[chickadee32]

I've been wondering about this lately as well, for much the same reason as the OP. I've lost weight extremely well on my "plan" (1200-1500 cals/day of nutrient dense foods, balanced macronutrients, and 5 days/week exercise that's a mix of cardio and weights) over the past year, and now I'm losing almost nothing. Throughout my weight loss I haven't noticed any food sensitivities, and I haven't changed what I'm eating lately. And it's not a matter of not creating a big enough calorie deficit: in the month of January I had a deficit of nearly 30,000 calories (determined by a religiously kept food log and a BodyBugg), and yet lost only 2.4 lbs. I've held to the theory that the culprit is likely the hormones I'm taking for medical reasons (all the stalls I've had over the past year have been hormone-related), but recently I'm not so sure - or maybe I'm just afraid that's not the true reason I'm not losing what I should be. What if my body is meant to be at my current weight, and I can't lose further? I look healthy and fit and I know that I am, but I am still overweight and I'm not ready to stop losing! It's frustrating, and worrisome.

[Arctic Mama]

Originally Posted by DietVet

The first thing that I noticed is all the pictures of the flexing muscle man. I haven't even looked at any of the words and I'm afraid of what the site might be about!

(I jest, and I'm interested in checking out the posts, but I can fully empathize with JayEll's reaction!)

Haha! I hadn't even thought about today's post - the man is self experimenting with the upper/lower limits of muscle building/fat reducing with limited mobility - he is wheelchair bound. The whole series is insane and interesting all at once

I think I get what she was saying, the tone wasn't coming through when I first read the post and I was totally confused!

[Eliana]

Originally Posted by Arctic Mama

It's a really complicated discussion, and when I hear people say their bodies are fit and happy at large sizes I believe it may well be true, depending on their individual health, but overall much of the body composition we see isn't typical, ideal, or healthy, on either extreme of the scale. I am one of those women who runs the 'stockier' side of the scale of normal, but at my fittest and best I don't LOOK fat, despite what the scale might say. This is where understanding your natural proclivities and frame really helps in realistic goal assessment. Waist circumference ratios, fat location, blood panel markers, dietary compositions... All of these are better indicators to go by than weight, for all the above variances and reasons. But I would hesitate to call myself (or anyone else) naturally fat unless their own health indicated that they were in their top shape and living a healthy, vibrant life (internally and externally) in a body that refused to change up or down.

We sound like we have similar bodies. I was annoyed listening to the radio this morning as someone selling some new miracle drug spouted off that "If you are 30 pounds overweight you ARE obese", read just like that with heavy sympathy in her voice. I'm 10 pounds under obese at this point and I in no way feel close to obese nor do I feel I even look over weight. I was watching Dr. Oz the other day and one of his guests was the same height as I am and he was very concerned about her weight and she weighed 10 pounds less than I do! You are so right that it isn't about weight. It's about waist circumference (28!), muscle tone, blood work, etc. We aren't all built to fit the same BMI mold.