When to stop?

[Canadatogo]

So today I've officially lost 3 stone. I'm really happy with myself for coming this far, but I don't know how much further to go.

I don't want to be chasing after a body-type that I can never have, and I know already that I have a really skewed image of my body (I still don't see that I've lost any of the weight,) so I just don't know when to stop.

How do you know?

Do you go by BMI? By clothing size? By the number on the scale? Or by the way your body looks?

 

[Miss Mango]

You go by how happy you feel, if you are happy with your current shape and how you look then just stop. I think you've done really, really well to lose that 3 stone hun, thats fantastic!

 

[Lynn_]

I really sympathise with your dilemma, as its one im going to be facing soon.

I see you have a BMI of 24.8 now which brings you just inside the normal weight range, I am aiming for a simialr number, 24.9.

What your eventual goal could be depends a lot on your age and how active you are, but for now you need to practice maintaining your current weight. Your body is going to take a while to settle into its new size, so things may be up and down for a while. If I were you I think I would try and maintain the current position for about 3 months and then see if you feel you need to lose more.

I think you might find maintaining a lot harder than actually losing the weight to start with, as its going to be a real balancing act to find out what your food/calorie level is going to be, and learning to keep within that scope.

Well done on losing the 3 stone! it must feel fantastic to reach your goal.

 

[tazbabe]

well done!

i think i will go by BMI, linked with how i feel.

 

[SammyE]

My plan (when I finally get there!) is to mainly go by BMI Im not going to stop until Im in the healthy bracket for my height so I can go to the doctors and not have everything blamed on being over weight! But where I stop once Im in the healthy bmi will be based on how I feel and how I look, I dont want to get any smaller then a size 10 as Ive been anorexic in the past so I have a slightly distorted view of my own body still so thats my line to stop at, even if I think I need to lose a bit more, I need to have a set point where I know I have to stop, hopefully mentally Im stronger then I was when I was anorexic as a teenager so I wouldnt let myself get to that point again but you never know!

 

[PhoenixsHonour]

When I get there, I'm want to go by a combination of factors: BMI, body fat % and waist size, all of which are the best markers for health. I have an idea of what clothes size will be what I want to be (12-14, which works out at the ideal waist measurement for a 5'10'' person!) and I really want to concentrate more on being physically active and eating a healthy balanced diet, following all the guidelines about amount of exercise and recommended servings of protein/carbs/fat/5-a-day/water/etc.

So yeah. I'll be stopping when I feel healthy.

 

[GalwayMum]

Do you go by BMI? By clothing size? By the number on the scale? Or by the way your body looks?

Well done on your loss! I am interested because I am the same start wt as you and the same ht and roughly the same goal.

When I got down to 143.3 before it worked for me...I just needed to firm up and if that made me weigh more, it wouldn't have bothered me as long as I fit into my size 10 and felt good.

Having said that, clearly, I did not do that; I decided I was thin so I could eat like a thin person. :{ Didn't work as I'm back here now! (I started at 215lbs tho)

Anyway, congrats on the 3 stone, how long did it take you?

 

[Aline]

I think you should stop where you feel better within the normal bmi range (anywhere between 18 and 25 bmi).

For example, I'm tiny (5'2) and I'm also small boned so I feel my best around 19 bmi; but I think that is very important to have boundaries. I'm on the lower side of mbi range and if I'd go by my mirror I would probably go lower (wich would be unhealthy) because there's always this bit of fat here in my belly and that other bit of celulite on my butt. However I have to realise that I'll never be perfect but I can look good and be healthy and that's something I can be within bmi range.

Don't go by perfection, because that doen't exist; just go feeling good, confortable and healthy (and for this last part don't fprget the bmi, because being over 25 is as bad as being under 18). And embrace your healthy weight wherever it settles at a 20 or 25 bmi

 

[cannyscot]

Yes BMI plus a dress size is a good indicator. Plus you need to try it out. As I have got older I have changed shape a bit im a size 10/12 on the bottom but 12/14 on the top. I think a BMI of less than 25 is important but then it depends on your height -if you are 5ft you end up having to have a lower BMI to look as good as a 5ft 8 person. Your lucky you have height on your side. My wii fit keeps telling me to get to a BMI of 22 -I would say thats ok for up to age 35 but over 35 I think maybe 23.5 would be ok but that's maybe because 22 just seems too much like hard work.

 

[Littleone]

I think it's fine to aim for a healthy BMI or dress size. I think personally I would like to get to the point where I can trust my own judgement. I have been anorexic and underweight in the past and I would love to be in a place where I don't have that confusion of the numbers are ok.. but I still feel fat.

I want to be able to feel comfortable and confident in being a good healthy size.

But if I cannot get to that place of trusting myself, my eyes, my skin.. I guess I shall have to go by something like BMI. I do have a weight in mind but it's not at all set in stone.

 

[Flutterbye]

my sympathies, my mother has an eating disorder, and brought me up thinking I was overweight when I wasn't, so when the pharmacist said you should be 11 stone, I nodded dumbly, not having the faintest clue what that looked like - when I was 20 I was 9st and mum said I was overweight - I now know she was wrong, but I didn't know what I was aiming for til I told one of my friends, and she said 'look at me, I'm your height, and 11 stone!' and that helped a lot.
I have lost almost 1stone (pretty sure but WI is tomoz, lost 13lbs so far) and I feel much better. Plus one of my other friends drove past me in the car on the daily school run and texted me this 'u 4got2bring Ur tvmmy out w/U 2day LOOKIN GREAT HUN!' which REALLY brightened my day