When - and how to stop losing weight?

[iain-strachan]

I'm thinking that I am pretty much near the end of my weight loss journey. Back in March I was diagnosed with high blood sugar - just into the diabetes range at 7%, and I weighed 17 stone 9 pounds. My doctor said he could put me on Metformin, or I could try and reverse it with diet and exercise. I opted for the latter - using Myfitnesspal to monitor calories, and I did Couch to 5k, then Parkruns, and I'm working up to a 10k (just ran 9km this week, on a similar program to C25K).

After my gym workout today I tipped the scales at 13st 5lbs (true weight will be higher - you should have seen the state of my T-shirt after running half an hour on the treadmill!!). But in the region of 13st 7, so I've lost just over 4 stone - and at a pretty constant rate.

Now my BMI is still in the "overweight" range at a shade under 26, and I need to lose another 3-4 lbs to get into the "normal" range. (I'm approx 6 feet tall)

The change in fitness is phenomenal. When you think I couldn't do up my shoelaces sitting down without getting out of breath, and I can now do them standing on one leg, for instance! I used not to be able to keep up walking with my wife and children - if I stopped to take a photo I was continually breathlessly trying to catch them up. Now catching them up is effortless, and they can't keep up with me!

I am wondering if I actually need to lose any more weight - my personal fitness instructor says I don't need to lose more. He has a gadget that measures body fat percentage by bio-impedance monitoring (I've no idea how accurate it is), which says my body fat is at 19.1% which is in the normal range, and so is the visceral fat measure (11 -- with 1-12 being the healthy range). On my last trip to the GP he said I could possibly lose another 5Kg - but I think I've lost a couple since then, so I must be near the end of the journey.

So it seems to me the only reason to lose yet more weight would be if it makes me run faster! (I'm pretty slow). But then I saw someone else posting on a running forum who was previously anorexic, who was frustrated that they couldn't run as fast as they did when they were anorexic and with a BMI of 17 or less. At BMI of 20 they are now much slower ( but clearly 20 is a healthy BMI!)

I really don't want to get into the mindset of saying I must lose weight just to run faster - it's the running itself that brings you joy, not really the numbers, though they are fun to look at and everyone wants to get a PB!

So I have to think about how to level it off, and go on a maintenance regime. It's not exactly as if I'm starving myself at the moment, but my level of physical activity is high - I want to keep running three times a week, and I also cycle to work, and visit the gym, so most days there is a hefty calorie deficit. I don't really want to give the exercise up, so I guess I'll need to start eating more calories - but not the rubbish I used to eat before (lots of choc bars, flapjacks etc between meals).

Has anyone got any experience of transitioning to a maintenance regime?

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

A whole load of people You'll find them in the Maintainers' Club. There's a new post every month in Pinned Posts and you would be very welcome to drop in.

As for when enough is enough, yes, that needs to be your decision. I'm assuming you've established a way of eating that you're happy with and, depending on how much exercise you're going to continue (sounds as though you enjoy it), it will be a question of trial and error, making small adjustments and seeing what works.

Pop over to the Maintainers' Club, read what they have to say, ask any questions and join in with your comments

[Hidden]

Wow, Iain, that is an amazing story, fantastic weight loss and it must be wonderful to be fit and healthy enough to enjoy doing things with your family again.

Regarding maintaining, you might find the monthly thread on Maintaining helpful it is posted the first Sunday in the month. Here is a link to this month’s : healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

And it might be worth you looking back through a few months for some help and reassurance.

Good luck!

[Rigpig]

I use Myfitnesspal as well. You can set it to maintain your current weight and just make sure you use all your calories up. Easy to do by snacking on healthy foods between meals. There are a lot of really healthy options that are higher calorie. Avocado on wholemeal toast is one that springs to mind. Bit of salt, pepper and a dash of lemon juice and its really tasty.

[Hidden]

Very interesting post. Firstly congratulations- that’s a massive amount to have come down, and kept off!! I found your post quite interesting for the point I have gone from originally almost 14 stone, (overweight bmi) to where I currently am (middle of the green) but still need some more to come off. I too am a regular runner, 3rd marathon to come, and lots in between. I have been on a self maintained calorie controlled lifestyle (not diet) and maybe done by Xmas!! But it’s the next bit that scares me, having to now slowly up the numbers back to about 2300. As for being slower when your healthy, lighter will always be faster of course it will, but the better you eat, and more strong you grow your power muscles and your abs, the more you have to throw at your runs!! Or longer distance and better sustained times!