Knowing when to stop. Shall I push for the last half stone or maintain?

[9Stone7]

Hi all,

I've lost 4 and a half stone since May 2024, going from 14 stone to 9 stone 7lbs. I'm 5'7 and my BMI is 20. I've been on 1600 calories a day the whole time, done C25K, and now training for a half marathon. I've joined the gym and started weight training. Basically I've overhauled my lifestyle completely. I have two children, 3 and 10 months, and feel that I have a bit of a mum tummy going on. My upper stomach is ok, it's my lower stomach that I really don't like. I wondered if loosing the final half a stone to get me to 9 stone exactly would help with that?

I'm struggling a bit on 1600 calories now, which is odd as I wasn't before when I was much heavier! Maybe I'm just bored of it. Anyway, my mum thinks I'm too thin 🙄 I don't, but after so many years of being overweight and disordered eating it's totally possible I'm not seeing myself clearly. Shall I push through and see if I look better at 9 stone or maintain where I am? Pictures included, thoughts welcomed.

Thanks all!

I think you look perfectly healthy and very nice. And you sound very fit.

I am also a mum and I am not sure any amount of weightloss will ever give me a completely flat tummy as it’s not really 100% fat, it’s loose skin or muscle/ligament damage from stretching and the shape a pregnancy leaves behind. Some women are generically different and for whatever reason, they have a different shape to others. I have the same body shape as you.

I don’t think you are too thin but I don’t think you are looking at yourself objectively it’s too hard. You don’t need to lose more weight your BMI is healthy and as you have had disordered eating before you might be in dangerous territory if you want to keep losing weight. Will you really be happy if you lose another half a stone and still have a similar shape what happens then?

Maybe give yourself a break and just maintain for a few months and focus on your fitness. I did this and it gave me a good perspective and a break from thinking about it. Maintaining weight is something you will need to learn to do not just losing weight, your weight now will also be muscle

I think your body will decide where its natural weight will be. Maybe this is it. You
could push down but you may have to cut the cals to maintain that and that's not fun.
You truly look amazing

@Jaderz

Thanks so much for your reply. I agree, I'll never have a flat tummy completely. I've been doing a mum tum workout series which has helped a bit, but I absolutely agree that it's skin/tissue/damage/whatever that fat loss won't fix.

Maybe a break for some headspace would be helpful. I'll have a think! Thank you

@MrsPerfect12 I'm wondering if this is the case for me at my current weight. Weight loss is incredibly slow now!

I think you look great in those pictures. I have kids and I’ve given up on the stomach ever being flat again.

If your mother is anything like mine, she’ll find something to criticise whatever weight you are.

You look great. And I also have a tummy still - my BMI is 21 and pretty much all my 'extra' weight now sits on my lower stomach.

I'm now maintaining but I found my weight loss had more or less stopped at the weight I am now and I'm now losing and gaining 2-3lbs around that point now, so it seems like my body feels comfortable here, even if a bit of me would like to have carried on and lost more.

I'm exactly the same, every single ounce of 'spare' is on my lower stomach!

That’s ok, I do feel you as I felt the same for a while. I cannot seem to get it to look better anymore but it’s way flatter than it was 5 stone ago! And if you poke it the muscle is hard underneath. Core strength is important - women who have visible abs often just have very low body fat and that can come with its own issues. Women naturally hold tissue there to protect our organs

🤣

I could have written this post myself. My problem with this is all the hard work I have done to loose nearly four stone and I want to be happy with my body in the end.

I am 5.3 and I currently weigh 9.7. My goal is to be 8.11 which is in the middle of what my weight should be. But I’m not sure I will be happy when I lost that last bit.

also worried about maintaining. I have done the same as u. Changed everything. I’m at the gym at 6 everyday and I am loving my new lifestyle. Wondering if the gym etc will help with my stomach?

How about focusing on performance now instead. Eat to fuel your workouts and try to run faster, lift more. You'll be surprised how much your body can change without the scale moving.

I'm with you here, I feel the same. I'm still not 100% happy, but I think I'm realising I'll never be 100% happy with my post baby body and this is as good as I'm going to get. Maybe that's the same for you.

I've been moving towards this. Definitely trying to up the protein!

I would push on. I stopped feeling wholly equipped to do so having lost 5 stone, overhauled my eating, and building exercise in. I knew the stats and they're the same as stopping any diet, but I still thought I'd be fine.

And the first few weeks were fine, even over Christmas. But since then all I think about is food. All. The. Time. I ve put about 6 pounds on in 4 weeks and wish I'd lost more to give me the buffer or stayed on maintenance.

This is major consideration! Thats principally why I wanted to get down to 9 stone. So there was something of a buffer. I'd want to maintain somewhere between 9 and 9.7. NOT somewhere between 9.7 and 10.

I do think I need a break though. Maybe some breathing space from it for a week or so and then back at it.