I think I've settled on 128 lbs.

LiveOnceBeHappy · February 2022

I am a 52 year old female, 5' 2.5". It's been difficult knowing when to stop losing and maintain. I was 170 lbs at the end of August, and I am 130.8 lbs this morning. Stopping is hard! My doctor said not to go below 22 BMI. 2 more pounds and then stop? I know maintaining will be the hardest part of this, really. Thanks for listening.

AnnPT77 · February 2022

Yes, it is hard. Your doctor's opinion is important, of course. So is your preference.

One thing that may help is to recognize that settling into a goal weight is not a "for all time" decision. You can live at a weight for a while, change your mind if necessary.

Maybe think about getting to 128, then work on practicing maintenance for a while (months)? Some of us find that our bodies change a bit in the first year or so of maintenance: Loose skin shrinks, our calorie needs may change (may need more of them to maintain, after a time), etc.

There's a seductive lure in that reward of the scale dropping, that I think we can get unhelpfully attached to, in rare cases maybe even obsessed by. That's not a good thing. Seeking new sources of psychological reward can be useful, such as getting stronger, becoming more flexible, doing better at some physical activity, etc.

I'm not sure I agree that maintenance is harder, especially if one has used the time of weight loss to figure out some relatively pleasant, sustainable healthy hobbies. If weight loss has been more of a phase of strictness, perceived deprivation, extreme exercise, etc., then it's going to be necessary to figure out those happy, sustainable habits from scratch. (That in itself could be a new goal.)

Yes, there's a psychological adjustment. But you've already done a difficult thing, losing a very material amount of weight, and I'm sure that's been good for your health and well-being. If you could do that, I think you'll be able to maintain within a sensible weight range, too. (It's never one single exact weight!)

Wishing you success!

P.S. As context, I'm in year 6+ of maintenance, after about a year of loss (class 1 obese to healthy weight) that followed around 30 previous years of being overweight/obese. I'm 66, 5'5", mid-120s pounds. I know that's lighter than your doctor suggested for you, so I'll point out that I'm of narrow build, and post-bilateral-mastectomies, so feel like a relatively lower weight is OK for me.

SuzySunshine99 · February 2022

Also remember that your weight will always be a range, not one specific number.

Weight fluctuates daily due to fluid retention, waste/food in your system, etc.

You can set a specific goal, such as 128, as your official stopping point, but just realize that maintenance doesn't mean that you will see 128 on the scale every day.

I have a maintenance range of about 5 pounds, from 125 to 130. Some people can experience bigger swings than that.

briscogun · February 2022

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

Also remember that your weight will always be a range, not one specific number.

Weight fluctuates daily due to fluid retention, waste/food in your system, etc.

You can set a specific goal, such as 128, as your official stopping point, but just realize that maintenance doesn't mean that you will see 128 on the scale every day.

I have a maintenance range of about 5 pounds, from 125 to 130. Some people can experience bigger swings than that.

This is spot on.

If you think about it, 130 is within the "range" of your 128 goal weight, so you could consider yourself in maintenance as we speak!

When I got close to my goal weight last time, I sort of slowed down and treated my day as if I was in maintenance for weeks and weeks. So I didn't just stop and add a bunch of calories, I sort of eased into it. You are definitely in that area to start making some transitions at this point.

Congrats on the hard work and results!

LiveOnceBeHappy · February 2022

briscogun wrote: »

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

Also remember that your weight will always be a range, not one specific number.

Weight fluctuates daily due to fluid retention, waste/food in your system, etc.

You can set a specific goal, such as 128, as your official stopping point, but just realize that maintenance doesn't mean that you will see 128 on the scale every day.

I have a maintenance range of about 5 pounds, from 125 to 130. Some people can experience bigger swings than that.

This is spot on.

If you think about it, 130 is within the "range" of your 128 goal weight, so you could consider yourself in maintenance as we speak!

When I got close to my goal weight last time, I sort of slowed down and treated my day as if I was in maintenance for weeks and weeks. So I didn't just stop and add a bunch of calories, I sort of eased into it. You are definitely in that area to start making some transitions at this point.

Congrats on the hard work and results!

Thanks! I added a whole 20 calories so far! I'm looking forward to adding more and leveling out.

westrich20940 · February 2022

Yeah I'd suggest thinking about 'range' instead of one number. I'm about the same height as you (but a bit younger) and my 'range' is 120-125.

I think it's good to continue logging when you are in maintenance to see how you're feeling --- for me personally I ended up losing more weight than anticipated (I think when I set my calorie goal to maintenance, I didn't take into account I was far more active than I was at the beginning, thus needed a lil' more calories than anticipated). So I actually got down to like...115. Which isn't an 'unhealthy' weight for my height...and I was not skin/bones -- BUT, over the 6 or so weeks that I was at that weight...I just found that I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. I also wasn't necessarily just eating when I was hungry, I was eating to what I'd figured was what I *should eat. I was always on the edge of just feeling...a bit off...and little 'too skinny'. So I upped my calorie goal to what was more appropriate for my caloric needs and I got back up to my current range. I don't really log all the time anymore and just go with my hunger cues and have stayed a consistent weight without logging since Aug. 2021 (I just started logging the other day just because I actually have no idea how many calories I'm eating per day right now so figured I should log to figure it out again) --- so IMO that means that I'm at my equilibrium. I eat when I'm hungry, I engage in healthy physical activity, I'm not overly full or hungry most days...so I figure this must be my natural 'range'. I think it's better to think about that instead of a number that you've chosen for some reason.

Like, say you choose 115 as your goal weight (for example)...but you find that you have to keep yourself in a deficit in order to maintain that weight --- you *should probably weigh more than that. Does that make sense?

I think I've settled on 128 lbs.

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