The more you weigh when you first start trying...

WaterBunnie

My goal is to get out of the obese bracket and comfortably into the overweight one. I've no expectations of ever reaching 'healthy' but after years of being obese I think that'll be more realistic for me.

wurgin

I think folks want to give themselves an acheivable goal... knowing they may re-evaluate later.... at least that is my position. I am starting with an "acceptable" weight, after that I may continue but will have been successful if I do not.

jwaitman

Everyone is different and has different reasons for setting their goal weights. I think it's best to pick an obtainable goal and one that YOU can be happy with. You can always make adjustments as you go. You may find once you reach your goal you want to get just a little bit more or maybe you are totally satisfied with where you are.

I am trying to get myself in the mind set that the # on the scale doesn't matter as long as I can fit in my clothes and look good in that bathing suit sitting in my drawer. I am going more for fitness than weight loss. I don't want to look like a body builder (not there is anything wrong with that, so please don't attack me) but I do want muscle definition instead of jiggly flab.

Good luck with reaching your goal!

ChrisIsGrillin

I'm focusing on 10% of my body weight at a time.

I started at ~230- the first 10%(-23) brings me down to 207. the next 10% (-21) brings me down to 186. the next 10%(-19) brings me down to 167. another 10% (-17) gets me to 150. For me, focusing on losing 10% 4 times is a lot easier than focusing on losing 80lbs.

noweightfisherj

You are awesome! Your testimony that you have here on how you lost the weight sure makes you an inspiration to other. Thanks for posting it.

BeckyProctor

When I started, I needed to lose about 140 - 150 lbs. That was a bit overwhelming, so I started out with a smaller more manageable goal. My initial goal was to lose 50 lbs. When I reach that goal, I will set it for another 50 lbs and then another 50 to reach my final goal.

ppkitten

I agree with blessedmommy, I used mini goals to acomplish weight goals, the reason I did was not to set to high of a goal where I would not get discouraged and overwhelmed. It helps when you have realistic goals. I started out at 217 and im only 5 ft. I do however have a goal weight of 150 that would put me under my bmi from obsese to the next lower one. I started off with 200 as my first goal, 185 second, 170 third, 150 now. I dont think that i could have done as well as i have setting my orginal goal at 150. I like to reward my self at each goal. so it makes it all worth while to me. You need to set you goals at something that is realistic for you, what works for me may not work for everyone. But i'm happy with my results. I now weight 164 and still going forward to reach my goal.

cloud2011

Most people who are obese or morbidly obese think they are "big boned" or "thick" or have a large frame. In the end, when you get a low body fat, most people fall within a very small distribution of weight based on height.

People underestimate their fatness.

Some people are okay with remaining fat, but just being less fat.

You can determine your frame by your wrist size. In fact, I am big boned (woman with 7"+ wrist regardless of my weight). I can still be lean and have been in the past. I also tend to build and keep muscle easily, so as I lose weight, I don't care if I lose some muscle, because I know I can adjust for it later quite easily.

Here's an interesting article on how to test for bodyfat, but in summary, the only surefire way to get an accurate reading is to do an autopsy. Other methods will show a range of results for the same person.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/02/AR2008050203388_2.html?sid=ST2008050500910

MaryBowen27

I think it's because we can't imagine being that low.I speak in kg (and my son has disappeared with the calculator to convert) but I can't imagine below 80 which is still overweight for my height (166cm) so I'm only aiming for that. If or when I get there, then I will readjust my goals.

Agreed. My highest was 228lbs and my lowest was 142. Right now my goal is 142 and I think it's probably all mental. I have never been 5'6 (nearly 5'7") and 130lbs, however "statistically" 130 may be just right for me. If I hit 142 and I feel like I have more to go, I will. As of now, I think choosing a number, that I have reached before, for whatever reason seems more comfortable/likely/easy to wrap my head around.

MaryBowen27

You can determine your frame by your wrist size.

Just to be devils advocate, I think this is about as accurate as "you know what they say about guys with big feet..."

tialynn1

I started out weighing 190. Said I wanted to lose 50 pounds. I did say I would adjust it as I got closer and didn't like what I was seeing. I did adjust it down 5 more pounds. A lot of that is my stomach. If I would see my stomach start shrinking, then I would quit adjusting. I am happy the way my arms and legs are going down, it is just my stomach. I don't see myself being in the 120's. I am 5'6". I think that would be to skinny.

Sublog

Most people who are obese or morbidly obese think they are "big boned" or "thick" or have a large frame. In the end, when you get a low body fat, most people fall within a very small distribution of weight based on height.

People underestimate their fatness.

Some people are okay with remaining fat, but just being less fat.

You can determine your frame by your wrist size. In fact, I am big boned (woman with 7"+ wrist regardless of my weight). I can still be lean and have been in the past. I also tend to build and keep muscle easily, so as I lose weight, I don't care if I lose some muscle, because I know I can adjust for it later quite easily.

Here's an interesting article on how to test for bodyfat, but in summary, the only surefire way to get an accurate reading is to do an autopsy. Other methods will show a range of results for the same person.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/02/AR2008050203388_2.html?sid=ST2008050500910

I lost an inch off my wrist as I lost weight, so it's not completely full-proof.

genevievedahl

wow, I'm totally impressed by your weight loss.. congrats.. Only since the start of this year. that is amazing. I too am down about 60 from my last weigh in with my third and final son...but I didn't start til Oct 1st.. keep up the good work!!!!!

CharityEaton

Very interesting responses.
I'm gonna come fromthe othe side. I was always smaller in High School and even after I had my first daughter Ilost all of my baby weight which was a whopping 60+ pounds.
Pre-pregnancy I was 23 years old 5ft 3in and 130-135 pounds. Day of delivery I was 190 or so pounds!
Gained the same weight with 2nd kiddo and got pregnant with the 3rd before the 2nd one was even a year ols so I didn't lose all of the 60 pounds from number 2 and then I just never did lose it!
I startd MFP weighing 165 pounds(I had already lost 10 pounds before I started on here)
So....jsut to get to 135 seemed like a lotof weight to me because it had been sooo long since I had been that small! I told myself that if I got stuck at 140 I would be fine with that!
UH so not true! I hit 140 and was totally motivated to get that 135 back on the scale and now...I'm still going to drop a few more pounds. I"m down to 133 but according to my height the "normal" range for me is 104-140....104 is a bit drastic but I see me at 133 and it is not at all what I remember it being so I feel like I need to lose a bit more!
Once you get close to your goal you will probably change your mind.
For me, I started out just wanting a lower number on the scale...now I want to be fit and healthy not just small and jiggly. I want to firm this stuff up!
It's all about where you feel comortable and some people learn things about themselves that they never knew before. Some people simply want to drop weight. Some people want to drop weight and firm up and some people decide to become a totally different person. It all depends on how you embark on this journey and where you let it lead you.

Krissy366

I set A goal weight, not THE goal weight. I basically picked a rounded number that sounded good based on just over 100 pound loss (110 actually). But that "goal" of getting to 150 is the weight that I want to get to in order to re-evaluate and determine what weight I SHOULD be or will be most happy at.

Lozze

I think it's because we can't imagine being that low.I speak in kg (and my son has disappeared with the calculator to convert) but I can't imagine below 80 which is still overweight for my height (166cm) so I'm only aiming for that. If or when I get there, then I will readjust my goals.

That's it exactly. My first goal weight is 90kg/200lbs. I haven't been that since Year 10/11 of high school. So 1999/2000. The weight I am now I haven't been in eight years. Everyone whose known me a long time keeps stating 'You look like you did when you were 18' because I have a neck again. To get to my (current) ultimate goal weight of 70kg/154lb puts me at just in the normal weight category. I last weighed that at FOURTEEN. That's over half my life since I weighed that. (my grandparents think it's too low) It's a terrifying thought. To think of going to under 60kg? (still mid range for my height) I don't ever remember weighing that little. So once I get to 70kg I'm going to reevaluate where I'm at. If I still have more to lose I'll lose it. (I'll probably be losing 2.5kg anyways as I can then say I've lost half my body weight ) If I like it I'll figure out my range and stay there.

jessicataylor2

I think that most people who are more overweight are just trying to get into the "healthy" range. As well as it would be a huge improvement and they'd be happy with it. But somebody who's already at a "healthy" weight probably are just trying to lose any bit of jiggle that they have and tone up. The overweight person would probably not even mind that little bit of jiggle because they are used to being so much larger that they're satisfied. That's just my guess of course

nessamelda

I suspect it's partly because very large folks are often trying to lose weight for health rather than appearance, so just getting down to a level where you (me!) are no longer clinically obese and are merely overweight will have huge health gains.

Certainly that's my first goal. If I can get anyway near the healthy weight goal I will be delighted. I am big structured-not big enough to justify my current weight or anything like it, but when I was fit (heavy weight lifting and rowing) I was very close to the top of the healthy weight range despite having a low body fat percentage. These days, I would, no doubt have to be a fair bit lighter to be the same size as I don't have the same muscle mass, and injury and osteo arthritis make it harder to re acquire it.

SmartAlec03211988

I set my goal at 125 from the beginning. I didn't settle for just simply getting my health in order; health was the goal, but appearance was more so. And I knew from being 125 lbs once that it was where I felt the most attractive. That's ~80 lbs loss just about.

Celeigh12

Interesting observation. I have my goal set at 183 because that is the high end of a normal BMI for my height (6'). I plan to adjust that lower once I get there, but I think somewhere between 155 and 165 will be my ultimate goal. I guess since its been so long since I was in the range, I didn't want to pick something too low and then never reach my "goal". I'd rather tinker with it when I see what I'm working with.

Amy_B

I think that most people who are more overweight are just trying to get into the "healthy" range. As well as it would be a huge improvement and they'd be happy with it. But somebody who's already at a "healthy" weight probably are just trying to lose any bit of jiggle that they have and tone up. The overweight person would probably not even mind that little bit of jiggle because they are used to being so much larger that they're satisfied. That's just my guess of course

I think that was my original mindset as well. I was pretty happy at 146, despite having some jiggle. However, a year later, I know I need to tighten. LOL

Tink_889

I'm 5'4 and my goal at the moment is 128lbs. I've set it at 128lbs because a few years ago I was really poorly and I lost a lot of weight very quickly [and put it all back on once I was better!]. I can remember between 128-138lbs I felt okay about myself. However, at 118lbs I started to look like I had a lollipop head and certainly by 108 [which was slightly underweight] I looked really poorly.