Lost 2 stone but it doesn't show! (lighthearted moan)

Solange, studies have proved what l have instinctively felt for a long time that is, in fact, better to be slightly overweight than underweight as we get older. It means that we have something to fall back on in times of illness.

I’m always trying to lose weight, losing three inches in height hasn’t helped, I noticed recently that on seeing my reflection in my black shiny fridge freezer I look a lot taller therefore much slimmer, it has been an incentive not to open the fridge door, doesn’t always work of course but it helps.

Solonge if one had a choice then I think that it is probably better to be slightly overweight than underweight - an illness can result in rapid weight loss and being underweight to start with means there is no small reserve to fall back on.

Three years ago I did the same, lost 2 stone, one hole less on the belt but not even one size smaller. Have read stories about dieters coming down a size for every half stone they lost. And I am not xxl, I am a 14.

I lost 2 stone when my son got married. Although it didn't make a great deal of difference to the way I looked, my dodgy knee miraculously got better and has stayed that way so that, at least, was worth it.

Its healthier to be under weight than overweight. Its also a lot harder unless you are naturally slim. Sometimes as people get older they exercise less and that promotes weight gain. Taking up exercise will help weight control as the more you jog, ride a bike, swim or work out in the gym, the more likely you are to wish to lose weight, its a lot more comfy being a healthy weight than carrying excess.

I've been within the weight range for my height for some time but in the last couple of months have lost a few more pounds and am only very slightly heavier than when I got married 40 years ago (now 5'1"/8st 2lb). Recently someone has commented a couple of times on my weight loss which I didn't think was noticeable. But can anyone tell me how to reduce my tummy - it expands below my tummy button - or my thighs? They wobble when I walk - and I walk miles, not having a car any more.

You need to tone now :P

Jane10 I'd love thinner thighs. I think we all want what we can't have. Whenever l lose weight my lower half stubbornly refuses to join in. On the plus side, my waist does show a loss.

I think you lose weight in places where you don't necessarily want to lose weight. I'd like a smaller stomach but end up with thinner fingers (rings twizzle round) and a thinner face.

Brilliant weight loss giulia. If I have calculated it correctly you have gone from a BMI in the obese range to one in the middle of the normal range and that is a real achievement for your health.

Kim19 Thank you!

2 years ago I lost about 2 1/2 stone as I had been in Hospital & they stopped my Diabetic medication, I felt great but I looked haggard & didn't lose anything around my middle as I have an umbilical hernia.

At my annual diabetic check my diabetes had shot almost off the scale resulting in a new regime of diabetic medication & the weight has gone back on, no change to my diet & I've lost the extra energy I had when I was losing the weight.

I find it very difficult to lose weight - every single lb is a massive achievement but - on the good side - any loss does show immediately. My face looks thinner and my tummy looks smaller even after only losing a couple of lbs.
Losing just 3lb takes me from a tight size 12 to a 'comfortable' size 10.
Strange isn't it?

After wearing a pair of non-elasticated waist trousers and spending the day yanking them up I found that 2.5 stones had disappeared. Hadn't noticed a thing and wore the same clothes! When I mentioned the weight loss to family they just kind of shrugged???
Anyway, more pounds were lost so had to go get some bloods done and it turns out to be a severe case of diabetes so mystery solved. I do wear a size smaller in clothes but still have far too much flab around the tummy and it doesn't seem to want to go, annoyingly!

Don't be either disappointed or frustrated giulia. You've done brilliantly. One of the benefits of losing weight gradually (I did 1lb a week for a year) is that people don't tend to notice and therefore it doesn't become a topic of conversation. No doubt about it, your general health will have benefitted either seen or unseen. Enjoy. I've read that weight lost slowly has more chance of staying off. Don't know the logic of that but it has certainly been so in my case. My resolve is certainly stronger because of the personal advantages I've found. I wish you every future success with this and say again a huge well done for what you've already achieved. Bravo!

Years ago I was diagnosed with 3 herniated discs...the pain was sometimes mind-boggling. I was 11st 10 lbs....I was offered an operation ...or advised to lose some weight to see if that helped first. I lost a stone and the pain diminished to the point where I could come off a lot of my meds. Since then I’ve always tried to maintain a reasonable weight and at the moment come in at 10st. I feel so much better for keeping that extra weight off! Well worth the ‘calorie-counting’ effort involved .

Unfortunately I think I am slimmer then I really am

I'm the other way round I'm 5ft 3 and all my life have been over weight
In the past few years what ever I do I cant put weight on , and believe me I've tried I'm a size 8/10 and am forever been told how ill I look , I have had every test going and all come back normal, and I have kept food diaries and seen dieticians, and they cant find a reason either, I'm depressed every time I look in the mirror and hate buying clothes,
I'm not trying to be boastful I just want people who have weight problems to realise it works both ways If anyone else calls me " skinny minnie" as my elderly mother does all the time or tells me to have a few good meals and it must be my fault I will scream
I've never been conscious of my weight till now , I'm sick of looking haggard and ill

Thanks to so many of you for your encouragement.

On the positive side, I have noticed that the less red meat I eat the less I want it. Alo, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy I found it to drop alcohol! I was a habitual G/T person. I also enjoyed making wicked cocktails for my guests and was quite famous for them. Now the only alcohol I even wish to drink is half a glass of good wine once a day (I live in Italy so it is the norm here). I had thought maybe I was hooked but it seems not.

That's a great story petalmoore and I wish you well in your recovery from the ankle injury
BTW, blancmange...I love it. ??Tesco here I come....?‍♀️?

I wonder if men go through the same angst and do you nag encourage those DH/OH who carry extra, to trim down a bit...or just accept them as they are?

I lost weight doing the 5:2 diet, and realised how much more I could eat on fast days if I didn’t eat starchy foods. So when I was diagnosed with Type2 diabetes, I was keen to try a low carb diet and to delay taking medication until three was no evidence of improvement. But it worked, and the diabetes has retreated - a big incentive for me to continue. I have lost a further 8kg since my diagnosis. I’m also delighted to find that I no longer have IBS., which has troubled me since my teens (I’m 69 now). But since mid-August I’ve been in hospital recovering from a broken ankle (I’m disabled and don’t have the strength to use crutches) ... and despite all the comfort food designed to build up frail elderly people, who make up much of this little hospital’s patient population and/or actually to comfort patients who are feeling unwell or miserable, I have lost another kg. Since moist of the food is high carb (macaroni cheese, meat pie, loads of potatoes, sponge puddings, custard, ice cream and jelly as well as biscuits and cake at coffee and tea time, and the same plus sandwiches if liked with the mid evening drink, I have had to pick my way carefully through the menu, choosing mostly plain meat and vegetables, and relying on choosing small portions of the ‘comforting’ main courses and only strawberries and blueberry my husband brings from home, along with the occasional satsuma. I’m delighted to find that this has worked - even if only because it has proved to me that portion control is worth it. I feel really well. But I never look much thinner because my hips will never be narrow - bone structure doesn’t change

I lost a stone from last July till this February and want to lose another stone and a half but the scales have stopped stubbornly at 10 and a half stone since February. I seem to be stuck on a plateau but I can't rest on my one stone laurels for ever!

I keep being advised that using light weights etc and toning up will make a difference.

It's a good theory.