Do you believe you have a 'set' weight?

[GlamMa]

Throughout my 20s, until I had kids, I was always around 60kg. 60kg is a healthy weight for my height and means i can fit into all my clothes. After having kids (late 20s), I was very overweight (I had v severe morning sickness that felt better when I ate!) and was around 76kg after about a year or so post giving birth.

I then embarked on a combination of exercise and diet and got down to 64kg. To get from 64kg to 60kg was an absolute chore and even though I managed it, when I came off diet/exercise, I went straight back to 64kg and stayed there.

I had another push in my 40s in a quest to get my cholesterol down and get a bit more healthy and managed to get back to 60kg where I stayed for about 3 years. I've recently gone into perimenopause (I'm 51 this year), periods still regular etc. but definitely getting some symptoms and I'm back at 64kg and finding it hard to get anywhere near 60kg.

I know it's not much but it's the difference between me fitting into my clothes or not (as most of the weight is around my waist/boobs).

I genuinely believe I have a set weight that was around 60kg when I was younger and appears to have moved up to 64kg. Does anyone else feel this way?

I think there is a weight that's sustainable when you're eating your "normal" eating patterns. Most people who lose weight deliberately tend to put on a bit once they stop the weight loss regime because it's not sustainable long term.

I believe I do - maybe it's only a theory but I think I'm a case that supports the theory. I kicked myself up the arse during lockdown and started to control what I was eating very carefully (weighed, measured and recorded properly) and exercising regularly because I was desperately unhealthy and wanted to change.

Roll on almost 4 years, I average 15,000 steps a day through either fast walking or running, I do weights every day and yoga at least 3 times a week. My calorie intake is limited to 1,200, but ordinarily closer to 1,000 on a daily basis. Occasionally (less than once a month) I don't calorie count for a day, but my food intake is low enough that gorging isn't really possible - it just means a couple of slices of pizza or roast dinner with proper buttered mash potatoes and real gravy.

Despite this, I only lost 3 stone (all in the first year) and remain in the obese category. I've maintained for 2.5 years on those calories and that level of exercise, including training for and running a half marathon. I cannot reduce my calories further, it wouldn't be safe with the activity I'm doing. I've had my thyroid levels checked and they're absolutely normal. My body has decided I'm not allowed to weigh less than I currently do.

I've made peace with my body being this shape and weight. I'm healthier than I have been for years so I'm concentrating on maintaining this approach to life. Good healthy food and plenty of activity. That being said, I'm definitely at the point where I could cheerfully slap anyone that tells me to 'just move more and eat less'!