when is enough, enough?

Sounds like your problem isn't weight, but body composition. Hit the weights, and your body will transform the way you want it.

I'm just shy of 5 feet 4 inches and my ideal weight is 105. Right now I am 122 and its overweight for me. I'm trying to at least get to 115 and then tone up. Maybe you still could lose a pound or two?

Ditto on the weights,

145 on my frame is grossly overweight. I have a small frame and to look in a bikini I have to be around 105-110 range. When I get down to 118 I'll still have more weight to lose. Every body is shaped idfferently. If you are petite have small bones, you might still have extra body fat on your body. I am 122 and still have body fat.

145 on my frame is grossly overweight. I have a small frame and to look in a bikini I have to be around 105-110 range. When I get down to 118 I'll still have more weight to lose. Every body is shaped idfferently. If you are petite have small bones, you might still have extra body fat on your body. I am 122 and still have body fat.

You know you are supposed to have body fat, right? Female athletes have 20% body fat.

i have lost 10 pounds (118 at 5'4") and i am the lightest i have been since middle school! i have never been unhealthily overweight, either. but i still look at myself in the mirror and see things that i am unhappy with--my legs, my stomach, etc. are there some things that we just can't change, no matter how much weight we lose? when is our weight loss enough--at a number or at an image? and when is it too much??

(i am doing a regular weights program, and i am a runner)

There are differences between:

A healthy body

A "thin" body

An athletic body

Each will require a somewhat different approach.

In addition, we are all born with certain physical attributes and proportions. At some point you have to work with what you have and learn to accept yourself the way you are made.

As to the original question (when is enough enough?), that depends partly on your goals and partly on your reasons for wanting to continue to lose weight--and partly on your current body composition.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be athletically lean. On the other hand, people with unhealthy body images are going to be unhappy no matter how they look--in that case no amount of training or weight loss will be sufficient. So people have to be honest with themselves about their motivation.

If you have a chance, it would be a good idea to have your body fat tested. That would give you a better idea of your frame size and how realistic your goals are.

Assuming that your body image is healthy, I wonder if you might want to stop concentrating on what the scale says. Do you want to simply weigh less or are you looking to get a stronger, leaner look? Someone posted the following blog post on another thread yesterday and I really loved it because it showed just how meaningless the scale alone can be:

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

Check it out. There are pictures of the young woman (5'4) at 170 lbs, 117 lbs, 131 lbs and 142 lbs. In the last three weights, she looks roughly the same pants size, but grows progressively more athletic looking. (I'm not saying that her body is what you are aiming for or should aim for. I'm just pointing out that maybe you need some more helpful metrics to gauge your progression toward your goals.)

Awesome link, thank you for sharing that!

Assuming that your body image is healthy, I wonder if you might want to stop concentrating on what the scale says. Do you want to simply weigh less or are you looking to get a stronger, leaner look? Someone posted the following blog post on another thread yesterday and I really loved it because it showed just how meaningless the scale alone can be:

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

Check it out. There are pictures of the young woman (5'4) at 170 lbs, 117 lbs, 131 lbs and 142 lbs. In the last three weights, she looks roughly the same pants size, but grows progressively more athletic looking. (I'm not saying that her body is what you are aiming for or should aim for. I'm just pointing out that maybe you need some more helpful metrics to gauge your progression toward your goals.)

This is fantastic!!! Just goes to show that its not all about weight! Lowering body fat and gaining muscle is the way to go for a nice toned body!!

I know, right? I really just love the photo progression. Some might like her 117lb body. It's not for me, though. And this has given me even more reason to really stop paying attention to the scale. I think I'll start measuring my progress in pull-ups completed instead of pounds lost. :happy:

I am glad someone posted this. I found an old pair of Bongo jeans that i adored in high school (three years ago). Today, i can't get them beyond the middle of my butt. I pulled and tugged and furrowed my brow and did the "hopping across the floor because women across the world know that's helps" dance. Nothing. Then i put on a gray, faded, one-leg-bleached-because-my-mom-doesn't-understand-laundry-sometimes pair from the same year. and they buttoned. comfortably. and i could sit. and bend. and tie shoes.

Then it dawned on me. I wore the Bongo's at the worst point in my eating disorder, a place i never want to be again. The gray pants had always been super baggy, and now fit like a glove.

I look daily at a wall of magazine clippings from fitness mags of women who i some day want to be able to stand next to and say, "i look like that!" But at the end of the day, i can not lift enough weight or do enough cardio or make my diet perfect enough to change the fact that i am 4'8" tall and have naturally wide hipbones.

I am not a zero.

Those Bongo pants will likely never fit me again.

And i will never have long, lean muscles because my body is predisposed to putting on CHUNKS of muscle.

I am stocky, and i weigh a LOT for my height.

But i have a 23 inch waist.

I found high school jeans that DO fit.

And i can throw my 5'11" fiance over my shoulder and bodyslam him.

So that? Is exactly enough for me.