How did you decide what your goal weight was/is?

ladybug4233

I am 5.3 and started at 155.5. My goal was 135 pounds. I got there and thought this wasn't too hard so I started aiming for 125. I am almost there. I am at 128. I am down from a large and a 12 to a medium/small and size 6. I still have some hips and butt however I am in the best shape at 47 then I have ever been. I could use some toning. I did think about trying for 115 but my doctor did recommend I not go below 120. I am scared about maintenance since I don't want to gain it back. I am having a hard time deciding whether I should stop at 125 or try to 120. The reason is I have to stop some time but it kind of worries me. Thanks for allowing me to ramble.

amberellen12

My mirror. When I’m happy with what I see in it then that’s enough.

emmies_123

Other than age, you and I are exactly alike. I also got myself down to 135 easy enough, although I'm having a harder time going down from there.

I would stop at 125, and allow yourself a comfort zone range. Throughout college I maintained at 110-115 (not by choice), and I will tell you it is not healthy looking. My hips jutted out enough to be uncomfortable to my partners, and the rest of me was bony and pokey. I didn't look healthy, but at the time I couldn't gain additional weight due to some GI tract issues. Once I hit 125 for the first time I was so happy, I actually looked like a healthy weight while still being skinny enough to feel good.

I would suggest keeping up good habits, setting yourself to maintenance once you hit 125, and enjoy having a little extra freedom to enjoy how far you have come

jorichards2

You could get to 120 and stop there and gradually increase calories to find your maintenance level. You then know you have a buffer so if you gain a couple of pounds it’s no big issue.

Maybe you now need to focus on exercise and not restricting calories. Add some weight training to increase your muscle mass. This will raise the calories you body naturally burn and help stabilize your weight.

Good luck and congratulations on your amazing results so far

collectingblues

Have you told your physician that stopping weight loss scares you?

ITUSGirl51

I chose 5 lbs below the top of the normal BMI range. I am desperate to maintain and I could keep losing but I want to live life and not kill myself with exercise every day to maintain a lower weight.

Remember once you lose it, you have to maintain it. Would you be happy if you have to eat at the maintenance level of calories required to maintain that lower weight? We always see people wanting to get lower and lower but when they get there it’s not sustainable.

Also try the higher weight out for 3 months and see how you feel. It does feel different eating at maintenance vs at a deficit. You may feel good or you may decide to go for 5 more lbs.

CarvedTones

Also BMI. I am medium frame, male and not trying to bulk up so BMI is pretty accurate for me. I am 5'8", so 164 pounds is 24.9, the highest value in the normal range. That is my absolute upper limit (aka scream weight) and I am maintaining at 155-160 after losing about 65 pounds since last summer.

BattyKnitter

When I started I picked a weight at the upper end of a healthy BMI. When I get there I will focus less on weight and I may reevaluate depending on how I feel about what I see in the mirror.

Sabine_Stroehm

I went with the old adage: 5' is 100Lbs. Then 5Lbs per inch. So for me 5'6"=130Lbs. That became my goal. After menopause, I added 5Lbs to my number at the doctor's suggestion.
Puts me at a great BMI as well.

CarvedTones

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

I went with the old adage: 5' is 100Lbs. Then 5Lbs per inch. So for me 5'6"=130Lbs. That became my goal. After menopause, I added 5Lbs to my number at the doctor's suggestion.
Puts me at a great BMI as well.

Interesting. That would be 140 for me (5'8") and a BMI of 21.3, technically in the normal range but getting a little gaunt. 155 pounds, which is a BMI of 23.6, is about as low as I want to go. I am very close to that now, just a couple of pounds higher. I like this size. But that varies from person to person.

xbowhunter

5'7" male here this morning I was 151lbs. I feel my BMI is in the upper normal range but have some belly fat to loose so I will probably keep reducing to 145lbs & try to maintain.

Only you can determine what your goal is but you have done amazing & should be proud of your-self.

Sabine_Stroehm

CarvedTones wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

I went with the old adage: 5' is 100Lbs. Then 5Lbs per inch. So for me 5'6"=130Lbs. That became my goal. After menopause, I added 5Lbs to my number at the doctor's suggestion.
Puts me at a great BMI as well.

Interesting. That would be 140 for me (5'8") and a BMI of 21.3, technically in the normal range but getting a little gaunt. 155 pounds, which is a BMI of 23.6, is about as low as I want to go. I am very close to that now, just a couple of pounds higher. I like this size. But that varies from person to person.

Yup. It definitely varies from person to person. But that's what I had to go on in 2002.

CarvedTones

StratocasterMan1 wrote: »

1. David Beckham is my height and 165 lbs. That was my goal. But I determined that was impossible.

2. BMI says 170 should be good. That is also impossible.

3. Shooting for 180.

Beckham is 6'0" and would have a BMI of 24.4 at 180. That sounds like a very reasonable goal.

kristingjertsen

For me, the goal weight is one that I can manage long term (at 53, I doubt I will ever see my post-bootcamp weight again) and one that keeps my face and body from looking gaunt and drawn (as my great-grandmother would say, "You have to make a choice between your face and your figure. My face is so beautiful, that I went with it.") From my past experience with weight loss, that sweet spot is around 150 lbs. for this 5'4" mature adult. About 5 lbs. higher than a BMI of 25 (healthy weight), but fine with me. So be realistic--if you set a goal and then decide you want to lose even more weight, you have that option.

hroderick

max normal bmi

fuzzylop72

I started with the high end of a healthy bmi range, but when I got there my bf% (per dexa) was still pretty high (23.6%). Right now i'm aiming around 15% which would be somewhere around 170lbs assuming muscle mass doesn't change.

CarvedTones

fuzzylop72 wrote: »

I started with the high end of a healthy bmi range, but when I got there my bf% (per dexa) was still pretty high (23.6%). Right now i'm aiming around 15% which would be somewhere around 170lbs assuming muscle mass doesn't change.

Depends on your age:



I am right around 20%, which at my age is right on the border between lean/low and slim/healthy. I am good with being called slim and healthy.

BTW, muscle mass will change. You can work hard and limit it to very little, but if you lose body mass, some of it will be muscle.

EDIT - what's really sad about that chart is that "average" is high.

kds10

I am 5 4" and am currently 167 lbs. My goal is 150 lbs (which according to BMI I should be at 145 which is what I want but mentally as 150 lbs seems so much closer I am gunning for that. When I hit it I will either maintain for a few months and then proceed to lose another 5 or 10 lbs.

kds10

LOL...I should add that I am pushing 50 and they say that as you age you should have a little bit of weight on you, not too gaunt, because then your wrinkles are more obvivous the thinner you are.

Sabine_Stroehm

kds10 wrote: »

LOL...I should add that I am pushing 50 and they say that as you age you should have a little bit of weight on you, not too gaunt, because then your wrinkles are more obvivous the thinner you are.

Smiles. My doc says have a few more pounds so when I fall I won't break a hip. (I'm 53)

RetiredAndLovingIt

I have read the 100# plus 5# for each inch...this is for women. Men are different, but can't remember exactly how it goes. Unfortunately for me that is 115, and I am sure there is no way I could achieve it and/or maintain it!

fish9283

I read that the average elite female cyclist is 5'5 and weighs 120 lbs. If taller or shorter, add or subtract 5 lbs for every inch, and add another 5 lbs if over age 40. I'm 5'6, age 59, and a wannabe cyclist so I keep my weight around 130 lbs.

ladybug4233

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for taking the time to post. I read all of your responses and thought about what works for me. I’m going to stop at 125. I leave for vacation in a week so I’m going to maintain (and I’m sure gain a couple). and work on maintaining for a couple of months. If after that I want to go down to 120 I will try .5 pounds a week and go from there. I feel good about my decision and at peace.

Pipsqueak1965

Have you got that body fat % chart for women? That old adage means I should only weigh 100 pounds, which is pretty light for me (I'm currently around 104 I think) ...

CarvedTones

Pipsqueak1965 wrote: »

Have you got that body fat % chart for women? That old adage means I should only weigh 100 pounds, which is pretty light for me (I'm currently around 104 I think) ...

jrochest

I'm not sure, but I think the old adage of 5 pounds for every inch over 5 feet was like the old height-weight charts -- invented in the early 20th century by insurance companies that wanted something to base discriminatory life-insurance policies on. If you use a measure of 'ideal weight' that's only achievable by 10% of the population you're able to charge everyone else higher premiums.

2baninja

my starting goal is 180, which is just under overweight, that is where my old dr wanted to see me, I'll go from there when I get there and see where I end up.

lingreg2198

I’m 5’5, 32 yr old, started at 120 and want to go down to 115 but be able to sustain that weight on more calories

zdyb23456

I’m 40 and 5’ tall. My goal is 113. I got down to 113 after each of my pregnancies and felt good.

I haven’t weighed 100 pounds since before puberty. I couldn’t imagine being that thin.

mkculs

For men, the formula is 7 lbs per inch over ??, but it starts at a different base weight and height, perhaps, as I recall. I know that for women, the formula suggests a weight that put me in the exact middle of the "healthy" BMI range. At 5'7", I "should" weigh 135 lbs, which would give me a BMI of 21.1, putting me slightly under the exact middle of the healthy BMI range (21.7). So while the old formula may have been created for nefarious purposes, it is still fairly accurate for a quick down-and-dirty estimate on a weight that will be in the healthy range.

ladyhusker39

ladybug4233 wrote: »

I am 5.3 and started at 155.5. My goal was 135 pounds. I got there and thought this wasn't too hard so I started aiming for 125. I am almost there. I am at 128. I am down from a large and a 12 to a medium/small and size 6. I still have some hips and butt however I am in the best shape at 47 then I have ever been. I could use some toning. I did think about trying for 115 but my doctor did recommend I not go below 120. I am scared about maintenance since I don't want to gain it back. I am having a hard time deciding whether I should stop at 125 or try to 120. The reason is I have to stop some time but it kind of worries me. Thanks for allowing me to ramble.

You could also look into recomp if you wanted another goal to work on once you reach your happy weight. I'm suggesting this based off your comment about toning. Could be worth exploring.