Losing weight after the "ideal weight" stage

[Krepsly]

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be a walking skeleton.

But at 5ft 10in and 10.8 stone the "experts" say I'm ideal but I know I'm not, I have thunder thighs, a pot belly, jelly hips and bingo wings so I know I could get slimmer. However, shifting that "one more" stone is a bloody nightmare!

Anyone managed to get lower than "ideal"? if so, how?

I'm thinking low carb + jogging??

Eat even less, move even more

I can't eat less really, I only eat 3 meals a day as it is and don't snack. I'm not prepared to starve

The thing is, it will be hell to maintain if it's a lower weight than you're meant to be. I just dug out my summer clothes from last year and they barely fit as I was a stone lower than was really ideal, and surprise surprise it's crept back on. At 10 stone 8 at 5 10 you do sound fine. Try and tone rather than lose weight maybe? Or you will seriously struggle to keep at a lower than natural weight, and that way madness lies

it sounds more like you need to tone up than lose weight which I would agree would be hard to maintain ..

running is great for toning up legs and some weights will sort out wings in weeks.. diet wise - just cut out bread or white carbs which should stop pot belly

Ditto what boobooglass and zzmum said. Exercise (Inc weights) and mostly avoiding processed carbs is the way forward, don't make your life a misery by constantly worrying about what you eat and trying to maintain a weight your body fights against. Apart from anything else, that method will only get harder as you get older and if/when you fall off the wagon you'll pile the weight on and have a screwed up metabolism to boot-the essential problem with "dieting".

I think keep weight the same but increase muscle mass and decrease fat...

Low carb ok, but I think all over body exercise including lots of weights rather than just jogging....

Krepsly - DVD - 30 DAY SHRED - the best thing EVER if you want to tone up

I am also 5'10 and definitely do not look good or feel confident above 10st. I have never been overweight according to BMI but my own personal ideal weight is 9st 7. This puts me at the lower end of the healthy BMI range which is right for me.

I went from 10st 10 to 9st 4 (and bounced back up to a comfortable 9st 7) a couple of years ago. The only way to do it for me was to keep my calorie intake in check. At about 1200 calories a day I could lose weight steadily. It took a while though - around 4 or 5 months (although I wasn't super strict about sticking to 1200 cals/day so could have lost it faster).

Adding in resistance training will help you to gain muscle which is more metabolically active than fat (and means you can eat a bit more) and improves the look of your body and gives you that 'toned' appearance most people desire.

It's always harder to lose the last few lbs so you have to be committed to it. It's worth it in the end though as my confidence is so much higher when I'm at my preferred weight.

You probably need to tone up rather than lose weight if you are the right weight but saggy.

Bit of jogging and a decent weights/resistance programme should do it.