Thread: Lost a bunch of weight but still have lovehandles..

At the beginning of 2020, shortly after my 40th birthday I realized I had to change my body.

Up until a few years earlier I'd kept fit by running long distance, I had ran a couple of marathons as well. However, I developed quite a severe ankle injury, which I still have problems with to this day, and the weight slowly but surely piled on.

I found myself at my heaviest at about 253lbs/115kg. At 6'4"/195cm that put me at a BMI of 30.2 which is obese. Actually, truth be told, there was only one thing about the added weight I simply couldn't accept somehow, which was my lovehandles, I just thought they looked terrible. They had to go.

So I started dieting, apart from one cheat day a week on Fridays, I cut out snacks and booze and kept to a routine of essentially a whole food, sugar-free diet of a moderate breakfast, simple small lunch and very small dinner, if I had dinner at all.

Throughout this I usually have been walking a minimum of 2 hours a day, 4 hours a day on the weekend, and 4 mornings a week spend 20 minutes on bodyweight exercises.

Since early 2020 I've lost over 88lbs/40kg, the other day my scales read 152lbs/69kg, which is a BMI of 18.1. I've dropped a significant amount of weight, however one thing still troubles me.

I can still grab a handful of fat on my hips, in other words my lovehandles are still there, even though they are significantly reduced in size. I thought by now they would be completely gone.

152lbs/69kg is just a bit under what I've identified as the low end of being in the healthy range of BMI, so I told myself I'd drop to this weight, and then maintain until I do my research on what to do next. the goal still remains - get rid of my lovehandles!

On a side note, I've read that it could be loose skin. I've looked up photos of what loose skin looks like and that isn't what it appears to be, but, maybe I'm wrong.

What are my longer-term goals? As I age I want a strong core and to be healthy. I like the idea of gaining a bit of muscle, I want to get back up to about 187lbs/85kg, but do this with low body fat.

So at the moment, I think I have a few options...
a. Keep losing weight. I have a feeling it might take another 22lbs/10kg. I could be wrong though. But this would put me at 130lbs/59kg and a BMI of 15.5 which, to be honest, sounds ridiculous to me.
b. Add in some kind of nutrition and fitness routine where I'm maintaining or even gaining weight but dropping body fat.

I'd greatly appreciate any input on next steps to take.