Picking a goal weight

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Mrshamblen
Mrshamblen Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I've lost a lot of what I set out this year. I started at 243 and hit 184 this week. (Woohoo)

However, I'm a smaller clothes size than I've previously been at this same weight, currently a 10/12. I'm wondering if I might have more muscle than before?

How do you pick a goal weight? I feel like getting into what BMI says is healthy would leave me looking too small

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    You can use BMI in conjunction with BF%. Chances are that if you are overweight as per BMI then you are probably at a higher than optimal BF% for health. There are exceptions here, but unless you've been pumping iron, you're probably not one of them...

    What is your height...what is the top end of your BMI? I'd shoot for the high end of the range and go from there...
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    A non-weight related measure you could also use is waist circumference - I think 35 inches or half your height is considered healthy for women, not sure about men.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    I picked a number in the middle of the optimal BMI range for my height. Goal weight doesn’t have to be a fixed point, though. You might get within 10 or 15 pounds of your goal and decide that you’re happy at that weight, which is fine. Setting a goal just gives you a way to calculate your calorie target and have something to work toward.
  • Mrshamblen
    Mrshamblen Posts: 22 Member
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    That's a good idea, I'll have to borrow a tape measure. I'm 5'8".
    The top end of the BMI puts me at 165.
    New goals!
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
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    If you are happy with your size, condition, and you feel good, stop now. It's a personal decision that can't be determined by calculators and set ranges. How close are you to the highest weight in your healthy BMI range?

    I know at a 10/12, I have fat places that I'm not happy with even though I'm WELL within the healthy BMI range. I'm currently 5'11, 144lbs and a size 6 and I could still afford to lose BF. My weight is great, but I need a bit of "fine tuning". I'm almost 39 years old so not exactly a "spring chicken"...LOL

    If you've been eating at a deficit, you can't gain muscle and you would have had to have been eating at a deficit to lose weight. Your exercise more than likely helped you maintain the muscle you had before you starting losing.
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
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    Clothing sizes have changed in last few years. The new "Vanity" sizing makes it hard to decide by that. I find what used to be a size 14 is now a size 10. Your goal weight should be a weight you can maintain and you feel healthy at. Good luck.
  • Mrshamblen
    Mrshamblen Posts: 22 Member
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    I'm not that far, about 20 pounds. It would be nice to go the doctor and not have the print out say I'm overweight
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Mrshamblen wrote: »
    That's a good idea, I'll have to borrow a tape measure. I'm 5'8".
    The top end of the BMI puts me at 165.
    New goals!

    So you're about 20 Lbs overweight as per BMI? I'm fairly athletic and at a healthy BF%, though not super lean (typically anywhere from 14%-17%) and I'm about 8 Lbs over as per BMI which isn't atypical with athletic males...to be 20 Lbs over and still be at a healthy BF%, I'd have to be doing some pretty serious body building...

    Also good points made about clothing sizes...you may be in a smaller size now as per the number on the clothes, but my guess is it's actually the same size as you were previously...it's called vanity sizing.
  • Mrshamblen
    Mrshamblen Posts: 22 Member
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    Lol, I wish they wouldn't manipulate sizes. Just makes shopping confusing
  • Meghanebk
    Meghanebk Posts: 321 Member
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    Personally, I pick a goal weight that is not too far from my current weight. Then, when I hit that goal I re-evaluate and decide if I want to go further. Maybe I do, maybe I decide to maintain a while.

    Weight also isn't my only measure of progress - clothing size, fitness level, mood, energy level, I pay attention to all those too.
  • namelesshere
    namelesshere Posts: 334 Member
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    clothing size is arbitrary. Todays 12 is yesterdays 18. Manufacturers appeal to the vanity of their customers and it works. :-(
  • gabriellejayde
    gabriellejayde Posts: 607 Member
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    I'm in a very similar situation. I started this year at 254 and today I'm 180. I wear anywhere from a 10-14 pants. I feel great, but I still have areas of excess weight. I'd like to lose more, but I don't really know how much. My doctor said 140, but really, whatever I can get down to will be fine with me.
    Do what makes you happy and healthy.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
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    I have some 36" waist pants that are so baggy they are almost embarrassing, another 36" pair where the waist is just the right size, some 32" pants that I can actually wear but the pockets are too tight to use and some 32" pants I couldn't button to save my life. I am 5' 8.5" and also aiming for 165 to be my new max weight, currently at 190 but down from 223.
  • lingreg2198
    lingreg2198 Posts: 13 Member
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    I’m 5’6 starting weight 120, Goal weight= 111
  • Rincewind_1965
    Rincewind_1965 Posts: 639 Member
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    Mrshamblen wrote: »
    How do you pick a goal weight?
    For me it was BMI < 24 and Bodyfat < 15%
    BMI goal was achieved last year,
    turned out that it takes significantly longer to reduce that darn fat.
    Currently my Bodyfat is at 17%, but I can't seem to get rid of these annoying last remnants of belly-fat (if not wanting to lose more weight, that is).
    I feel like getting into what BMI says is healthy would leave me looking too small
    In the beginning it, most likely, will.
    That is because weight-loss doesn't care about proportion.
    You can prevent the worst by doing sports.
    But a recomposition-program helps to fill up those unwanted gaps between "Goal-weight" and "Goal-look".

    Have fun
  • tess5036
    tess5036 Posts: 942 Member
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    I initially set a goal that still had me as obese , but it was one I thought I had a chance of achieving, as I lost weight I moved the goal downwards. Now my goal is set at the top end of my recommend weight.
  • MossiO
    MossiO Posts: 164 Member
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    I'm also 5'8", currently at 191 and still in size 16. Of course, ALL my weight is in my gut. But 165 is my goal too.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    MossiO wrote: »
    I'm also 5'8", currently at 191 and still in size 16. Of course, ALL my weight is in my gut. But 165 is my goal too.

    I feel like size 16 fits a huge range of sizes. At 208 lbs I was just starting to get too big for 16, and at 171 I’m just starting to get too small. And of course, size 14 is almost impossible to find. I’m holding my breath until I can fit into all my old size 12 stuff. Size 12 was nice and easy to find.
  • MossiO
    MossiO Posts: 164 Member
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    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

    I feel like size 16 fits a huge range of sizes. At 208 lbs I was just starting to get too big for 16, and at 171 I’m just starting to get too small. And of course, size 14 is almost impossible to find. I’m holding my breath until I can fit into all my old size 12 stuff. Size 12 was nice and easy to find.

    Totally agree! I was going through my old "too small, but I'll fit in it again someday" clothes and they pretty much went from 16 to 12, with only a couple items that were 14. I seem to recall being close to 170 when the 12s fit though. I'm hoping for that paper towel effect as I get closer!

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