Milestone: I'm overweight!

(Liz Ellen) #1

After a two month stall or so, I finally moved the needle in the last few weeks and have dropped to 175, which for my 5’4" frame means I’m officially classified as overweight and not obese. This has been a huge goal for me, and I’m super thrilled to be here. I started at 227 at the beginning of the year, so I have also lost more than 50 pounds. (Holy crap!)

I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER. And, I have never been able to stick with a lifestyle change this long. Best of all, I’m not anxious, not planning my next big cheat, not feeling I’m about to spring back up on my weight. I’m cool as a cucumber.

I’m now beginning to wonder about my ultimate weight loss goal. The lowest I remember weighing as an adult (I’m 41) is 169. So, my next mini-goal is to get under that.

As for ultimate goal, I’m wondering how you all set yours. I know that BMI is a flawed calculation, but I initially was thinking any BMI under 27 would be good for me (so under 160). But, I think I’ve seen Dr. Westman encourage people to continue losing until they hit a “healthy weight.”

What I don’t want to do is to strive for perfection or something I can’t achieve and feel like I’ve failed because I’m still a little overweight. Even if I didn’t lose another pound, I feel so much healthier than I did 8 months ago. I’m so much more active, I look better, I feel better emotionally, all of it.

Anyway, thank you for all your help along this way. I read this site almost daily for advice and inspiration. I honestly didn’t think I could do it. I thought I would be obese for the rest of my life after failing on so many diets. Feeling super accomplished this morning.

(Polly) #3

Congratulations @LizEllen. Can you remember a weight at which you felt good on the way up (as it were) and which you might want to aim for?

(Liz Ellen) #4

No, I’m really traversing new ground here. I’ve been big since the third grade. I did diet my way down to 169 in my 20s, but I was only there for a hot minute. Every pound I lose now is gravy. I would love to be able to take up running as a hobby at some point. My brother is 11 years older than me and does triathlons and has run marathons. (He embraced sports when we were growing up; I wrote bad poetry and played the clarinet.) I don’t need to do do a tri or even a half marathon, but I would love to be able to take a morning jog “for fun” some day. I would need to lose quite a bit more to be able to do this without beating up my joints.

(Susan) #5

This is terrific, LizEllen, congrats!! Best wishes for the rest of your journey. You are doing great!!

(Katie) #6

I am very interested in how this is answered. It is the same question I have been asking myself. I have lost 40 lbs so far…and wonder where I will/should stop too.

I was unhealthy skinning all during my 20s…so that maybe to too far.

Ok…here is a related question. Do you set a goal and just hit it and then figure out how to hold there? Do you just let your body do whatever’s…continue keto exactly as you always have and let it run its course? How does this work out for most other people?

(Bob M) #7

I think it depends. Some people seem to go down quite quickly, whereas a lot of us like me take quite a while. Like LizEllen, I’m also in the “overweight” by BMI, but it took me over 5 years with some setbacks (shoulder surgery as one of those). I don’t hope to look like I did when I was, say, in my early 20s, as I was way more muscular then and have too many injuries now to get there. I wouldn’t mind getting to the next smaller pants size (34 waist, I’m 36 now, but some 36s are way too big). After that, I think some reserve fat might be good (do I really want to get sick as a 60+ year old with no fat reserves?).

The other problem is that no one really knows what a “healthy” weight is.

(Liz Ellen) #8

Yes! I want some reserve fat, too. I have never hated my body shape – I just hated feeling so bad all the time. I don’t need to be a stick to be happy. I have curves, and I don’t want to lose all of them.

(Bob M) #9

To me, I’ve experienced so many benefits that my weight is secondary. I can eat “lunch” (no breakfast) and not be hungry – at all – until dinner (and many times, not even then, though I usually eat dinner with my family, if I’m not fasting). My cataracts are no longer progressing. My allergies are gone, as are my skin tags. My skin is way clearer. I was going to the dermatologist all the time for possible pre-cancerous growths, no longer. I could go on and on…

(Liz Ellen) #10

I’m happy for you, Bob! I’ve experienced a ton of non-scale benefits, too. I started keto three weeks after my fasting glucose was one point into diabetes territory. Although my glucose was still a bit over 100 last time, my A1C is normal and I’m hoping I’ll continue to have progress on my morning glucose.

The other day I got an amazing compliment – my friend didn’t realize it was me walking up to her from afar. She said that I have a completely different body shape and a different walk. I do feel like my stride is much less labored. In addition, I don’t snore anymore. I can wear dress shoes for a day at work and walk across campus and not feel like death. I can take the stairs and not feel like death. Skin is better. No more darkened skin patches (acanthosis nigricans). Anxiety/depression is much better. This WOE has had so many positive benefits. Maybe it’s an n=1, but it seems like so many people could benefit from what we do.

(Bob M) #11

Those are all great things, and reasons to continue. And you’ve done impressively well!

My morning glucose is stuck around 100, but I’m not concerned. It’s been around this level for 3+ years, and my HbA1c is fluctuating between 4.9 and 5.1, so that’s well out of any higher range. My blood sugar goes down all day long, and hits a low sometime at night (learned this by using a continuous glucose monitor). So, morning blood glucose is temporary, and I’m thinking might even be beneficial for those of us exercising a bit.

(Jill F.) #12

Congrats! I am also 5 ft 4 and my starting weight was 190 and my goal weight was 150. I hit my goal weight about 6 weeks ago I am in a size 4 so I am pretty happy with that. My body fat percentage is still in the muf 30s but I like you want to keep some curves and not be rail thin so I am trying to focus on exercise and not losing too much weight. Maybe a goal weight of 150 or 160 is a good place to shoot for and see how you feel when you get there?

(Liz Ellen) #13

A SIZE 4? That’s bananas. Pretty sure I couldn’t wear a size 4 in elementary school. That’s amazing progress, Jill. When did you start?

I recently bought two size 8 pants. Although I think there was some serious vanity sizing going on, and I wear more of my weight above my waist, I was not complaining.

I agree anything between 150-160 would be ideal.

I am starting to exercise some. I had quit yoga after trying when I was larger and hurting my wrists. I’m going to give it another try. I’ve also been doing cardio and weights twice a week. What are you doing?

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #14

First of all, congratulations! That’s a great feeling, to move down one fat classification. I’m looking forward to seeing my chart online and NOT seeing the word obese.

I think I’m going to use how I look AND feel. For instance, can I wear a certain style of dress (not stretchy) and move around comfortably in it or do certain yoga moves without fat in the way? I think when I see myself in a photo and don’t get annoyed I’ll be there. I like my curves a lot too so I don’t want to lose my shape. I also think I can’t rely on the scale because as the fat drops I want to build muscle which will tell a different weight story. I’m looking forward to feeling like my joints are protected by muscles and that I have a strong, capable body.

Again, congratulations!

(Jill F.) #15

I started in Dec 2018 and hit my goal weight in July 2019. Here is a comparison pic from one July to the next, from size 14 (very tight one!) to a size 4.

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I am doing yoga 2 to 3 x a week. I think you should try it again, and you can always modify as needed. I have arthritis from a bad car wreck as a teen and I have chronic pain in my back, ankle and knees and I just modify as needed and it works for me. I also do 30 min of exercise bike 1 to 2 x a week and light weights. But I am much more consistent with yoga than anything else.

(Jill F.) #16

Also I forgot to say that yes I am in a size 4 at 150 pounds, way back when I was a size 4 in high school I weighed around 120. Keto has completely reshaped my body. Its crazy!

(Bob M) #17

(Probably not meant for me, but what the heck…) I do weight lifting to failure (every exercise, I do until I can’t do it any more) and then HIIT, twice per week, then HIIT on the weekend. I’m going to start adding body weight exercises (to failure) on the weekend, too.

I tried yoga in the past, but I would fall asleep. My wife likes it, though.

I also do a bunch of ab and back-strengthening exercises, as I’ve had back issues in the past. I still have a torn rotator cuff (one repaired, one still torn), which doesn’t help my upper back. Here are three of them:

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I also do planks, L-sits, etc.

(Katie) #18

I am 5’5”. And just dropped to a new low of 154 lbs. (started at 194 last May). I am just into size 12 with comfort (down from size 18). I can get into size 10 if I don’t breathe.

I am still quite overweight. While I am starting to look good…I remind myself that it is really just that I no longer look truly FAT.

I have no intentions of ever not being keto…only issue I will need to address is how to stop the weight loss when I get wherever I end up.

As for being too thin…the is huge evidence and many studies that being thin leads to a longer life…not shorter. Eating less adds to longevity. With this much healthier lifestyle, we are generally much less often sick as well.

#19

LOL and AWESOME! Reading the title of the thread,I wasn’t sure what to think…:joy::joy::joy:

After I read your post, I went and looked at my BMI—and whoa! I’m only “overweight” now, too! LOL!

As far as goals, I just set a few mini-goals to hit throughout the year, and then, rather than setting a single weight goal - set of range of where I’d like to stay. (Having had conversations with docs over of the years, it seems like a 140-150 is where I should ideally end up.) Regardless of what the scale ends up at, I feel great. I’m 52, 5’8", and weigh 182 now. Before starting Keto, I weighed 232.

LIke you, I feel like the support on this forum is absolutely priceless! Everyone is so uplifting, helpful and supportive. It can be hard living in a house where the entire family is non-keto, and coming to the forum is like an oasis in the desert of carbs. That might sound silly, but, no one here tells you you’re crazy or criticizes your food choices or carnivore lifestyle. The support and help people here lend is absolutely key to success!

Thank you for sharing your experience, and giving me a good giggle! You’re awesome! KCKO!

(Full Metal KETO AF) #20

Liz, congratulations. Milestones feel great!

On goals,

We are all different ages and people than we were at pervious weights which we think should be goals. I also think it’s a tendency for some people who’ve cycled different diets trying to loose weight to underestimate what keto can do and set lesser weight loss goals than can actually happen. You don’t want to fail again.

I was right on the borderline of obese and overweight starting out, although I am a below the knee amputee so that was 13 lbs of lean bone and muscle off the top plus other factors. A calculator can give results quite far from reality. The only accurate way is a DEXA scan, I have never had one. So I was probably a little obese no matter what the calculations said. I started at 205, I’m 60 and I figured at first that my physique at 42 was pretty good. I was cycling a lot, was an amputee then, wasn’t fat or thin, and I weighed 168 so that was my original goal. When I got there I was still fat and flabby. I figured okay, definitely not as muscular now so 10 more lbs should do it…nope.

I am 152 now, I haven’t weighed this little since I was in high school or junior high. I still have abdominal flab to lose and tighten up. Weight is irrelevant and so are weight goals. We are repairing our damaged bodies now not 10-30 or more years ago. KETO takes what you have right now and if you stay with it it takes you to the balance that your body wants to be at. If you loose too much weight at some point your appetite will increase because your body fat will be starting to dip below being able to sustain you at your current food intake. This is maintenance in my opinion, not an arbitrary number your brain wants but a biologically driven balance point that will give optimal health and longevity and as @Katiekate said longevity is something thinner people get. Look at pictures of centurions, they are nearly always quite thin.

Anyway weight is no longer a goal, and having a healthy metabolism that isn’t driven by sugar consumption is going to take me somewhere I haven’t been ever in my life. I probably wasn’t even in ketosis as an infant, I was formula fed from birth in 1959 and 1960. God knows what that was, probably a lot of sugar, vegetable oil and casein!

I will find my weight balance and keep eating like I am and listen to my body, exercise and eat my pretty strict list of foods which gets smaller and not larger with time and focus on achieving a healthy balance and low body fat percentage.

:cowboy_hat_face:

(Andrew Fuller) #21

That is freaking great I am super happy for you! Us shorties need to stick together. Good luck just remember if you trip up it’s ok just start again.