a few lbs then go for it but I think 120 lbs at your height is too skinny.2
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I agree that the average of 10 lb weight increase each year is the concerning part, not necessarily how you look today. I also agree that 120 is pretty low for your height. Maybe slowly work your way down to a healthier BMI but not all the way to 120, and then work on maintaining so that you don't slowly creep back up to 200.3
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KrazyKrissyy wrote: »thecrossbar wrote: »Ditto on above. If you're happy with it, you're fine. You might be overweight by BMI...but BMI is not perfect and you're far from serious health risk territory. I too am someone whose "normal " weight was the high end of normal, but I was happy and healthy.
Thanks. That was actually going to be my next question. It's not just my family/friends/etc that's making the decision hard for me. It's whether or not I'm now at certain health risks because of my current weight.
That's really going to be a discussion for between your doctor and you. Maybe set up an appointment to go in and talk to your doctor/have health markers assessed and then go from there.4 -
You look fine to me and if your waist is 25 inches then you aren’t unhealthy. If you want to lose a few lbs then go for it but I think 120 lbs at your height is too skinny.
You really can't say that though. There's plenty of people who don't carry extra weight in their waist area, that are at high risk for medical conditions or who have them. My husband's grandmother is 90lbs soaking wet and yet she's been a prediabetic for years, has had numerous strokes etc. She's never been overweight and eats a 'healthy' diet.
Sometimes our outside appearance doesn't give the whole picture.
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You look fine to me and if your waist is 25 inches then you aren’t unhealthy. If you want to lose a few lbs then go for it but I think 120 lbs at your height is too skinny.
You really can't say that though. There's plenty of people who don't carry extra weight in their waist area, that are at high risk for medical conditions or who have them. My husband's grandmother is 90lbs soaking wet and yet she's been a prediabetic for years, has had numerous strokes etc. She's never been overweight and eats a 'healthy' diet.
Sometimes our outside appearance doesn't give the whole picture.
But your grandmother's issue is not related to being overweight, right?
Waist of 25 would be an additional way to evaluate whether the OP's current weight is presenting additional health concerns (mainly because it indicates the possibility of visceral fat deposits)
The cut offs are based on population statistics. The individual risks are based on a personal evaluation.
I seem to recall a pretty intense struggle and hard deficits to get to 120 and generally speaking an unhappy state of mind.
Arresting the rebound comes first.
A fast and hard weight loss is definitely not something I would try at this point. Drifting downwards into normal range? Sure. But only if done as a "happy task" without ANY pressure, medications, restrictions, timelines... frankly without ANY additional stress over whatever may be necessary to just maintain.6 -
You look fine to me and if your waist is 25 inches then you aren’t unhealthy. If you want to lose a few lbs then go for it but I think 120 lbs at your height is too skinny.
You really can't say that though. There's plenty of people who don't carry extra weight in their waist area, that are at high risk for medical conditions or who have them. My husband's grandmother is 90lbs soaking wet and yet she's been a prediabetic for years, has had numerous strokes etc. She's never been overweight and eats a 'healthy' diet.
Sometimes our outside appearance doesn't give the whole picture.
But your grandmother's issue is not related to being overweight, right?
Waist of 25 would be an additional way to evaluate whether current weight is presenting additional health concerns because of the possibility of abdominal fat.
The cut offs are based on population statistics. The individual risks are based on a personal evaluation.
I seem to recall a pretty intense struggle and hard deficits to get to 120 and generally speaking an unhappy state of mind.
Arresting the rebound comes first.
A fast and hard weight loss is definitely not something I would try at this point. Drifting downwards into normal range? Sure. But only if done as a "happy task" without ANY pressure, medications, restrictions, timelines... frankly without ANY additional stress over whatever may be necessary to just maintain.
I am working on trying to get to a far better homeostasis point where I can live a little better. So far, 10lbs. Probably less dt me starting creatine use 10 days ago causing a water weight spike. Has helped some. I have the idea that I will come to a far easier point to maintain. I agree with @PAV8888 . Stop the gain. I maintained for over a year and a half and it was honestly a living HELL!1 -
If YOU want to lose, then lose. If not, don't. It's up to you! I, personally, think you look great. But what a complete stranger on an internet forum thinks of you is not important What matters is how YOU feel! 1
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If the weight doesn't bother you and you're not experiencing physical or medical issues because of it, then don't worry about it.0
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KrazyKrissyy wrote: »I'm 5'6 and this morning just weighed in at 160.1 (picture below). In 2013 I was nearly 200 pounds and ended up losing over 70 pounds by 2015 at an ending weight of around 120. Since 2015, I've been lazier with tracking although I've remained very active and still regularly lifting weights. In 2018, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I also use public transportation and walk everywhere I need to go. Over the course of 4 years, I've re-gained a total of 40 pounds and am now back in overweight territory according to BMI. However, my family, boyfriend, and friends say I look great and shouldn't try to lose any weight. Most of my weight gain is in my lower half by the way. Even though I'm now overweight, my waist is STILL 25 inches. I still wear the same x-small tops that I wore at my lowest weight. My hips however have gone from 34 to 44 inches since 2015. What should I do? Current pic of me below.
My profile pic is from 2015 by the way so don't be confused by that.
5'6 and 160.1 pounds
My main concern is with the bolded. There's a motivational quote I've read that says, "Don't decrease the goal; increase the effort." It can be interpreted multiple ways, but to me, it's a warning about moving the goalposts in weight management. You have a slow creep going on, averaging ~96 more calories than needed every day. Some people who gain weight back decide that they chose an unrealistic goal, and settle in the new weight. Others, however, continue gaining and thus continue the slippery slope back to a total regain. Be honest and diligent, and make the choice from there.
Damn! I like that response!1 -
You look fine to me and if your waist is 25 inches then you aren’t unhealthy. If you want to lose a few lbs then go for it but I think 120 lbs at your height is too skinny.
You really can't say that though. There's plenty of people who don't carry extra weight in their waist area, that are at high risk for medical conditions or who have them. My husband's grandmother is 90lbs soaking wet and yet she's been a prediabetic for years, has had numerous strokes etc. She's never been overweight and eats a 'healthy' diet.
Sometimes our outside appearance doesn't give the whole picture.
But in that case, losing weight won’t make one more healthy if they are genetically predispositioned to high cholesterol or blood pressure, for example, despite being skinny. I never said all skinny people are healthy.2
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