Setting a goal weight

emmadonaldson95

markswife1992 wrote: »

i am 5' 7" and my goal weight is also 125.

I'm so pleased to have got here! I only started at 140lb so it isnt a huge change but half my clothes dont fit round the waist anymore. You'll love it

LivingtheLeanDream

Everyone is different, you don't have to set your goal as low as that. But at least aim to be in the healthy/normal bracket of the BMI chart.

If you feel huge loss /goal is daunting right now, set a higher goal weight to aim for then reassess when you get there based on how you feel.

ilex70

mathiseasy wrote: »

I chose my goal weight based on a weight I was happy at in the past. I'm 5'6" and with quite a bit of muscle I was happy at 160. I have my goal set to 140 here because I think I would like to lower my bf% past what it was in the past but I have no idea what that would look like. I will absolutely reevaluate if I get to 160 and am happy with my body!

Twinkies. Also 5'6, was good at 160 before, but trying for 140 now because I'm targeting a lower body fat %.

frankiesgirlie

I'm 5' 9", female and almost 55, and my goal weight is 140. I started on MFP with just 12 lbs to lose to reach it. I've weighed a lot less in my 20s ,and as a teenager,and my highest weight ever was briefly in the 160s and I felt overweight.
But I have a small frame. Skinny wrists. Long skinny hands and feet.
I chose my goal because it's the weight I felt best at and it was doable in my 40s. It's harder in my 50s to get down to that weight, but I'm still trying.
Bottom line is, the charts are just general guidelines. You have to feel comfortable in your own skin.
I think for most people aiming for the middle range of the chart makes sense and you can adjust up or down as you feel when you get there.
Good luck with your goals and be true to yourself!

richardgavel

Another thing to consider is that a goal for cutting may not be a final weight. I want to get down to around 160, but then gain back more in the form of muscle.

AnnPT77

I picked a weight that I'd been in (much younger) adulthood, that I remembered as having been at the higher end of looking/feeling good, planning to re-evaluate when I got close. I'd been overweight to obese for decades, so I knew I couldn't set a firm goal.

As I got closer, I realized I needed to lose a bit more, but how much became very subjective . . . and by then I had intentionally slowed my loss rate down to around 0.5lb/wk, so I had plenty of time to evaluate how I felt. Finally, I literally just woke up one morning, looked at myself, thought about how I felt, and decided I was there. Ended up about 10 pounds below my original provisional goal.

(SW 183, original GW 130, now working on maintaining at 120 plus or minus 3.

pebble4321

I don't have a goal... not a scale goal anyway.
I do want to weigh less, I know my current weight isn't healthy and I'm (mostly) moving in that direction which I'm happy with.
But I don't see the point in picking a number and then agonising if I don't meet it. I see so many "can't lose the last 5 or 10 pounds" posts, and I just don't understand this. Why does it matter to see a specific number on the scale?

My big picture goal is to get into good exercise and eating habits that I can keep up for the rest of my life.
And I have some other more concrete and short term goals like participating in challenges (love the Hogwarts challenge here on MFP) and entering races (I'm toying with completing a series of runs all around my state this year). And moderating the amount of junk that I eat, so I'm getting good nutrition from most of my food.

frankiesgirlie

[quote="pebble4321;36597772"

But I don't see the point in picking a number and then agonising if I don't meet it. I see so many "can't lose the last 5 or 10 pounds" posts, and I just don't understand this. Why does it matter to see a specific number on the scale?
[/quote]




Because you're assuming everyone on MFP is losing weight for health reasons. Some have a goal weight or "look" they are going for that is purely aesthetic.
If you're Almost at your goal but still see a muffin top or thighs bigger than you'd like, then why wouldn't you go all the way to get to your goals?
I am trying to lose fat and/or the last 10 lbs by eating at a small deficit and working out.
If I wake up one day and look the way I want to look, I won't care what the scale reads.
The scale is just another barometer of progress, like measurements, clothing size, lifting heavier or running further than you did last month.

maidengirl_

Use a BMI calculator to determine your healthy weight range. Then aim to lose 4% of your starting weight until you get to a weight that is healthy and that you are comfortable with. Healthy looks different in each person.

sijomial

My original goal was a similar thought process to yours - my previous favourite weight.
But after I maintained there a while I realised it was too high so nibbled away and extra 11lbs in a series of steps of dieting and then maintaining for a while taking off a few pounds at a time.

Ended up at 164-168lbs. I'm a 5'9 man so think your 170lbs as a 5'8 female won't end up being your final goal.

What you decide now isn't set in stone and can make the process less daunting to have pauses or intermediate goals.

Christine_72

I'm 5"8 and my goal weight is 143lbs, only a few more to go!
I picked my goal weight because that's the weight/size that I fit comfortably in my favourite size 6 jeans.

pebble4321

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

[quote="pebble4321;36597772"

But I don't see the point in picking a number and then agonising if I don't meet it. I see so many "can't lose the last 5 or 10 pounds" posts, and I just don't understand this. Why does it matter to see a specific number on the scale?

Because you're assuming everyone on MFP is losing weight for health reasons. Some have a goal weight or "look" they are going for that is purely aesthetic.
If you're Almost at your goal but still see a muffin top or thighs bigger than you'd like, then why wouldn't you go all the way to get to your goals?
I am trying to lose fat and/or the last 10 lbs by eating at a small deficit and working out.
If I wake up one day and look the way I want to look, I won't care what the scale reads.
The scale is just another barometer of progress, like measurements, clothing size, lifting heavier or running further than you did last month.


[/quote]

Aren't we saying the same thing though ... you are going for a particular goal (health, looks etc) but at the end of the day the number is not the important thing, you will know when you have reached your goal because you look the way you want to look? That may be above or below the magic "goal" number?

megomerrett

I chose my goal based on a weight I was in the past when I looked good and felt healthy. I'm only 5'1" so could be in "healthy range" at much lower than 9 stone but I don't think it's very me.

Also, I'm mainly short because of my legs, I'm more stumpy than petite! Losing any more than 2 stone would just be overwhelming though so I'm still just going day by day rather than have an end goal.