How do you know when to stop losing weight??
 

I know that 'when I get there, I will know' but for some reason this has been bugging me lately. I have always carried my weight well and usually weigh much more than people think I do.

I have lost 25lbs and based on my inital goal want to go for 9 more lbs. I was thinking of reducing this further to 4 more lbs...bringing my weight down to 160. I would then try to maintain between 160 - 164.

But my problem is this....i am loving how I look now. Sure, the arms need toning and the abs could be flatter, but I love how I look. I have ordered a DVD to help with the strength training part of my routine and have also just started the C25K program.

Do I stop obsessing over the scale and the numbers? Or do I aim for that 160? A part of me wants to continue to 'goal' as deep down, I think I might see myself as a failure if I stop now. But at the same time, I like what I am seeing...my clothes fit well, I have energy, I am overall a much better me.

I dont know what to do........:?:

This is just me, but I say aim for 160. You might like how you look even better there, plus if you dislike it, you can always put the weight back on until you're happy with how you look. It's easier to put weight on than it is to lose it... Me personally I'd lose a little extra, maybe get to 165, so you have at least 5lb of "just in case."

But ultimately it's up to you!

Personally, I would meet the 164 (yay!) then focus on maintenance for a while. Do your sports (the running or toning of the arms) and focus on looking better (inches off, rather than pounds off) and once you're seeing results, check again to where your weight is.

Practice maintenance and if you feel (in the future) ready to move on to 155-160, do it and see how you feel.

I don't think there's a hard and fast rule, that's why there are ideal weight RANGES. I just wouldn't aim for anything lower than what's normal for your height.

I've been in this same thought process for a while now. Some days I think I'll make it to 135 and some days I think I could stop in "five more pounds". But it's always "five more pounds" so I'll probably end up "five more pounds"ing myself down to 135 anyway! :D I'm at a point where I'm happy enough with my body to be quite content "maintaining" while still focusing on losing.

I'm going to go against the trend here and say if you love how you look - then you are done. Look at what you said "....i am loving how I look now. Sure, the arms need toning and the abs could be flatter, but I love how I look." How many people can or will actually say that they love how they look? Plus if you are doing C25K you will probablky take off some more pounds anyway. Its not the weight on the scale, its how you look in my opinion. I've always said I don't care if I weigh 400 lbs if I can fit in a size 12! YOU have to go with what makes YOU happy. So so many women are never happy with themselves, if you are happy with yourself then that is the greatest gift ever.

I've been maintaining since May and now it's time to get going again and get to the goal. I just want to see that goal that I set up last year. I feel like if January roles around and I'm not there I'll be a failure....I know, it's silly but that's what I feel. I too love how I'm looking but I bet I'll like being st goal even better...

Thanks for all your responses ladies.

This might sound silly bit I am afraid that if I go any lower I am going to lose my breasts.....which I looooove.....

Still at a loss...........

Originally Posted by Slim CB:
Thanks for all your responses ladies.

This might sound silly bit I am afraid that if I go any lower I am going to lose my breasts.....which I looooove.....

Still at a loss...........

Heck, mine are already so deflated that maybe losing a bit more might actually give them substance. :dizzy: LOL! Was not expecting that! They're still huge (for a girl who doesn't want them) but there's nothing IN them!

For me, once I get to a weight and I love the way I look thats where Ill stay. I want to like what I see in the mirror

I'd shoot for a healthy BMI or ask your doctor. My doctor told me anywhere in the 130s which is probably right for me since I'm close to 150 and still need to lose another 10-15 pounds to be happy with the way I look.

Well, my question would be, how did you decide on your goal weight in the first place? My goal weight is pretty much a shot in the dark at this point, as I have absolutely no idea how I will look and/or feel when I get there. So when I get close, I'm going to have to keep a good eye on what is going on with my body, how it reacts to a maintenance plan I can truly live with for life, how happy I am with my body and how I feel, and let it settle in somewhere around there. Heck, I may get to 150 and realize another 15-20 lbs is gonna be necessary to be where I want to be. A healthy BMI is a good thing to shoot for, but it is just an arbitrary measure, and for me personally, if I have to constantly be struggling and miserable to stay just below that arbitrary number, it will be worth it to me to be a little higher as long as I know I am fit and eating beautifully.

Now if you picked that goal because you were once that size and that is where you felt best, then go for it.

I would iron out the way you plan on living your life for the rest of your life, and see where your weight settles out. :D

Originally Posted by shannonmb:
Well, my question would be, how did you decide on your goal weight in the first place?

I initially set it based on my BMI....i chose the highest end of the range...lol

We are the same height. My goal weight was always 160 as it's the nearest round number to the start of the healthy BMI for my 5'8" height.

I reached 160 and even went down to 157. I looooooooooooved my body at those weights! Wow, you couldn't keep me from mirrors! This summer has been a bit stressful for me and as a result I went up to 170. I'm currently working to get these stupid 10 pounds off. Personally, I don't like my 170 body but that is ONLY because I know what my 160 body looks like!

I say give it a try if you are still in loss-mode. If not, you are in great shape anyway. It's a win/win, IMO! :-)

Good job!

Originally Posted by Cali Doll:

I reached 160 and even went down to 157.

This pic is of u at 160? U look great!!!!

Originally Posted by Slim CB:
This pic is of u at 160? U look great!!!!

Thank you!!!

The little pic (in the brown sweater and jeans) is 160. The bigger pic in my siggy is about 167 or something like that. I am much bigger in that picture and I see every excess pound on my body. Thank you, though! Each day is a battle but i'm not giving up.

Originally Posted by :
This might sound silly bit I am afraid that if I go any lower I am going to lose my breasts.....which I looooove.....

If you really feel this way, then tread carefully.

I thought I knew when I got there that I'd be done. I hit my goal of 148 and thought ok...I'm done. I'm within healthy range I look and feel good and I'm at my goal size 8/10.

Then for some reason it just wasn't enough, I don't know if it's the little bit of belly I have left or just wanting to know what it feels like to be in the 130's again or wanting to be farther away from 150 and more towards the middle of my ideal range, but I decided to go for a little more. I've lost literally maybe 3 lbs, it slow going and I keep getting side tracked and I swear to you every lb was from my boobs. I went from a decent D to a small C in literally 1 week.

So if boobs are a really concern I say take it a lb at a time and give your body time to adjust after each lb.

I still go round and round in circle if more weight loss is what's best for me. So I'm just taking it a few lbs at a time. At some point I know I'll need to just accept me.

For me, I'm going to stop as soon as I feel I'm at the best I can be. I'm content at the weight I'm at now, but I know I could look and feel better with another 15 lbs gone(and some toning), so I'm working for that. Maybe once I'm there I'll figure "oh, maybe I'll try for 125" :O ) or maybe not, but it's all good for me as long as my goal is healthy, realistic, and something I end up happy with.

Originally Posted by odonnela:
I'm going to go against the trend here and say if you love how you look - then you are done. Look at what you said "....i am loving how I look now. Sure, the arms need toning and the abs could be flatter, but I love how I look." How many people can or will actually say that they love how they look? Plus if you are doing C25K you will probablky take off some more pounds anyway. Its not the weight on the scale, its how you look in my opinion. I've always said I don't care if I weigh 400 lbs if I can fit in a size 12! YOU have to go with what makes YOU happy. So so many women are never happy with themselves, if you are happy with yourself then that is the greatest gift ever.

I would also agree with this!!! I feel the same way

In my humble openion, maintaince is HARDER than losing. Not at first, but many months down the road. (When compliments die down, when you are not seeing new numbers, when the clothes are the same size etc.) Of course not all maintainers feel this way, but for me personally, every day is a struggle where when I was losing, I knew exactly what I needed to do every day to take the pounds off. Now that I'm not seen as an overweight person, I feel as though I'm not judged by the general population. It's not embarrassing anymore to buy something terrible at the grocery store, or order something sinful at a restaurant. For me, it's harder to stay on track when the world doesn't see you as a fat, (in my case an OBESE) chick.

My point is, nothing changes. What's the hurry to enter maintaince? It's JUST as hard to maintain, so why not continue on to a healthy weight while you have the drive. (Unless you don't anymore). Sometimes I think people think it's somehow going to be "different" once they hit maintaince, but it's not. It's the same. Same struggles, same restriction (Though maybe a few 100 calories more...), same exercise. Same HARD WORK every single day. Your boobs are going to look like crap after a few babies anyway so who cares. It's not like you are going to run around topless all the time. ;)

Thank goodness I didn't decide to stop when I though I looked good. At my starting weight, I though I looked GREAT at 175 pounds. And I did compared to 333. But now, I look back at pictures and see that the mirror was playing tricks on me. I did look better, but I was still clearly overweight.

I'm very happy I went on and got to a goal weight that was in the mid-normal BMI range. And one that me and my Doctor are both happy with. I knew that if I didn't like what I saw at a healthy BMI I could always gain back some weight. There is no way in **** I ever want to go back now.

Originally Posted by Lori Bell:
In my humble openion, maintaince is HARDER than losing. Not at first, but many months down the road. (When compliments die down, when you are not seeing new numbers, when the clothes are the same size etc.) Of course not all maintainers feel this way, but for me personally, every day is a struggle where when I was losing, I knew exactly what I needed to do every day to take the pounds off. Now I'm not seen as an overweight person, and I feel as though I'm not judged by the general population if I buy something terrible at the grocery store, or if I order something sinful at a restaurant. It's harder to stay on track when the world doesn't see you as a fat, (in my case an OBESE) chick. My point is, it's JUST as hard to maintain, so why not continue on to a healthy weight while you have the drive. (Unless you don't anymore). Sometimes I think people think it's somehow going to be "different" once they hit maintaince, but it's not. It's the same. Same struggles, same restriction (Though maybe a few 100 calories more...), same exercise. Same HARD WORK every single day. Your boobs are going to look like crap after a few babies anyway so who cares. It's not like you are going to run around topless all the time. ;)

Thank goodness I didn't decide to stop when I though I looked good. At my starting weight, I though I looked GREAT at 175 pounds. And I did compared to 333. But now, I look back at pictures and see that the mirror was playing tricks on me. I did look better, but I was still clearly overweight.

I'm very happy I went on and got to a goal weight that was in the mid-normal BMI range. And one that me and my Doctor are both happy with. I knew that if I didn't like what I saw at a healthy BMI I could always gain back some weight. There is no way in **** I ever want to go back now.

I agree with absolutely everything with one minor detail...I WANT CLOTHES!! :rofl: I NEED clothes! I have to know when I'm done so I can loosen the purse strings. This three pairs of pants and 5 wearable shirts business is going to get old! :rofl:

I dream of buying a whole new wardrobe wherever I land...but where will that be?

Originally Posted by Lori Bell:
In my humble openion, maintaince is HARDER than losing. Not at first, but many months down the road. (When compliments die down, when you are not seeing new numbers, when the clothes are the same size etc.) Of course not all maintainers feel this way, but for me personally, every day is a struggle where when I was losing, I knew exactly what I needed to do every day to take the pounds off. Now that I'm not seen as an overweight person, I feel as though I'm not judged by the general population. It's not embarrassing anymore to buy something terrible at the grocery store, or order something sinful at a restaurant. For me, it's harder to stay on track when the world doesn't see you as a fat, (in my case an OBESE) chick.

Lori Bell, yes, yes, and more yes! I cannot agree more!

Originally Posted by :
In my humble openion, maintaince is HARDER than losing. Not at first, but many months down the road. (When compliments die down, when you are not seeing new numbers, when the clothes are the same size etc.) Of course not all maintainers feel this way, but for me personally, every day is a struggle where when I was losing, I knew exactly what I needed to do every day to take the pounds off. Now that I'm not seen as an overweight person, I feel as though I'm not judged by the general population. It's not embarrassing anymore to buy something terrible at the grocery store, or order something sinful at a restaurant. For me, it's harder to stay on track when the world doesn't see you as a fat, (in my case an OBESE) chick.

AMEN! I'm struggling more now with binging then I ever did when I was obese!

@ Cali

You're a size 10?!? O.O I though you were at MOST a size 4. Wow, you carry your weights very well and congrats on reaching your goal!!!

@Slim

I've thought about this before and I think, personally, I would stop at the lowest weight possible that doesn't require too much effort to maintain. I don't carry my weight well and i have neither chest nor butt so even a couple of extra lbs have a huge impact on my body- more specifically my belly. That's why i'm aiming for 120lbs since i think it wouldn't be hard for me to maintain at that weight.

Armastus, thank you very much!

As some others have said, if it were me and I was only 9 lbs away from where I originally wanted to be, I'd keep going and see how I liked it. You might as well try, I think. It's easy to put the weight back on if you don't like it.

For me, I want to be the lowest weight I can while still being able to healthily and fairly easily maintain it. My weight isn't distributed prettily at all, so the less fat I have the more I like it (to a point, obviously).

But do what you feel comfortable with. If you love where you are now, maybe maintain for a while and see how it goes. You can always lose again if you want to.

Originally Posted by Eliana:
I agree with absolutely everything with one minor detail...I WANT CLOTHES!! :rofl: I NEED clothes! I have to know when I'm done so I can loosen the purse strings. This three pairs of pants and 5 wearable shirts business is going to get old! :rofl:

I dream of buying a whole new wardrobe wherever I land...but where will that be?

Totally feel your pain!

I have discovered the joy of consignment stores. For instance, I bought a couple pairs of nice jeans for less than $10 each - the same "nice" I want to wear when I hit my goal weight. And since I didn't spend much on them, I won't feel bad if I only wear them for a couple months. It's fun to wear them because they're small and fashionable, but even though I'm happy that they're size 8's, I'd rather they be size 6's so I'm keeping on until I reach my goal.

So shopping consignment has given me the joy of 'new' fashionable clothes that look good without feeling like I'm investing in a new wardrobe so I'm obligated to stay here so I can wear these clothes.