Approaching my "mental block" weight
 

This whole time I've been losing weight, its just a "given" in the back of my mind that I will get to about 160 lbs and then the weight loss will stop. Either I will give up or it will get too hard or whatever.

The reason is 160 lbs was about my maintained (over) weight through my late teens and 20s. The 2 times I got pregnant I got up to 240 the first time and 220 the second time. So I was firm in my mind that those weights were not my "normal" weight so I would lose it. There was just no bones about it.

But get under 160? I've never been able to maintain a weight under 160 and I've never gotten lower than like 145. But truthfully with my build and height, I should probably be about 130, maybe lower??. I don't know since I've never BEEN a healthy weight, so that's just a guess. But even the 140 lbs I set as a goal seems like a pipedream. Like I'm not supposed to be an attractive, healthy weight. I've never been not fat. Even when at one time barely fit into a size 6, I was still very fatty and lumpy with rolls and such. I have such a small frame that I'm afraid of the weight I have to be to not look so "rolly" without clothes. (And I was exercising/weight training at this time) And that I'll never reach it or maintain it without starving myself and exercising like 5 hours a day. I remember just to get to 145 lbs I was running like an hour a day and following an extremely low carb diet. (Like 20 grams a day) I could not maintain that lifestyle forever, and I can't do it again.

I'm nervous because I am soon approaching my mental block weight. I also know as I lose more weight, its going to get harder to lose, further feeding into this idea that I can't lose weight under a certain point.
I feel like 159 lbs - 145 lbs will be the hardest stretch. Once I get below 145 lbs, I will kind of feel like I've "broken the spell".

Anyone else have a history of a certain weight they never got under (with previous diets) and feel like that weight is just waiting for them to foul up their weightloss efforts?

I can't believe that I'm in the 130's. I never thought in a million years that I"d be here. I maintained at 170 for years after I lost the baby weight, and then I lost down to 161 and after a year of maintaining, just started chipping away at it. It's taken me 11 months to lose 26 lbs, but I know that I can live like this forever. I never thought I'd get below 140, because that's about where I was when I got married and then got pg. Even though my goal was lower, I didn't think I'd actually ever be able to get there.

I had mini goals of 10 lbs at a time, and here I am. It was an absolute pipe dream to be in the high 120's, and I know I will get there because I"m so close. There is nothing stopping you from getting there if you want to do it, and it feels amazing! I know it will take me several months, but I will get there

I'm definitely not starving, I'm eating nutritious healthy foods and feel strong and wonderful. I know that my body is getting so much more nutrition and health than I got with all the junk before. I do yoga 1x a week and weight lifting 2x a week, and that's it :) I eat as many whole foods as I can, roughly calorie count, eat treats once a week or 2 instead of several times a week, and walla, it's slowly coming off. If I have a bad few days, I brush myself off and pick back up where I started

So I guess my advice is take it slow-one step at a time, lose it in a way you can eat forever, and if you want it, you can have it :)

I am around what I call my PANIC weight, Its usually this point i throw in the towel and start binging and start gaining. I am not sure why that is, been trying to work through the emotions this time.
At the moment i am thinking of just trying to maintain where I am for a couple months before trying to lose that last little bit.

I don't have a certain weight, but I do have a weight-loss threshold that scares me. I have several different times in my life lost 30-35 lbs. The first time that was about all I really needed to lose. Every time after that, though, my start weight was higher, but after about 30 lbs, my motivation/interest in losing weight just vanished and here I find myself again. So I think I know where you're coming from.

Pinkflower- thank you for sharing that you were able to get to a weight that seemed unreachable to you. What you said about picking yourself up after a slip up and continueing on is so important. Its something I've never done in the past, but I'm hoping I have finally learned from that hung "all or nothing" mentality mistake. I am going to steart setting smaller mini goals. Like 5 lbs, so it seems easier to acheive.
Icedragon6669- Panic weight is a good name for it too. That weight that has become the "abandon ship" point in the past. It definitely brings a lot for anxiety for me. Panic is a perfect way to describe it.

zoodoo613 - I actually had something like that before I had kids. The most I had lost was about the same, 30 - 35 lbs. My highest pre pregnancy was 185 lbs, lowest 145 lbs and average was 160 . If I only could ahve lost 49 lbs (what I've lost so far) when I was 160 lbs !!!

Panic weight is an amazing name for it! I'm in the same boat. Mine is 200 and I think I'm around 202 right now. I have never managed to get under 200 as an adult and I usually freak out right about now and start binging again. It already sort of happened, I think I've gained a pound or two back because of this whole mental block thing. I haven't weighed in for two weeks and won't until I get back on track and can tell I've gotten smaller. Maybe if I just keep going and don't weigh in/focus on the scale as much I'll stop panicking and get under 200. I know I'm closer than I've ever been and I refuse to give up! It's really nice to know that I'm not the only one with this sort of hangup.

Someone out there hates me and doesn't want me to ever, EVER stay at or below 130 pounds. So you have my sympathy 100% but nothing of value to contribute that may be helpful to you. *hug*

For me I have two. In my post-college life it would be the low-170's. I just haven't been able to get out of them since I finished college. Before that it was the 140's but I'm not really hoping to get any lower than 140 so I don't see that as an issue so much. ;) Right now I'd just be so happy to get out of the 190's!!!!!!!

My mental block weight was anything under 135. I think it's partially why this decade is taking me longer than any other decade to get out of.

I didn't believe the scale yesterday when I saw 129.4 so yes I can totally relate to this post!

I"ve been obese my entire life. My lowest weight as an adult was 189, after my gastric bypass and my abdominoplasty. I stabilized at 195. I have this horrible fear that I can't sustain a weight lower than that, so I don't even want to try.

Over the past few weeks, I've been thinking more and more about getting down to 175. I'm not prepared to put that as my end goal yet, but once I get to 195, I will just keep going. Given that this s a lifestyle, if I keep doing what I'm going and maintain my healthy habits, then it shouldn't be an issue. I just can't wrap my brain around it yet.

I'm amazed to hear that so many other people ahve the same issue of this panic weight or zone that they've never gone below, so it seems that fate will never let us below that weight.

I really thought it was just me!!

Mmmhmm, me too. I didn't have a "mental block" weight per se but I feel like I am definitely in it now. I have noticed that once I hit the 149, my cravings kicked in full force and I even endulged in a few. My weight loss has certainly slowed as well. I'm hoping to get past it. I don't want to become complacent because I'm not where I want to be yet. Then I start sabatoging myself by saying I'm at the lowest weight since the early 90's so I should just give it a rest. *sigh*

ShanIAm- Why does what you say always get to me? ;) The phrase "give it a rest". I've been thinking about it. Not now; I'm only 10 lbs down, and 4 weeks in. But I've been trying to think of how to make this time different than my other weight-loss attempts, which have always petered out at 3 months/30 lbs. And one idea I had was to give it a rest, to try a few weeks of maintenance at some arbitrary point, rather than letting the slowed progress/motivation sneak up and sabotage me, to enforce it myself.

I don't know, it's an idea I had.

I don't know if I have a mental block, but my goal weight is 150 because I haven't been below that in forever and I don't know if I can stay below it comfortably.

Ideally, I'd be in the 130s.

I'm think of hitting 150 and just lowering my goal to 140 or under and see where it takes me.

I also have a small frame size (I didn't know this) and I'm rethinking my goal weights for that reason.

Mine was at that 200-205 range. Thank god I am past it. Keep sticking to your plan and you will be able to reach goal!