What’s your ‘happy weight’?

[threeeggsontoast]

I was thinking about this last night! I’m just starting out on my MJ journey and am currently 15:10 which at 5ft 1 is pretty bad.

When I’ve lost weight before (over 7 years ago now), I was happy with my weight at 11 stone. I was comfortably in a size 12 and I felt slim but with still a bit of curve. According to BMI, that has me on the edges of being overweight but as long as I feel healthy and comfortable in my own skin, I’m not overly concerned about BMI. I did once get to 10.7 and I had people tell me I looked gaunt. It was also very hard to stay there. I had to stick to around 1100 calories and I was miserable. For some reason (goodness knows why) at 11 stone, I could tolerate more calories and stay at that weight.

Do you have a ‘happy weight’ you’re aiming for, whether it’s BMI related or just getting into a certain size again? Everyone’s different so I’m just curious to see how others approach this.

It's all about build, isn't it? My frame can't take it.

I think that one of the things that MJ has taught me is that I mostly had rose tinted spectacles about a healthy weight .

back last summer I was delighted with myself to be 12 st 5 at 5ft 6.5.. However I was deluded . Just because I was no longer morbidly obese didn’t mean I was anywhere near healthy - at that is what I was set on. So I’ve kept going. Not really been a struggle to be honest - just stayed in 15mg until I got to BMI 22 and worked my way down to a level that helps me maintain but not loose more .

I’m the same height and 8 and half was always my ideal. If I went down to 8 I was a bit scrawny but up to 9 and I felt a bit chubby.

I somehow went up to 14 stone.

Good question! I’ve got down from BMI 35.6 to 25.9. I think I’ll carry on to 24.9. That’s 73.6 kg or a 30 kg loss for me at 172 cm (bit more than 5’7”).

So right at the top of the healthy BMI range, but my waist is already way below half my height (79 cm) and my waist to hip ratio is good (0.7 iirc). My scales say my body fat is under 30%.

I have a big frame and an hour glass shape, which is one reason I gained weight without being particularly bothered. I work out and am quite muscular. I don’t look slim or slight, but my build and genetics make that unrealistic, and I’m very glad to settle for strong and fit and healthy. Can’t believe I’m getting here tbh. Thought it was impossible.

Really interesting to read everyone else’s thoughts. Although I’m aiming for 11 stone 7, I agree that when I get there I might decide to keep going. I guess right now 11:7 feels achievable and anything beyond that feels terrifying. I think it’s terrifying because I was 18 the last time I was under 11 stone. I’m now 50 and I’m not even sure I’d know who I was at that weight!

The more I think about it the more I realise that my sense of who I am is tied to my weight. I’ve always been somewhere between 12 and 17 stone. Anything outside of that feels like exploring outer space. Maybe I’m settling on 11:7 because it feels safe. Either way, no pressure. I’ll see how I feel when I get there.

I don’t really know. I’m 5’7 and my body happily stayed at 11 st 7 for years after I had my first two kids. That is still slightly overweight and I wasn’t totally happy but it was ok. I’m now 11 st 12 and I look ok. I carry the weight well and I think people would be surprised if I told them how much I weigh. I haven’t been under 11 stone in over 10 years. When I got married I was 10st 3lb and I love how I look in the pictures - at the time I thought my thighs were chubby but with retrospect and review of the photos from our honeymoon they weren’t. I’ve set my goal as 9 stone 13 just to see how I look at that weight but I wonder if I’ll settle somewhere between 10 and 10 st 7lb which is about BMI 23 for me I think.

Before I had my son, almost 20 years ago, I was about a size 12-14 and sat around 12.5-13st. I’m 5ft 8. I was happy, healthy and riding regularly, so I think I’d like to get back to that. I’ll still he technically overweight, but I can live with that!

Mounjaro has helped me reach my happy weight! I'm 8stone7 (55kg), 5ft6, and I feel great! Haven't been this weight for 20 years!

Now got to figure out how to maintain....

I'm in this camp.

5ft4. I sat at about 9st5-9st7 for 10 years through my 30s and looked good and was a slim size 10. Through blood, sweat and tears I'm back down to 8st12 and look and feel great and have some visible muscle definition and I'm now a size 8. This is the weight I was in my late 20s and I'm now 41.

At our height, 7 pounds makes a massive difference, which wouldn't show on someone taller.

I’m a couple of inches shorter than you OP which makes a huge difference to weight. At 11 stone I was clinically obese and that’s when I started MJ a year ago.

I’m now 8 stone (my goal weight) and while I look good in clothes it’s obvious when starkers I still have 7 pounds to go.

also I’m in Zara small and really there’s basically no one in the world smaller than me so really that extra half a stone would take me to the right size of XS and I would be a BMI of 22.

my BMI is currently 23.

(my weight was higher than yours OP five years ago and I had surgery. It took me to the size 12 but I was still obese so that’s why I started MJ. I thought I was happy at a size 12 as I’d previously been a size 18-20. It’s only once I saw the benefits of getting my BMI to an actual healthy number did I believe there was something in it. No pain, no inflammation, hormones in balance. At an obese size 12 I was still unwell)

Ooh I think I’ve found my twin! Also 5’4 hourglass, also around 13 stone when lockdown came and gained 2 stone. Started losing weight 18 months ago at 15st 4.

I’ve always felt I’m better with a bit of weight, but I can’t remember what my happy weight is as it’s been too long. I’ve just this week reached healthy BMI at 10st 5, but goal is 9st 10 to give a bit of a buffer. Not sure yet if I’ll look too gaunt or not, but in my 20s I got to a size 10 and definitely looked a bit too thin. I’m size 10 now but I’m sure clothing sizes must have got bigger.

The quote “no matter how she stood on the scales she still weighed 11 stone” has lived rent free in my head since I was a teen. It was Tory in Riders.

Poor fat Tory who lost loads of weight due to extreme stress of Jake leaving her for Helen in front of the eyes of the world, but she at least finally became as beautiful as Fen.

I think being overweight for a woman is seen as a terrible personal failing and there is so much judgement internally and externally that it can feel impossible to change it as you’ve got to lose a lot of weight for people to stop commenting. Which can feel like a mountain that is too hard to climb, and if you’ve always struggled how do you even know what the view from the top looks like?

Personally I never comment on anyone’s weight unless I know them incredibly well and then it’s only to tell them how well they look.

Are you an older lady? I am 5’4 and definitely don’t look gaunt at 9st 10, it’s a perfectly healthy weight. I genuinely believe people have forgotten what our faces are meant to look like because so much of the population is too heavy.

the healthiest BMI is actually 21-22. You’d be closer to 9stone to be there, under I think maybe?

we also all seem to focus on what we look like and aren’t considering health and longevity which should be a bigger factor in weight targets than our clothes label.

If we've 'forgotten what our faces are meant to look like' then I'd argue it's mostly because there is barely a single woman in the public eye over the age of 30 who is not using tweakments or surgery to maintain a fuller, youthful face with a very slim body. For 'normal' people who aren't using injectables or surgery the old saying about choosing between your face and your figure still applies!

@VelociraptorsVelociRapping yes, that too!

I did say in a previous post it gets to a point where you’re choosing between your arse and your face so I couldn’t agree more.

Sorry @OchAyeTheNo0, I missed that!

That's an interesting conversation. I'm the same height as you, 5ft1, and currently 10st6 after 6 weeks (Starting BMI was 30.3, currently 27.7). For me, 8st3 to 8st9 is my ideal weight (BMI of around 22/23) That's when I've felt the best moving, running up the stairs, doing daily stuff.
I think there are so many overweight people nowadays that our perception of what is "healthy" is skewed. When I went back down to 8st3 after pregnancies, many told me I looked too thin. I looked perfectly in proportion, doctor was happy it was a healthy weight... I just think it's a mix of jealousy and a distorted view of what is normal.

The many comments on this thread have definitely got me thinking about what my goal weight should be. For now, I’m sticking with 11:7 as that feels like it would be such a huge difference from where I am now but the comments have definitely made me think that I need to reassess when I get there.

The things I’m dreading are the almost inevitable, ‘I hope you’re going to stop soon?’ Or ‘don’t go too far’ comments. 🫤

Same starting weight, current weight and height here! Also looking at a similar happy weight (ultimately a BMI of 24/25) and will go from there!

About 9st

<11st, I'm 5'7". Currently 11st 11lbs. In the last 15 years I've found it really hard to get under about 12st 7lbs and more commonly have been in the 13st to 13 7lbs range. Then at 12st odd I really didn't notice that much difference so there was not as much incentive to keep it off.

I feel like my body is resetting itself now. The progress is a bit slow now but I'll get there this time. I'm a size 12 and more of a ten already in tops.

I've always said I'm aiming for a size 14. I'm 5 foot 7 and I've been up to a size 24 at the end of lockdown. Currently I'm just edging into a size 16 and 80kg.

I'm a big lass. I have big hands, head and feet. I have broad shoulders and am quite muscular after a lifetime of swimming and cycling (despite my size) Anything smaller than a size 14 would just look weird and scrawny on my frame.

@slug same! I’m 5’7.5” and now at 76.5 kg I’m a 42/14, mostly small end of 14 except for shoulders in some brands. I reckon I’ll try to get rid of another few kilos to get into the healthy BMI bracket, which for me is >74kg, but I’ve never been thinner than that since I stopped growing, except very briefly when I was seriously ill.

I’m 5’2” and have always weighed more than it looks like I do. I’m relatively strong and can easily lift more weight than most women. I am happy at slightly overweight so long as I’m fit. I was running marathons at bmi 26.
I put on weight in covid followed by menopause. Reached bmi 35. On MJ now and coming back down. I think that around 11 stone - 11 stone 4/5lbs will feel good and sustainable.