The FastDay Forum

I've never been really huge, though definitely touching the borders of 'obese'. I'm tall and carry it well though that is no excuse. I've never wanted to be 'skinny' so for me I think health is the main concern.

To be a healthy weight with still enough in reserve seems about right. Watching my daughter become skeletal with cancer over the past few months has thrown this really into perspective. Thin is definitely not always healthy.

What is your happy medium?

First of all, big big big thoughts and strenght to your daughter. I am sure she will beat that monster

Second, my middle is curves but without cellulite and feeling bloated. Healthy to do long walks (I am talking 5 hours here) without feeling exhausted and out of breath. Most of all, not yoyoing and being able to eat a bit of everything. Being too thin ages, 30kgs lighter I have wrinkles around the eyes I didn't have a few months ago.

And I know if I go too far with the weight loss, maintaining it will be impossible and my main priority is not only to reach a healthy weight but to keep it for the rest of my life

hi Gillb

well for me i would ideally weigh around 8st and some, because of my height,short at just 5'2, any extra weight will show so i am hoping to get there eventually,no hurry though and if dont then that's ok too
5.2 is easy to follow and above all i appreciate its health benefits!
but you are absolutely right about this thin not always being healthy,i think it can become obessive in the long run.. i guess we are all different, with different needs and wants..

i wish your daughter well, with a full recovery
all the best xx

[carorees]

Great thread Gillb! I agree with Manderley, slim enough to do the things I want to (like the walks or whatever), curvy but not bulgy, not too wrinkly, a weight that is easy to maintain. As I have a large frame, I'm aiming for the upper end of normal (BMI 25).

Women are meant to have some fat, so I do worry when I see women with an already low BMI trying to lose more weight. Science says it is healthier to be stable but overweight than to be normal and losing or underweight (of course being overweight and gaining is also bad), so a weight that you can maintain easily is probably the ideal target.

Hello Gillb lovely to hear from you & I just want to look normal for my height which is 5ft 3inches with a petite frame but being pear shaped I don't think my bottom half will ever be the same size as my top half. So midway BMI for me is about 9stone 7lbs & I haven't been that for years but that would enable me to match my frame but not be too thin.

I want to get to 8st 10 (which is a BMI of 20.9). Have no idea if I can get there and I know it's at the lower end of normal but I want to reduce my diabetes risks (and according to the Qrisk calculation) my risk will be by then around 2%, even with a brother with type 2. My risk when I started this was around 25% and now it's 10% but some way to go. I don't want to be 'thin' - I just want to have a normal BMI and be healthy. I also think that I have a smaller frame than I realised - I have lost almost 3st and I'm still pretty fat it seems to me so I think there's plenty to go at yet!

How slim???? I'm just under 5'6 and about 71.5 kilos. If that's what I stay then fine. I carry most of my weight in my thighs. I once dieted down to 57 kilos and still my thighs were large. If I lose more then that will be my buffer for holidays etc.
All my love and hugs to you and your daughter

I'm happy where I'm at right now... I don't think being any thinner would suit me - my face still has enough fat deposits in the right places. At the age I am, you have to be careful not to end up looking gaunt and drawn. My top half is possibly a little scrawnier than I'd like, but being pear-shaped, most of my excess fat sits south of my waist and north of my knees! Luckily I don't have "turkey neck" but my "decolletage" is a little bony these days. But I'm still a size 10 generally and that suits me fine. Some friends have gasped and told me I too thin from photographs, but when they see me in person they realise that actually I'm OK.... my husband is my biggest "critic" and he's not complained so I'm happy....

My aim was to have a healthy BMI I have managed that and maintaining going well,as I am older I don't want to be as slim as I was when young

Hi Gillb - great topic. Lots of the charts tell me I should be 10st - but I think that could be a step too far. I'll see, when I get a bit nearer to it. Started at 15 and a half stone, now nearly at 11stone - so if I could make 10 and a half stone I would be very happy with myself. I'm aware of more wrinkles, but I'd rather have the wrinkles than be the fatty that I was previously Best wishes and thoughts to your daughter

[carorees]

I just wanted to add this bit of sciency stuff to back up the importance of not going too low when you are middle aged or older:

Using survival analysis, we found that people in the overweight stable trajectory had the highest survival rate, followed by those in the overweight obesity, normal weight upward, class I obese upward, normal weight downward, and class II/III obese upward trajectories. The results were robust after controlling for baseline demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, smoking status, limitations in activities of daily living, a wide range of chronic illnesses, and self-rated health.

From: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/e ... aje.kwt179

The researchers looked at people aged between 51 and 77 years.

Note that being in the normal weight bracket but losing weight is second to being obese and getting fatter for risk of death! And this was after they took into account people with diseases that might have caused weightloss.

Great thread. I've been thinking about this over the last few weeks as I approach my goal (now interim) of 69Kg, 11st. This has brought me into the healthy BMI range of about 24. But I know I can afford to lose a bit more although I am already delighted with the changes.
I guess for me my next goal is not so much a weight but concentrating on getting my waist:height down to 50% or a bit less, I'm apple shaped. So I have put a new goal of 65Kg, 10st 2lb, on my progress tracker but I reckon that's more of an absolute minimum for me. I'm really going to concentrate on toning up and exercise.
So if I don't reach that weight but am happy with waist:height ratio and body tone then that's great. I will of course keep fasting twice a week until the above goals are achieved then switch to 6:1 cause to be honest I enjoy the fast days and can't imagine not doing them.

[Debs]

Good thread, Gillb and my thoughts are with you and your daughter.
According to which site I look at I should be anywhere between 48 and 58kg! I just want my BMI to me under 25 which, for me, means under 60kg which is completely achievable.
I have always been reasonably fit and exercised while overweight, but I would like the weight loss, and the health benefits that go with weight loss and fasting.

Interesting stats Caro - I have no idea whether I'll get anywhere near my target and what I will look like when at a normal BMI (ie 25) because I've never been there before but it's the diabetes thing I am concerned about and that risk reduces with weight reduction and decreased waist measurement (as far as I can see). BUT I'm useless at things like statistics and sciencey type stuff so I have no way to know if I'm talking rubbish or not. I'm not obsessed with looking good and thinness though.

If I have to put it in numbers, I would love to be 51 kgs, which would mean 10 kgs less than my height. It's how I learned it when I was a kid, a healthy weight is 10 kgs less than your height. It sticked in my mind for years.

I am not far from that goal (around 3 kgs left to lose) and if I reach it, I will stop there. Wanting to go under the 50 kgs marks would be crazy.