[QUOTE=Emily Fox Seaton;6384604]Yes. Just over the obese line. This seems to be my set point. Where my body has always naturally returned to.

I can absolutely lose weight but, two things happen
(1) my metabolism reduces substantially
(2) I get to a point 30 lbs before goal where I cannot lose one more lb.

Your body has been through so much Emily! Well done for persevering and surviving! One thing you said reminds me of a friend whose weight falls into the medically obese category. She lost vast amounts (I don't like to put #s here because I don't want to upset or trigger anyone) of weight twice and each time she gained it back and more.

Similar to your point, she'd get to a point where she lost a lot but was still X number of pounds away from her goal. I'll tell you what I told her: "what about instead of torturing yourself to get to that goal, you make the new goal to just maintain the weight you already lost...see where that gets you...live like that a while and see how you feel?" That was the first time I saw her smile about this issue (MDs had been shaming her at appointments for years...how will shame help a person to lose weight I always ask?) and she said she was going to give that a try instead. "I think I can do that! I think I could lose and maintain a while!"

*Disclaimer: I'm not a MD. I have not studied weight loss. But I do know that some folks get caught in a really painful and stressful cycle of lose-gain-lose-gain etc etc. And cortisol (the stress hormone) actually causes weight gain when we have too much of it.

How about you Emily? Could your new goal be to maintain the weight loss that you know you can achieve and forget the extra 30 for a while? Need not be a forever goal but you could try it a while...let your body relax...love yourself...and see how you feel in time?

Just an idea from a place of care and regard