I totally want to lose more weight. This was the lowest I imagined I'd want to go but now I find myself wanting 10 mor pounds off because I can't reconcile myself to the fat on my hips.

I know, I've had two kids and it's likely this blubber will never leave me but I just want to try...what does scare me is getting down to 102-105 range and finding that I'm not satisfied with that either....how do you know when to stop?

Is it just a gut feeling or do you have to make a concious decision to stop losing weight? How do you stop?

So long as I'm within a healthy BMI range, I don't worry about having lost too much weight.

Also, I've found that the lower my weight gets, the harder it is to lose weight. It's clear that I'm going to get to a point where I won't be able to lose more weight without reducing my calories to a level I know isn't healthy (i.e., less than 1200 per day). So I really think this question is going to take care of itself for me since there's no way I'm going to eat less than 1200 calories per day.

I'm still going down and plan too until I feel ready to stop. My legs/arms and waist still aren't as slender as I'd like to see them. I don't know what weight it will take to get me there, or if I ever will but at this point it doesn't matter to me. I do know that I could go as low as 95 I think before I was unhealthy (not that I want to be that bony) so anything between about 100 and where I am now is just fine with me.

Plus, right now, I'm working at not only going even lower but playing with maintainance a bit b/c there are some weeks that I give in to temptation, eat too much and don't lose any. I think those weeks are just as important to me right now as the weeks that I lose b/c I'm learning what I can and can't eat without gaining back. KWIM

My only fear about losing more is losing off my hips...and butt. Ugh, I've got nothing left there.

I guess I'm a little odd, or maybe it's just because I'm old

I'm really happy with my body. It's strong, curvy, and I can handle 4-5 80 lb. dogs on leashes no problem. I can walk all day and then still go for a kayak afterwards. I do yoga every day and am really flexible. On a hilly hike last weekend I left all of the young'uns panting for breath.

I just wanted to look a little less lumpy in my clothes and that's coming along really well. I don't want to be slender or tiny or any of that. I just want the size 10 things to fit loosely instead of tightly. And they're starting to do that.

If I can't ever eat another piece of chocolate cake in order to get down to 130 then I will settle for above 130 and eat my cake!

Obsession is a strange beast. You can look in the mirror and not see that you're skeletal - I see celebrities who were really good looking women now resembling starving folks from 3rd world countries.

I think Barbara has the right idea. There are objective measures you can follow.

Dagmar

Hmmm well if you get to your lowest BMI permissible (at 18.5 or 19 depending on who you agree with!) and you still hate your body, still want to lose more and are consumed by it..l.you oughta get help. That much I know!

emily
xxx

It's easy to go from diet into eating disorder, and trust me, you don't want to go there. You want to be thin, but healthy also.

I don't think it's unreasonable to want to lose more weight as long as you're keeping it above a BMI of 18 (the healthy range). There's a fair amount of evidence that low-normal weight (BMI 18-20) is the healthiest place to be. As long as you're making sure to eat well, get your nutrients and protein, and you're not obsessed unhealthily with it - go for it.

Do you do any resistance training? You could try for smaller without much more weight loss?

Mudpie,
This sort of stuck out in the response you gave...

I can think of one especially who was thin (as I imagine all actresses must be) probably straddling the 18.5 bmi that's considered healthy and then....just stopped eating it seems....

The thing is how do you know? How do you make yourself see? And what i just can't understand is why does my face still look fat to me? I can live with the oh so lovely skin drape (thank you kids!) but why does my face have to look fat? And why does my husband say that my face does not look fat when it so obviously does in photographs? *shrugs*

SusanB
Well, in addition to cardio, I do 30 minutes of yoga daily plus crunches, pushups and freeweights every other day....maybe some lowerbody work wold do me good?

I agree with what the others said about BMI. As long as your goal weight is in the healthy range for your height then it's ok.

In my case my goal is a weight that I was before I had a sedentary job and ate the cafeteria food for breakfast and lunch. I remember being my old size, being confident, and being happy with the way my clothes fit. Now that I bring my own food to work I know that I can go back to that size.

Sometimes we're our own worst critics, so that may be why your face looks the way it does to you. Or maybe in your mind's eye you're still seeing the face you had before you lost weight even though your face looks different now.

If it begins to interfere with your life in a negative manner, I say you need to re-evaluate your goals.