When do you start to worry?

 I've had maybe 4-6 weeks throughout my 14 months on this journey when I've had a gain.  Usually it was pretty small, (between 0.2, highest was 1.2 I think) and either came on the heels of a big loss, or was followed by a big loss.

Not so this week.  This past week I had like a 4lb. gain and now it looks like I've gone down a couple pounds, but I'm still 2/2.5lbs. higher than I was a week and a half ago!  I'm trying to stay calm and not reactionary, but when should I begin to worry?  I have been feeling bizarre and very fatigued recently btw...

And along that same line of thinking...how hard did you keep trying, or when did you just decide you'd hit your set point?  I must admit that the closer I get, the more maniacal I become about goal weight.  I have the feeling that this is my time, dammit, and why should I settle AT ALL?  The thing I hear often is the suggestion that this is good for me.  I wear an 8 mostly now, but I still have a lot of fat on my stomach, legs, arms...gosh, everywhere!  I want to be thin!  Not bony necessarily, but maybe size 4 or 2.  I know people are probably trying to be flattering and accepting in telling me to not lose more weight or that I don't "need" to, but it's kind of irritating.  Even if I wanted to be skinny, why can't I?  Honestly I feel like I can keep cutting until I get to where I want to go.

For what its worth, my surgeon says a 5 pound weight swing either way is the time to start taking action. Now this is in the context of maintenance. So I wouldn't worry. But if you are not at your goal and want to lose more and your doctor thinks its ok, Then go for it as now is the time. My body sort of found its own place though i monitor it closely to keep where i want to be.

It sure is easy to obsess about goal; even when you get there one obsesses about maintaining it (i do). I think over time we become more comfortable with our eating ha*****anges and habits and it becomes less of an obsession.

Anyway, go for what you want as long as its healthy.
Diane

I've heard about the 5 pound bounceback so I decided to lose an additional 5 pounds to compensate for it.  Unfortunately, I have to be somewhat slick about it because my hubby will flip out if I tell him.  

For me, if you want to lose some additional pounds, and your doctor is ok with it, and you are physically able to do it and still be healthy, I say GO FOR IT.  And once you lose it, if you don't like the way you look or feel, you can always adjust up, right? 

I hear you on trying to reach that goal.  I still want to lose 10 pounds but my weight has been stuck for the past 3 months.  I'm not gaining but I'm also not losing.  My weight also fluctuates +/- 2 pounds.  I find that if I'm a bit constipated I will go up, sounds pretty obvious. 

I think for me I want to keep saying I'm trying hard but honestly, I haven't been as strict on my eating as I know I should.  I've had some cravings and have had some junk in the house.  We are going on vacation tomorrow and that worries me as well.  I'm not going to be able to get my exercising in but I will be able to walk most days.  

Speaking of exercising:  Are you exercising?  I don't want to sound like a broken record, but it could help.  I've really beefed up my exercise and I'm still not losing but I do like the way my muscles are more defined.  So honestly I'm not sure if exercising helps us lose weight.  I'm sure you will here that yes, it does help lose weight but I haven't really seen it.  

I also agree that you should be skinny if that is what you want.  I know I want to be skinny and honestly, why can't we?

Good luck to you and keep posting.  and, if you find a way to lose more weight, be sure and post it here.

 You're right on the exercise.  I have not done that.  And as far as actual "weight" loss, I may not need to be quite so low on the scale if I am more toned--but I figure I'll still have to lose a good deal of weight in fat, though I might be compensating for some of that weight loss with muscle gain.  

I wouldn't say I'm having trouble losing weight, because up until the past 2 weeks I've eaten as I have the whole time (very liberally, no exercising--just my normal healthy eating, small portions) and lost consistently.  I just wasn't sure how long you let something go before you get concerned that your behavior is leading to gains (I don't get concerned after a week, for example), or how long you can find maintaining acceptable before deciding that you won't lose more unless you bear down.

THANK YOU!  It doesn't mean I'm disordered in thinking because I want to be a size 4 or 2.  My older sister is, but people get it in their heads that because I was once heavy I have a different situation.  Unfair.  

I agree, I would really like to be a 4.  I'm a 6 now but like I said in my earlier post, I'd like to lose 10 more pounds.  Do you track your meals?  Can you give me an idea of what you are eating?  Again, I just want to get the weight off. 

Also, one other thing you might want to take into consideration is the excess skin.  Some people have said you have the equivelent of 10% of your lost weight in excess skin.  So I see you've lost over 100 pounds which would mean you have about 10 pounds of excess skin.  But, I know you are really young so maybe your skin has bounced back more than someone my age, 45.  And, I don't think you are in danger from wanting to get lower.  For me it's all about reaching that goal weight that I've never been able to reach before.

Anyway, I think you are doing fabulously and you look amazing.

Hi There,

My 2 cents...  as long as you are within the healthy BMI range, I personally feel you should go as low as you like.  Get as skinny as you like.

I am 5' 11.5" and range between 147 - 152 lbs.  I got as low as 142 lbs, but I am too lazy to get back there, I hate dieting.

I love to be skinny, so after a rest, I may go back down to 142 lbs or even 140 lbs, it will put me at the low end of the BMI charts...  and where I love to be.

I look good here, but I feel better down there.

All the best, you are beautiful and I love to watch your progress.

When you get down to the last few pounds, the weight loss is slow enough tha****er retention comes into play much more than it does when you are still losing 1-2 pounds a week. As long as you are still doing what you did before and haven't slacked off on anything, an occasional week of no loss  or even a slight gain is nothing to worry about. If you haven't gotten lax about something (exercise, water, protein, calories) and you aren't where you want to be, well, you know what to do!

Once I got to a normal BMI, I picked my goal weight totally based on appearance. I had no idea where I'd stop but every time I went down, I'd look in the mirror and see if I still had fat to lose that I wanted to lose. When I didn't, I stopped.

I've actually continued to change my body composition after that. I gained back a bit of fat, then I decided to put on more muscle, then I lost some more fat. The end result is that I'm up from my lowest of 109-115 to 117-121. That extra 6 pounds is more muscle everywhere, more fat in my boobage and core (the part you can't see, but when I lay down I'm not as concave as I used to be) and less fat in my thighs and calves.