I am currently maintaining at between 134-136. I lost 100 lbs overall and it took about 11 months. I have been maintaining this weight for almost 5 months, and I just can't seem to go any lower than this, no matter what I do. This was my original goal, but I decided that I wanted to get to around 130. This is due to long-distance running. I want to carry less weight on my frame when I'm running to make it easier. You'd be surprised how much difference 5-6 lbs. can make when you're running 20 miles +.
I simply cannot figure this out and I was hoping that maybe some of you knowledgeable people could help me with this. I am vegan, but I eat plenty of legumes and other plant based proteins. I am training for my first marathon. I am in week 11 of an 18 week training program. I used to be incredibly hungry from running, but that has subsided. Lately, I really haven't been all that hungry, regardless of the amount of exercise I do. I also lift weights twice a week, ride my bike, and do yoga 3 times a week.
I used calorie counting to lose the first 100 lbs. I haven't been tracking lately, but seriously, I don't think I'm overeating. I eat very little processed food at all, the majority of my diet consists of fruits and vegetables and whole grains.
Has anyone else experienced this? I am overjoyed that I have been able to maintain this weight, but I'm beginning to think that without starvation I wouldn't be able to weigh less than I do right now. I am way past the days of starving myself to lose weight. It's unhealthy and it makes me mean. I see other people here who are 5'6" and weigh less than I do. How in the heck did you do it?
Whatever you want to call it I do think each person's body has a weight that it is most comfortable at, regardless of what your mind wants.
Mine is between 133-137 lbs. I have tried to get down below 130 for about 2 years now and am totally burned out by the effort and by my lack of success.
I'm pretty sure I will have to accept 133 as the lowest weight I can maintain and still retain my sanity. I think 135 is more realistic but I'm still hoping for some sort of breakthrough.
Hey Milmin, I don't know if I actually believe in true physical "set points" as in no matter what you do, your body will not follow...but I do believe in mental set points, where you simply don't WANT to go any farther, no matter how much you want to WANT it.
I'm your height and I find it impossible to stay under 140 for more than a day or 2 without feeling like I'm starving. Oh, I could do it, if I counted every single calorie and restricted them in a losing mode fashion. (1200-1300 calories/day), suffer through the feelings of deprivation and make it a life's passion to get off those last 7 pounds I always wanted to lose, but I don't want it badly enough. I don't really try, I just wish...lol Oh and then there is maintaining a number I found extremely difficult to reach. Am I willing to do what it takes to stay there? H*ll NO, it's hard enough to maintain 140.
Hi everyone,
I see other people here who are 5'6" and weigh less than I do. How in the heck did you do it?
Speaking for myself, I do it by having a lot less muscle than you. Which is not a good thing, I hasten to add.
Regarding the set points theory, I sorta believe in it, but I think set points are for a shorter duration than lifelong. In my experience, I can reset the "sticky range," but it is very hard work (at least to lower it) and it seems to take a very long time (more like years than months).
Distance running and weight loss is very complicated, especially when you get close to your ideal weight range. I wish I had all the scientific facts, but like I said it's complicated.
The first thing you need to do is start tracking your cals. You may either be eating more then you think or not eating enough. I'm a distance runner too and when I don't eat enough I don't lose.
Other than that, it may be time for you to reevaluate your goals and stop comparing yourself to others. You've lost 100 lbs and I understand wanting to weigh less, but when is it enough? You are at a very healthy weight and what's left could just be loose skin.
Sorry I know that want exactly your question, but felt it needed to be said. Personally I don't believe in set points. The body just needs a break from dieting sometimes and towards your ideal weight the dieting probess gets pretty tricky.
I agree there is a mental set point along with some combination of physical set point. Meaning, your body will keep losing and losing weight in a roughly linear fashion if you continue to eat below maintenance needs. People can absolutely starve themselves down to skeletons, sadly. However, as we all know, our maintenance requirements become lower and lower as we get smaller. At a certain mental point, we refuse (either consciously or subconsciously) to keep eating below our maintenance needs.
I maintain on about 1400-1600cals/day at my goal weight (125-130lbs). When I was 180+lbs, I was losing about 2lbs per week eating 1400-1600cals/day. So, if I rewinded time and went back to when I was 180+lbs and religiously ate 1400-1600lbs every single day, I would float down to 125-130lbs and settle there as my physical set point. Sure, I could eat 500cals/day and lose more weight, that's just biological fact. Mentally and emotionally and for my own sanity, I refuse to eat less than that. I am personally quite comfortable at 125-130lbs eating 1400-1600cals/day. It required a bit of effort to continue tracking and using self control, but I know I am comfortable and sustainable at that weight and calorie intake. That is where the physical set point and mental/emotional set point bisected for me.
And while I just said it was comfortable and sustainable, I did get off track. I quit counting, quit using self control, and regained some weight. I have been maintaining around 135lbs for a few months now which just ticks me off. It crossed through my mind that maybe under 130lbs was too low for me and 135lbs is actually where my body/mind needs to be. But that's rubbish because I maintained 125-130lbs perfectly easily for over a year. I was not starving, wasn't deprived, I had regular indulgences. I'm maintaining at stupid 135lbs right now because I'd been eating kind of on plan plus about 600cals worth of uncounted junk every single day, lol. Nipping that terrible habit out of my lifestyle will bring me back to my physical/mental set point of eating 1400-1600cal/day and maintaining 125-130lbs.
Congratulations on losing 100 pounds, that is a major achievment. I don't know if I believe in a set point, when I was overweight I was hoping that was true. I thought that if my body would just settle on a number, I would be happy. Not true, I continued to gain, I didn't know where it was going to stop.
Remember this , the lower our weight and the less we want to lose, the longer it will take, as our weight goes down it takes fewer calories to maintain that number. If you are not counting calories you may actually be eating more than you think you are. I know that happens to me, guesstimating just isn't accurate enough.
Hi from a fellow vegan marathon runner! I'm running my sixth on Sunday and really looking forward to it.
I can't add much to the wisdom above, except to say that weight loss during marathon training is difficult and unpredictable. When I'm in the last 6-8 weeks of training prior to the race, I eat to maintain not lose. Otherwise my training tends to suffer. When back to normal running, around 30-35 miles/wk, I eat at a loss.
I do believe in set points---for most people. Our bodies seek homeostasis, but I think that is also depends on age, obesity and weight loss history, muscle mass, genetics, hormones and a ton of other biological functions that have not even been identified yet. It's not simply the math of calories in and calories out. (I know, I know...it's supposed to be, and yet for many people the types of food matter as much as the calories.)
I personally have 3 set points and when I am there I can play fairly fast and loose with both calories and exercise and see little to no change in the scale, but a concerted consistent effort over time is required to move past those points.
I believe it is also very difficult to lose body fat while training for a marathon. Don't get me wrong, I love to run, too. But it's not super awesome for fat loss once one gets to a certain body fat percentage and a certain training distance.
When I trained for my half-marathon, my weight stayed the same, my body fat % increased, and my lean mass decreased. These were measured by the same experienced person using 7 point calipers in similar situations. The numbers might not be precise, but the trend was significant.
Are there exceptions? Probably. My DD runs XC and when those girls/women are in the midst of their season and hitting 70 miles/week, their legs become more defined, their clothes a tad looser and (often) their periods stop. There are problems with this, though.
What is your weekly milage?
Frankly, I hear what you are saying about wanting to weigh less to ease your running, but I am not sure you can marry fat loss at your weight with the kind of distance running you are pulling down each week. For fat loss, I would suggest swapping out a couple of your steady state runs each week for running hills, speed work, fartleks, stride outs, etc. Your body will adapt to steady state running very efficiently, but sprint intervals and hills will help. But that may not help you reach your marathon goal.
Also, make sure you are getting enough protein to preserve your muscle mass. Are you vegan? (ETA: went back and saw you are) Are you getting healthy fats in your diet? Are you hungry?
My advice? Train for your marathon, run your marathon and then after the marathon focus on HIIT to try to drop your body fat a bit. But I think you are at a good weight for your height (although my opinion is irrelevant compared to yours!) and right now you might prefer focusing on fueling your runs rather than dropping those last few pounds.
ETA again! I just saw that you haven't been hungry? That can be a sign of overtraining.
Thank you all so much for your wonderful, candid answers. In my head, I know that I should be thrilled with how far I've come and just relax. Of course, relaxing my thoughts too much is what got me into the situation I was in. For some stupid reason, I have a 130 goal in mind, and as hard as I try, psychologically I just don't seem to be able to dismiss it. I have started to develop so many of the destructive thought patterns that we see so many people here fall into. When I get on the scale for my weekly weigh-in and I see that I have not budged an ounce, or that I have actually gained, I become beyond frustrated. Even though I read all of the information out there, and I do understand (in my head) about not losing linearly and water weight gain, muscle loss, and on and on and on, I still fall into the same old traps.
Honestly, I am one of those people who had extremely stretched out skin. My body was obviously not meant to be so overweight. Losing more has only caused my loose skin to look just like pizza dough. It's very distressing. Especially on my butt and the backs of my legs. It looks like candle wax and that my body has literally slid north. I think my extra skin weighs a considerable amount, and that is not going to go away, no matter how much I lose. My body has shrunk inside this loose, weird skin. When I realistically look at my body, while naked, I almost think there is no way I could lose more actual fat, without doing it in an unhealthy way. I can feel every muscle under all of my skin, so that's not the problem.
Maybe my question should have been, "How do I come to terms with this body?" I needed to hear from maintainers that we are kind of all in the same boat, trying to figure out all of this. I know I should be beyond happy with my newish body and that I shouldn't feel like it's not good enough, but I'm being honest here, I'm just not. Is this what body issues are and how they start? Gosh, reading my reply here is making me realize that I sound like a nut job.
midwife-I am currently running about 50 miles per week. That is my peak mileage. I am vegan. I think I could work more on the healthy fats. I'm not afraid of fat or anything, I just forget about it from time to time. I take a b-12 supplement everyday as well as calcium and vitamin C. Other than that, I take so many drugs for Parkinson's, that I can't get down any more drugs.
I had never heard that not being hungry could be a sign of overtraining. I find that very interesting. I want to run this marathon more than anything. I was training to run a marathon in 99' when I was diagnosed with PD. This is a bucket list biggie for me, and I don't want to give up like I did last time from depression and sadness.
Thank you ladies. I've said so many times before that 3FC has been such a great source of support for me and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I appreciate every single one of your responses and I will read each again for inspiration.
I think your feelings are totally normal and that you are an amazing person. I remember when you posted your goal story. I was so blown away by all that you have overcome!
When is your marathon?
I think for those of us who were never "athletes" growing up, well, sometimes we don't know about concepts like "overtraining". I can never recognize it in myself. My DH (who has always been an athlete) will notice it first, when my appetite goes away. He points it out. And then I know I need to dial back, but it is HARD to dial back for some of us.
Can you stick to your running but dial back on the cycling or yoga? I know cross training, strength, and flexibility are all essential, but I would prioritize the marathon training over all of that right now.
Thank you midwife. I truly appreciate your support. I was telling a friend yesterday that I was just a person who was faced with death who decided I wasn't ready to surrender just yet. Death can be a huge motivator.
Fitness magazine is running "my story" in their Nov. issue, but I was very disappointed to see that they concentrated only on my stroke, and didn't mention Parkinson's Disease. They did take a picture of me with my Fox T-shirt on, but that was it. They also concentrated the most on my weight loss, which believe it or not, truly is not my big concern here. (I know, ironic, seeing that I just wrote a long post on wanting to lose more).
I wasn't an athlete growing up. I was very athletic, always playing outside, running and jumping, and very thin, but I knew nothing about organized sports or the actual mechanics of being athletic. I am going to scale back on cycling and weight lifting until after the marathon. I hate to scale back my yoga, because it is the one thing that has helped tremendously with my muscle stiffness as far as PD goes.
I am not vegan to lose weight. It is all related to getting the right nutrients to keep PD from progressing as fast. So far it is working. Eating tons of fruits and vegetables. Of course, this is what I think is working, although it's probably a combination of everything. My first marathon is Nov. 13th. I am using it as a training run and I'm not concerned about time, just making it to the finish line. I am actually going to count the first one on Dec. 4th when I run the Dallas White Rock Marathon. I can qualify for Boston if I can run it in 6 hours under the mobility disabled category. That will probably be it for me as far as marathons go, but who knows? I don't know how long my muscles will continue to put up with it. I don't know if you've ever heard of John Ball, who wrote a book about running with PD, but he is in 60s and has had PD since he was in his late 20s. He still runs marathons. What an inspiration!!
Quick question for you Did you increase your calories as your training went up?
I am curious bc I find with myself that it seems the calories I burn through any type of training do not have the same effect as calorie cutting for weight loss/body fat loss purposes.
EX. I can be pretty sedentary and burn maybe 1800 cals a day with no structured exercise, eat 1200-1400 calories and I lose fat really easily. Yet, if I am doing a lot of running, burning at least 2200-2400 calories and eating ~1500-1700 caloires, I maintain?
I am wondering if I am strange or if my body does not react well to endurance exercise....I have always responded quite easily if I restrict my calories but if I try to create the same deficit by eating more and increasing activity, I do not get good results...
(I am 66'', 132-137 pounds, trying to get off that last bit of fat
I do believe in "set point," but not in terms of a "set in stone, single best, unchangeable weight" for an individual.
There are a lot of physiological processes that favor equilibrium or maintaining a balance-point. From body temperature to blood sugar regulation, to maintaining electrolyte or hormone balances.
I think weight is no different. There are biological systems that favor the "status quo," and changing the status qo can be a challenge (sometimes a small challenge, sometimes a huge one). Psychological factors also play a role and can be hard to distinguish from physiological ones.
I've fought several long-standing plateaus in my weight loss, and I can't even guess the proportion of physiological to psychological factors. I'm not sure that it even matters.
I think it boils down to how much effort and what you're willing to make to shift the balance.
If you were reducing your calorie level and increasing your exercise and still not losing, I would consider physiological issues at play (but even so, more dramatic changes could break the plateau and "reset" your set[oint).
I think a more logical explanation is calorie intake. I know you say you don't think you're overeating, but you don't have to be overeating to be blocking weight loss when you're only talking about five pounds.
If your metabolic rate is average, the difference between the calorie level needed to maintain 130 lbs, verses 135 lbs is only going to be about 50 - 100 calories.
That's one small to medium apple.
or 1 ounce of cheese
or 1 - 2 tablespoons of salad dressing
If you're not counting calories (or exchanges, or points, or something), it's very easy to eat an "extra" 100 calories in just a bite or two. And it's not even going to feel like "extra" because one or two bites isn't going to feel significantly different than one or two fewer.
That is really interesting kaplods and something I didn't even think about. Perhaps it is time that I stop resisting and start actually counting the calories I am consuming for a couple of weeks to have a baseline to figure this out.
Does Anyone Believe in a "Set Point"?
Oh and then there is maintaining a number I found extremely difficult to reach. Am I willing to do what it takes to stay there? H*ll NO, it's hard enough to maintain 140.
Did you increase your calories as your training went up?
