I Wish I Knew How to LOSE You--The Weight Loss Thread (check first post)

[serious crayons]

Yeah, but on the 101st day, I have blown it big time.

Me too. The first time I ever joined Weight Watchers, I got within one pound of my goal weight and went out to celebrate with a big steak dinner. I never returned to WW and regained every pound.

Maybe the 6th or so time I joined WW, I made lifetime member. Which means you reach your goal weight and keep it off for six weeks. Then if you stay within five pounds of that goal weight you can attend meetings for free forever. They had me get up and speak to the group, and I told them that I feared immediately gaining it all back. Which I did.

Last fall, maybe my 8th time with WW, I never came within spitting distance of my goal weight. But I did lose about 10 pounds that I now have back.

What's ridiculous is we're only talking about 20 or so pounds up and down here. Over 30 years, I've lost it about five times -- some with WW and some without (and WW doesn't always work for me) -- and always regained it. If only I could lose it and keep it off! If only I could just settle in and be satisfied with my 20-pound heavier self! But neither one ever happens.

[CellarDweller]

Moving in the right direction, another pound gone.

[Meryl]

What's ridiculous is we're only talking about 20 or so pounds up and down here. Over 30 years, I've lost it about five times -- some with WW and some without (and WW doesn't always work for me) -- and always regained it. If only I could lose it and keep it off! If only I could just settle in and be satisfied with my 20-pound heavier self! But neither one ever happens.

This sounds basically like a success story to me.  As long as you don't have more to lose than those 20 pounds, you're not in really unhealthy territory.  May you always be within that range! 

Chuck, keep on truckin'! 

[serious crayons]

This sounds basically like a success story to me.  As long as you don't have more to lose than those 20 pounds, you're not in really unhealthy territory.  May you always be within that range! 

Thank you, and I know. I'm not unhealthily heavy (although my BMI index is just over the line into the overweight zone), so that's why part of me wishes I could just be satisfied as I am and forget about it. When I go to WW, nobody asks, "What are YOU doing here?!" but I also can look around the room and realize that I'm relatively lucky, genetically.

But I've got a closet full of clothes that I can't wear. My weight tends to gather on my stomach and under my chin, and I don't like the way that looks. And, let's face it, I'm influenced by a culture that celebrates slenderness, not slight pudginess, and I can't help aspiring to fit the mold. In our culture, thinness=success (even Oprah has said she considers herself a failure when she gains weight). Even though intellectually I reject  the concept of thinness as essential thing to strive for, at some gut level, so to speak, I accept it.

I should stress that I don't aim to be supermodel thin. My ideal weight, for example, is about 35 pounds heavier than Kate Moss.

I also know from many many things I've read that over the long run, diets almost never work, for me or for anyone. That's why I've been in WW eight times, why when I talk to other WW members they have similar stories. Yet we probably all know exceptions to this rule -- people who've lost weight and kept it off for years and years. Hence the trap. It's hard to ever completely let go of the hope.

[CellarDweller]

I should stress that I don't aim to be supermodel thin. My ideal weight, for example, is about 35 pounds heavier than Kate Moss.

You only want to be 70 pounds? 



Ok, on a serious note, I often wonder where "they" get the "ideal" weight for people.

According to what I've seen on the internet, for my height, my ideal weight should be 160 MAX, meaning a range between 140 - 160.  I think I'd look rather sickly at 140 pounds, even at 160.  I'm aiming for between 180-185 pounds, which would mean I'd still be about 20 -25 pounds overweight.

[serious crayons]

You only want to be 70 pounds? 

 

Ok, on a serious note, I often wonder where "they" get the "ideal" weight for people.

According to what I've seen on the internet, for my height, my ideal weight should be 160 MAX, meaning a range between 140 - 160.  I think I'd look rather sickly at 140 pounds, even at 160.  I'm aiming for between 180-185 pounds, which would mean I'd still be about 20 -25 pounds overweight.

Good question, Chuck. I wouldn't think it would be purely an aesthetic judgment. I guess I always assumed it was based on some kind of actuarial information -- you know, what insurance experts or whoever says is the weight most associated with healthiness.

But then, I've seen studies showing that people who are slightly "overweight" are likely to live longer. So why isn't what they now call "slightly overweight" actually the healthy ideal?

[Meryl]

You guys inspired me to Google "Ideal weight."

At this link, my "People's Choice" ideal weight is 155; that's the average weight that other people of my Age, Height, Weight and Gender would describe as their ideal weight (and coincidentally is the weight I remember being comfortable at).  Based on BMI, my top weight should be 146.  They also have calculations for insurance companies' idea of healthy weight.

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

Based simply on height, the Weight Watchers link puts my healthy weight at a top of 146.

http://www.weightwatchers.com/health/asm/calc_healthyweight.aspx

[CellarDweller]

Thanks for that link, Meryl.

The "People's Choice" option gave me a ideal weight of 180 pounds, which I think is most believeable.

The "Medical Recommendation" said anywhere between 120 - 160.    That's quite a spread there, 40 pounds.

The "Met Life" table says I should be between 145- 157.

The other formulas all had me at about 145.

[serious crayons]

Here's mine:

People's choice: 142 lbs. Coincidentally, this is my goal weight, though I round down to 140. It's a good weight for me.

Medical recommendation: 118 - 155 lbs. Yikes, I'd feel skeletal at 118. I haven't weighed that much, ever -- at least not since I was shorter. Though Kate Moss, who is my height, is 105.

Weight Watchers: 124 to 155 lbs. Right now I'm at 160.

[CellarDweller]

One thing I've noticed is that most everyone who participates in this thread seems pretty open about their weight.  Usually that's something that people try to conceal.