Body Acceptance

[Octopus45]

Hi, apologies if this is the wrong place to post this, but I was wondering if anyone else with a smallish amount of weight to lose is trying to get their head round this. I for one am sick to death of diets, I’ve been here before (since the 1990s in fact and read Diet Breaking by Mary Evan’s Young. I’ve recently read a book about emotional eating, and I would love to stop being obsessed with food/dieting etc. Have tried so many times. For context, I’m 50 , probably post menopausal and on Tamoxifen, height 5ft4 or 5, weight probably about 9st4, dress size 10/12, pear shaped, small boned. I walk everywhere and do a short hit workout every morning.

Today I’ve put something on Vinted which I was trying to fit back into properly. I’ve realised it’s a stark choice, accept myself at this weight (doesn’t mean over eating) or slog on to lose half a stone to a stone, which I will likely struggle to keep off.

Would anyone like to join me?

You’re a healthy weight. Why do you want to lose weight? You’re active which is great. What’s your diet (as in food intake like) day to day? You’ll get loads of people saying no carbs, loads of protein, don’t eat before x etc but in my experience it’s about moderation and long term habits. Short term diets are never going to work unless habits are changed long term.

So I am 51, 5 4 and weight about 9 2.

I got into heavy weight lifting around 3-4 years ago. I’ve taken WLI to get down to this weight (similar to yours) from over 11 stone.

I’m now so happy with my body. Probably for the first time ever in my life and I think if I lost any more weight I’d be too thin. I’m wondering why you think losing half a stone is a good idea. If you aren’t happy with your body switch the HIT to weights.

Thanks for the replies. Agree about long term habits. Think I need to focus on toning op MetidaBrave it sounds as if you have done really well

I hate the term toning up though… it’s not what most people think.

What you need to do is build muscle, and gradually over time reduce the fat. It’s done with heavy weights and progressive overload. Women, especially in their 50s don’t get “bulky” or very muscular even with very heavy lifting. If you can do 10 reps it’s too light.

I can now squat 92.5kg, deadlift 97.5kg and bench 57.5kg, and shoulder press 35kg (1 rep max). My working sets are more like 75kg squat, 85kg deadlift, 47.5kg on bench and 25kg shoulders. I’ve also done Pilates which has helped core. I do some cardio either a 5km run 2-3 times a week or just 10-12 mins on one of the gym machines.

You can have an unhealthy relationship with food and be a normal weight.

Sorry healthy weight.