Determining goal weight

I am wondering how you all determined what your correct goal weight or correct range is. When I search on line I see that my goal weight can range by 20 pounds (anywhere between 130-150 for a 5-5 male)
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Replies

  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    Maybe start at the top of the range as your first goal and see how you feel when you get there.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    I never set one. I set my calories, checked my weight loss progress, and stopped when I was satisfied.
  • Stanley1903
    Stanley1903 Posts: 73 Member
    My first goal is to no longer be overweight. My next goal is 144, because it was a weight that I felt great at and I felt I looked great. If I want to lose a couple or 5 more, or even 10 more, at that point, I will re-evaluate and keep going.
  • Stanley1903
    Stanley1903 Posts: 73 Member
    But to specifically answer your question, I based my goal on my healthy weight range for my height and what my weight and measurements were when I was in great shape.

    My range is 118-154, but I was 135-145 when in really great shape and dancing and working out 4-9x a week in high school. My lowest weight when I tried to lose weight during high school was 131-132. So obviously I don't have any interest in seeing the low end of my range. I have a large frame.
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    I really don't know what my "correct" weight range is, I never bothered to look it up. :smile:

    I know that when I got married I was somewhere around 145-150lbs and I felt pretty good then. But that was nearly 30 years ago and my shape has changed, so I don't know if I can get back to that.

    I chose to set my current 'final' goal at 160lbs, and will see how I look and feel when I get there. I may decide to aim for 150 or even 140, but like @Stanley1903 I have a larger/heavier frame and apparently carried my weight well when I was lighter. I can't really imagine going below 140, I haven't been that light since I was a teenager!
  • NCBALR
    NCBALR Posts: 2 Member
    I'm a male 5'9" 170lbs and my goal weight was 160lbs until I realized how hard it was to lose 10lbs after 30 so I said fine 170 it is...lol
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    No-one has a "large frame". People who are taller will have longer limbs, for example. But that's it.
  • codename_steve
    codename_steve Posts: 255 Member
    I set mine based on research for optimal running performance, which is more based on BF%.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    trjjoy wrote: »
    No-one has a "large frame". People who are taller will have longer limbs, for example. But that's it.

    I disagree as our bones /frames are all different - e.g wrist measurements on various people who are at their ideal weight will not be the same.

    I have broad shoulders and hips - no padding on either any more but it's impossible for my hips to get below 35". Whereas some will be my height (5ft 2 ) and perhaps have 32" hips....that's bone structure /frame size - genetics play a part.
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
    I go by the range of most BMI charts, which for my height, is around 100lbs-136lbs. I originally planed to maintain on 115-120lbs, but then I decided that a BMI of 20 would feel best, and a BMI of 20 is maintained on 108lbs-114lbs, which is my maintenance weight range. I personally don't like being too close to the underweight/overweight borders, so ultimately, I always made sure to set a target range at least two BMI points(?) from either border.
  • BikeTourer
    BikeTourer Posts: 167 Member
    trjjoy wrote: »
    No-one has a "large frame". People who are taller will have longer limbs, for example. But that's it.

    I disagree as our bones /frames are all different - e.g wrist measurements on various people who are at their ideal weight will not be the same.

    I have broad shoulders and hips - no padding on either any more but it's impossible for my hips to get below 35". Whereas some will be my height (5ft 2 ) and perhaps have 32" hips....that's bone structure /frame size - genetics play a part.

    +1, all the differences you see daily aren't just height and weight.
  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
    Bone structure definitely makes a difference, along with muscle mass.
    As for determining my own goal weight, it used to be 139 which was the lowest weight I'd maintained as an adult. A couple years ago I decided to try losing another 10 lbs to see how I would feel, and I ended up really liking ~130 on me. I recently hit that weight and am moving to recomp.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    Frame size differences are real and dramatic. Here's an interesting anthropological review:

    Ruff, Christopher. "Variation in human body size and shape." Annual Review of Anthropology (2002): 211-232.

  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    I set mine based on what I weighed when I was married--the last time I remember liking how I looked in a bathing suit (and still within the healthy BMI range). I actually achieved it, and 25 years later it looked way different than I remember so I gained a little bit of weight back (8 lbs).
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    My weight in my early 20s was around 170-175 lbs, so that's what I'm shooting for. It's heavier than I've seen recommended in various tables and calculators, but at that weight I'm healthy, happy, and not emaciated. Using the wrist circumference criterion, I classify as large frame. See:

    http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    vingogly wrote: »
    My weight in my early 20s was around 170-175 lbs, so that's what I'm shooting for. It's heavier than I've seen recommended in various tables and calculators, but at that weight I'm healthy, happy, and not emaciated. Using the wrist circumference criterion, I classify as large frame. See:

    http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html

    I like your calculator--it says that I am perfect where I am right now! :smile:
  • pbryd
    pbryd Posts: 364 Member
    stickkop wrote: »
    I am wondering how you all determined what your correct goal weight or correct range is. When I search on line I see that my goal weight can range by 20 pounds (anywhere between 130-150 for a 5-5 male)

    You could try

    http://visualbmi.com/

    and adjust the sliders to suit.
  • pbryd
    pbryd Posts: 364 Member
    I'm 5'6" so looking at the examples a lean 140lb would be my initial goal. With a top goal of a lean 150lb

    At 133lb I have a couple of years hard work to go lol
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,989 Member
    edited March 2016
    If you want a very accurate on, you just need to know your lean body mass. Then use the formula:

    Lean body mass divided by 1 minus body fat% desired.........LBM/(1-BF% desired)

    So say someone wants to be 20% body fat and lean mass is 150lbs

    150/.80=187.5 187.5lbs would be the goal weight to be 20% body fat.

    This works with ANYONE because is based on lean mass and not frame height, muscularity, etc.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    trjjoy wrote: »
    No-one has a "large frame". People who are taller will have longer limbs, for example. But that's it.

    Nonsense. There is a a huge variation in all body parts including build / skeleton / body proportions.
    Have a look at rugby legend Jason Leonard for someone with a real barrel chest. (Not talking about the muscle on top of his frame BTW - his rib cage is enormous).
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited March 2016
    I used to think I wanted to weigh 140lbs but in my avatar I'm 165 (and I'm 5'6" so I'm still "overweight"). I think 5lbs of fat should do it for me, but I think once you're closer to your range go by bf%
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    trjjoy wrote: »
    No-one has a "large frame". People who are taller will have longer limbs, for example. But that's it.

    Nonsense. There is a a huge variation in all body parts including build / skeleton / body proportions.
    Have a look at rugby legend Jason Leonard for someone with a real barrel chest. (Not talking about the muscle on top of his frame BTW - his rib cage is enormous).

    I agree with these guys, there are larger and smaller frames. I don't know how much they contribute to weight, but my shoulders and hips are a certain size even when I am way underweight, that's my frame. I don't have the tiny sloping shoulders of Diana Ross or Nancy Reagan, I am built elongated athletic in the skeleton. Bone size also varies, my oldest daughter is built very similarly to me but her wrists and ankles are 2" bigger than mine. There is no way her bones don't weigh more. I don't know how much more, but more.

    On the original question, I just try to stay near the low end of a healthy BMI, and my goal is based more on measurements than pounds, but if I can be heavier at the size I want, would consider that healthier.
  • jennyonthespot
    jennyonthespot Posts: 98 Member
    OP, I based my original goal weight on a weight I easily maintained a few years ago. I got there, then maintained for a bit, then lost a bit more. I'm trying to focus on fitness-oriented goals more now. Aesthetics seem to be a fringe benefit of an active lifestyle. As long as I'm at a healthy BMI, and have struck the balance between happy with what I look like and what I have to do to maintain it, I consider myself good to go.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,226 Member
    I set an initial goal based on a weight that I'd been sometime in young adulthood (not my lowest adult weight ever), realizing that I'd need to re-evaluate when I got closer, since young adulthood was 30+ years ago. I like that general strategy of setting a provisional goal, then re-evaluating.

    About 5-10 pounds above that initial goal, I did two things: I started slowing my weight loss rate way down (0.5lb/week and eventually less), and paying attention to how I felt, and how my body looked.

    I ended up saying, "OK, this is good" about 8-10 pounds below that initial goal. I just woke up one morning (literally) and thought "I'm there".

    And I absolutely agree that people do better at different goal weights for the same height. Obviously, there are cultural and personal aesthetic factors. Muscularity makes a difference. And, yes, frame size is a thing - not so much the "big boned" idea in the sense of bone weight per se, but that if you have wide hips (say), it takes more meat of all types to go around them, and that meat has a weight.

    Sometimes people think that those defending frame size want to excuse themselves for being heavier because they "have big bones". Sometimes that happens, maybe, but I'm defending the frame size concept as someone who has boy-hips instead of lady hips, no booty whatsoever, and who - despite wide shoulders, big hands/feet, and more-than-average muscle for my age - should be on the lighter side of normal for my height. (I'm 5'5", 60 y/o, and 118lbs, which is 2-5 pounds less than I ultimately intend).
  • hekla90
    hekla90 Posts: 595 Member
    I decided on pure aesthetics for what I prefer to look like it.
  • Lisa_Ookoo
    Lisa_Ookoo Posts: 134 Member
    I stopped when it was easier to buy clothes that fit. I've always been pear-shaped, so pants that fit me around the hips were too big at that waist. Now I weigh 123 lbs, my hips and butt have slimmed down, and clothes look good on me.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited March 2016
    trjjoy wrote: »
    No-one has a "large frame". People who are taller will have longer limbs, for example. But that's it.

    LOL....people do have different sized frames. The reason BMI is a range is to address this fact as well as differences in muscle mass, etc.

    My best friend and I are the same height...he has a very small frame whereas I have a medium frame...there is a noticeable difference in our frames when you look at us.

    As to the OP...I never picked a goal weight...I knew I wanted to be around 12% BF so that was my target, not some number.
  • mmmpork
    mmmpork Posts: 133 Member
    Agree with @cwolfman13 people can have different builds. My mom for instance is a half inch taller than me, 175 pounds on her looks fat but I'm at 30% fat at that weight and look fine. I've got wide hips and broad thighs and just tend to be more muscular. I'm 5'6.5" and she's 5.7" and more of a slender build.

    BMI is notoriously inaccurate and racially biased, working with Lean Body Mass estimates is going to serve you better since it accounts for variations. I did pick a target weight, but it's higher than BMI would put me at (125??!!). I picked mine based on what I've weighed in the past and 140 is way more realistic for me. I plan to do recomp once I get down to 170 anyways so lbm will be more my focus.

  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    I look like a large frame at an obese BMI.

    I look like a small frame at a healthy BMI.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    I set my goal weight based on what I weighed at 19. However I'm currently 10 lbs heavier but have the same measurements I did back then. I wear the same size clothing (adjusted for ASTM changes) as well (that is I'm in a 10/12 now and was a 12/14 then).

    I honestly have no clue any more what my goal is. If I go on the height that scoliosis robbed me of I'd be in the "healthy" range; but as it is I'm "overweight" by 15 lbs. I can easily feel my backbone, ribs, hips and sternum.

    I'm actually considering calling it quits now because my goal was functional rather than numerical anyway; I wanted to relieve stress on my heart and make it easier to do the things I love to do. I feel at this point my weight is not contributing to my disability significantly; mostly its just living with lupus.

    This is me at 5'9" 185 lbs.

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