It's so crazy. I used to say to myself that once I got to a size 10, I would be at goal no matter what I weighed. Got to the 10, now in 8's and because I lost nearly 20 pounds in a month I still see myself as weighing 182 pounds at times. It's like my head has'nt caught up with my body. Trying to be realistic here. Anyone else struggle with this after losing so fast? All my friends tell me I look great where i'm at, but cant get that 155 number out of my head! Now i'm thinking size 6. How do you know for sure when enough is enough?
It's so crazy. I used to say to myself that once I got to a size 10, I would be at goal no matter what I weighed. Got to the 10, now in 8's and because I lost nearly 20 pounds in a month I still see myself as weighing 182 pounds at times. It's like my head has'nt caught up with my body. Trying to be realistic here. Anyone else struggle with this after losing so fast? All my friends tell me I look great where i'm at, but cant get that 155 number out of my head! Now i'm thinking size 6. How do you know for sure when enough is enough?
With you on this one, was only 5/7 lbs when I stopped last year but 45 lbs from my heaviest and it was 45lbs for previous 15 years. My goal is set for the top of healthiest BMI but I'm already looking at others 10/15 lbs lower at same height and thinking I may go smaller. Small goals work better for me. Right now I'm doing day by day. Been a tough first week on plan.
Good question. I think it's great that you want to keep going. I hope I do too. I picked a goal at the top of my healthy BMI, but I hope I decide to keep going after that and maybe end up in a 6. I haven't been that small since the 1st grade, so I can't even imagine it right now.
I think you can all loose another 10-15 pounds and not be too thin.
I still have a ways to go before I am at your weights.
I am losing weight very slowly...1 pound per week.
Funny that you say this....When I first started, I was only doing the first 20 pounds to 'jump start' me.
Now that I got the first 20 off, there is NO WAY I am stopping. I've never had this kind of success on any diet I've ever done, and I've done just about all of them.
I'd love to get down to my weight I was in the 20's but that's another 60 pounds off. It sounds like so much, but I feel like with IP I can actually do it.
I totally understand. I'm the same height as you. I started at almost 170 and size 16 pant (I'm a little heavier in my hips and thighs). I set my goal at 140. The thinnest I've ever been is 150, so I thought 140 would be thin enough. I got to 140 and size 8 and wanted to go down to 135 for insurance. When I got to 135, I wanted to go to 130. It's like my brain kept thinking I should lose a little more, even though my body looked great. I started phasing off and hope to continue losing a little in Phase 4. When I look at other really skinny people now, I think "wow, I don't want to look that scrawny." I think some curves are nice and size 8 is perfect for 5' 8". I want to work on toning my leggs and thighs, but I'm happy with my size now. You look gorgeous in your profile photo and it seems to me that was taken a little while ago, so you must be even thinner now. If you want to lose a little more, its definitely easier to keep going once you're on a roll, but at some time you will reach a point when you think you are getting too thin and other people will tell you to stop. Sorry for the ramble. Ggod luck with your decision!
My brain didn"t really catch up to my weight loss until recently. My goal isn't really about size or scale numbers. I want to be able to walk out of my house in a t-shirt and jeans and not cringe at the thought that maybe I'm showing my rolls. I am getting there slowly, i was out and about a couple of days ago and I felt strangely comfortable. No jacket required! It was a NSV for me and not really a small one either
amaliayosa - That is a great question.
This is how I interpreted it for myself.
When I was at my heaviest, I was in denial. I looked in the mirror...but I never really LOOKED at my reflection, I saw my clothes, my hair and my make up - I avoided focusing in on the lumps and bumps all over my body...I knew they were there, I could feel them, but I didn't let my mind go there.
When I started losing weight rapidly, that is when I started really looking at my body - properly - naked. All of a sudden I felt like I had been hit by the fat stick, even at a 30#, 40# loss I was convinced that I was just as big as I had ever been.
I think my ah-ha moment came when I got to 140, even though I was still fighting with the body issues mentally, I was seeing a gaunt face (in my opinion) looking back at me in the mirror. That is when I decided to move on to phase 2 and that was the turning point for me, even though I still have some lumpy flappy areas, going in to phase 2 helped me make that mental decision that for now this is where I am happy to be and it's time for me to enjoy my imperfect body and take it out for a run (metaphorically and literally!!).
Perhaps down the road, I will decide to lose a little more....perhaps I won't. I'm just going to focus on the here and now and enjoy this wonderful blessing that I have been given. Happiness really is a choice and I'm choosing to be happy with my sexy self.
Sorry for the rambling!
It is really hard to tell when you in losing mode and on a low calorie diet. There is some chemical reaction and change that occurs in your brain when you are on a low cal diet and it actually makes you focus and see more fat (saw that on the discovery health channel this week).
Although we are on a ketogenic diet we are also on a low calorie diet and it is the ketosis process that makes us burn the fat and not notice the low calorie part. The effect to our brain can be the same.
Also, it is very hard for your brain to keep up with the fast change. I mean honestly, some people have waited so long to by replacement clothes that, when they finally do, they are buying clothing 2 to 3 sizes smaller than they last were. That is a huge change and hard to internalize in one day!
I say go by your body fat or bmi reading. Athletic or not, body fat is body fat and a safe measurement of where you want to be. A woman in her 40's is considered good at 23 to 28% bf. For me, I am aiming 20 to 23% body fat. Maybe in a year or two I will try to get to 19% by exercising but, based on diet alone, I am just going for an average body fat for my age and activity level. In the end, whatever weight and size that translates to will be fine for me.
Find a measurement tool that works for you. Remember, size is not always the best because every designer uses a different size and, sizes are subject to change. (a size 10 from the 80's, 90's and 2000's are all somewhat different in measurement even if the same designer! At least they were when I measured those clothes I kept over the years and I fortunately had all Gap, Liz Claiborne, Evan Picone, Jones New York, and Casual Corner which were around in each decade. It was easy to compare within the brands.)
That happened to me 12 yrs ago when I lost 40 lbs on WW. What really got to me was how the attention paid to me changed. I did not correlate it to my weight loss at first, but then I realized it was the reason. Men I knew for years (thru work etc) who had always treated me with respect, now treated me more flirtatiously. I didn't like it. The worst part was four or five married men hit on me, openly. One was an airline pilot, and wanted me to go on his next trip and spend a dirty weekend somewhere. When I told him no, he said come on, you know you want to. Gross. Then another man told a mutual friend that he'd rent a luxe apartment for me and basically he would be my sugar daddy. Even grosser. I had not realized this could happen, and mentally I was not ready for it. I wonder if that is why I put all the weight back on. This time I'm better prepared mentally. Plus I'm married with 2 kids and I know I "ain't all that" any more! And I don;t want to be. I want to be slim, and healthy, but I don;t want that unwanted attention I got so many years ago. Not good
This is a great question. I've shed a lot of pounds and I'm just now beginning to see the difference when I look in the mirror. I hold up the 22/24 jeans that I was wearing at Christmas 2009 and then I hold up the size 10 jeans that I wear today. I always swear my tush won't fit into them, but it does.
The BMI chart has a range. I know my Weight Watchers range is 117-146. So there's a lot of room to play around in there and be considered "healthy". Another thing about rapid weight loss is that everything will "settle" at some point. You may not look the same in the mirror in a month after you stop losing.
I think that an important factor is to have someone that you can trust. Probably not a mom or a sister, but a best friend (who isn't jealous of your success) and be able to check in and ask them to give you honest feedback about whether you're losing too much. The other thing is to ask yourself the question about whether you could have an anorexic "gene" in your body. If the answer is yes that you just feel yourself wanting to get thinner and thinner and never satisfied, have that best friend give you a good talking to.
I think you lose great and if losing a few more pounds is what you want, go for it.
Yahoo this morning had a great article on women's sizes, past and present. Every clothing line has a different sizing. We might be an 8 in one line and a 12 in another. What they stressed is getting rid of the number mentality and finding what looks best on you. We're each different. That said, I love the 8's that I can fit into, but I also have a pair of Banana Republic pants that are a 12 and made for women without hips so they're very lose in the waist and fit in the hips.
This happened to me when I lost 45 pounds on the Fat Smash. I could see the number on the scale but I couldn't see it in the mirror. I knew my clothes didn't fit I couldn't keep my heels on, but I just couldn't see it. I hope that won't happen this time.
I still felt close to 300 pounds when I was half of that. Maybe you should take a break and let your mind catch up with your body. Maintaining a while doesn't hurt anything, but there is definitely a thing as overdieting; it's not good for your mental health, you could easily get burned out (and risk gaining weight back) and a lot of people look unhealthy or less attractive if they lose too much. From your avatar picture, it looks like you're looking very thin and healthy right now, so maybe try maintaining until the body dysmorphia passes?
Fast weight loss and body image
