My weight has hovered around 120 my entire adult life. I’ve been 127 and out of shape or 118 and in great shape, but I’ve never reached 135 or 115. My body (apple shape: barrel chest, muffin top and fairly thin legs) just sort of remains the same. And suddenly that’s very frustrating to me. I run, I weight train, I watch what I eat. My clothes are looser than they were pre-running and people who haven’t seen me in two or three years, say “My, you look great.” But the number on the scale is the exactly same as way back in December 2005 when I pretty much ate whatever I wanted and considered chatting in the sauna to be exercise.
My goal, which I’ve discussed with Nicolas fitness instructor extraordinaire, was to get down to 116.9 (53 kilos) by this week in order to go home for Christmas skinny and with some room for American eating. Last week I was down to 54 kilos, but yesterday I was back to 55 kilos (121 pounds). I know that this is in part because I refuse to give up pb and toast before running and Friday night wine drinking. Is that perhaps what I’ll have to do? That seems awfully sad considering that I do exercise.
This fall I’ve been cross-training much more and running a little less due to hip pain. I feel fitter, my arms are stronger and the tummy under control, but the numbers are driving me mad.
Does your weight fluctuate a lot or does your song remain the same? Any tips for breaking out of these plateaus?
For the past few years my weight stays within a pretty consistent 10 pound +/- range. I used to weigh a lot more and for a little while I weighed a bit less. I have now accepted this current range, it seems to be where my body is the happiest and I'm definitely healthier than when I was a little less...and stronger too! (BTW, nice to see a pic of you!).
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that many who see pictures of me think I could stand to lose 20 or more pounds, but my weight is just a number that I don't really care about that much. Since adulthood I have weighed as much as 190 (1999) and as little as 145 (2005), but my weight tends to hang in the 155-160 range when I am eating healthfully, exercising regularly, and not drinking much alcohol.
ReplyDeleteThis has happened to me too. The weight I'm at right now (127 or so--I'm 5'7"), at the height of marathon training, was much easier for me to maintain all the time prior to having my kids. I'd love to be down around 120 and think at this point I know what it would take to get there....but I don't really want to go there yet.
ReplyDeleteI can't (ok, I won't) give up my PB toast and wine drinking either!! They say you only have to give one thing up to make a change....but it's hard!
ReplyDeleteI don't look at the scale frequently, but often think back to my lowest/healthiest weight when I was the best trained (and unemployed!) and wonder if I could get back to that.
my reasoning for this would be the fat is converting to muscle? which is causing you to weigh the same but yet being thinner. i can understand the frustration, but at least your clothes are fitting better and you LOOK better. i'd rather look taut and tone than have a certain # on the scale.
ReplyDeleteI have the same issue myself. I have been hovering between 140-146 lbs for the last 5 months. I was at my lowest at 138 around my wedding. But I am in the same size clothes and everything. For me, it is more of a performance weight so I can run faster. Alcohol seems to trigger the weight to go up. It is all about staying healthy and making sure you get the right combo each day.
ReplyDelete