Goal weight confusion?

CeeBeeSlim

I set my goal weight of 117 and reached it. I’ve bounced up to 120 and back down - realizing that I was eating within my calories, but snacking on processed crap. Last Sat, I committed to stop and to start snacking on healthier things - hummus, nuts, etc. In the last week I went from 119.4 to 116.6.

I hesitate to celebrate because I know I may be up tomorrow - or down - but it made be think and ask myself - what I really meant by goal weight. For me, I never want the scale to be show more than 117lbs MAX - even after “slip-up” days, water retention from workouts, digestive contents - whatever the reason.

Does that mean I should make my goal weight 114-115 - to allow for those days of possible water retention, digestive contents, for any reason.

Do you celebrate your goal weight as soon as you see it? Do you wait after seeing days or weeks of consistent weigh-ins at that weight? A moving average? A range?

It’s a realistic range for me - 56, 5’3, and small framed. Lost the 30lbs last year slowly.

wunderkindking

I celebrate size and body composition. If I tried to compensate for water retention because of extra salt, extra carbs, digestive upset, constipation, muscle repair, or my period/cycle I'd drive myself out of my freaking mind. There is NO controlling some of those.

If I haven't gained fat, and my pants still fit the way I want them to, the scale can say whatever it says.

AnnPT77

I think it's something an individual needs to think through, and that what works is an issue of personality and psychology.

One generic approach is to have a maintenance range of a few pounds, one that encompasses your normal water weight variations, then to take action if weight goes over the upper boundary (or perhaps stays over that boundary for X days in a row), or below the lower boundary. Some people have seasonal weight ranges, or a "scream weight" they won't exceed.

Trying to have a single goal weight and stay there always is a recipe for madness, if you ask me. That's just not how bodies behave. A range or a maximum seems much more workable.

Personally, I'm not very emotionally attached to a weight *number* at all (probably go a little too far in the "don't care enough" direction). I have ways I like my body to be (how the sides of my waist feel, for one example: I like them to feel firm when flexed, not have any roll-type action happening). Also, I hate to shop, so I don't want to have to buy new pants. For me, that's usually going to tend to be a weight somewhere in the 120s (at 5'5"), though I've tolerated higher in maintenance (jeans still fit).

Even when I first lost weight (2015-16), my final decision benchmarks were about body shape/feel, not a specific scale number. I didn't particularly celebrate when I got there, just started trying to dial in maintenance calories at that point. It's still a work in progress, probably always will be. (I spent the last year or so slowly losing around 10 or so pounds I'd regained - intentionally that slowly. Sitting around 125 now, hanging out there for now.)

sijomial

IMHO the idea of celebrating getting to goal is just a fleeting feeling and simply the end of one challenge (losing weight) and the start of another challenge (maintaining in your chosen weight range).

Sure be pleased you have achieved what many people fail to do and lose weight but that's the end pf phase one and should trigger some serious thinking and planning if you haven't done it already.

What is my acceptable weight range? (Note range not single number.)
Feeding into that - what are my normal and expected weight fluctuations? Don't fight them, accept them.
What is my "red line" that I will not go above without triggering action? (That seems to be 117lbs for you.)

Not really seeing why 114 - 117 wouldn;t be your range as trying to maintain in a smaller range than that is a recipe for constant stress and high alert. You need to try and make maintenance normal, as easy as possible and neither stressful or being on red alert all the time will help with that. I don't see a 2lb range as being realistic unless you are a very unusual person who doesn't have water weight fluctuations.

Personally my maintenance range is 7lbs (but on a higher number than you not surprisingly) and I fully expect to use all that range throughout the year.

springlering62

I think it comes down to comfort level. At 129 I was too thin, and deliberately tried to gain a little weight back.

At 132,I’ll allow myself a very generous treat. At 135 I get itchy and try to knock it down a couple of pounds.

It’s a constant give and take, understanding your body, your appetite, consequences of eating certain foods (salty, heavy, greasy=water retention, temporary return of GERD.)

It’s really just what you’re comfortable with in your own shoes, feeling like and looking at in the mirror.

kiwilimeade

I agree with the other commenters saying "maintenance range". Try to eat at maintenance for a while to determine how your weight fluctuates.

I know mine can fluctuate a lot due to sodium intake and where I am in my monthly cycle (both water weight, I think), so when I'm maintaining I keep my goal weight in the middle and am okay with going 5 lbs on either side of that. My problem is that I kept allowing myself to stay at the upper end of the range for a long time and would eventually move the range up 5 lbs until I was 15 lb away from where I really want to be. So just be careful of that. 5 lbs temporarily above goal weight is okay. Maybe try a weight trend app/website to keep track.

cwolfman13

CeeBeeSlim wrote: »

I set my goal weight of 117 and reached it. I’ve bounced up to 120 and back down - realizing that I was eating within my calories, but snacking on processed crap. Last Sat, I committed to stop and to start snacking on healthier things - hummus, nuts, etc. In the last week I went from 119.4 to 116.6.

I hesitate to celebrate because I know I may be up tomorrow - or down - but it made be think and ask myself - what I really meant by goal weight. For me, I never want the scale to be show more than 117lbs MAX - even after “slip-up” days, water retention from workouts, digestive contents - whatever the reason.

Does that mean I should make my goal weight 114-115 - to allow for those days of possible water retention, digestive contents, for any reason.

Do you celebrate your goal weight as soon as you see it? Do you wait after seeing days or weeks of consistent weigh-ins at that weight? A moving average? A range?

It’s a realistic range for me - 56, 5’3, and small framed. Lost the 30lbs last year slowly.

Maintenance is a range. Slip up or not, you are always going to have varying degrees of waste in your system and water will always be in flux...your body is comprised of roughly 55%-70% water...logically, you must realize that's going to fluctuate all on it's own regardless of what you do. You might need to step back and look at the big picture...it seems like you're drowning in day to day minutia.

CeeBeeSlim

@wunderkindking @AnnPT77 @sijomial @cwolfman13 Thanks for the varying ways to tell me to “get a grip”. 🤣🤣. Truth be told, the number on the scale has always been an issue although I get it all intellectually. So I’m stressing this more than I should - esp since my original goal weight was 135.

@springlering62 Your approach makes a lot of sense. You’d think at 56, I’d be a bit more relaxed about this.

@kiwilimeade - ditto. I got a bit cocky after mid-November when I first hit 117 and the holiday treats and lack of diligence took a toll. I have learned my lesson!

Thanks, Everyone.

AnnPT77

CeeBeeSlim wrote: »

@wunderkindking @AnnPT77 @sijomial @cwolfman13 Thanks for the varying ways to tell me to “get a grip”. 🤣🤣. Truth be told, the number on the scale has always been an issue although I get it all intellectually. So I’m stressing this more than I should - esp since my original goal weight was 135.

@springlering62 Your approach makes a lot of sense. You’d think at 56, I’d be a bit more relaxed about this.

@kiwilimeade - ditto. I got a bit cocky after mid-November when I first hit 117 and the holiday treats and lack of diligence took a toll. I have learned my lesson!

Thanks, Everyone.

Don't worry: I think it's pretty normal to be a little more anxious about it at first. As you give yourself a little grace and time, you'll figure out an approach that works well for you, to stay in a reasonable range, I'd predict. Hang in there!

ninerbuff

If you're staying within 2-3lbs of going up and down, you should be fine. You understand fluctuations and seem to know how to address them.

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