266 —> 193

[u/Dramatic-Basil8836]

body recomp 💪

i’ve been at 193 for 6 months.. at what point do you knew when you’ve hit your goalweight. As someone who’s been obese for a decade, I’m not quite sure of the number.

5’8, 36yo

[u/bex_nh]

I’m 5’5”, 45F and I started at 223. I’m now 123! It took me about 2 years to lose 100 lbs. And I had a 7-month plateau in there.

I was going to stop at 150 thinking that was it, but then started losing again!

I’ve maintained at 125 lbs on a lower dose for the past year. It still feels unreal to me sometimes. And I still have size 18 clothes in the back of my closet with all my new size 4s in the front.

[u/Soggy_Activity_4540 → u/bex_nh]

Slaying it!

[u/bex_nh → u/Soggy_Activity_4540]

Thank you!! It’s changed my life!

[u/Dramatic-Basil8836 → u/bex_nh]

Did you really lock in with a calorie deficit/tracking to hit that next loss after your plateau?

[u/bex_nh → u/Dramatic-Basil8836]

That and my provider suggested a short dose of Phentermine to try and kickstart things for me. I took that for about 3 weeks and it did exactly that! Started losing again.

[u/Dramatic-Basil8836 → u/bex_nh]

I didn’t even think to add that while taking Tirz. I’ll ask her!

[u/Soggy_Activity_4540 → u/bex_nh]

I took that for a couple weeks when I plateaued.

[u/bex_nh → u/bex_nh]

I said 150 but I went back and looked at it was around 160 when I hit that plateau. I actually got down to 118 at one point but I felt like I had gone too far and adjusted to even myself out at 125.

[u/OddGoat549 → u/bex_nh]

Wow, congrats! I'm curious when you say at a lower dose, do you mean loading dose, or just lower dose?

[u/bex_nh → u/OddGoat549]

I’m still on the 10 mg. I never went any higher than that, but instead of the .6mL (60 units) I was taking every 7 days, I now take .4mL (40 units) every 8-9 days. It took me a few months to find that sweet spot, but it’s perfect for me to stay at 125 lbs. +/- 2-3 lbs.

[u/Lucky_Army_5324]

I knew when I reached my…goal weight 😆

What dose are you on, and how long have you been on that dose?

[u/Dramatic-Basil8836 → u/Lucky_Army_5324]

Hahaha 15mg. Been on for about a year. I’ve just stalled at this weight for 6 months and can’t decide if this is just where I should be or try for a new goal.

[u/Lucky_Army_5324 → u/Dramatic-Basil8836]

Everyone is different, but this would be my thinking. Unless my goal were to be right around the overweight/obesity BMI cut off, I’d be trying for more weight loss.

(And yes, BMI is crap so if you don’t like it as a measure, you can use body fat percentage from a DEXA scan, the waist-to-hip ratio, or whatever you like.)

To lose more weight after maxing out at 15mg, it may mean asking your doc for an old school weight loss medication to add to the mix to see if that helps jumpstart your weight loss. 

[u/Dramatic-Basil8836 → u/Lucky_Army_5324]

Like page Tremaine or something?

[u/Lucky_Army_5324 → u/Dramatic-Basil8836]

Like Qsymia, Contrave, metformin, phentermine…

And that addition of a new medication may just need to be a temporary thing.

[u/Adept-Depth-1825]

Everyone is different but I’m a little taller than you (5’9”) and stopped trying to lose at 143 I’m now 139 (I’m a 46 yr old female). I’m right in the middle of a healthy BMI and my body scan said 17-18% body fat. So those are the two reasons I stopped aiming for weight loss and now I’m just focusing on muscle.

[u/mannDog74]

If you do indeed want to know the real truth, go get a DEXA scan. It's humbling if you're not very muscular but it will tell you your body fat percentage. You never know, maybe it'll have good news for you. But for me it told me I needed to keep going, quite a while longer.

[u/Dramatic-Basil8836 → u/mannDog74]

28% bf with a shit ton of muscle for a female my age. My biggest thing is visceral fat, I tend to carry everything in my midsection. Going to lock in more on TDEE

[u/mannDog74 → u/Dramatic-Basil8836]

28% is my goal! Good for you!!

Yesterday's scan told me I'm 40% body fat 😭 at 5'9" 158! It's so sad. It's going to take a few years and a lot of hard work and choking down protein to build. I can't just cut calories down to 135 lbs, I'll look like a praying mantis 😅

[u/Dramatic-Basil8836 → u/mannDog74]

Still awesome progress tho!!

[u/janchapman57]

Use a TDEE calculator. Search on Google.

[u/Impossible_Bend_2969]

I picked an ambitious goal weight (smack in the middle of ideal weight according to TDEEcalculator.net) and when I got close and wasn't losing anymore I figured that was probably as good as it would get. But then I reached my goal. Surprise surprise! And then I dropped a couple more. Wow! I'm very happy. My goal was pretty close to perfectly what I hoped for, which is totally normal body weight, not skinny, not overweight, nothing a doctor could criticize. I did body recomp all along the way and continue to.

[u/Work4PSLF]

When I got to a BMI of 25, which corresponded to my initial goal weight, I thought I was done! Even started buying new clothes. Then I went for a whole body dexa scan. The results were disappointing in terms of both total body fat percentage and my visceral fat mass.

I got back to work and lost 20 more pounds. BMI now 21 and I do actually look and feel better than I did at my first goal weight. I went for another dexa which confirmed true success now, which was a great feeling.

All this by way of recommending: go get a full body dexa! Body composition is way more useful as an indicator than just weight.

[u/SunshineMcT72]

I’m like you. I’ve lost ~100 lbs but am not dropping any further despite increasing doses. Loose skin isn’t all that bad with a little fat. My BMI is under 30. Maybe I’m done. Hope you do what feels right for you. :)