Maintaining a large weight loss (too large?)

Question
I am 50 years old and have had a lifelong weight problem and history of yo-yo dieting.

( Here抯 a quick history, but feel free to skip this part, if you like:  When I was thirty, I went on the Medi-fast diet, and lost from 176 down to to 130 (and stayed there approximately one week before starting to gain it all back, plus more).  I eventually got as high as 210.  Around 1995, I lost weight partly on my own, and then through Weight Watchers, reaching my goal of 140 and becoming a lifetime member.  After a few months, I became pregnant with my third child and gained it all back.  Since then , my weight had stayed mostly in the  180抯, with occasional 搊n track?periods when I would lose down to the low 170抯 before falling off the wagon and gaining back.)

Now the current history:  About two years ago, my weight was up in the high 180抯, and I got disgusted and started wearing my pedometer (again)  and trying to get 10,000 steps (again).  After a week , I added a goal of only eating at meal times and planned snacks. (After another week, I got up the nerve to weigh and was at 185, so I figure my top weight was 188.) I started trying to eat healthier meals, add fruits and vegetables, etc. (Knowing what to eat has never been the problem!)  So far, this is like a dozen other times, but this time I kept on going.  I added interval work-outs, resistance training.  My husband started walking with me every evening. We started taking a 10 mile walk most week-ends.  I was hoping to reach 154, which would officially put me in the healthy BMI range.  I reached that and kept on going.  Within a year, I had reached 140, my official WW lifetime goal.  For six months or so, I stayed  right at 142, give or take 2 pounds and I felt great.  
Then I found out I抎 have to have major surgery and I was scared to death that I would be unable to exercise and would start gaining weight.  I had the surgery,  got right back to walking, and actually lost a few pounds.  I decided my new goal weight would be 138.  That way, if I hit 140, I抎 know to cut back a bit.  I did that for a month or so,  then had a crisis with my husband抯 health.  He had some alarming bleeding symptoms, and the doctors were seriously concerned that he might have cancer. We spent a month having every kind of test run.  During that time, I kept exercising, but really had to force myself to eat anything at all.  I lost another 10 pounds during that month, which started to alarm my family.  After that month, it turned out my husband probably has a common minor condition, so I calmed down and returned to eating more normally.  By this time, I was at 128 and loved it.  I decided that would be my new goal weight and kept it between 127 and 129 for 3 months.    I抦 doing resistance training and firming up and looking pretty darn good for a fifty year old!
THEN, a few weeks ago, another crisis with my husband抯 health (a prostate biopsy)  with a long wait for results.  During that same week, I had a colonoscopy scheduled with the necessary day of  fasting and purging.  Between  the two, I lost another 5 pounds in a week.  Now I抳e been at 124 for a couple of weeks.  Even I admit that I am a bit too thin and I really need to get back up to 128.   The problem is, I hate getting on the scale and seeing it go up, even if rationally I know I need to.  Also, I抦 terrified that I won抰 be able to control it and will start that awful re-gaining cycle again.   My BMI is still considered within the healthy range, but I抦 pretty sure that around 130 is  a better weight for me.   
This is a terribly long story, but the background is important.  I was never planning to lose below 140, but I love actually being SLIM.  My family thinks I should get back to 140, but  I really don抰 think I could do that without feeling like a failure.  Suggestions?

Answer
Hi again Lisa,
Thank you for rating my answer so promptly.  I apologize for not answering your letter ASAP, but I just got back into town from a trip, so I answered it as soon as I saw the email.  
As far as your rating of 8 for knowledgeable & clarity, I'm not quite sure what you are not clear on, but if you want me to clarify something, please let me know what part of my answer is confusing and I'll try to see if I can explain it in a different way for you.  I thought it was pretty straightforward, in that I recommended that you not focus on the scale number, but instead focus on the way you look & feel, how your clothes fit, and how healthy your diet and exercise routine is. The number on the scale does not tell you any of that; it's just a random number that doesn't reveal anything about your body type, etc.  Proof?  If I showed you only a person's weight on paper, and you had to guess what they looked like based on that weight, I can guarantee you that you would not be able to accurately determine what they really looked like.  In other words, the weight on the scale is irrelevant to a person's body composition (fat %, lean tissue, muscular tone, etc).
Lisa, please let me know which part you need further clarification on, and I'll do my best to make it more clear for you.  I'm here to help people achieve real, workable solutions, and I volunteer my time in this forum because I do care about people's concerns when it comes to weight issues, so let's get this problem solved!
Thanks, Crystal



Hi Lisa,
Congratulations on maintaining a healthy weight loss for a sustained amount of time!   It's only natural that you would want to maintain this new weight of 124 lb, especially since you had spent a considerable amount of your adult life overweight.   You never did mention how tall you were, and if you were muscular or not, so I can't say whether 124 lbs is too thin for you or not.  
A much better way of looking at this situation is to look at your exercise routine and diet.  Are you exercising about 5 days a week?  That would be the optimal amount for anybody, particularly if you are over 50, and want to continue to be healthy.  Resistance (weights) + cardio on most days of the week (for 90 minutes total daily) is what is recommended for ALL adults to prevent or delay the development of many disorders and diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, etc.
Next is your diet....avoid fried foods, foods high in saturated or trans fats, high fat dairy foods (low or non fat is ok), etc....Make sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, fiber, whole grains, complex carbs, lean proteins, etc.
As long as you are doing this, you shouldn't have to focus on a certain "weight" on the scale.  The number on the scale can't tell you if you have a roll of flab hanging off your abs, or if you have cottage cheese on your behind, etc.....I always tell people to stop weighing themselves, and instead focus on your exercise routine, healthy diet, and how you look in the mirror.  Do you look good?  Do you look lean?  Can you see the outline of your abdominal muscles?  Do you have toned arms?   The scale won't tell you this, and even at 124 lbs, it is possible to have excess fat on your stomach (I can't see what you look like so I don't know what your situation is).  The point I am trying to make is, don't get fixated on a "number".  What's more important is what the mirror is telling you, and how your clothes fit.    Focus more on "leanness" and the overall muscle tone that you want to achieve for your body.  A scale won't tell you that at all!!  
I can tell you that I weigh 142 lbs, and I am between a 5-7 pants, and can see lean definition all over my body.....most people can't believe that I look that way at 142, but I wanted to tell you this so you can see that it's not the weight that's important, but rather what your body composition is like.
So hide your scale, get to the gym, continue eating healthy, and go to www.oxygenmag.com for awesome tips on how to maintain a lean, healthy body!
Thank you Lisa for writing me and feel free to give me updates!
Crystal  

1. Prev:Health benefits and nutritional values of black olives
2. Next:Weight loss calculation