Goal weight

Shaky44

I was hoping to get some of your thoughts (generally) on setting a goal weight. I weighed 395 lbs in December 2012 and 370 lbs in April 2013 when I joined MFP. With a goal of eating 2500 calories per day and burning 500 calories per day (I'm not overly strict on my eating goal, but I do exercise 5-6 days per week), I've managed to lose over 100 lbs in nine months. Now I'm trying to determine an ultimate goal weight.

My stats:
Age: 51
Height: 73.5"
Weight: 261 lbs

Potential criteria for picking a goal weight:

Performance: a weight that allows someone to compete in a given sport - not applicable to me
Aesthetic: a weight that is flattering to the person
Health: a weight that allows a person to be healthy
Maintenance: a weight that the person can maintain

I'm thinking that the two most important criteria for picking a goal weight (for me) are health and ability to maintain.

I estimate that if I try to get to 22%-24% body fat, I would be aiming for around 220 lbs. This was my weight in my late 20s and I'm not sure I could maintain it. Alternatively, I was considering trying to flatten out at around 240 lbs and then letting my strength training (I'm relatively early in a 5x5 stronglifts program) eventually bring my body fat percentage closer to goal. I feel like I have a better shot at maintaining a weight in that range, especially if I build more lean body mass. I recently had bloodwork done and don't have any immediate health concerns (cholesterol, glucose, etc. in normal ranges).

Are there any other criteria I should be considering?

Do you have a strong opinion on whether I can set my maintenance weight above the 22%-24% recommended body fat levels and then trying to build my way into that body?

Thank you for your thoughts on this.

SideSteel

My opinion is that you should pick a goal weight if that aspect of goal setting helps you, and as you get near the goal weight, re-evaluate your performance, how you feel, and how you look as you approach goal weight.

This isn't me side-stepping your question. I'm saying in other words, you just aren't going to know until you get closer to it, and whether you set goal to 205 or 213.5 or 219.8, your path to get to that goal isn't going to change significantly, if at all.

Rayman79

I had a similar question when I started 'dieting'. I thought I had a bigger frame (lolz) and when I reached 190lbs I'd be at a good point. Well here I am at 170 and still around 20% body fat.

Yes I know I'm now a scrawny *kitten*. I suspect I lost a good deal of lean mass early in my dieting as I had no idea what the hell I was doing and burned it all off eating ridiculously low calorie and with hours of cardio... but that's another story.

My point though, is that I was well served by setting an arbitrary goal of achieving xx weight, then reassessing and picking a new goal once I reached that point. I now expect that this will be an ongoing process for many many years as I diet down to an ideal weight (or bf%), then bulk up to xx, then down etc etc.

TL;DR: Don't get too hung up on each goal. Set something ambitious but achievable, then re-evaluate and set a new goal once you get there.

Sarauk2sf

Just to add my 2c even though it is pretty much the same as SideSteel and Rayman. Pick a reasonable weight you think is achievable and then reassess. I initially picked my weight based on where I was when I was happy with my body comp prior to gaining some weight, then when I was approaching it realized I wanted to get leaner so reset it and just carried on until I got where I wanted to be.

sijomial

I'm in my 50's as well so hope this helps...
Picked my goal weight simply by the weight I felt best suited me in the past (health, sports performance, strength and looks) and like you that weight was way back in my 20's.

When I got there I maintained for a spell. After a while I realised that what was my ideal weight as a young man wasn't the same as the ideal weight for the old fart I'd become. Part of that is I simply don't have the same muscle mass I had as a young man. Losing weight is different when you are older and it seems to take a while for your skin to catch up with fat loss so I could see changes in appearance occurring even in these periods of weight maintenance.

Took another 7lbs off in a couple of periods of weight loss and now really happy at my current weight so just working on recomposition.

I found diets breaks (periods at maintenance) really refreshing both mentally and physically and gave me time to reassess my progress and goals.

Shaky44

Thank you for your thoughts on this.