Target weight?

joselo2

I am a man who is 5'7, I currently weigh 394, down from 406. I am a bit unsure about how my target weight should be. I worked out my BMI, it said I should be between 8.5-11.5 stone... Now, I just don't think that is realistic at all for me.... or am I being not ambitious enough? I just don't see it ever happening. I want to be able to shop in normal shops (to wear even a XL would be excellent!) and not feel so unhealthy and abnormal. I thought of a figure of maybe 14/15stone, but apparently this is still obese! I don't mind about being slim, in fact tbh I can't imagine it, would I even still feel like me? But then I do want to have good health. Sorry for rambling... how do you realise a good target for yourself?
Thanks xxx

bcerz811

First off, I'm sorry but I can't convert stones to lbs...don't know how and at work so I don't want to go search for a calculator online right now. I'll just use pounds. Anyways,

Make sure you take your frame into account. at 5'7, if you have a large frame, between 180 and 200lbs is probably decent. My hubs is 226 (down from 230) at the moment, and is also 5'7" and the BMI chart always says he should be about 145. The thing is, he was 155 in high school when he was a sprinter and a baseball player. He has a large, sturdy, dense muscle frame. 145 would just be ridiculous on him. He's nearing 30 now and is trying to lose about 60lbs. 170 is his goal and I think that will be a great goal. I'd set your bar high first and see how you feel when you get there. Make 250lbs your goal first, then say ok, how do i feel, how do my clothes fit, how in shape am i, how do I look, then go from there. Next goal maybe 200lbs, and so on and so forth. As you lose weight, you'll gain ambition and realize just how strong your body is, and how much weight you can lose healthily. As for me, I started off with 10lbs goals. I'm female, 5'10" and I started out at 216lbs which was just in the beginning of the "obese" range. I don't think I was "obese" but I was definitely overweight. So my goal first was to get to 200lbs. Then 190. Then 180. And so on. The top of the healthy range for me was 174, and I met it, and decided I could get in even better shape. The closer you get to what your body wants to maintain on its own, the more you will see where you want to be, and what you want to achieve. Good luck!!

PrinnyBomb

My boyfriend is 5'8 and currently 301lbs. His 'recommended' weight is around the same mark as yours however he has been that thin before and looked terrible (according to him, I did not know him them). He is much happier getting to 14 stone. I suppose it depends how you're built. It's not purely about weight but muscle too. In the end you have to do what makes you feel happy. I personally would rather be classed as 'slightly overweight' and happy than 'healthy weight' and miserable. Do what makes YOU happy! (My high end target weight is 10 stone)

frhenderson

I speak as someone who lived my entire life between "overweight", "obese", and bordering on "morbidly obese". I honestly thought that the healthy weight range for a woman of my height was not achievable. So in 2004 I set out to prove the charts wrong. I joined a similar food and exercise tracking program with my goal as 135lbs, well within the "healthy" weight range for my height. Eight months later I had proven myself wrong.
Sometimes we sell ourselves short and it's easy to listen to the arguments that somehow we will be the exception to the BMI rule. My advice is to set your ultimate goal around 10.5 stone. There is something very empowering about knowing that at the end of the journey you can hold your head up and say "I'm a healthy weight" rather than "I would be a healthy weight if it weren't for ......"
I let a lot of things bring me back to the obese weight category, but knowing that healthy is achievable helps me keep working towards the smaller goals I set for myself. I still have the 135lb goal, but today I'm focused on how close I am to 30lbs down because 135lbs is still a long ways away.
And plan for a doctor's visit around 15 stone. At that point your doctor should be able to judge from your body composition what a realistic goal is for you.

bhankiii

Don't worry about your ultimate goal. Choose a weight that you've been at in the past. From 270 I chose 200 because that's what I weighed 7 years ago and It seemed reasonable that could get back there. Now that I'm close I've got a new goal. You can do the same. Pick a modest weight loss rate rather than an ultimate goal. One pound a week is a goal that most people can meet. So, make your goal 50 pounds over the next 12 months and concentrate on that one pound a week. If you find that you're doing better than that after a few weeks, up your goal to 1 1/2 pounds a week, or whatever. It's hard to lose 200 pounds, it's easy to lose one pound.

joselo2

Thanks everyone. I see what you mean frhenderson... I mean in a way i do think I could be an exeption to BMI becaus I think I'd be a whole lot healthier 200lbs down. I sometimes get a bit dubious about BMI, but this could be me being in denial, I just don't know, I find it hard to figure out.

Unfortunately I can't rely on what I've been in the past... I am only 20, and I was, like 250lbs by 14yrs, 300 by 16yrs and so on. I have never been a healthy weight since I was a very young child so I have no idea what it feels like, looks like and should weigh. And this is why I find it so hard to imagine.
xxxx