Advice please: when should I start RTM?

[Beeswax]

Hi all,

I wonder if any RTMers, peeps in Management or anyone with a clear head can give me some advice about judging when to start RTM!

I'm in my 13th week of LL (I also moved to LLL last week) and 9lbs from my original goal weight of 7.5 stone. I chose this weight because, before I put on all the extra weight 5 years ago, I maintained 7.5 stone for most of my adult life, and it made me a comfortable size 10.

But now - at 116lbs - the size 10s are already a little roomy, which isn't what I expected at all!

So I'm confused - should I go into RTM now, or stick to my original goal weight?

Supporting information!

1. I can't believe I'm typing this, but I REALLY don't want to be a size 8. Just because I don't think I could maintain it long-term. I'm planning to be active and put into practice all the stuff I'm learning on LL about being aware of myself, and of food, but at the same I'm never going to be a gym bunny. Size 10 is (I think) where I'd feel happiest.
2. My LLC wasn't that helpful when I asked her - she said "only you can decide this" (I know that) and advised me to judge it by eye. The thing is, my brain is having trouble adjusting to my new reflection (apparently this is common?) - it keeps seeing the old me! I can see my component parts are smaller, but when I put it all together... I just see what I used to see. My boyfriend (who, alas, does see me in just my pants sometimes, says I'm even slimmer now than I was when we got together, but I just can't see it myself). So how do I judge it by eye?
3. When I do look at my component parts, I think I still have a bit of a belly and my figure's not exactly what I want it to be. But, since the size 10s are roomy, is this something that I can fix by doing more toning exercises, rather than through weight loss alone?

OR should I go for the lowest possible weight I can while staying within a BMI of 22, to provide a "buffer" while navigating the rocky waters of management?

So there it is. What do you think? Incidentally, I know it's "only" 9lbs, but I'm only 5' tall, so 9lbs for me probably translates to one stone in "normal height people" speak!

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give - I just don't know what to do and, since my own perception is a bit shonky at the moment, I just don't know how to judge it.

 

[kenshin112]

If you feel
you are ready for RTM do it, sorry I can't give much more advice than that sorry

 

[Beeswax]

Thanks Ken

I guess my real question is what are the criteria for "feeling right" about going into RTM? I'm happy with my dress size, but not completely there about my body, if that makes sense - but how much of that is due to my "size blindness"?

 

[kenshin112]

see i started from the moment i knew i was able to tackle the old habits of picking and eating negative calorie foods, now i do my cardio and weights and feel that was the perfect time, once i upped my gym work

 

[Jezebella]

Bea

This is always such a hard one to call, and sadly it is something only YOU can decide on. It sounds to me though like you are ready for RTM. I can only offer advice on what I went through myself. When I started LL I knew I would loose weight, I never expected to be thin!! Sounds a bit strange I know. I certainly never expected to end up in size 8 clothing. I set my original goal at about 10kg more than I am now. However, as the weight came off, I felt that I personally would like to be a little slimmer as I still felt "too big" at that original goal, I must have re set my goal about 5 times since then. I also had and still have the same problems as you in how you "see" yourself. I physically still feel the same, but I know I am smaller. I just can't mentally see it even though the clothes are size 8s, it makes no sense. But back to the starting of RTM. Everyone said to me that I would know when I felt right, and so it was. I carried on in abstinence until I felt, ok this is how I am supposed to be. I am happy at this size and this weight. I have however lost more on RTM and am now maintaining or have done in the last 4 weeks of RTM at this size, a little up one week, a little down the next etc, but I seem to average out the same week on week. My body is obviously comfortable here. My body, sadly, does not look the way I expected, I have flabby skin, still have a tummy etc. But I guess apart from the loose skin, this is my body shape (apple) and I must learn to love it as it is ( ok will have surgery for loose skin if ever I can) but for now, that is me. If I continued loosing weight even with this tummy, it would still be there, and the rest of me would just get skinnier and skinner and I really can't afford to let me BMI drop below 20, it is just over 20 at this point.

If you are coping ok with the food re-introduction at this point on LLL, then I see no reason that you shouldn't move into RTM. You actually learn more (or at least I have) about your body, and food and how it all reacts during RTM.

Good luck whatever your decision hun, we will all be here to hold your hand every step of the way.

Jez
xx

 

[Foxtrot]

If you're asking these questions, you're just about there Bee. You're body is telling you to ask them.

Also I've found when I was my 'normal' good adult size I was one shape, when I lost the weight for my wedding 2 years ago I ended up a different shape and this time it's gone from different areas again. I keep saying, your body will do absolutely it's own thing and rarely consults you about it. It has to keep you guessing all the time.

 

[Nellyphant]

Bee - keep to the weight you want to get to I'd say as since the sizes were set in the UK 40 odd years ago and sizes have got bigger. A size 10 when sizes were set would have a body measurement about 4" smaller than clothes are made today. For some people the clothes size is the important bit, to others the weight you know you look good at and to others the way they feel inside and out. Good luck with it.

 

[Beeswax]

Thanks all for the BRILLIANT advice. Seriously, it's invaluable. I've suspected for a while that I'm coming to the end of this part of my LL journey and I suppose I've been panicking a bit, because all the "landmarks" I was relying on (dress size; body image) aren't as I imagined them!

I think you're all correct in that I'm ready to start THINKING about RTM now. Because I'm now on LLL, my RTM will only be 4 weeks long, and although I've been learning lots about my relationship with food, I think I've got a way to go yet. Plus I haven't yet started planning for RTM and life afterward (I'm not allowed to start proper exercise until I've completed the programme for medical reasons), so this little while will give me the opportunity to do that.

So I'll continue with LLL until New Year (it'll be interesting to see what my brain does over Christmas...) then review where I am and start RTM then. I probably won't be at my *goal* weight, but I'll be close to it so won't feel I've "failed" by going into RTM early.

Jez, your words in particular described exactly what I'm going through, and Nelly - so good to hear from you again!

All of your advice and wisdom is really helping my refocus and feel as though I'm in control again - so thanks once more

 

[thin_inside]

Bee

You have made a decision. That is the hardest part. I was going through the same a few weeks ago and had to set myself firm targets to keep on track and stay focused. Like Jez and many others I struggle with body image. My chest is bony but my tummy is rounded. Everything is saggy. Surgery may be an option in the future if I can persuade the NHS I am keeping the weight off.

I would have loved to lose more from my tum, and my calves, but I don't want to feel I can't wear lower cut tops due to a bony chest, so I went for RTM at BMI of 22.5ish. There's no right and wrong. The other thing was I had started to crave 'more' in my tum. I started adding in an extra pack on a few days and found this became a real battle. In the end I did acknowledge that it was possibly my body saying enough was enough. I went a couple of pounds before my target weight.

Well done on your losses so far and enjoy the feeling of being petite without needed to specify a size.

 

[Beeswax]

Hi all,

Just wanted to say a massive thanks again - also ThinInside I really identified with your comments. Sorry for not having posted before now - I've been in bed with a migraine ALL WEEK. This is unusual; the doctor now wants me to come off LLL for a couple of weeks to see if it makes a difference (I doubt it will) but essentially I'm to be investigated by a neurologist! So am officially back "on" food again for the next couple of weeks then will progress back into LLL for a couple of weeks before starting RTM. It's scary and not at all what I planned, but it does give me the opportunity to see how I "deal" with food with the safety net of LLL in a few weeks. I just hope it helps my headaches!