AIBU to be very, very pleased with myself for being Not Overweight for the first time ever?

[Elsvieta]

Well, since very early childhood, anyway. Too early to remember.

Today was the day. Last pound gone that took me to BMI 24.9. Not Overweight. Normal Weight. I keep checking it again on the NHS calculator, just to see it. (Had been about 12.5 stone, BMI 32, from mid teens to now, age 48).

Went about my business at work all day, being Not Fat. Felt like strangers should be noticing, and be impressed. Watched the eclipse, thinking "This is great, and also happening while I am Not Fat". I think for the rest of my days I will associate eclipses with being Not Fat. My first-ever Not-Fat memory.

Does it ever become just normal?

Still look a bit fat, though. Too much stomach, too much upper arm. I think another half a stone and I'll feel OK about how I look.

Life has been on hold, in many ways, since I was about 12. The things I'll do... when I'm Not Fat. I thought I would be more confident. I am, in a way. The ways that relate to looks. But not in much else, really. That's been a bit of a shock.

Your brain changes its idea of what's normal in your body, somehow. I don't feel like I'm a whole 2.5 stone thinner. You just shift to getting pickier about what you're unhappy about. Some of the time. And then you go back to feeling ecstatic.

I wish WLI had been invented about 30 years ago. I could have had a whole other life.

People treat me better. This is very awesome and also very depressing. People should not be treated with more or less respect based on body mass. But I want to be the person people see me as now.

I have actually achieved some stuff in my life. But this feels like the best thing. This is also, if you stop to think about it, depressing. Whilst also making me very happy.

I'm sad that I will never know what it's like to be thin and young at the same time. There was a lot of youth wasted.

I might be able to go to the doctor now, if I need to. For the first time in several years. I might even not refuse (for the first time since age 20 or so) if they want to weigh me. Imagine it - no patronising lecture. (Or do they just find something else?).

It'll need to be Wegovy tablets for maintenance, I think. Does anyone know what dosage to start on, if you're coming off 15mg Mounjaro?

I feel like somebody should be throwing a party. I also do NOT want my body mentioning, by anybody, ever.

It's a weird thing.

Spot on @sammylady37 - there is a particular type of disdain stretching to outright abuse that is nothing to do with how we carry ourselves.

Congratulations, that's wonderful! Your post resonates because after quite a long, pretty slow period of weight loss, I am now one single pound off that elusive 24.9 BMI. I have plateaued with this stubborn extra pound for a few weeks now. I haven't really plateaued at all until now, so my body picked quite a moment to choose!

I totally understand the feeling of being torn between wanting someone to throw a part, whilst simultaneously really not wanting anyone to comment!

Brilliant - do something to celebrate- new jewellery or top maybe?

Well done. You sound so happy which is lovely.

I'm not "healthy weight" bracket yet but I have lost 3 stones and would say I'm "normal fat" rather than hugely fat. Like you I have been fat for as long as I can remember apart from a brief interlude in my 20s where I was thin because I was doing too many illegal drugs and not eating.

Your post really described the feeling so well. It's a joy and also a sadness not because you were bad before - or partly that - but of all that time from being small having a Wrong Body and all the ways that fills up your life even though you've done other brilliant stuff and are brilliant.

I'm not going to say well done. But I am going to say I'm really really pleased for you that you feel normal now and were always a worthwhile person ❤️

I’m 1.5 lb off a healthy bmi. I agree it’s a really big moment psychologically.

I’ve been not obese for nearly 18 months and not-fat for a year. I was a not fat child, adolescent and twenty/thirty something but didn’t appreciate my body. Having spent two decades obese , I am so thankful for MJ.

I maintain on 7.5mg. If you, like me, needed the top dose to keep losing - then you are almost certainly insulin resistant. The trick for maintenance will mean titrating down to a point where food noise is still silent but sufficient appetite not to lose further. Everyone will have a different level. Although I have a 7.5mg pen my optimum maintenance is actually 7mg .

Your thread brought tears to my eyes OP, well done!

I’m 8 weeks into Wegovy tablets, a stone down, and pondering if Not Fat is too much to aim for… My happy adult weight gives me a BMI of 27, I look great, get compliments etc at that weight but find it very hard to stay at. My goal weight on Wegovy will get me to 22.1. I will probably aim for 24.8 to be realistic.

I have wasted my life worrying about my weight….BMI was 34 at worst and 29.8 usually. I’m healthy and have been fit for the last 10 years, do a range of activities that make me stronger and fitter but don’t particularly help my weight. My metabolism is best suited for life on a desert island with only berries and the fish you kill for yourself. I can store fat (and muscle) out of anything. Sadly it’s not very aesthetic!

Can the “eat less move more” brigade fuck off please? Go and advise alcoholics to “just stick at the one drink”, that’s how useful your advice is. Be thankful you don’t struggle with your weight and prepare yourselves to no longer feel superior to others based on your genetic luck.

Delighted for you OP! If you haven't already done so the Weight loss section here is very supportive, there is a WLI section too.

I recently became Not obese and am delighted to be just overweight. I dream of the day I am not fat! I got there once since childhood about 10 years ago and it changed every single element of my life. Getting on a bus being not fat, having a shower being not fat. It was amazing and I swore I would never let it go. But life happened and lockdowns etc but next time I'm convinced it won't happen again because I'll have medication to keep me on the right track. I also lament that WLIs weren't invented earlier, I could have lived that other whole fantasy life that exists in my head where I'm not fat. I'm too old now, even if (when) I get there I'll be probably 50. I want to go back to my 20 yr old self and give her a jab.

Quite. I didn’t imagine the men shouting insults as they drove by when I was 17.5 stone.

Well done you, I know the feeling and it never gets old.
Even though I think I'm still in the overweight category at 10 stone and 5ft 2, and I have a wobbly belly and arms and stretch marks, I still feel the best I have in 15 odd years
I still remember really fat me, thinking I could never lose the weight. I would have dreams where I was thin and be desperate to change but know deep down, it wasn't on the cards.
I honestly can't believe it still, wearing shorts and dresses and FEELING GOOD.
My MH is better and going on holiday is an exciting prospect in terms of clothes, instead of dread about finding clothes to cover up and feeling like a sweaty whale.
I've been maintaining for over a year and still have to pinch myself.

Oh and I should mention that my Fybromyalgia and sciatica have improved and going for a walk is no longer a dreaded ordeal, akin to a thin person suddenly being asked to compete in the 400m hurdles 😄

I wasn't very big, size 14-16 at the most at 5'7" and 13 and a half stone but was uncomfortable at BMI 29 and never felt myself. I have always exercised and eaten a good diet, I just couldn't eat the tiny amounts I needed to lose weight for long enough to get down to a healthy BMI. I always stopped when I got to 12 st something as it just wasn't sustainable. I was measuring all my macros and calories all the time and doing plenty of exercise but calorie calculators were just absolute nonsense, particularly in my late 40s, I just couldn't shift anything. I need to be in something like an apparent 1000 calorie deficit a day to shift 1lb/2lbs a week, and can only eat about 1400 calories, and to get down to BMI 23 it's even less. When I was younger I could eat up to 2500 a day at 9.5 stone and not put weight on. That's the difference between being 25 and 50, and also pre and post children. I have good muscle tone and even at BMI 29 my waist to height ratio was healthy so relatively I didn't carry a lot on my middle.

Going on the copper coil at 35 was an absolute fucking disaster as a few years later I had endometriosis, two huge bilateral cysts which they thought might be cancerous at first, and PCOS so probably made me insulin resistant as well.

Now I feel like there is a personal tipping point for insulin resistance at about 12 stone for me. I actually maintained 11st 4lbs to 11 stone 10lbs for six months with no MJ at all but with the hot weather and bloating it crept up to 12 stone and all hell then seemed to break loose with my appetite and I was craving carbs and hungry all the time. So I've gone back on 2.5mg and am already back to 11st 9lbs. I'll stay on it for at least six months just at this dose this time and see how I go, as if I could get down to ten and a half stone it may give me more wriggle room to stay between that and 11 stone and avoid insulin resistance. Or I just take it long term. We'll see. IANAD but I feel I'm becoming quite knowledgeable about my own endocrine system!

I’ve had to come off MJ so I can plan second DC. However, going from 13 stone to 10s6 (and then hovering around 10s12 since coming off MJ) has been amazing

I know I can generally eat much better now and don’t have to fight with myself all the time
i I know I need to maintain and possibly lose 12 lbs now naturally as no choice
but it’s an amazing feeling not having that hanging over your head
well done

Bravo you said it far better than I could articulate.

Well done @Elsvieta !

Like "helpful" others, I may have always comments about move more / eat better and that's despite spending most of my adult life overweight / obese, I saw (actually probably still do see) obesity as a sign of weakness / poor self control.

However, I've been on a low wegovy dose since April, am 20lbs down and gone is my judgement about how folks lose weight. I am still technically obese but getting to only overweight doesn't now seem impossible. The 24.9 target seems almost too far to think so not worrying about that yet. And bollox to any one who judges me for "cheatng".

Well you’re still a woman OP so GPs will dismiss you down to hormones now of course I jest, that’s amazing, well done, I can feel the joy radiating from your words!

I relate to this post so much.
I know my own body. I’ve had pt’s and online coaches think I’m doing it wrong and you should be able to lose on a 300 or 500 cal deficit. I can only lose by dropping cals much lower. I’m not thick I know I need to weigh and log everything. If I am and not losing it’s soul destroying to be told well you mustn’t be doing it right.

This, exactly. Had to stick to 1000 cal to lose a pound a week. And you just can't keep that up, with the constant banging headache and the pain tearing at your stomach. I proved this over and over again over a period of 35 years, which I would say constitutes a pretty fair trial...

That's brilliant!! Congratulations 🎉 I have a long way to go yet!

Meh... We're used to that, amirite?

I knew there'd be some snark - I've seen other people's WLI threads.

We provide an invaluable public service in giving always-thin women someone to feel morally superior to (over something that's not actually a moral issue). And now, in the cases where you do actually lose weight, they can sneer if you "cheated". Sod 'em.

Delighted for you! Many congratulations!

Congratulations! I agree, you deserve a party. Let's have a wee Mumsnet virtual one in your honour 💃

Haha... This thread is the celebration! Wouldn't want to draw attention to it in IRL, and not a soul knows I've been on WLI....just had to say something somewhere!

Congratulations! Well done for your brilliant achievement x