Limits?

[Socrates1]

Okay, I have a question for those of you who've gotten close to or are at their goals, as well as any professionals. Long story short, my BMI is 23ish, down from about 29. I am 6' 1", male, 17...I weighed around 220-230 (my weight, no matter what it is, tends to fluctuate) and I now go between 178-184. Despite everyone's (goodnatured but not particularly candid) advice, I am not entirely content with my current weight; I posted a thread ( http://weight-loss.fitness.com/club/30166-continue-opinions-welcome.html ) with more in-depth info - it's kind of relevant but not entirely necessary. Anyway, the main point is, even though I'm not all the way done with weight loss, I often get nervous about the "limits of weight loss" so to speak. There's a lot of talk that you can only "shrink" excess fat cells but not eliminate them. Many people talk about a sort of glass ceiling-esque situation - that a formerly-obese person can only get so far with weight loss. I have definitely noticed weight loss in myself but it seems disproportionately small. For example, I am the same height as many of my friends, all of whom have been skinny for the majority of life. Most weigh somewhere around 10-20 lbs. less than me, yet, to me, they appear far skinnier than I am, much more than 15 lbs. so. Could this be because I was once very overweight? Is there a limit to weight loss? Does excess skin or fat cells have anything to do with it?
Also, I understand that body shape can vary, and that my frame size etc. will never change. I know that some people tend to store fat different places and that there are different healthy body types. But disregarding all that, is there a limit to how much weight loss can help? I guess this will be more apparent when I lose the final 20 lbs, but, even now, it seems like I should look skinnier.

 

[sinui]

O_O I've been wondering about this too.

When people see me they underestimate my weight: a lady recently told me "oh my you're thin like i was young.. 45kg?" .. I was 52 ( 1m60 ) muscle could be one, but I got none, bone structure doesn't matter, and I haven't always been thin either.

There was a tv show about weight (not obese) in general on the BBC.

What I understood was:

- an obese person will always feel hungrier when they become thin than someone whose always been thin because stomach can only contract this much.

- fat cells don't diminish as you lose weight

- your body will tend to go back to its natural state no matter what you do. aka someone skinny that overate for a period (experiment) lost the weight very very fast (without extra exercise) upon stopping the rich diet. and some had a hard time finishing their portions under their rich diet.

- your weight (body tendency) is determined at a young age. In an experiment, some kids naturally go for more food if it's available, some don't.

That was a long time ago so I might remember wrong .. oops. Not to say that THEY might be wrong too! It IS a tv show, albeit a good one.

As to you thinking you look bulkier, how about have someone else, a doctor who won't be biased, give their opinion?