Should I change my goal weight?

♥seoid♥

I'm 5'10" tall and my goal weight is 174.....I'm thinking that is a little low and I may look too skinny. Should I change to 180 and go from there?

lcouterm

be whatever is healthy and your comfertable with, we'll love you no less. But talk to a doctor or someone and get there opinion.

gabyp0716

Hello Seoid,
I guess it all depends how you feel and if you are happy with the weight. I 6 feet tall and currently weight 169.5 lbs (lost .5 lbs over the wkend.... yeepee).
My goal weight is 160 lbs since that's pretty much right in the middle of the healthy weight for my height. I think going pretty much in the middle with a BMI of around 22 would be good for me.
Good luck!
Gaby

acakeforawife

Your goal weight doesn't have to be carved in stone! Just play it by ear -- try for 180 and if you like the weight, stick with it for awhile! You can always maintain that weight for six months or whatever, and then if you still want to lose more, aim for another 5lbs.

LittleSpy

Whatever you want to do. You can always change it if you get to 180 & want to lose more.

I recently changed mine from 150 to 160 because I'm 204 now and I can *see* every single pound I lose now. Every pound makes a difference in the way my clothes fit & how I look. It's really bizarre! When I started, I didn't notice a change in my clothes until after like 15 pounds. :laugh: I'm only 5'4" but I've never been lighter than I am now at this weight so I have no idea what my real goal is. I figure I'll just play it by ear and 160 seems feasible for me at this point.

jillybeanruns

Well it's up to you, but if it was me I'd be shooting for lower. I plugged your goal weight and your height into a BMI calculator and it came up as 25.0. 25 is right on the healthy/overweight line. But like I said, it's up to you. Maybe re-evaluate as you get closer to your goal?!

LittleSpy

Well it's up to you, but if it was me I'd be shooting for lower. I plugged your goal weight and your height into a BMI calculator and it came up as 25.0. 25 is right on the healthy/overweight line. But like I said, it's up to you. Maybe re-evaluate as you get closer to your goal?!

Please note that BMI is BS for many of us.
I'm very muscular. I'm pretty sure I'd look disgusting at 140 (which is at the top of the healthy range for my height). I'd probably have to lose more than a few pounds of lean mass to even get to that weight.

TropicalKitty

Just to toss this in the discussion... how about looking at your overall body composition? Have a general weight, but if you are active and muscular, you can weigh more and falsely have an "unhealthy" BMI.

If it were me, I'd aim for something around what your healthy BMI should be for your height, but keep in mind other factors too. Adjust as necessary.

♥seoid♥

ok changing to 180 and seeing how i look at that point

FabiolaEnvy♥

i wish you luck with the 180 and if you dont like it, you can change it down you doing great though

mromnek

Well it's up to you, but if it was me I'd be shooting for lower. I plugged your goal weight and your height into a BMI calculator and it came up as 25.0. 25 is right on the healthy/overweight line. But like I said, it's up to you. Maybe re-evaluate as you get closer to your goal?!

Please note that BMI is BS for many of us.
I'm very muscular. I'm pretty sure I'd look disgusting at 140 (which is at the top of the healthy range for my height). I'd probably have to lose more than a few pounds of lean mass to even get to that weight.

I think that what allislefttogain is trying to say is basically right, but have to agree with Little Spy on the BMI measurement. Instead of using BMI, when you get to a point where you are ready to zero in your goal, get your % body fat measured, and use % body fat as your measuring stick, and work out your target weight by body fat rather than just throwing a dart and guessing a target weight.

Sunsh1ne

Let your goal, be, and during that last twenty pounds, start paying attention to how you feel. Do you have a lot of energy? Does eating less take that energy away? Are you satisfied with how you look? Do you feel healthy? You'll know when you reach the weight you're supposed to be, wherever that is.

whyflysouth

Yup. % body fat is the way to go. We all want to lose fat more so than muscle so it'd be worth it for you to figure out your body fat % and subtract the excess amount to get to your goal weight.

For example, I started mfp at approx 26% body fat, a decent healthy range for men is 9-17% so I set my goal to 13%. Since I started this journey at 172 lbs, and I needed to lose 13% of my weight in fat in order to get to my goal so 172 * 0.13 = 22 lbs. So my goal weight should be at 150.

Now this isn't exact, it's likely that I've lost some muscle along with the fat that I've been burning, and it's also possible that I might build muscle a little so at 150 I may be over or under 13% body fat, but I should be close.

For women, that range is 14% - 23%, a fit woman would probably be around 16 or 17% body fat so you can determine how much weight you need to lose to get into that range.

Here's a nice guide to body fat percentages: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bodyfatpercentage.html

CasperO

Good stuff Whyfly,,, that's a pretty good way to do it.

"Goal weights" are really pretty arbitrary. Within reason, if you're willing to do it, you can 'weigh' just about whatever you want. I'm a 5'8" guy with a pretty muscular build. I started this thing at 270 and chose 200 even as my "goal weight". Well, I'm about 205 now, and I look good and feel fantastic and I'm prettys satisfied, so it's all good.

The changes I've made to how I live and how I eat are permanent. So, when/if I reach my "goal" it's not really going to change my life at all. This isn't an issue of "I can't wait to reach 200lbs even so I can get back to sitting on the couch drinking beer",,, I'm going to keep on doing pretty much what I been doing. So it doesn't really matter.

jennylynn84

Why did you choose that goal? I'm asking because I'm 5'10" and my goal is under 174 because 174 is actually where I hit the high side of a "healthy" BMI. So I definitely want to get at least that low.

Just curious as to what it's tell you for your healthy weight. Might be different if we're different ages... can't think of what else they'd be using to calculate it on here....

questionablemethods

Well it's up to you, but if it was me I'd be shooting for lower. I plugged your goal weight and your height into a BMI calculator and it came up as 25.0. 25 is right on the healthy/overweight line. But like I said, it's up to you. Maybe re-evaluate as you get closer to your goal?!

Please note that BMI is BS for many of us.
I'm very muscular. I'm pretty sure I'd look disgusting at 140 (which is at the top of the healthy range for my height). I'd probably have to lose more than a few pounds of lean mass to even get to that weight.

This is a bit tangential, but I'm putting it out there anyway. BMI isn't a perfect measure, but if you aren't an elite athlete, I wouldn't call it BS either. I'm 5'3.5 and at 160 (BMI of 27.9 -- smack in the middle of overweight on a BMI chart), I definitely looked and felt overweight. I had stomach rolls and my knees ached when I stood for any extended period of time. I too have a lot of lean mass, to the point that physical therapists and chiropractors always seem to comment on it. (And you should see the size of my calves. Even now at 129 I can rarely find boots to fit.) At 140 (the upper limit of a healthy BMI) I was definitely not disgustingly thin. Far from it. I look healthy, but not like I am in any danger of starving or blowing away. I don't think anyone would use the word "thin" to describe me, except perhaps to just mean "not overweight".

Mainly, what I'm trying to say is that BMI isn't perfect, but it can get most people in the ballpark. You really have to try it and see how you feel when you are at a certain weight.

themethod

Changing your goal was a good idea, just to give you a measuring point. You might find that 180 is still a little bigger than you were hoping for when you get there though, depending on your frame size and how your weight is distributed. For instance, I'm 6'0" with an average frame and currently around 171. Although my upper torso is very slender, my arms and lower body are relatively large. If the weight had come off evenly all over my body, I would be comfortable with having everything match the same size as my torso and staying at this weight. However, in order to decrease fat on the hips, thighs, and lower abdomen, I have to continue to lose until I look more proportional.

Good luck! :bigsmile:

Andi_Mo

Yeah, I think it will depend on how you look and feel when you get there, not just on the number. I am 5'11.5 and for a split second (lol) was once down to 173lbs. I was super skinny and a size 5/6. People constantly told me to stop losing weight because I didn't look well ( did it with ww). I feel most comfortable at about 185 which some people think is huge! I know it's nice to have a goal in mind but it's best to wait and see. Good luck!

jennylynn84

Changing your goal was a good idea, just to give you a measuring point. You might find that 180 is still a little bigger than you were hoping for when you get there though, depending on your frame size and how your weight is distributed. For instance, I'm 6'0" with an average frame and currently around 171. Although my upper torso is very slender, my arms and lower body are relatively large. If the weight had come off evenly all over my body, I would be comfortable with having everything match the same size as my torso and staying at this weight. However, in order to decrease fat on the hips, thighs, and lower abdomen, I have to continue to lose until I look more proportional.

Good luck! :bigsmile:

Wow, I think I did the exact opposite. My butt legs and thigh, have all trimmed down ridiculous amounts. My waits and hips still need some help, so I'm still going!

♥seoid♥

Yeah, I think it will depend on how you look and feel when you get there, not just on the number. I am 5'11.5 and for a split second (lol) was once down to 173lbs. I was super skinny and a size 5/6. People constantly told me to stop losing weight because I didn't look well ( did it with ww). I feel most comfortable at about 185 which some people think is huge! I know it's nice to have a goal in mind but it's best to wait and see. Good luck!

yes, us tall sexy ladies can carry extra weight and look super skinny. i'll try 180 and go from there. thanks ♥