How did you pick your Goal Weight?

bfanny

Number aside (once I got to a healthy BMI weight) my goal is to get rid of visible fat here and there, so not a size, not the scale, when I like what I see in the mirror I'll know I'm there...Obviously being realistic

Blazertrek60

My goal weight is a healthy wait that I was it most recently (2005) and that is also realistic. Doesn't hurt that my Doctor says it would be great to prevent heart disease. It should also be realistic, say 60lbs weight loss. I am down 47.2lbs thus far in almost 7 months

peter2100

Basically I calculated my fat free mass and then worked backwards to determine the weight I'd need to be to be the body fat percentage I want to be.

Tacklewasher

I just want to be overweight. Once I get there I will see how things go. About 75 lbs to that goal, so no need to be finicky now.

MissusMoon

My MFP goal weight is technically 9lbs overweight. I am reassessing at that point. I will go down into the normal/healthy weight range, but how far with my frame, build and muscle mass just depends. For me it's not about a number, with the exception of it reflecting health. Visceral fat, even in a "thin person", can cause cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. So, I'll get a good reading/scan from the doctor and go from there.

lauracups

I looked at the top of my healthy bmi range and subtracted 5lbs from that. Getting down more than that lends itself to too much wardrobe replacement and possibilities of more loose skin, so far after 60 slowly lost I'm relatively unscathed except for a lil on the tummy.

rainbow198

JaydedMiss wrote: »

I didnt pick an ideal weight i picked an ideal body shape. I find it a much beter way to focus on my own body and be happy with whatever number aslong as i see progress to the shapes i want. You know, Waist slimming, Strong thighs...Booty ;D If i start losing to much boob ill probably begin to maintain there

Yes! This is exactly what I did. I knew how I wanted my body to look (mix of lean muscle and solid curves) and I had a dream dress size and measurement range, but I was not focused on the scale when I was losing weight.

Once I was content with my body I moved to maintenance, so I guess my weight picked me.

pinkste78

I just looked up what weight was considered healthy for a person my size.... used an online BMI calculator to figure it out

ItsJustChan

I'm 5'8 and picked 160 as my gw because it is a healthy BMI for me and also because I think it would be a good size, being in the higher end of BMI for that height.

tomteboda

I have really, really struggled with this. My height has decreased significantly as an adult. Do I use my maximum height? The height at which I've spent most of the last 5 years? The height I was just demoted to last month? There's a 5 inch spread there, it makes a significant difference in terms of "healthy BMI" for me.

I started at a weight of 270 lbs. Under no scale was this remotely a good weight for me, and I knew it. I knew my weight was impinging on my life.

I started with a goal of 180 lbs. Psychologically, it seemed doable because it was less than 100 lbs. And I could remember being 180, I could remember feeling good about my body (though it'd been a long time) and being able to do everything I wanted to do. As I approached 180 I knew I could safely get leaner. I re-set my goal to 175.. and then as I neared that to 165. I thought this was where I'd stop. It was inside "healthy" for my height of 5'9".

And then my height was demoted to 5'8". Words cannot describe how crushing this was. So now I've adjusted my goal down to 155 but I'm pretty uncertain about it, to be honest. I'm 38 and have a large frame with a decent amount of muscle, and I really wonder about the wisdom of dropping that low.

Of course, given my physician's recommendation on Friday for spinal surgery to correct my scoliosis, the whole weight loss thing may be a nonissue for awhile.

So here I am, 2 years after I started and I still have no real clue.

drivennightrunner87

well...i'm only 5'10'' and want to be in the 140's ASAP...it just feels right cause it's under 150...like when i got to the 190's, i was out the 200's...which felt good but i knew i could push harder and be better

BridgetHarrington

nowine4me wrote: »

Not sure how old you are, but things do shift and you may look entirely different at 141 than you did in the past.

True! I'm 5'7," and 48. Weight charts tell you that I should be somewhere in the range of 135-140. And when I was in my teens and 20s, I was. I remember being 24 and getting my first "serious" job. I had to get a physical for that job and remember that I weighed 135 and wore a size 2. However, I was 32 when I had my son. I remember a prenatal check where I weighed 145. But, weight just would not stay on me, no matter how much I ate when I was pregnant. My midwife accused me of not eating and made me keep a food diary. I gained 12 pounds total and had a 6 pounder. Fit right back into my pre-pregnancy jeans the morning after I had him. And, because I was nursing and still not keeping weight on, I dropped down to 118. I looked skeletal and horrible. I did not look healthy again until I went up to 150. I stayed there until maybe a few years ago. My profile picture is when I was in the 160s. Bad relationship + work problems = me just not caring, and I gained. I started dieting at 185 and am now in the low 150s. I tried on some clothes this past weekend. I can get into 8s and 10s. I think if I went back down to the weights I was in my 20s and 30s, I'd look terrible.

My doctor said that my weight would be too much for a younger woman, but that for my age, it's appropriate. Not a license to gain weight....but one thing she said is that older women break hips and other bones partially because we lose fat padding as we age, and lots of times, there is none left.