Calculating Goals, need your help, what are your goals?

lovelylela415

How many pounds of fat should a 40 year old female have on her body?

I'm trying to calculate the correct goals for myself.

I am 39 (almost 40)
5'10"
145 lbs
20.5% body fat

small frame (tiny wrists)
hour glass shape (boobs, waist, hips, long legs)
my lower belly and hips are fatty, can pinch an inch on both, though not much more now that I've hit a few goals. I really want to deal with the fat on my lower belly and hips, and am looking forward to the day when they start to minimize a bit. Maybe the waist will go down, not sure yet what will happen but i do know it will - I am not trying to rush anything here. I love this process!

Prior to these numbers I had gained a bunch of weight (155) and was 27% body fat. before the weight gain i was 138 and running frequently but not doing any other kind of working out, so my body fat was probably still over 25%. Point being, I've lost a bit of weight and more importantly, gained muscle and lost body fat. I see a trainer 2x/ week and he says he can see a difference, that I'm fit and have become a lot more toned. I've been working hard since November, so this has not been quick and it's been awesome. I really love getting stronger, and the patience required to get fit in the right way. And, now that i'm stronger when i go running, my runs are way more powerful.

I'm pretty active, live in a city and walk everywhere, I work out 6 days a week, I have a trainer and I see him 2x/ week, on rest days sometimes i go on a nice hike. It's hard for me (sometimes...most of the time) to refrain from expending energy and break a sweat...but I do take rest days. Of course, there are days when i just don't do much of anything. I think we all have those days. Especially around my menstrual cycle.

BUT....Are the above numbers enough to figure out how overweight i am, and what goal i should set? Right now my weight goal is 138, and I've set a new goal of getting body fat down to 18%. I would like to expose the abs that i have been strengthening.

I would love any opinions about appropriate goals. I feel great, I feel stronger, and I'm happy about this....but I am definitely not quite yet where I want to be. Holding most of my fat in my lower belly....and I really really love to eat

I should also add that i have to get into a bikini in front of a large group of people for a weekend mid-july. I would like to feel good, confident and of course, though superficial, i want to look good too!

Thoughts? What are your goals? How do you figure out where you want your goals to be?

bob_day

"Appropriate goal"? A very slippery term. And I don't think there's any
such thing as a "correct goal". My own goal was very arbitrary --
it just popped into my head one day -- to lose 1/4 of my weight,
to go from being slightly overweight to a weight close to the bottom
of the normal range for my height. It took me about eight years to
achieve that, with many stops and starts and many failures along
the way.

Bottom line: Set your goal to where you'd like to end up. As long
as it's above underweight, I would say it's "appropriate" .

lovelylela415

So...how do I figure out what equals underweight? Especially if the pounds arent as important as the body fat / muscle ratio. I don't want to be underweight at all whatsoever, but it seems that with so many calculations available there must be a way to set the right goals by knowing...well, I don't know... Maybe it's got something to do with figuring out lean body mass and then knowing how much fat is healthy on top of that lean body mass?

I work well with setting goals, having something to aim toward. I know I can maintain but I also know I still have an inch to lose.

How does one figure out smart or "appropriate" goals?

yarwell

20% is good (low). Many at your age are double that.

Less than 18% you may get some hormone issues.

lovelylela415

I agree! Worked hard to get here, and I really don't want to overdo into hormonal oblivion. But...I still have weight to lose, or fat. Guess I'm saying I have no idea where to go from here, but I do still have some changes to make. And I want to maintain nothing less than health. Confused.

herblackwings39

The height/weight chart I consult has small frame at 5'10 set between 132 and 145.

lovelylela415

Interesting. Seems like its time to make maintenance related goals. Maybe I started this thread in the wrong way. I'm curious about how you set goals with this stuff (without heart rate monitor or body bug etc)

And I guess now I'm hopeful someone who is almost at their goal is able to relate to this whole...."ok what now" thing