I wonder if any of you can give me some advice.
I haven't had any experience with significant weight loss before.
I'm toying with the idea of maintaining for a while, but I think this popped into my head after my mother—who has rarely said anything about my weight loss other than "good job!"—said she thinks I'm "done." She really didn't give a reason for this other than that she thinks I'll never be "skinny." I don't really need her to tell me this; I know I have a large frame (my ribcage is 35" and there isn't anything left around it for me to lose. Even squeezing the tape measure as tight as I can until I can't breathe results in a measurement of something SLIGHTLY under 35") so I won't ever get down to 110 or something like that.
I asked my fiancee (and I had to prod him, because he always thinks I'm fine, haha) and he says I probably shouldn't lose more than 20 pounds AT THE MOST. 15 pounds would probably be ideal. He thinks that much more than that I might look sickly.
I'm wondering if I look too sickly or something or if people are just so used to the larger me that it's hard to compare to the new me. I know that I'm my worst critic and sometimes I really wish I could see me how other people see me.
I'm questioning if I can safely even get down to 130, as I know large-framed folks tend to flirt with the normal and overweight BMI and still be considered at a healthy weight. I also lift weights and exercise hard regularly, so I likely look smaller than I actually weigh.
My weight loss has slowed, but not to the extent that it's become impossible to lose without taking drastic measures. I'm assuming that this means I still have more to lose but I honestly can't be sure. I'm just not happy completely right now and I'll be honest, I want a somewhat flat stomach and right now I still got that two stomachs thing going on. It's slowly, slowly disappearing and I just know that pretty soon it'll be somewhat sorta flat.
I don't need a completely flat stomach, just something that's KIND OF flat.
After my TL;DR post, my question is: Would it be a good idea to try out maintenance for a while, get used to this weight before diving into weight loss mode again? Should I ignore everyone and try to get to my goal of 130? Should I ask more people who see me regularly?
Maybe I should keep going until I get my sort of flat stomach.