[Loving Me]

Nearly 16 months ago I started this weight loss journey, only aiming to lose 9lbs to start with, just to hopefully get me going and help me ease some of the terrible health symptoms I was having. When I made a ticker for on here I had to choose a goal and found that SO hard. So even though it felt impossible I decided on 145lbs, getting me to a BMI of 24.9, just into the healthy range which I haven't been for probably 15 years or more.
This past three months the weight loss has slowed right down and I'm noticing a definitely losing pattern of spending about 3 weeks each month bouncing around the same number, then having a whoosh for about 10 days. This week is my losing week and I really hoped I might see that magic number, and yesterday I did. Then this morning another 1.5lbs whooshed away making me 143.5 with a BMI of 24.6!!!
The thing is, although I am really happy about it I think I'm in shock to be honest. The other thing is that as I've got closer to goal I've realised that I don't want to stop here... Clothed mostly I'm really happy, but naked there is definitely lots of room for improvement still. There is still definitely fat around my middle which I want to work on, but there is also a lot of loose skin, which I know I'm going to have to learn to live with if I don't intend to go down the surgery route.... So I've decided to review my goal to 137lbs which is a BMI of 23.5 and will mean I've lost half my body weight. This post could get to book length and my thoughts are allover the place at the moment so I'm trying to make it as short as possible and will post again another time with more thoughts, but for now, I have some questions for the big losers here and those maintainers who still post. I did think of posting on the maintainers forum, but I really value everyone's input here as well. So, some questions:-

1. Should I change my ticker to my new goal or leave it as it is
2. How did you decide on your goal weight? I've read on the maintainers forum about lots of people's bodies deciding for them, but I'd like to know if you set a specific goal and how. Everyone is telling me now that I've lost enough, but I'm really lost as to where to go from here. I know I'm not done in my own head.
3. If you set a goal and reached it, and then didn't see in the mirror what you expected when you started your journey, how did you deal with that? Did you change your goal, or work on your body with toning etc, or work on your head, what?
4. Once you saw the magic number on the scale, what next? How did you suddenly adjust from weight loss to maintenance? This really freaks me out as yesterday I saw that once thought of magic number and just thought, what now, what the heck do I do now?

[Rosinante]

First of all, many, many congratulations!!!! That's a great achievement. Amazing.
Secondly, you said "pattern of spending", which made me smile. Freudian slip, much? It would be for me, now that I can buy off the peg things, I really Really have to watch my pattern of spending. Even in the charity shop, it soon adds up!

Thirdly, I definitely see the attraction of losing 50% of your startweight, that's my final goal too.
but
There is a temptation to go on and on losing. For me last time, when I came within 16lbs of goal, I missed the 'thrill' of losing and the 'reward' of other people's comments: after 100+lbs, it was no longer exciting news for them.

What I might be tempted to do, once I get down to 'normal', which is 136 for me, I think, is to stick with that and try and work on a) maintenance (my big downfall) and b) work on toning up the current state of my body. If that leads to a few more pounds creeping off, so be it; but I think I - we? - need to work at being happy with our amazing results, and not pushing our goals always just a bit farther away.

Just my 2p!

Finally - you have done fantastically well!

[rachael]

Congrats!

I think only you can decide when you are done, but you need to make sure it is something you can maintain. My goal is a weight I maintained before without a problem.

[Eliana]

Oh my goodness! I'm so happy for you! That really doesn't seem possible, does it, to have lost all that you have? To be such a different person on the outside? It's incredible and it's confusing and I'm right there with you so I'm not much help.

I think when I get there, right now my plan is to leave the ticker and let it do the X pounds past goal bit. Or I may ditch it altogether and use the side bar. I'm not sure yet. I think I'll know when I get there and I'll change it if I don't like it. I'll use whatever I find most motivating. Right now "X pounds past your goal" sounds really motivating! Like anything lost is just icing on the cake. I think I'll be done moving toward a specific goal at that point.

If I were you and if I wasn't quite finished yet, I think I would just do today what you did yesterday and every day for the past 16 months. Repeat. If I were hitting maintenance and really just wanting to maintain, I think I'd add 100 calories a day and see what the scale did.

[findingfawn]

Congrats!!! That is so awesome!!!!

I have my goal at 130, but more as a cushion, I want to lose 50% which would put me at 135, but that cushion is important to me so I added it. I may be like you when I get there and decide to move it more but I will worry about that when that day comes.

[Arctic Mama]

CONGRATULATIONS! I'd absolutely change your ticker, and as for a goal weight, if you don't have a particular weight you want to be at, just a way you want to look, set an optimistic and ambitious goal (maybe 130, or whatever the lowest you comfortably go with your mental weightloss) and work toward that. You'll either settle along the way on a number you like or a look you like, or you'll reach that ultimate low in seeking your particular aesthetic. But in the end, our bodies do tend to choose, for us.

[bargoo]

I did change my goal weight, first because I had origionally set it at the top of my weight range , then to the middle and evntually set it lower after discovering I am 2 inches shorter than I thought I was.

[ubergirl]

LM--- I am so incredibly happy for you and proud of you that I have tears in my eyes right now. I know how hard you have worked to get to this point. Your perserverance and commitment totally and completely paid off!

:c arrot:

WOWZERS!

And I want you to know that I was thinking about you as I put the treadmill up to a faster speed. You are one of my inspirations.

:c arrot:

[npaglia]

first of all...YOU'RE FREAKING AWESOME!!!

what you've accomplished so far is phenomenal...130lbs+ lost = go on wich-yo-bad-self

I've been involved in fitness pretty much my whole life and a big passion of mine is helping people with this stuff so I'll offer a little feedback...take what makes sense - discard what doesn't...

First off, don't get too caught up in what the scale says...

I gave some other advice on the forum in reference to this and basically said...

...it's definitely not just about the digits on the scale...that can be a great means of measurement but more importantly...

are you losing fat?

are you looking better in the mirror?

are you feeling a greater sense of vitality?

are you gaining a little lean muscle?

these are often times more important than the numbers on the scale...

if you look like a uber-supermodel...feel an extraordinary sense of vitality and energy...all your vitals are in great shape...and you have a low body fat percentage - does it really matter if you weigh 800lbs?

so maybe take a measurement of your body fat percentage - have you done that yet?

that really is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT elements in your transformation - because for some people - the weight they loose isn't where it counts...it could be more water weight, lean body mass and so forth...

Weight and BMI are kind of poor measures in fitness and overall health + what's most important.......because it doesn't take into account fat vs. lean tissue...

Calculating your body fat percentage can be a pain in the butt if you get it calculated by means of hydrostatic testing or other costly methods outside the privacy of your home but there is a way to do it pretty cheap and have a pretty accurate assessment...

there's a skinfold caliper called the "Accu-Measure" that is specifically designed for self-testing - so maybe look that up online - I think it runs around $20...

by taking into account your body fat percentage - you'll have a more educated foundation which to base and set your target weight...

it's also about how you look and how you feel...

and in terms of "what to do now" that you've hit what was once thought to be the "magic number"..............gauge where you're at based on what we went over above and...

once you hit your target ideals - then it's about feeling how amazing it is to be where you are...look where you've come from...and continually work on improving the little things...there's always room for improvement...

suddenly your standards will automatically be raised and you'll become more and more everyday...

do so in balance...

well you go on with yo bad self and keep up the badass work!

talk soon!