When is a stall no longer a stall?

[BookWorm 87]

I've been the same weight give or take for 2 months now, maybe longer. I exercise a ton. I eat fairly healthy. I'm what health professionals would consider overweight but friends would consider ideal. Is there some point where your body just says, "look, this is it". This is the best your gonna get and you look great, you’re the healthiest and skinniest that you have ever been. Your big boned and not meant to be any skinnier.

Am I just making excuses or is there truly an ideal weight for each of us that may or may not conform with the BMI chart? I'm damn focused on the number but maybe I'm setting myself up here.

[*Jade* 22]

Good question @BookWorm. I would love to know the answer to this also. BTW you are doing great!

Jade

[RJ'S/beginning 5,358]

I've been the same weight give or take for 2 months now, maybe longer. I exercise a ton. I eat fairly healthy. I'm what health professionals would consider overweight but friends would consider ideal. Is there some point where your body just says, "look, this is it". This is the best your gonna get and you look great, you’re the healthiest and skinniest that you have ever been. Your big boned and not meant to be any skinnier.

Am I just making excuses or is there truly an ideal weight for each of us that may or may not conform with the BMI chart? I'm damn focused on the number but maybe I'm setting myself up here.

Everyone has to come to the realization that we are who we are at some point. If you cannot find happiness within yourself at this point you will never be happy... If you can't Celebrate where your body is now..Healthier and in great shape and you feel great...what was the point of all the work you have done to get where you are today...

It is the common thinking that it is never enough until we look more like models that have no shape at all. No breasts, and bones sticking out everywhere. Is that what you want for yourself. To no longer look like a woman.

To say ' is this the best it is gonna get' implies that you are not happy with you, and who you have become. 75 lbs gone and muscled now.....

Take 75 lbs of butter and place them on the table next to you and look at what you have done. Where you are.Take a look at the before and after pictures and Celebrate the wonderful success of your journey..

Your body may decide to lose more but live as much as you can where you are now and let your body do the deciding.

Just stay on the program and do not Detour and you will reach the right place for you...Whether it is this year or next year...This is not a race, it is a journey!

Edited July 16, 2014 by RJ'S/beginning

[Fluffnomore 1,235]

It's an excellent question and a struggle for me, too. I was just having this conversation elsewhere. I don't think I'm done, but what if my body does?

I have a good friend who had the surgery last June and simply everything has been much slower for her than for me. Seeing everyone's information here is a good thing and a bad thing, because it allows us to compare some things that maybe are not really comparable...

I'm going to keep trucking along and see how I do. I am so proud of my health now and what I can do. I am hoping to get my last 20-25 off permanently though.

[labwalker 1,177]

I sometimes feel our bodies try to make up or minds before we are ready to. I think the reality is going to be determined by your BMI, and whether you are in a healthy range or not.

I've stalled for months, but I realized that I wasn't at a healthy weight, and that I needed to work harder to lose more.

Good luck, and you asked a question that many of us need answers to.

[Ava324 413]

I'd measure more by body fat percentage than BMI. I'll see some after pics of people who have a higher BMI than me, but they're leaner and more toned/muscular. If you still have an above average body fat percentage, then I say I keep pushing. My surgeon gave me a target weight of 140-160lbs. I'm only 4lbs from his maximum goal, but I'm not close to mine. My body fat percentage is near 35% (down from 52%). It's going into the 20s, and I'm taking a non-negotiable position on it. My body and I are getting there.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php

[Ginger Snaps 1,323]

BMI is not the most accurate measure of healthy body weight anyway. People with a lot of muscle mass (weightlifters, etc.) will rate high on the BMI scale because it only takes in height and weight. Nothing about the content of your body.

I agree body fat percentage is a better gauge. But, I also agree with RJ -- it's so much more than the number on the scale. You have accomplished a lot and should revel in that. If it is worth it to you to put in more effort to try to lose some more pounds, do that, but don't beat yourself up if it doesn't happen or if you decide to just accept the weight you are now. You're not a failure either way.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I think you have already achieved amazing success. How much better will your life be if you get to some elusive number?

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

i hit my goal of 158 after 14 months. i leave my ticker at that weight to remind me that even though my BMI was still 26, technically overweight - I was AWESOME at 158-160 range. I lost additional weight 6 months after hitting goal. then, I lost more this year. It has worked for me to let my body rest for awhile and then decide where I go from here. I may at some point feel that my current weight is too hard to maintain and consider that overall quality of life balance. For now, 140 is working, but, my life isn't better because I am 18-20# lighter....

[BladeFox 235]

Interesting question. I have been stuck for about a month now. I am eating no more than 900 calories per day and the scale just doesn't move. I'm not "stall freaked" I'm just wondering if my age or peri menopause is preventing me from losing like I once did only 4 years ago and maybe I won't lose as much as I am expecting to lose now at an older age. My body is losing inches and I am now in size 18-20 or 1x's instead of size 24/26 - so yay! That scale just doesn't want to budge or give up those pounds.

[Fluffnomore 1,235]

Jane raises an interesting question: what would be better if I got to goal?

For me there are two or three things. I'm in the overweight category now, so my health gains from having the surgery and getting out of morbidly obese are pretty much established. I'm wearing normal sizes, generally a 12-14, depending on about 50 variables. So those things are basically where they should be. My ego would like to be a size 8, but that is kind of neither here nor there.

I think many of us have an underlying belief that if we get to a certain point we will no longer feel fat. Intellectually I know this cannot be true; if I feel mostly the same way about my body now as I did 65 pounds ago, I clearly still have some serious mental work to do. But I waffle between thinking I'm huge, and thinking I'm thinner than I am (and then I see a picture.) So, no…further weight loss probably won't fix that. But my brain likes to trick me into thinking that I would feel better.

Comparison and jealousy: I also would like to think that getting to goal would fix this. I do think it would, honestly. I am having a hard time right now with reading about those who are more successful, in a quicker time, and especially the ones who say, "I followed all the rules, and if you're not having my kind of success then you need to be more honest." And you know what's worse? "I just eat whatever I want, small amounts. I don't really work out. I'm doing great." And the ticker says that is true. Mmmm, I don't know. I know this behavior is poisonous to all of us, but I am having trouble making myself not care. I am trying to believe that if I follow all the rules, success will follow, but like so many things in life that is really only part of the equation.

One final thing: I would like to improve my running and my running time. I believe that being lighter would help this. And that it must help my knees and hips, who are a little less forgiving than they were 10-20 years ago when I ran more regularly. And that might be the only reasonable reason to strive for goal weight. To be better at my physical endeavors.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Fluffnomore

[BookWorm 87]

Good question @BookWorm. I would love to know the answer to this also. BTW you are doing great!

Jade

Thanks Jade.

[BookWorm 87]

I think you have already achieved amazing success. How much better will your life be if you get to some elusive number?

Jane;

Thanks regarding the success. I think one of the things that has helped me to be successful is setting and reaching goals. I have this mental checklist in my head and the thought of putting a goal down on the list and not achieving it is maddening. Maybe its the perfectionist in me. This question was really about is it time to reevaluate some of those goals. I'm not unhappy with where I'm at and don't want to imply that I am. I've been striving for something so long that its almost scary to think that I'm there. Now what do I do?

[BookWorm 87]

Fluff this statement is spot on with me " I feel mostly the same way about my body now as I did 65 pounds ago". I can't bring myself to even view my before pictures. I still buy clothes that are to big because I haven't found that comfort with my body. With reference to the running, I started out slow just walking and now run 5-6 miles a day. You can do it. Just start out slow and stick with it. You will feel so much better. I"ve had knee surgery and once the weight is off, its amazing what you can do.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Fluff, I agree people may have very good reasons for getting to a certain weight - but I promise you that no matter how thin you are... somebody else will be thinner. No matter how attractive you are, someone else is better looking. No matter what... comparing yourself to others is a losing game. I
get alot of support here, but I think it can be toxic if you take to heart some of what is written. We all have our own "journey" and it isn't fair that I can't enjoy my favorite foods (all carby junk) even in moderate quantities whereas others say they can. I get the occasional "lecture" that if I just eat everything in moderate quantities I will be fine. Well, that is the heart of the matter, some foods I cannot seem to eat in moderate quantities and apparently many others can. blech. oh well, this is my life and I am making the most of it and trying to maximize my own situation.

I promise you will still feel fat when you hit 25 or 23 or whatever BMI if you don't work on your "head trip" part of this journey. I felt like an enormous person still when my surgeon told me I was "done" - didn't need to lose more.... it was an eye opener and I have spent a year and a half adjusting my brain...