The FastDay Forum

11st 2 (156 lbs) is the lowest I've ever weighed. I did hit 10st 12 for ONE day about fourteen years ago but I don't think that counts

I was 11st 2 the day I met my husband in Sept 2000, and I was 11st 2 the day I married him in July 2003 - There was a bit of a bump in the middle Therefore it is a meaningful number for me I guess there's a chance of me adjusting it when I get there, but I'll worry about it if and when it happens.

I've always been heavy for my size and back then I was wearing UK size 10/12. I'm wearing uk size 12s now at a trend weight of 11st 12 (166 lbs) and at 5'4" that's well over the top of the healthy bmi of 10st 6 (146 lbs) but I don't really mind.

@Winsome I always say I have heavy bones, I am 5 ft 2.5 weigh 9 st 5lb but wear a size 8 trousers and skirts, boobs a bit bigger, nobody will believe what I weigh, they think I have mental problems when I don't like anybody knowing my weight but when they find out they say WHAT!. We may score in the end as osteo porosis may never be a problem and it doesn't matter what weight we are if we look slim.

@Nessie my thoughts exactly!

My personal trainer has a set of scales where she puts all kind of data in before I step onto it (e.g. height, age) and then the numbers come up, starting with weight but also body fat, muscle mass, water % and finishing with 'ideal weight'. Mine was 71 kg and as I was 77.5kg at the start of 5:2 that seemed fair enough. But I kept losing and felt better for it. Then came the 69 kg Christmas Club challenge; once I achieved that I went for nice round BMI (22), then I went back to a kg target, now set at 68kg or under. With my height at 5'10 or 177cm that seems to suit me. Bra size has remained a 14B which means I have lost most from my waist and hips.

Today was my 'reserve' fast day but I weighed 68kg exactly so didn't fast. Had porridge mid-morning but skipped lunch. Had chocolate coated cashews and cranberries at 4pm and dinner at 7pm (low carbs). Not sure the scales will be kind tomorrow but no fasting till Monday. Unless I'll be 68 or less on that day but I doubt that.

I fiddled around with a BMI calculator on NHS website, and decided on 11st 7llb (which would put me in the healthy BMI range)
I am quite tall and don’t want to look old in the face!
If and when I get there, I will decide on whether to maintain or carry on a bit!
(This is an interesting thread)

What a great question and some fascinating replies.

I started off on the 5:2 at around 12st 10 and set my goal at 10st 7, which was a bit of dream goal, I think I was somewhere around that in my 20s and 30s when I was a dress size 14, but to be honest I'm not certain because used to avoid the scales like the plague. After 6 months or so on the 5:2 I adjusted my goal to 10st 4lb, I suppose because I want to be well clear of 11 stone and 10.4 gives me some leeway. It also began to seem doable!

I'm now a size 12/14 and I weigh around 11st 5, which probably means I'll be a 10/12 by the time I reach goal weight, which seems unbelievable to me but given size inflation in dress sizes that would probably be the equivalent of a size 14 in the 1970s.

The BMI thing has always got my back up! I'm a typical mesomorph, enjoy working out and have always been classed as (at best) overweight, even in my 20s when I was a full-time aerobics instructor! The other day I put my details into the NHS site and was told "Lose another 1st 11 lbs and you will be in the middle of your ideal BMI range" ... - I looked at myself in the mirror at the gym the other day, and quite honestly I struggle to see where I can lose this much weight! One stone, yes, but more???

I'm also interested to read what people have said about effects on the face. I'm 53, and a couple of people have said they can 'see it in my face' that I've lost weight, which I hope doesn't mean I'm looking scraggy ...

I decided to pick the high end of a healthy BMI, which for me is 140 lbs. That's a size 12 (American sizes), and a size/weight I can happily live with.

140 lbs. is 20 lbs. over what I weighed when I was 20, but I'm 60 now, and want to be slim and healthy, NOT skinny! Those days are long gone!

I had no goal when I started 5:2(original aim was simply to stop the slow insidious gaining). I stopped when my BMI was healthy, I looked pretty good in clothes and was beginning to look less good naked. Also my weight loss had pretty much stalled, ie I was already doing what I would have to do in maintenance, so achieving a lower goal would require an effort I probably wouldn't want to maintain. And 8 stone 13lb is a lovely number - I just love to see the needle of the scales on the left of the big 9!

Plus I had received the first of those "You've lost weight - watch out that you don't over do it" comments. I wouldn't let that stop me if I felt I had more to lose, but I did take it as a signal that I might be on the verge of looking gaunt, and that was a factor.

I was extremely thin as a young adult and did NOT want to go back to that, plus I have osteopenia - the precurser to osteoporosis, so I knew I needed some weight. Being American, I was tickled by the stone weights and figured 10 stone was a good weight - a good 20-25 lbs more than what I weighed as a 20 something. I've reached it and gone below by a couple of pounds for leeway and am VERY happy! To hopefully offset the osteo problems, I have added a lot more walking - thank you fitbit - and am trying to add more weight training as well to strengthen the muscles which strengthen the bones.

My goal weight is a bit fluid. It's 57-60kg, somewhere in that range, and I'll know when I get there. That's pretty much what I weighed late teens and early to mid 20s. It shouldn't be too thin (I have a medium athletic build) but will hopefully be when most of my belly fat is gone.

don’t want to look old in the face!

I agree with that comment. People in the >40 years when too slim add about 5 or 10 years to their age. Extra fat in face and neckline seems to even out the wrinkles. Sounds bad but its so true.
I have noticed this in some of the before/after shots on this site. Such that the weight loss maybe be 1 or 2k even 5kg too much

I think if <30 not so much of an issue.

Plus I had received the first of those "You've lost weight - watch out that you don't over do it" comments. I wouldn't let that stop me if I felt I had more to lose, but I did take it as a signal that I might be on the verge of looking gaunt, and that was a factor.

per my comment above. yes.. we must be healthy but not GAUNT. GAUNT is bad whether one is female or male. In my opinion of course

It is a baffling question! As I was filling in the progress Tracker, I just took the figure from an App I have: Free Weight Recorder, It says my ideal weight is between 47.4 - 64 kg, but it also bluntly says that my ideal weight is 51.7 kg. I thought I'd try for that. See what happens!!!
I have lost 4 kg on my Lenten Fast by now, so I may be able to do it yet.
Margotsylvia

Well thanks to this thread @Barbarita I think I have decided on my target. As I mentioned in my previous post I think a healthy BMI is probably unrealistic for me. I would need to lose over a stone and it would take me to a weight I don't ever remember weighing. As a slim teenager I weighed 10 stone. Just to get into the 'healthy' range I should be under 9 stone 11 :/

Anyhow my target now is not a number. It is to fit back into my wedding dress which I wore at 30 (I'm 52 now). No idea of sizing because it was hand-made. I think I will be really happy with that result and whatever weight I am when I manage it I will stick with. I tried my dress on a few weeks back and was about an inch away from being able to do it up. Lost another half inch since then so I am getting closer!

I think you choose a target (the wedding dress one is great!) and when you get there decide if you want to go any lower. I was nearly 11 stone 5 years ago (BMI 23 ish), then dropped a stone to be nearly 10, with a BMI of 21. I was happy there for a couple of years, stayed easily at that weight but then last year decided to lose another stone to get to 9 stone and a BMI of 19 and did so with 5:2 in a couple of months.
I'm 5'8 with a narrow frame so I look fine and as I run a lot a lower weight is better for me. My face doesn't look too gaunt. You don't know how you will look or feel until you try, but if you are a happy at a certain weight and it is in the healthy BMI range then stick with it.