Just how much body fat can you ultimately lose? Development/Management

[Mrs Lard]

This is very much a question aimed at those who have been in for the long haul.

I have now lost 4 stone (week 19), which is fantastic (obviously!) but I am struggling in Development (Tiger Girl and Cerulean have recently been very helpful about this). Goombagirl and AJ have also been very supportive.

My question is this...while I have shrunk, can I shrink some more in key body areas? And if so, by how much? It is clear to me that I am probably quite tiny underneath (who'd have thought, particularly when I bought size 24 jeans!) but I still have some parts that have more fat deposits than others. A friend lent me a top to wear to a party and even at size 16, it's snug! I reckon I am a 12/14 trouser - 12 on an excellent day, 14 the rest of the time!

I raised this issue in Development when I first started to identify what was fat and what was excess skin on my body. One of my Foundation Friends (ie we started together) - felt the rolls on my stomach/under my rib cage and agreed that I still had a lot of fat sitting around my core - we had a good laugh about it! I said, "Is this skin, or fat?" and she replied, "Fat"! If anyone outside of LighterLife had said that to me I would have been utterly crushed but this is someone who's also done the journey so I respect their opinion!

I think I have further to go BUT will the fat go (from abdomen/core, thighs and calves) or will the already-slimmer parts of me start to get scrawny? I seem to remember that Cerulean said her calves were getting smaller.

I will battle it out to lose another 1/2 - 3/4 stone IF there is a chance that the fat will diminish BUT I have no idea so it's over to the experts.

What do you think? What do you advise? My intuition says...try to go as low as you can because once I go into Management, it won't be the same, will it?! Yes, I have been influenced by my LLC but I don't want to take just one person's word for it.

I would really appreciate some guidance on this.

Thanks.

Mrs L xxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Tiger Girl]

Hey Mrs L

This is what I think!

Can you lose anymore body fat at a size 16 top and 12/14 bottoms? YES!

I of course couldn't say how much, but really think you can. And will you become scrawny on the slimmer bits whilst waiting for the heavier bits to go? I really don't think so. Can only speak from my own experience and I definitely haven't gone scrawny anywhere.

My LLC also is advising go as low as you can before starting management. She told me this week that the biggest loss in management she's experienced in the year she has been an LLC is 11lb's. She knows that I want to enter management with 14lb to lose and reckons I could only do it if I extended the 2 pack 2 meal period for a few weeks (not sure what this is as I've purposefully kept well away from the ins and outs of management!)

I don't know what height or current weight you are? Could you post and then maybe we can have a look at the potential numbers?

I'm certain Sarah (Cerulean) will be along soon to respond to this and as she is so close to goal and up there with Blackpool illuminations on the light bulb moments just now, I'm sure she will have some insights on this!

So maybe we start with a 2 part process;

The numbers.
What are they and where do they fit with the charts?
Height, weight, BMI, losses to date, targets and number goals...

The emotions.
What would make you stop right now? What are the reasons?
What would make you continue right now? What are the reasons?
How do you feel about the 4st loss? Is it what you wanted/expected?
If you could go as low as you could, what would that look and feel like?

I really think you will know when it's right. I'm definitely going to follow my intuition combined with some trusted views.


TG x

 

[Cerulean]

Hee hee - I just read Tiger Girl's comment. Here I am (although this will be my last pop by to Minis for a week)

Anyway - I went shopping today and seem to have clothes in every size from an 8 (yes!) to a 16 (!) stupid small chested scandinavians!

Some of my dresses are 10s some are 12s (and too tight) so clothes are a bit of a useless guide.

Anyhoo - A girl I know recently had a full on medical (one of those £600 jobs with the thing where you jog with the breathing apparatus and things strapped to you) she is practically anorexic, and works out at least an hour a day and only eats salad. She has 20% body fat. So that's the extreme.

Now I would say that I am a classic size 12-14 (ie what 12-14s were back in the 80s and what a 12-14 is in a dressmaker's terms) which means that I am carrying a little extra fat around my belly and thighs - now that I can see my thin body properly underneath everything it looks like I have about 10-15 lbs to lose before I'm done. My body fat reads as 26-28% on my scales, so I guess to get to a properly healthy-fit body fat ratio, that 10-15lbs is just about right.

I love the clothes I've bought today - there was a sale on the Madonna range at H&M and today I went out for 'drinks' with friends wearing a size 10 Moschino top and a size 8 H&M skirt.

So I'm happy to quit in a stone's time when the size 6 (US) Diane Von Furstenburg dress I bought yesterday fits me perfectly - it's just a little too snug around the boobs right now.

My calves are definitely getting smaller mainly because I think that's one of the few places my body can eat the fat from right now! Yes - so following on from my almost decision to go into management this week, I have decided to finish off development by losing 5-7lbs over the next 2-3 weeks and then lose the last 5-7lbs in management. A BMI of just under 22 is what I'm aiming for - I think I look good with curves so I don't want to go much lower than that.

 

[SoonBeSlim... It'sTrue!]

Not done my body fat amount on my scales for a while, so feel inspired to jump on my scales!

Obviously Mrs you know I am not quite there Manangement wise either, but just wanted to add that I think most of us have plenty of body fat left to go and it seems most of us have quoted that our curves have remained in mostly the right places.

I know my lowest weight in a healthy range is about 7st 2lbs!!!!!!! No No No as Amy Winehouse would say.

Like Sarah has just said with her friends example, we may have a low Body Fat ratio then, but for me to maintain that who wants to live on lettuce! plus I don't think my curves would be there. :character00115:

In my WW scales guide it says the following for body fat % ......

A women aged 30-39yrs - 19% excellent, 19.1-24 Good, 24.1-29 Moderate, 29.1-34 Overweight and +34 Obese.

When I started LL my BF% was 40.3%.
On 8 June it was 29.8%

Will let you know what it is today when been on the scales

What's your Mrs?

Sam xx

ps, I am interested to see you are aiming to loose a bit more weight Sarah. Will have to catch up with your BLOG

 

[In search of me]

I'm not there yet (still have a massive tummy & bum!!) but logic says that surely you can tell if there's fat in the loose skin IYKWIM? You and you alone decide when you want to stop (unless you get to thin & then they stop you lol!!). You have to ask yourself if you are happy at the weight you are or do you want to loose more? Hope you resolve this for yourself! The BMI chart is naff me thinks and its about finding a happy level as Ceruleun said...

 

[Mrs Lard]

Thank you so much for this feedback.

Question for Sam - I know I am probably being really thick, but how will I find out the levels of fat that I now have? We get weighed at a LL WI, measured about once every two months, etc but nothing specific about fat.

Is it something I need to visit my GP for?

Thanks.

Mrs L xxxx

 

[Mrs Lard]

Whoops, sorry, TG, forgot to answer your question about the numbers; I posted this (BMI stats below taken from the BBC online) on my blog last week so these stats will help anyone who is 5'6 or 5'7. I am somewhere in between the two, height-wise and at my last LL weigh in, I was 10st 8lbs with a BMI of 24.36 (according to the LL stats):

My height is somewhere between 5'6 and 5'7 so...

HEIGHT WEIGHT BMI (at corresponding height and weight)

5’6 at 10st 10 – 24.25
5’7 at 10st10 – 23.53


5’6 at 10st7 – 23.76
5’7 at 10st7 – 23.06

5’6 at 10st3 -- 23.12
5’7 at 10st 3 – 22.43

5’6 at 10 stone - 22.63
5’7 at 10 stone -21.96

5’6 at 9st 10 - 21.99
5’7 at 9st 10 - 21.33

5’6 at 9st 7 - 21.50
5'7 at 9st 7 - 20.86

5’6 at 9st 3 – 20.85
5’7 at 9st 3 - 20.24

5’6 at 9 stone – 20.37
5’7 at 9 stone – 19.77

Thanks.

Mrs L xxxxxxxxxx

 

[Peridot]

Whilst I'm nowhere near the eviable state of deciding just how slim I want to be, I am a voracious reader of womens' mags and this specialist knowledge (!) would suggest that you (well, not you, all of us!) lose fat in mysterious ways. Everyone has stubborn areas where fat goes to readily (I'm dead common - it's stomach, thighs and bum) and these are the last areas to give up their fat - it's a battle of wills! Are you going to let your calves triumph?!

You can have body fat measured in a Boots I think - you need specialist scales. You can buy these too - I saw that John Lewis had them in their sale for £25.

But you're in your healthy BMI so I guess anything extra is the icing on the cake? Mmmmm, cake, must stop these food analogies, they're making me hungry!

 

[SandraEG]

Lloyds Pharmacy had hand held fat monitor on sale for £4.99 a couple of weeks ago. I am going to see if they still ahve them when I get my BP checked this weekend.

Not sure if they are as good as teh scales but got to be good for the price!

 

[In search of me]

My gym woman does mine (for free!) & has the fat % measurements - may be worth getting a body stat analasys at your local authority gym and they'll advise? Worth every penny as you see what % fat/lean tissue you have which has totally saved me in the 1 ib weeks when I lost more body fat but put on muscle (heavier) etc...HTH?

 

[SoonBeSlim... It'sTrue!]

Hi Mrs & all,

yes as suggested earlier if do not have own scales which measure all sorts of bizzare things which I had never thought about before (Mine also measure my H20 content!!!!), wouls suggest Boots, a chemist or gym.

My scales were out of argos some years ago and are WW ones.

I agree unless we attempt to go really quite low in weight, we are all going to have some stubborn fat. Tha said my hubby has been classed as underweight all his life and has now developed small love handles. I think exercise or surgery is then the only option to tone things up.

Made any decsions what you want to do?

Sam