A weight loss moan

[Pickingmyselfup]

I'm almost at what I thought was my target weight but it's clear that I still have a way to go but I actually don't think I'll look any better.

My biggest issue is my thighs, I'm still carrying a shed load of fat on them so everytime I go running they wobble. All my shorts ride up and my inner thighs get squeezed out. It's just awful.

I do so much running and a variety at that plus I weightlift but they are still awful!

Everywhere I look there are women of all sizes and it's almost guaranteed that they have much nicer legs than me! My arms are just as flabby too!

What does it take to actually shed the fat because I'm doing everything right, I've lost weight but still the fat remains.

You just have to keep going. From what I've seen, certain parts remain flabby but you stick at the exercise and healthy eating and suddenly it just goes.

I feel your pain. Im only 5ft too so even though I'm at a hethy weight for my height, my legs are so dumpy and horrible looking. If I could change anything about myself it would definitely be my legs

It's very difficult to change your actual shape without surgery. Even if you lose weight, your overall shape tends to stay the same. I have stubborn weight on my hips, stomach and upper thighs that remains even when I'm slim. No solution but sending sympathy!

I guess I just have to keep going and hope my top half stops getting skinnier and my legs start! I had a bit of a bad day yesterday, wasn't in a deficit but at maintainance because I was starving after my 8K run and I also had a cocktail.

Some women are genetically blessed with skin that doesn’t wobble, but most women do wobble when they run. I’ve even seen sports women whose legs wobble. Is it loose skin? My thighs do this but I am not sure it’s all fat some of it is just skin laxity. Which I cant change as I am getting older x

To my surprise, my legs seemed to get a bit thinner (chub rub went away, shorts looked ok-ish) when during covid, we started walking about 5 miles a day. I also do Pilates which possibly helps a bit.

My arms OTOH...

@Pickingmyselfup have you considered increasing your calories now, to support the weight lifting?
As others have said, some of it might just be genetic. You might be able to change how the loose areas look/feel by increasing the amount of muscle - legs especially tend to be good for this - but to add muscle you would need to be eating above maintenance, not below. Not a huge amount, typically 200 calories and a decent amount of protein will will make s difference, but there's only so far you go on just weight loss alone.

I have considered it but I've looked at my daily calories for the last 4 weeks and I'm pretty much at maintainance if I'm to trust the calculators. It's why I'm tracking my calories because I'm not sure what I should be eating. I'm basing it on 6 days of exercise but it's very generic. What exercise, I could do an hour of treadmill walking 6 days a week or I could be doing a ton of running and heavy ish weightlifting..

I'll be increasing the weights in a month or so but decreasing the reps, running will tail off after October to more like 20K a week not 40K until January when it will start to pick up again.

I feel so self conscious about my legs when I have them on display in summer and I know there will be people judging thinking they should stay hidden but I'm trying to not give a shit what people think. Hard though!!!

I walk over 5 miles a day anyway as well as my exercise. The school run is a mile each way and my job has me on my feet 4 days a week for 5 hours too. I was doing pilates but I'm struggling for time so I haven't been for a while

@Pickingmyselfup calculators will only ever give you a rough guide; if you've been tracking for the last month, take an average of your daily calorie intake.
If your weight has stayed about the same, that average is around maintenance. If you've still been losing, you can trust maintenance is a little higher.

Fwiw 40k a week running is a lot, and it'd be unusual to be able to gain muscle while doing that - some athletes can, but it's rare - generally if we're regularly running our body fights against adding too much muscle because it's very inefficient to lug it around! So if running is your thing, you might want to consider focusing a bit on muscle building in the winter when you're running less.

I know it's daunting to increase calories after a long period of weight loss, doing so by 50-100 a day for a week, then again the next week etc, can help you adjust. The way to tell is really how your lifts are feeling, and if you're getting stronger.

Congrats on everything you've achieved so far!

I got the 40km wrong, at the minute it's approaching 30km but it could be more like 40 in the next coming weeks.

It will tail off after October, I don't like booking races in winter so unless I do one in February then I won't have any big events between November and March. I need to maintain my fitness but I guess I can do that without running miles every week.

I did consider upping my calories a bit during the winter when I move into the heavy lifting phase but I am wary of losing it again. I don't want to gain 5kg, look fatter then struggle to lose it after.

I hear you @Pickingmyselfup Im at the smallest Ive been in 30 years, oh Ive been lighter perhaps, but clothes sizes are the smallest they have ever been in those 30 years, I have cheek, hip and collar bones showing, Ive the skinniest arms and legs - but Im still carrying a lot around my belly and it does get me down. I dont want to lose any more weight, my BMI is healthy, my active age is 6 years younger then my actual age, I did a marathon, but Ive still got middle aged spread!!!

Im just trusting that the fitter I become the more toned I will become - eventually and finding clothes that flatter rather then accentuate

It's incredibly frustrating isn't it. I am still trying to lose but that's also hard because I'm getting hungrier because everything is ramping up. My scales are all over the place with dramatic losses, dramatic gains as well as little losses and little gains so god knows if they work.

How many marathons have you done? I was looking for one to do next year but I think I need to make it through my half first!

Just the one, two halves when I was seriously over weight though :)

I weigh once a week at the same time (well within the hour) after my "ablutions" :) And now I am in a healthy BMI I dont rely on the scales

I did a pile of ironing today, stuff I was putting off because I was struggling to find space to put away. Today I found the time to clear my drawers. As Ive lost weight Ive been keeping the size that fits and one size up. Today I dumped the 14 tops and 12 bottoms . Some of my most loved clothes are now gone, some that I have had for 20 years, now have to go ( they are flat packed just in case , I cant swear I wont get bigger again )

So here I am, 12 top and dresses, 8 around the waist but a six would do the legs, and still a massive midriff . Honestly its bad. I know I am gaunt looking, but then I see myself and below the boobs to waist is just huge

Trying to still lose but being hungry?? Bad , you will give up, ( Ive the tee shirt )

Make the simple changes, swap the white bread to wholemeal. have an "open sandwich" - one slice, pile on the salad, cut out the spread or butter - wasted calories, use pickles, pimp the curries and stews and mince dishes with beans - you wont want the pasta/rice/potatoes and throw veg into everything you eat.

I sit at around 1300 cals and I drink like a fish but its a rare day that Im hungry. I allow myself an eat everything around me day cos they happen ( today has been that day ) but tomorrow I will be back to eating properly - eggs and bacon medallions with tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers ( as a previous veg dodger Ive surprised myself in finding veg I like ) and then a typical roast dinner, same as everyone has

Beans are great, high protein, low fat , and even baked beans are good I use black beans, black eyed beans, cannelloni, kidney, and also sweetcorn, peas, spinach , rocket, tomatoes , some or all everyday . Even making a soup out of some veg to have to keep the hunger at bay

Getting hungry turns to hanger - hungry is good, hanger is fuck it

there are a few things going on

1. fat composition. Where your fat is, is the best and healthiest place for it. This podcast helped me understand more and appreciate fat distribution https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/zoe-science-nutrition/id1611216298?i=1000637038881

2. Where you are seems unsustainable. You’re ravenous and training hard but not feeding yourself properly, it’s a recipe for a blow out.

I would recommend having a rest. Staying at maintenance. Fuelling yourself properly. Enjoy the weight you’ve lost now. Get your legs out for summer and know that no on is perfect.

I pretty much do that already, bolognese bulked out with vegetables and lentils, chilli bulked out with beans, eat brown bread over white and shove cucumber and tomato in it. Egg on toast with a weighed portion of avacado or porridge with fruit and seeds.

Today I had too much leftover kids pizza, pimms and then I had a snickers ice cream. My run was rubbish too so not a great day bit I'm back in the gym this morning and I'm going to repeat yesterday's run this evening in the hope I will do better.

Despite setting myself to a deficit I think I have been at maintainance over the last few weeks. I'm going to weigh myself in a week after the full 6 weeks is up, see where I am and look over my average calories to give me an idea of what I need to eat for me to maintain. Then do the same again for the next 6 weeks and see where I am then as well.

I use the calculators to start me off with a number then I use my own stats to decide if it's right.