Site goal weight vs. Healthy goal weight

deadmittens

So I looked on the site's body mass index and it suggested I weigh between 126-169. However, when I talked to a trainer at my gym she recommended I weigh 180. I'm 5'9, and I think anything under 150 would look sickly. Especially since I have a curvy body shape, and my sternum is already starting to show at 245.

Any thoughts? Or what is everyone's goal weight vs site goal weight?

sweet110

Quick answer: Aim for 180, then see how you feel and look. Then readjust...or not.

Longer answer: MFP's recommendations come straight out of the BMI charts. Which is a population based/epidemiology tool, not a clinical/individual tool. Doesn't mean it gives bad guidance...it just gives "rough" guidance. And there are all kinds of reasons why your "ideal weight" might not match the BMI guidelines (body type, % lean muscle, personal preference, genes, etc).

But, if I were you, I'd simply ask your trainer to explain her recommendation to you. Because she actually KNOWS you, your body, your weight loss journey, and probably your % body fat, and is surely also familiar with the BMI charts as well...so SHE would be better equipped to explain her recommendation of 180 to you than all of us here on MFP, who can only reflect on our own experience.

As for me...the BMI charts give me a range within which I find my ideal, achievable weight. The *top* of that range is way to large for me. The *bottom* of that range is unimaginable for me, but the low middle is *just* right.

runnercheryl

My goal weight is based on my BMI, so is 120lbs (approximately in the middle of my 'healthy range').

However, if I feel I'm 100% happy with my weight before then, and am in my healthy range even if I'm at the higher end of it, I'll stop early.