How much weight would you like to lose/gain?

1-10 lbs away

51 to 60, imo

I'm at a good weight for my height, would like to build muscle, which I guess involves gaining weight

I'm happy with the size I am, I just want the muscle tone to be better. Which makes it difficult to choose a poll option because muscle weighs more than the equivalent volume of fat (urgh...)

31-40

I lost and regained 40 in the past 3 years, would like to get back to a healthy weight range again. Being this heavy feeds my depression in really bad ways, mentally I almost resign and give in to it...it feeds all my bad habits and laziness and it's uncomfortable.

according to Weight Watchers I am now at my ideal weight. I wouldn't mind being a few pounds lighter, but I guess this is fine.

I am currently in the middle of changing my diet in advance of going back to the gym; I believe that once I get into a good rhythm of working out and eating healthier and get to the "decently built but not insanely ripped" body I would like to have, I'll have dropped about 15 pounds.

When I was last home, my dad asked me how much I weighed and instantly said "ugh, you need to lose 30 pounds immediately", which would essentially make me look emaciated

That whole exchange has been lurking in the back of my head for about a month so I decided to start this poll.

I'm not as concerned with how much I *should* weigh, as what feels manageable. I think on a chart i'm probably supposed to lose 100 pounds but fucking hell, I could hardly manage keeping down 40. I liked how I felt at 40, I don't mind being considered somewhat overweight for my height. I just want to be healthier.

I'd like to lose somewhere just north of 10 lbs. In all honesty, the strongest impetus I have is that I want to avoid spending money on bigger clothes. And also to experience comfortable pants buttoning again.

^^ this

i'm vain enough that I do NOT want to buy larger fat clothes. that's motivation enough to get me at least starting to think about losing weight

I think it was when I went from buying 33 waist pants because they were baggy to buying 34 waist pants because they fit that I started going "hmm maybe I should reexamine my sedentary lifestyle before things actually get out of control"

30 pounds? you??

lose 10 pounds maybe? or at least redistribute it

30 pounds? you??

I KNOW

keep in mind, though, that my father currently weighs 5 lbs less than I did when I graduated from high school; he's not necessarily the best arbiter of what other people should weigh

30 pounds for you is insane, thats prob just the "1500 situps before breakfast" talking tbh

When I was last home, my dad asked me how much I weighed and instantly said "ugh, you need to lose 30 pounds immediately", which would essentially make me look emaciated

This sounds like my mom -- she's probably about 15 pounds underweight so she thinks anyone who isn't is some sort of disgusting fattie.

10-15, but I am a bit anorexic.

generally speaking, parents are rarely useful on this subject

buying 33 waist pants because they were baggy to buying 34 waist pants because they fit

I went from 28 waist age 18, to 36 a couple of years ago (mid 30s). I've managed to go back to a 34 or maybe a little less recently.

xp agreed, in fact none of my relatives are anywhere close to being my size/weight/build, so comparisons are pretty pointless

Earlier this year I had swung back up over 200 lbs, which I just do not carry well on my 5'9" frame, and had to buy new pants with a 39" or 40" waist. After all the cycling I've done since March, and by being very conscientious about my caloric intake, I've been able to get back down to 193. I'd like to be at around 185, which is what I was about 5 years ago.

20

i've been around 165 after resuming regular exercise (5-6x/week) a couple years ago so i'm pretty sure that's my "ideal". my highest was over 200 in my early/mid 20s as a result of lots of frozen pizza + zero exercise. dropped all the excess after ending a relationship, then gained some back after starting a new one.

Context - I have been both 20 lbs heavier than I am right now (recently lost 7) and 20 pounds lighter. I don't know if it's actually reasonable for me to maintain the 20 lbs lighter goal so I'm changing my answer to 15. I am hoping to get there by Christmas.

oops - x-post

All my weights are perfect. Sometimes I work on the composition more than others.

i don't think i've talked about this elsewhere on ilx, but since feb i lost ~30lbs mostly through WW (behavior modification ftw). the best part has been the 20 or so compliments i've gotten on how skinny i look now.

30 pounds for you is insane, thats prob just the "1500 situps before breakfast" talking tbh

he still does this btw

imagine you could redistribute your fat within your body whenever you wanted, you could give yourself a shark fin made out of fat or huge popeye forearms, would be pretty cool

would go for a bagel forehead myself

Would be happy with about 10/15 lbs of extra muscle.

x-post - Oh, the compliments. Yes they're a thing and a thing that can wind up royally screwing you up in terms of perceived attractiveness/worth etc. This is especially true if you've been on extreme ends of the spectrum wrt what's considered attractive weight-wise. Yeah, I don't think I can actually participate itt. I've banned all body talk i my rl so I probably should avoid it here now too.

(in fairness to my dad, I can see where he's getting 30 lbs from; he's just not taking into account the additional 15 lbs of muscle I would then require on my frame in order to not look like a horror movie wraith)

xp: sorry ENBB ;_;

I've gone up and down a lot, a range of 110 pounds from heaviest to lightest. I would just like to stay where I am for a change.

going with 21-30. i'm not partic. serious about getting there tho i am always trying to eat better and recently added some basic weight stuff to my gym routine, which has the added bonus of forcing me to the gym at least 5 days a week so i can stay on schedule.

i weighed myself after fasting yesterday for YK and i had lost like ~6lbs from one 25h cycle of not eating. i don't think starvation is a good, practical, healthy, or even effective dieting technique, but it was kinda wild to see such a dramatic shift over the course of a single day.

I weigh myself before and after I run each day. That leads to some shocking fluctuations. I sweat a lot.

xp That's water. You can fluctuate that much from morning until night, easily, even on a regular day.

the one thing I really *didn't* like last time I lost a lot of weight was how obsessive I got in my head about eating, like I enjoyed the foods I was eating but it kind of took over my brain and I can't say I liked that

^ My brain every single minute of every day for as long as I can remember.

DJP - no worries! Obv not v good at not reading threads. Ooops.

moving up belt-notches is an underrated excitement though, imo

Woah. that comment made me realize that I haven't worn or owned a belt since I was a kid. Weird!

usually a couple of times a year i get really serious about watching what i eat and trying to lose weight; i'm usually pretty successful at it (i've lost like 15-20 pounds before) but i always hit that point after a month or two where i'm just like "ugh this is making me depressed that i have to think about food all the time and can't eat what i want" and i end up going back to my bad habits and gaining back the weight. i guess this could be summarized as "i have no will power."

the one thing I really *didn't* like last time I lost a lot of weight was how obsessive I got in my head about eating, like I enjoyed the foods I was eating but it kind of took over my brain and I can't say I liked that

Me too. I would get very smug about how little I had eaten in a day and that was probably less healthy than eating too much.

My weight has fluctuated so much in the past five years, mostly due to medications/health issues. I've lost 25 pounds in the past three months but it's mostly been due to feeling to sick to eat -- it's strange when people tell me I look good.

I'm pretty much at my ideal weight, just not toned. As long as I can fit in 34" trousers I'm good.

I was on a high-stress rollercoaster for a year and change that initially shaved about 15 lbs. off my frame before I managed to pack about 30 back on. I got it back down to about halfway between those extremes before some rough family stuff sent me back to the trough. I wish my body would just respond to stress in one predictable fashion (namely: appetite-loss-induced svelteness, if only to give me one nice thing in the midst of tuff stuff).

I have a weird question for ppl on here

Has anyone ever had any success getting an eating plan/guidelines from their GP/doctor? I have a GP that I like and I'm considering goign that route bc I don't want to create more health issues for myself

I think you need a dietitian for that or nutritionist. A doctor will have rough guidelines but they're not trained in that.

Timely thread for me because I'm in sight of what I've decided is my ideal weight, but need to lose about 5 pounds. My adult weight has at times fluctuated between 148 (at 18, and recurrently at some very stressful points since) and 173 (the highest number I remember seeing on a scale). The top end was during early child-rearing years -- bad sleep, no exercise, lots of snacking. I'm now at 160, and that feels fine but sometimes kind of flabby. Whereas at 155 I feel really good, trim and healthy. Wouldn't think 5 lbs could make that big a difference, but it really does. So I've recently tightened back up on the snacking, I'm taking my lunch to work more, and going to the gym 3-4 times a week. The good thing is, if I can get to my ideal weight now, it will be the first time I've done it without the impetus of major stress or trauma. The times I've weighed least since college were post-divorce/breakups and during a crazy time when I was working three jobs. It would be nice to do it at a time when I'm happy and life is good.

My One Weird Trick: I weigh myself every morning right after I get up, and log it. The day to day variations obviously don't mean much, but trends over a month or two do. If I notice myself creeping up, it really does affect what I choose to eat or not to.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i don't know what i weigh or what a pound is but i'mma say 50

p. sure you misunderstand pounds

you tell such beautiful lies

if i voted today, i would have dropped down one rank /braggin 2012

braggin about his revised aim, what a quitter

grats obv

idk what pounds are either but I'm about 5 kilos up from what I was 2 years ago, which was prob the fittest I'd ever been. would half-like to drop a couple, but I fluctuate anyway and it'd just switch to muscle tone prob

1 stone is 14 pounds iirc but i have no idea about kilos

i heard that bush record sixteen stone is from an expression 'sixteen stone weakling' but if one stone is 14 lbs, that guy is jacked. what the hell, bush? everything zen? I don't think so.

I would like to lose around 10-15 because when I was at that weight I felt a lot healthier and still had pretty bangin' curves. I would like to keep my giant boobs, though. Was borderline frightening-skinny ten years ago after my dad died and I couldn't really eat for months. Have ranged from around 110-175 lb. @ 5'3" through adult life. Pretty strongly against counting calories based on my brief experience with it, but it may be the only way. Unless I have another emotional crisis.

Re: parents, I remember my mom thwacking my little booby when I was 10 and complaining about "all the hormones they put in the meat."

My boyfriend's parents used to chide him and say he should be in the Guinness Book for being a fatty, which is obviously awful regardless of his weight, but also completely weird because he doesn't look like he was even technically obese, just a bit chubby. I think this is the main reason he is a bit of a gym rat now. (An extremely smart gym rat with many and varied interests.)

1 kilo = 2.2 lbs

10-15ish, maybe?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

So my girlfriend and I decided to go vegan for February (sort of a secular Lent, I guess), with the result that as of the final day of the month, I'm at what I consider ideal weight (down about 6 pounds from the start of the month). Will start going back up as soon as I gorge myself on eggs and cheese this weekend, but I'm hoping some of the eating habits of the month will persist -- mostly in the sense of, not snacking so much, eating more fruits and vegetables.

I'm down maybe 20 pounds on the above, would take another 20 but i eat what i want and i'd struggle to fit in much more exercise tbh

I'm on week 4 of going to the gym, and my general wind and conditioning are improving rapidly, but my weight hasn't budged an ounce yet. Not really frustrated yet, just a bit bemused.

i was at my ideal weight for the first time in a long time, but now the stress of a real job is making me skinny again :(

I experienced that when i took up running, big fat bastard running around the place at ten km an hour with a confused/angry expression, i stopped running xp

Here is a good exchange from another thread for you, WMC:

One of the downsides of co-habiting with someone who loves cooking and food in general ("a foodie" I guess, *sigh*) is that I put on a noticeable amount of weight. We used to have a proper meal every night and it was always too tempting to come back for seconds. Now that we no longer live together, I've made a conscious effort to eat fewer carbs and generally curb the amount I eat. I'll have smaller evening meals and avoid pasta, bread (my ultimate downfall are sandwiches because they're so easy to get hold of on the way back and forth to work etc)... I've also been cycling slightly further to work in the mornings and evenings. I feel like I've lost weight, but the scales don't seem to register.

I don't know how I feel about my weight. It's something I think about in private. I'm probably slightly over my ideal weight and not very toned. If anything I'd like to lose weight in order to improve my posture. I find myself compensating for a beer belly and moobs by drawing myself in or stooping, and if I lost weight I'd be happier walking around.

― Click here to read in HD (dog latin), Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:23 AM (6 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I feel like I've lost weight, but the scales don't seem to register.

This is the worst. You change your habits, you kick some ass, you're feeling good, you feel like you've got a healthy glow or something, then you look at a scale and it's all like "244".

― how's life, Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:28 AM (6 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not getting drawn in to the larger thread but I don't understand why anyone cares about weight as a number? Measure your waistline at the same time every day instead, that will tell you more about your changing fitness, I think.

― check the name, no caps, boom, i'm (Laurel), Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:34 AM (6 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

― lag∞n, Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:36 AM (6 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh yeah, no doubt. And I realize that there are a lot of variables that go into health and fitness and whatever. But if you've been like, pounding it for a couple months and you see that dusty scale sitting there and you're like "I wonder..." and the scale's like "psyche, fool!"

― how's life, Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:37 AM (6 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

But...who cares?? The scale tells you a data point that is way less connected to your fitness than you think. It's like having a mirror to tell you that your hair is brown? Okay not really but hyperbolically.

Do your pants fit? Can you bike up that hill and not feel taxed? Etc. Functional fitness is the only kind that really matters to almost everyone, afaict.

― check the name, no caps, boom, i'm (Laurel), Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:40 AM (6 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my trousers are falling down when i walk, is that good enough? Losing weight sucks, now I have to put extra holes in my belt.

― Click here to read in HD (dog latin), Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:41 AM (6 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

xp:

The scale tells you a data point that is way less connected to your fitness than you think.

That's what I said!

― how's life, Thursday, August 30, 2012 10:44 AM (6 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

throw away your scale (or at least hide it) is one of the most important pieces of fitness advice tbrr

Good advice, I know -- like I say, I'm bemused by it more than anything. I forgot to weigh myself during week 2, so actual weight is not a huge focal point for me.

I found an old pair of jeans from right after I graduated high school and I cannot believe I used to fit in them. 29" waist. No wonder people used to call me skinny!

I have gained about 50 pounds since then.

When I graduated from high school, I wore 31s as baggy pants

I know wear 34s that fit

I need to start doing more cardio, not nec for weight/size reasons but to improve my lung capacity for singing

and by "more" I mean "some"

I need to start doing more cardio, so I don't die

the scale is a motivator for me, personally. i know i am never going to hurt/starve myself, i love food too much, and at weekends i eat whatever i want. but a bit of sensible eating during the week plus lots of running has seen me lose nearly two stone in the last 7/8 months. i would basically like to lose the last little bit of beer belly but i am mostly happy now with what i weigh.

possibly 2 stone, I'm not sure what I weigh right now. Been a couple of weeks since I checked.
I know I got pretty good in 2011, had to knocka nail through my belt to add another hole cos my trousers were geting pretty loose.
Now I'm starting another course that is really sedentary, has me sitting there for about 6 hours a day & I'm not supposed to be taking breaks. Have had to get up when I've felt very light headed cos program I'm working with hasn't acted in the way I've wanted it to. Autocad, I'm sure it will become easier as I become more familiar with it.

Other thing is I keep buying veg from th emarket then not getting around to cooking it. Must sort out my eating habits.
ThinkI've just had pizza for the 2nd time this week & that's not good for either dieting or diabetes.

Both my belts broke putting em on yesterday wtf btw

that just means you have old belts

were you flexing your abs?

why are u wearing two belts

I split a pair of pants last week. Had to walk around work all day with my front toward people.

... do you normally back that azz up on everyone?

why are u wearing two belts

DMC Dante cosplay...

xp: no, but normally I feel free to turn around, stand in the middle of a room, walk down a hallway with people behind me...

Idk like i said i've lost a couple inches, maybe i did so rapidly enough to cause some sort of causal loop

Belt probably snapped because you'd twisted it into a Möbius strip.

Probably around 40 pounds. I'd still be big, just less big. I know this is pretty unlikely though (a 40 pound loss). So I'll just be happy with what I've got. At least my boobs are good. And I've got good hair.

― homosexual II, Thursday, September 27, 2012 10:04 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hey, self of the past, you have lost 25 lbs since you posted this - hurrah!

Congrats!

the scale is a motivator for me, personally.

Me too. Or at least just a general check on things. I know weight is by itself not as important as a lot of other things, but for me at least it's a decent proxy for those other things: how well I'm eating, how stressed I am, how much I'm exercising, and just generally how I feel physically.

nice work h2!!

I don't want to lose weight per se, but I think if I were really as in shape exercise-wise and diet-wise as I want to be I'd be 10-15 pounds lighter than I am now. I need to start a running regimen.

xp I haven't weighed myself in a long time. I tend to go on energy levels, general feeling of well being vs stress/depression/anxiety.

Been stuck on my good ol' set point of, like, 170 lb 4-eva. Starting to be concerned because my blood pressure is not great. I'm technically obese. But if a lot of it is boob weight, does that count? The fear of my boobs withering away and the rest of me remaining doughy and misshapen has been a bit of a de-motivator to weight loss. I am very boob-identified, apparently.

my boobs have been why I haven't really wanted to lose weight, either.

i'd like to lose all of it i want to be incorporeal

i'm like 10 pounds heavier than i'd like to be but i am a bit obsessive about my weight; i haven't played basketball much over the past few months and have been eating poorly recently. not terribly worried as it's about to get warmer and i may not have a whole lot of food available to eat over the summer anyway

drought/famine?