Weight loss- what’s enough?

[Notinvited85]

Hi,

sorry in advance this is likely to be a ridiculous question. I recently went on a diet ( when life got a bit tougher for me). I was a BMI of around 21.5 and am 5” 4. I now weigh exactly 8 stone, so BMI around low 19s.

objectively I can see that this is a fairly low BMI, and I think I look better for the weight loss, but my stomach still looks large / flabby to me - I’ve had 2 children so that’s probably relevant.

how do you know when you have lost enough weight? I appreciate I may have lost perspective a bit here which is why I’m wondering what others thank. Thanks

You've lost enough when your BMI is in the healthy range. If you're slight framed then lower end will be fine, but most people will probably be optimum at mid point. You certainly don't need to lose anymore. If I were you I'd switch attention to excercise now, try to gain a little in muscle through weight training, perhaps with some yoga to help with posture and tone, which go a long way to flattening a rounded tummy. At your weight the roundness is highly unlikely to be fat, more muscle tone, posture with maybe water weight and bloating. If you're not eating enough your stomach can become distended.

If you lose any more you’ll be underweight. You need to look up the right exercises to deal with your mum tum if it’s bothering you. When you lose weight you don’t get to control where you lose it from.

It sounds like you need toning rather than weight loss

My opinion is you lose enough so that you are in a healthy weight range but with a cushion on either side

so if you get sick a weight loss doesn’t tip you into underweight (and therefore without resilience to recover well)

or

if you have a holiday or have a too full on Christmas or something it doesn’t tip you immediately back into the overweight category which makes any weight gain puts you back into the category of at risk for other weight related conditions.

for most people that means somewhere in the middle of their bmi (even though not everyone agrees with bmi being the measure but that’s a different thread) unless you are training like an athlete which changes things.

it does seem to me that you are losing perspective a bit @Notinvited85 so try to get a handle on things now incase it turns into a bigger issue.

What reaction are you getting from other people? When I lose weight I think I look ok but I get a lot of concerned comments asking if I’ve been ill so I know i can't look good at a very low weight.

I don’t think you should focus on losing any more weight, but on building muscle as others have suggested. Don’t go by what others say about your appearance, it’s very common to get comments that you look ill or too thin when people aren’t used to seeing you at that weight.

Thanks all, it is helpful to hear others perspectives. I do have a small frame - like 32 bra band feet size 4 narrow hips so think I probably don’t look underweight currently.

my husband says you can see a clear difference in how I look now, but no one else has actually commented at all. That’s partly what made me question in my mind if there’s just no real visible difference. But I guess people have their own reasons for not commenting- I suppose it’s not ideal to comment on people’s weight so maybe that’s why.

I’ve never been that good at exercising, but compared to the current dietary restriction it would probably be preferable. Do people think 3 Pilates sessions a week would be enough to see a difference in tone?

I have found Pilates great for muscle toning so sounds like a good plan.

Maybe sign up with a personal trainer at the gym. You can then talk about what you are wanting to achieve and get a personalised plan

Are you eating enough?

You have lost enough. Focus on toning up now rather than losing more weight.