As of right now I am ten pounds from my goal weight of 115. I'm only just barely over five foot tall and very small framed so both what I am now and the 115 fall within a normal healthy BMI. The problem I'm having is anytime I drop below the 125 I'm at now I start having much more noticeable hanging skin. So should I just stay where I'm at or should I push on to give myself a little more wiggle room.

I would love to hear what everybody thinks...

 

Angel

I kept losing until 10 pounds under goal, then my body just stopped losing and stayed the same.  I looked too skinny.  I stayed that way for a year and then at 30 months I started gaining weight.  In three months I went from 128 up to 142. My goal is 136.  The Bounceback gain was a surprise and I had not changed my eating.  I am glad I went through the time of being too skinny.  I am 5'2" and large framed.  

Bounceback weight is the way the body heals itself from the surgically induced starvation.  The malabsorption changes, you are able to eat more and your body is able to absorb more of what you eat.  My surgeon advised me that there was no danger in going ten, twenty, or even thirty pounds lower than the weight that I want to maintain for life.

Right now, I am 139, 5'6" .

I am in the "too skinny" phase according to some negative nellies at work 

What white Dove said is  supported by my surgeon. You will hit a weight which one can not get past and this is "most likely" your lowest weight.

Then your body will turn around and try to gain some back (mine is trying RIGHT NOW).

The surgeon said anything more than 8 lbs of your lowest weight is a weight gain. I suppose this means if it is under 8 lbs, it is fluctuation.

However, my experience has been, even if I gain 5 lbs off of my lowest, I have to be crazy discplined in eating (like NO carbs...only meat and nonstarchy veg. No cheese) and crazy displicined in running (think 9 miles every other day. On off days, lifting weights) for 16 days (yes SIXTEEN) to lose that 5 lbs.

Give yourself a margin if you can. I wish I could. Even though colleagues and friends are telling me that I look gaunt and Juniors sizes isnt normal for an adult woman, I just let it go in one ear and out the other.  I KNOW I am healthy and ok at this weight because I have the energy to a) RUN 9 miles without stopping, b) weight lift c) figure skate and do jumps for 3 hours at a time without stopping (i.e. I burn 1,089 calories, power stroking around continously in a two hour interval). I sleep a normal amount (when work quotas arent killing me, undersleeping and oversleeping is a sign of overtraining and perhaps an "off diet").  I am in the best shape of my life.

So, now I work HARD to hold 139 lbs and my Misses size 2 or Juniors size 5.

Get under if you can.

As far as hanging skin. I work out. I only have some thigh cleavage (i.e. wrinkly excess skin in the thighs). The figure skating is really helping with it specifically doing skulling/swizzles (this is a basic 1 or basic 2 move..it will be one of the first ones you learn. It is all inner thighs and ankles work).  So the cleavage is now turning into numerous little wrinkles (versus 3 big "boobs" on each thigh).

 

My nut swears up and down that I dont have excess skin because I exercised hard. She claims blood was flowing to microcapilaries..etc  I cant find any research to support her position but...I will take it.

Honestly, on excess skin, what did we expect? Is it reasonable to live in a MO body for YEARS and then expect the skin to "snap back" in a period of a few months? I dont find this a reasonable expectation at all. I am giving my thighs 2 more years to figure it out. Seriously, I will weight lift, run, and skate and hopefully the "microcapillaries" theory is true and will work out for me. If not, this is why cosnetic surgery was invented!!!  :)

I will go under the knife, but not until I have given my body adequate time, and i KNOW that I can hold my lowest weight (which is just 3 lbs under my self appointed goal weight).  If I need plastics..I am so going to request some THIGH GAP so I can wear the skinniest of skinny jeans!!!  :)  I mean, I am paying for it right?  Better get what I want!!!  :)

But dont let excess skin hold you back.  You have come so far, and since one's body is working hard to pack on the pounds, give yourself some buffer!

Seriously, I would love to get down to 134-135. It would be nice to have a 4-7 lb buffer.

 

PS. I am large framed too (as determined by the distance between the two joints in the elbow). People tell me to STOP losing weight. I look at the BMI and healthy weight insurance charts and think "But I am in the middle of the range!!"  Seriously, our society must be very attuned to seeing plump people all the time (and subsequently viewing "normal" as "too skinny") or the insurance charts really are for scrawny teenagers (which is what my nut said).  Either way, I found a weight that I LIKE myself at (naked and clothed), can find cute clothes for (i.e. adult 2, juniors 5), and do all the activities that i have ever wanted to do (i.e. skate, run, hike, climb volancos (seriously I did that on my honeymoon) and weight lift).

Trust me, you will KNOW when you are in your sweet spot for weight. It is just like your wedding dress. You will look exactly like the best version of yourself, and you wont need the approval or feedback of others to tell you whether it is right or wrong. You will be able to wear whatever you want (appropriate for your body type that is) and do what you have always wanted to do.   FOr example, when MO all I wanted to do was jog. My muscles could support me for a long time through the motion but my heart and respiration would give out. Now, my cardio system is so strong my arthritic knee longs to give out LONG before my heart and other muscles do.  You may still have to train but you will be able to do it without feeling like you are going to die..right there on the gym floor. There is a difference between hard, and "I think I am going to have a heart attack!!!"

 

Best luck too you. And if you aren't happy (or you dont "know") you arent at the right weigh for you.  Keep going!