Goal weight???

mimiteh35

Ok, so I have a goal to lost 40 lbs by my 40th birthday, I'm 10 lbs away from that and I have 6 weeks to get to that goal. My 12-yr-old son asked me today "are you going to keep losing weight after you hit the 40 lbs lost?" and I said "yep" and he asked what weight I was going to, and I said "I don't know." So, it made me wonder how people decided their ultimate goal weight.

Sooooo..... how did you all decide your goal weight? Like, do you go by when you were thinner and happier? For me I'm always a happy person, I'm just bigger (and now a little smaller since I've lost some weight)... but if I go to when I was my best fitness, well that was in college, I was in dance team, but that was 20 yrs ago and BC... (before children). But, at 5' 1.5", so even then, at my best fitness, I would have been considered overweight or at least on the heaviest normal depending on which doctor's list of ideal body weight is...

Do you decide by that? Do you go by the "ideal weight" the doctors decide is healthy?

Just wondered how everyone else decided.

:drinker:

litoria

Hi there -
I decided what my goal weight should be by looking at the BMI (body Mass Index) healthy weight range for my height, and aiming right in the middle of that. Whilst the BMI has its critics, there is also a significant body of research to suggest that this is the best way to determine your most healthy weight.
Of course, everyone is individual, and you have to do what's right for you.
I hope that helps.
L

elliej

I definitely take BMI with a large pinch of salt and this is mostly because of boobs - e.g. a woman at 130lb with an E cup compared the the same with an A cup I guess would be like 6 pounds difference? That said, it gives a good idea.

Body fat percentage is another great indicator, even within a healthy bmi range your body can be 25%-30% fat - that figure bothers me more.

For me, my ultimate goal weight falls into the midrange of the 'healthy' range with roughly 20% body fat but the numbers are much less important than the look and feel of my body.

hmaddpear

I've found it very difficult to pick a goal weight, as I've never been a healthy weight. Am currently aiming for a big psychological barrier - 12 stone (168 pounds), as this was always the goal weight for myself growing up. It was very difficult/nigh on impossible for me to diet much below that on the standard 1980's ultra-low-fat 1000 calorie a day diet*.

If I can get to 12 stone relatively easily on a more modern "enough to lose, and don't worry about the dietary fat" diet, I'm going to see if I finally break that barrier, and perhaps even get to an actual healthy weight for me!

(* there was one notable exception to this - but I wouldn't recommend anyone try drinking 8 pints of Guinness and then drinking a Burger King Milkshake most days. :laugh: )

bonjovi27

27 is my favourite number, so I picked 127...
Will probably re-evaluate in the next few weeks though, because I'm getting closer, and it doesn't look like that will be enough lost. I'm going to keep going until I fit in to UK size 10 or 12 tops. I am already in a UK size 8 pants, but I have always been bigger on top... Not complaining! :drinker:

bridgie101

I was 54kg as a teenager, then 56, then 58...

I looked good at that weight. But it was hard to maintain. I always felt that i could not eat anything.

Now I've had children. Skin will have stretched. I don't know what I would look like at 58kg now, and I figured I'd just sneak down to 65kg and see what the view was from there. That already is a long journey.

Boogage

To start with I just picked a goal weight that I thought was manageable and then when I reached that things were going so well that I decided I could go farther and shot for another 20lbs. As I got towards my goal weight I decided that bf was more important and started lifting weights to try and lower that. Now I'm at my goal weight I'm actually planning on gaining up to 10lbs as I don't like my body still and feel like I need to build some muscle by training and eating at a slight surplus in the hope that I'll still fit in my smaller jeans but look better naked. The scale can be good motivation for a while but eventually I think you have to ignore the numbers and go by how you feel you look and how your clothes fit so I wouldn't get too hung up on picking a number.

jenilla1

I didn't have a lot to lose - just a few extra pounds that had creeped on over the years. I didn't have a number in mind. I just wanted to stop the slow creep up and fit back in my size 6's again. (I was an 8 when I started.)

coral_b

I've always yo-yo'd so have many frames of reference. However my happiest was after I cam back from travelling, at about 134; I could've toned up and become stronger but generally I was my happiest. So my goal is 130, which should have me at a UK size 10. However, I intend to be lean and strong not a "skinny fat" as they say... so if the scales show more but i'm happy with my shape and strength then i'll start to maintain! If I get to 130 and there is still room for improvement i'll continue.... but my main goal is healthy first, and then i'll accept that the loss is slow!

aarar

Honestly I'm having a tough time picking a goal weight as well. The smallest I've ever been in my adult life has been 140 which was 10 years ago, however I starved myself to get there. I'm 145-ish now and as far as inches and clothing size goes, I'm actually much smaller now than back then.

I originally picked 125 as my goal weight only because it just sounds like a good number but now I'm reconsidering and just taking it pound by pound. As it is right now I'm in a size 4 pants and s-xs shirts which is a good reminder that it's not all about the number on the scale.

FP4HSharon

You really need to get a scale that measures body fat %, because that makes a huge difference in how much you should weigh. If you are just an average person, BMI is a good estimate (it was designed to be a rough estimate of body fat %). BUT the more muscular you become, the less accurate it is. When you get close to a goal weight, but are increasing muscle, your weight may start going up w/the muscle.

helsbelshms

I looked at my health BMI range and went for the very top of it. I was that weight about 8 years ago and was extremely fit and happy. If I hit that weight and feel like I could do with losing a bit more then I will, but probably only 7 - 10lb and no more. I want to be at a maintainable weight, there's no point being skinny and unhappy because you can't eat anything nice!

bigslick1969

dont worry about weight cutie. Muscle weighs more than fat. just keep going until u look the way u want to!

ingeh

Im picking a goal weight that I can still eat 2000cals a day and maintain. For me at around 5"5 and my activity level I can maintain on that amount at around 8.5/9st. My goal is 9st and see how I look/feel. Im getting closer and cant wait for new year to buy all new clothes. Im exercising a lot with kettlebells and circuit training to look better and Iv definitely leaned out on my hips/waist

SezxyStef

I don't have one. 165 is there because MFP made me put one in.

My goal is around 21% BF. When I get there I am at my goal regardless of weight.

And since I started lifting weights I could be 160lbs or 140lbs...

glennstoudt

searching ideal weight for your height and age gives you this:

Based on the Robinson formula (1983), your ideal weight is 115.5 lbs
Based on the Miller formula (1983), your ideal weight is 123.1 lbs
Based on the Devine formula (1974), your ideal weight is 110.5 lbs
Based on the Hamwi formula (1964), your ideal weight is 110.0 lbs
Based on the healthy BMI recommendation, your recommended weight is 101.1 lbs - 136.7 lbs

Quite a range, pick a number that works for you and at which you feel comfortable and good luck in your journey.

meech2sandy

I am undecided as well. I think when you get there you will know. Combining a healthy bmi, body fat, and muscle tone will be deciding factors for me.

mikeykhan2003

Probably depends on how much you need to lose. I just arbitrarily picked a goal weight because it's more a direction than a target until I get smaller and can judge how I look and feel.

I'll probably readdress when I get to be ~20 lbs of my current target.

RockabillyHellKat

My goal is 115. I spoke to my doc and she told me where a woman of my height should be on the scale. So that's where I'm headed. I try not to read too much into the number, however. I tend to go by how my clothes fit and seeing before and after pics of myself.

bmskid

It was easy for me to choose. I started at 236. I'm 5'2", so the most I "should" weigh based on anything I've seen thus far is 140. That's pretty darn close to 136, which would be 100 pounds lost! So that's my goal. Makes it easy. I've never weighed less than 152 in my teenage or adult life, so it will be interesting to see what it looks like!

svsl0928

My goal is a little complex. I have never been under 200 pounds as an adult. I also want to be off of Blood Pressure meds. I read that the average woman is a size 14 but I want to be a size 12. I know I am better then average. My goal is 185 or whatever gets me off BP meds and into a size 12.

dianeb613

To me a goal weight is a weight you can realistically maintain. I have been maintaining a 20 lb. loss for the past 4 years. No matter how I try to get 10 lbs. lower, I couldn't. So I changed my goal to my current weight and I am much happier.. At my age I don't need to be the weight I was at age 30. In fact I'd probably look like hell if I did reach that weight.

MinnieInMaine

As much as I'm not a huge fan of BMI, it's not as far off with most females as it is with males so I went with the high end for my height. Plus that gave me a nice round number (100 pounds) to lose.

You could always set a high end goal and then change it once you get there. I've still got 15 pounds to lose to get to my primary goal and it's crossed my mind that I may want to try to lose a bit more once I get there Only time will tell.

QuietBloom

I actually don't have a goal weight, but rather a body fat% goal. I do track on the scale though as it's necessary for the online calculator that I do.

cwolfman13

BF% and body composition. Who the frack cares what the scale says...it's some arbitrary number that is comprised of many things, only one of which is fat. Having a goal weight is practically meaningless without having some idea of BF% and what kind of body composition you're looking for.

Duck_Puddle

I initially picked the high end of a healthy weight according to BMI. But at the time it seemed about as realistic as the sun turning green. But, mfp makes you pick something, so I did. I'm now 5-8 lbs above that (depending on the day) and realize that the high end of the BMI chart is too high (for me). So I've now lowered my goal to be an even 100 lb loss (which is about 12 lbs below my initial goal).

So, I started with something so ridiculously far away that I could have used a random number generator and felt just as confident about reaching it. Now that I'm close, I re-evaluated. My real "goal" is to be the least squishy I can be and feel comfortable with the level of dedication required to maintain that level of squishiness.

rowrunyoga

Ok, so I have a goal to lost 40 lbs by my 40th birthday, I'm 10 lbs away from that and I have 6 weeks to get to that goal. My 12-yr-old son asked me today "are you going to keep losing weight after you hit the 40 lbs lost?" and I said "yep" and he asked what weight I was going to, and I said "I don't know." So, it made me wonder how people decided their ultimate goal weight.

Sooooo..... how did you all decide your goal weight? Like, do you go by when you were thinner and happier? For me I'm always a happy person, I'm just bigger (and now a little smaller since I've lost some weight)... but if I go to when I was my best fitness, well that was in college, I was in dance team, but that was 20 yrs ago and BC... (before children). But, at 5' 1.5", so even then, at my best fitness, I would have been considered overweight or at least on the heaviest normal depending on which doctor's list of ideal body weight is...

Do you decide by that? Do you go by the "ideal weight" the doctors decide is healthy?

Just wondered how everyone else decided.

:drinker:

My goal weight (130-135) was determined by my desire to compete as a lightweight in my sport. Lightweight is 135# and under.

It's a reasonable weight for someone my height, BMI is still at a healthy level if I lose the extra pounds.

Starting to think that may not happen, As I lift, the number on the scale does not drop. (But I'll take strong over the number on the scale.)

gobonas99

I don't really have a goal weight. I mean I picked one....but that is not the "be all, end all" for me. The goal weight that I picked is based on my lowest weight in my adult life (4 years ago, before I developed hypothyroidism, and everything went to hell in a hand basket), the size I wore at that weight (I'm currently 13-15 pounds over that weight and wearing the same jeans I wore then - size 10, so I know that even though I am heavier than I was then, I am the same size measurement-wise), the size I WANT to wear (size 6), and the weight I think I will need to be to fit comfortably into that size. I know that even at my lowest adult weight, I still had quite a bit of fat left to lose in my hips/butt/thighs, so I don't think another 10-15 pounds past that is unreasonable. :happy:

iMikky

I decided on 115 pounds because my big sister weighs around that much. She don't exercise much really and she's kind of skinny fat. I joke and call her chicken legs and she calls me muscle man lol. The smallest part of my waist is 30.5" and the largest part of my butt is 43. I can only imagine losing at the most 6 inches from my waist and 10 inches from my butt. And wow, nobody ever told me that your boobs shrink!! I used to be a DD now I'm like a C. Maybe I'll be flat-chested when I reach my goal lol I don't care :laugh: (yes i do :sad: )

sweetpea129

It was hard for me to pick one because i've been overweight my whole life. My goal weight has changed so much throughout my journey. But I think i'm sticking with it now. I'm 5'5 and have picked 138. I'm a medium frame and its in the middle for BMI. Sounds about right to me. With that said, as long as my BMI is "normal" (2 lbs away!) and I feel happy with myself then i'm fine.

mimiteh35

My goal is a little complex. I have never been under 200 pounds as an adult. I also want to be off of Blood Pressure meds. I read that the average woman is a size 14 but I want to be a size 12. I know I am better then average. My goal is 185 or whatever gets me off BP meds and into a size 12.

Love your goals! and love the sass girl! You are better than average! Great goals, that's what got me started is my doctor telling me if I don't take care of my weight soon I will have to be on BP meds, plus diabetes runs in my family so he said I have that threat, too. You can do it, because like you said, you are better than average! Keep up that awesome attitude! Love this!