How do u know when you are at right weight?

kds10

I am 5'4 and weigh between 137 and 139...I want to get down to 135 but honestly not sure if I should? At my highest weight I was 196 and my goal was 145 but then I thought when I got to that weight why not go for 5 more but now I want to get down to 135.....but not sure if I should just stop and maintain instead...

Ddsb11

kds10 wrote: »

I am 5'4 and weigh between 137 and 139...I want to get down to 135 but honestly not sure if I should? At my highest weight I was 196 and my goal was 145 but then I thought when I got to that weight why not go for 5 more but now I want to get down to 135.....but not sure if I should just stop and maintain instead...

Many people want to know the answer to this- How much should I weigh? However, there is not one ideal healthy weight for each person, because a number of different factors play a role. The national institute of health says a normal weight for 5’4” is 110-140, but we don’t know all your variables. It’s a pretty good range if you’re not a body builder or super athlete.

sijomial

May not work for you but I got to my initial goal weight, maintained for a while and reassessed if it was best for me in terms of body composition, exercise performance and looks.
Decided it wasn't so dropped a few pounds and repeated the process over an extended period of time alternating mostly very slow weight loss and maintenance.
Eventually found as I got leaner (fat loss and muscle gain) I found it harder to maintain and with too much hunger to be sustainable and enjoyable. Drifting back up 3lbs got me back to a happy place where I'm able to maintain easily. That is 7lbs below my initial goal.

Perhaps that was a long-winded way to say "experiment"?

The choice to maintain is a good holding pattern while undecided, it's a skill that gets better with practice and it's sad how many people don't consolidate their weight loss success by getting good at it.

kds10

I appreciate the Insightful comments....hmmm..maybe I should focus on toning instead. I am doing more weights the last couple of months so perhaps I need to focus more on that. I've always been more cardio focused.

tbilly20

Decide where you are happy! Looking at one range or another helps very little. At my fittest, I was 177 lbs at 5’10. I swam 10-15 miles each week and rode a bike 200 miles each week. Despite not having much fat on my body (my Dr suggesting adding weight) I was still considered overweight by the BMI calculations. I added on 7 pounds and I felt great. I stopped get sick as often, and I had more energy! I decided 180-185 was my sweet spot.

Don’t get trapped by a number. Manipulate your weight to gain more energy or look the way you want to look. Once you get there, have fun and enjoy yourself!

richardgavel

I've found that once you get somewhere in the ranges suggested by BMI, it becomes less about the absolute number and more about BF % and body composition as your target. Adjusting your weight is a path to that goal, as opposed to the actual goal itself.

MidlifeCrisisFitness

I dropped bodyfat until I found strength and size were being compromised ever so a slightly and went up a wee bit and maintained.

riffraff2112

Might be as simple as listening to your body. It is pretty common to reach your goal and than challenge yourself to go even lower. Eventually you will know where you want to be and if the effort required to get there is worth it. When I chose my initial goal, I really had no idea why...it just seemed like a nice number and one I remember weighing at one point (and being happy with). When I reached that number, I had a better idea of what I wanted to look like, and how my body reacted to all the exercise I was now accustomed to. That weight on my more mature, thicker (more muscular) middle aged self was unsustainable and didn't suit my ultimate goals for functionality.

Maintenance can be tricky. I have found unless I am chasing something, I struggle. It has taken a few years to figure that out but my body really seems to have a hard time finding equilibrium. I need to either have new fitness goals, or focus on the scale, or I tend to let things slip.

Emheia

Where do you feel the best? Where do you feel the most confident? There are numbers and charts as guidance, but the truth is that an "ideal" BMI looks different on every person, and it might not be the best for everyone. If you're healthy and happy, you're in a good place.

nytrifisoul

I stopped going by what you should weigh going by height. I have a lot of bone mass and at one point i was 8% body fat and according to those averages i was still considered above my healthy weight. I looked like crap, my face was all sunken in and you could see my ribs.

ahoy_m8

Congratulations on your progress, OP. Great suggestions. Also, maintenance is usually a range of 5lb or more due to totally normal and healthy fluctuations in hydration. Many people swing 5lb on the scale with no change to body composition other than water weight. There's peace to being genuinely happy with any weight you see on the scale within that range, because you will see a range.

The "normal" BMI range is pretty broad! So it's personal preference/lifestyle preference beyond that. There's really no substitute for experimenting to see what feels best and is most comfortable to maintain for you. Keep losing slowly (~1 lb/month) until one of the following happens: you don't like how you look/feel, you lose strength/stamina, or you have more hunger than is comfortable. Then you know you need a few more pounds.

There's nothing wrong with cardio workouts if that's what you like! Personally, I get fidgety and a little anxious if I'm cooped up without some cardio. I need it to clear my mind as much as anything. But people change over time. If you find a sport you love or retire from a sport you once loved, it's normal and healthy to expect body composition changes to follow, and all of that can happen within the "normal" BMI range. Experiment with it and have fun!

SnifterPug

After years of obesity my goal was to get to the higher end of a healthy BMI. Eventually achieved that and have maintained at 7lb below max healthy BMI. I would like to drop a little more weight but really I want to recomp so that's what I'm working on, while being in a small calorie deficit. My aim is to drop another 7lb and then see how I look and feel. I am not a slave to BMI but the range at my height is large so an initial target of not giving my doctor anything to grouse about seemed like a good first step.

MaltedTea

This thread should be pinned. Just saying. Quality content for anyone at this stage or nearing it 👍🏾