Unrealistic expectations??

Hi Reenie - I’m not sure what your goal is and I don’t have any issue with people preferring to be lean, but 130 sounds pretty low to sustain at 5-9”. Maybe practice maintenance at your current range for 6 months and see how you feel, then make small tweaks to drop if you really think there would be a benefit to being 5# lighter. Sometimes our goal weights find us, and are not exactly what we had in our mind.

Sounds like you have been maintaining well, usually it is a range of 3-5lbs so don't be alarmed if you go a bit above since it can be really difficult to stay between 1-2lbs. I would keep on tracking and even if you get a bit lazy, you know exactly what to do to bring it in again.

Why do you feel like you want to get lower? Are you not happy with your body composition? Are you scared you are going to gain again and want that safe zone? You are already on the lower end for your height, so I would focus more on other goals at this point. Do you do any resistance training? That would be something that could help take your focus of your weight and will help you tighten up and focus on strength goals.

I know it can be hard to switch off the losing weight mindset and maintain, I am in that zone right now but I really want to build muscle and I know losing weight won't get me there. I am going to focus on killing it at the gym and having all the energy to get my strength and endurance up!

nowine4me wrote: »

Hi Reenie - I’m not sure what your goal is and I don’t have any issue with people preferring to be lean, but 130 sounds pretty low to sustain at 5-9”. Maybe practice maintenance at your current range for 6 months and see how you feel, then make small tweaks to drop if you really think there would be a benefit to being 5# lighter. Sometimes our goal weights find us, and are not exactly what we had in our mind.

Very true ma'am...

MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »

ReenieHJ wrote: »

Thanks for the replies
I just started adding some resistance exercise to my treadmill routine; not really sure if I know what I'm doing yet but will keep trying. Plus planking and hula hoop(but dang, that actually bruises if I try to do too much at a time). Plus on the TM I'm increasing the incline as I go and a few minutes a week, to get ready for hiking when winter's over.
I really don't have a good answer for why I want to keep hitting a lower weight except yes, I feel it gives me a cushion in case I indulge and/or it's hard to go from the mindset of actually lose a lb. to getting more fit. I have a hard time as it is, staying within my calorie allotment each day, not terrible, but find myself wanting/needing to add snacks at the end.
As far as indulgences, I'm the kind of person where temptation can get slippery awfully quick so try to avoid most of them. Christmas week was horrible. Example, I over baked just so *I* could eat treats but there comes a rude awakening when a treat becomes half a pan or pie. So hard to recover from that.
Anyways.....thank you.

@ReenieHJ
You are not alone. I faced that same slippery slope Thanksgiving to Jan 8. Had to realize I’m a “Formally Obese Slim Person” not a “Never Obese Slim Person.” Big Difference. We have to really know & accept ourselves, and what our bodies need to be healthy.

The Half Size Me podcast is helpful.

The most important thing is to give it time. #NeverGiveUp

If you’re having to go over your daily calorie allotment on a regular basis, perhaps up your allotment & work to maintain for 1-3 months. Get that “locked in.”

Then reconsider whether you feel you can sustainably live on fewer calories.

My Best,
Maddie

This resonates hard. When you have people see you as "normal" , whatever that may be, and expect you to act like they do. It can make things awkward at times.

ReenieHJ wrote: »

Thanks for the replies
I just started adding some resistance exercise to my treadmill routine; not really sure if I know what I'm doing yet but will keep trying. Plus planking and hula hoop(but dang, that actually bruises if I try to do too much at a time). Plus on the TM I'm increasing the incline as I go and a few minutes a week, to get ready for hiking when winter's over.
I really don't have a good answer for why I want to keep hitting a lower weight except yes, I feel it gives me a cushion in case I indulge and/or it's hard to go from the mindset of actually lose a lb. to getting more fit. I have a hard time as it is, staying within my calorie allotment each day, not terrible, but find myself wanting/needing to add snacks at the end.
As far as indulgences, I'm the kind of person where temptation can get slippery awfully quick so try to avoid most of them. Christmas week was horrible. Example, I over baked just so *I* could eat treats but there comes a rude awakening when a treat becomes half a pan or pie. So hard to recover from that.
Anyways.....thank you.

If you find yourself wanting to add snacks at the end, have you experimented with different eating strategies to deal with that productively (or at least not unproductively )?

I'm not clear whether you're saying you want snacks beyond your calorie goal, or not. Budgeting snack calories is one option. Another is to consider whether different meal timing, or different relative size of meals, or different macro composition of what you eat at different times, would make a difference in your personal night-snack cravings. (It does for me.)

You can also work at increasing your TDEE, either by increased exercise (if that's possible while maintaining happy life balance), increasing non-exercise activity, or by sloooooowwwwwly increasing muscle mass. (That last one's the long game, fer shure ).

You're already pretty light for your height, so if you'd like to look a little different, recomposition might make more sense (and contribute to the slow-lane TDEE increase idea ).

Usually, we suggest people set a maintenance range, so losing down to the bottom of that range is an OK thing to create some wiggle room for dialing in true maintenance calories (which could turn out to be a little higher than you think, if you turn out to be one of those folks who reacts to increased intake with a subtle NEAT increase). But just to keep losing, and losing, and losing . . . not a good health strategy. Really, really not.

Maybe new goals: Body composition, fitness, nutrition, something off in a different realm altogether where you can exploit your the new skills at accomplishing long-term goals that you've honed during weight loss (learn a new art/craft, play a musical instrument, study a foreign language, gourmet healthy-food cooking, gardening, etc.)?

Don't be afraid that you'll be lazy and lose self-control. Just don't be lazy or lose self-control. Minor slips, even a few pounds worth, are recoverable if you get right back on it. (You obviously know how to lose a few pounds, right? Just be firm that you'll get right back on that if you start staying persistently at/above the top of your maintenance range.) The longer you practice good habits, the more automatic and natural they'll become, too.

BTW, as an aside: I'm a bit of a skeptic on how truly different we are psychologically or physiologically from never-fat people, at least once we get through an adjustment period to our new normal. Two of my closest rowing buddies are in that "always healthy weight" category. It's emphatically not the case that they never think about how much they're eating, or what, and how that relates to their health and fitness goals. They adjust and monitor and moderate to maintain weight, just as I do, and it isn't always completely automatic or super easy for them. What they don't have is nostalgia about some self-indulgent past habits, and they have longer-practiced so better-honed-in non-food coping strategies for non-food issues (emotions, stress, etc.).

You can make this transition: Hang in there! :flowerforyou: