Weight goal and body fat goal

jrose1982

I'm 33, female, 5' tall, 225 lbs. When I originally set my goal weight, I based it on BMI. I.e to have a "healthy" BMI, I should weigh 125. That's as good a number as any, so that's been my goal for a while.

This morning I checked my body fat percent with my scale: 44%. I calculated my lean tissue weight: 126 lbs. So my current lean body weight is 126 lbs, but my total goal weight is 125 lbs. Something's wrong. And I could use some help figure out what it is.

So I looked at it a couple different ways:

• If I maintain 126 lbs lean, but lose fat to 25%, then my goal weight would be 168 lbs. The BMI on this is still "obese".
• If I hold the 125 lb goal, and assume 25% fat, then my future lean weight will be 94 lbs.

Now, I'm aware that there is some error built into both methods. BMI is not reliable for individual use. My scale is not real accurate for body fat %. But these are the tools I have to work with. And even considering the error, a 30 lb difference in lean tissue seems awfully big.

I suppose it's possible that I really do have approx. 126 lbs of lean tissue (maybe I actually am "big boned"). In which case, 168 lbs seems a reasonable and healthy weight goal, regardless of BMI. In fact, the last time I really felt healthy I was around 170-180 lbs.

In the big picture, it doesn't really matter. I'm gonna keep slogging along until I feel good or die. But I like to learn. Is there something else I should be considering to understand this conundrum?

galgenstrick

jrose1982 wrote: »

I'm 33, female, 5' tall, 225 lbs. When I originally set my goal weight, I based it on BMI. I.e to have a "healthy" BMI, I should weigh 125. That's as good a number as any, so that's been my goal for a while.

This morning I checked my body fat percent with my scale: 44%. I calculated my lean tissue weight: 126 lbs. So my current lean body weight is 126 lbs, but my total goal weight is 125 lbs. Something's wrong. And I could use some help figure out what it is.

So I looked at it a couple different ways:

• If I maintain 126 lbs lean, but lose fat to 25%, then my goal weight would be 168 lbs. The BMI on this is still "obese".
• If I hold the 125 lb goal, and assume 25% fat, then my future lean weight will be 94 lbs.

Now, I'm aware that there is some error built into both methods. BMI is not reliable for individual use. My scale is not real accurate for body fat %. But these are the tools I have to work with. And even considering the error, a 30 lb difference in lean tissue seems awfully big.

I suppose it's possible that I really do have approx. 126 lbs of lean tissue (maybe I actually am "big boned"). In which case, 168 lbs seems a reasonable and healthy weight goal, regardless of BMI. In fact, the last time I really felt healthy I was around 170-180 lbs.

In the big picture, it doesn't really matter. I'm gonna keep slogging along until I feel good or die. But I like to learn. Is there something else I should be considering to understand this conundrum?

You're talking a year or two down the road. Just keep going. I would make smaller goals and reward yourself when you hit them. Adjust your big picture goal to 150 or so, and you can adjust that when you hit it as well.

juggernaut1974

Two things:

1. Assuming you won't lose any lean mass. That's simply not possible.
2. Scales to measure body fat % are wildly inaccurate