How did YOU determine your ideal weight?

krislew

I haven't set an end goal weight. I just have an idea of what size clothing will make me happy...and I don't know what weight I need to be to fit into that size. It's been soooo long. I've been setting mini goals for myself so I see an obtainable end, and once I meet that goal I will just move on to the next and go from there. I haven't really been able to wrap my mind around a long term goal yet.

ccgisme

WOW!!! Looks like I hit a chord I can't believe the response to this. Thanks everyone!

So, here's what I did to set up MFP. I have an older Tanita scale that gives a body fat percentage along with weight. I've never trusted this number to be 100% accurate - but I have assumed that it is consistent in its inaccuracy, if you get my drift

So, when I started at 282, I was probably somewhere in the high 30%s. I multiplied my weight by the percentage and then subtracted that amount to get a rough estimate of my lean weight, skeletal weight, and water weight - everything but the fat. I then multiplied that number by some percentage I can no longer remember and came up with 193 as a goal weight.

Based on today's weight (254.8) and body fat percentage (29.6), I am carrying around 75.42 lbs of fat. That suggests a lean/skeletal/water weight of 179.38. If I multiply that by 1.15, my goal weight would be 206 pounds. That's about 30 pounds lighter than I was in high school, but seems realistic.

Of course, there's a part of me that wants to see that number closer to 195, but that might be pushing it! I've stayed active, even at 282, and my thighs are like tree trunks. :laugh:

I used to joke that I'd know I was done when I could get back into a pair of size 36 Levi's 501 jeans. Of course, they probably don't make them or make them to the same specifications they made back in the 80's... :bigsmile:

mamagooskie

I have been measured and I have a med frame and I am 5'6. I weighed 145 lbs 10 years ago and was still quite pudgy and I was quite unhappy with the thickness of my thighs and how big my butt and arms were. This time around I made my goal weight 17 lbs lighter and I am hoping that by doing tons of toning exercizes I can get down to less lbs and be thinner as well.

However I'd settle for a higher weight if my measurements were smaller. I don't want to focus so much on an exact number. I want to be a certain size rather.

ccgisme

I’ve been trying to calculate my ideal weight for some time now. BMI is not a dependable measure at all, while Body Fat is. Remember that weight consists of both lean body mass and body fat. Knowing your body fat percentage can help you determine if your weight loss goals are realistic. You can check yours at http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/.
The American Council on Exercise considers a 25 - 31% body fat acceptable for women, 18 – 25% for men.

When I go to this site, it calculates my body fat at 21.64%. If I shot for 15% BF, then my target weight would be 229. Which is what I weighed in high school.

So, the two different methods result in a 23 pound range. :huh:

So the matter remains unresolved and I'll continue to assess!

Barneystinson

I'm wondering if I should even give a rip about what I weigh. I weighed 126 and was a size 4 at some point last year. 126 is "overweight" for my height... (WTF!?) I'm 138 and wear a size 8 now.

I'm aiming for that size 4 again, no matter what weight.

kwardklinck

I picked a goal weight based on what weight I felt most comfortable with. It's right smack in the middle of my BMI range. The one thing to consider is that muscle weighs more than fat so even though my previous weight was 119 and I now weigh 128, I wear the same size as I did back then. If 165 doesn't seem feasible to you, try for 175 and see how far you can get toward that goal. You can always make adjustments later.

chandnikhondji

Since we work with kilogram here that will most likely not apply to any of you but here it is height minus 100... so if i am 1.90 meters tall (which i am - that is 6'3'' for you) that would be that i should be at 90 kg (198 lbs).

Seeing that it is maybe my height in pound plus about 10 lbs

At least that is what doctors say one SHOULD weight.. personally i want to weight a bit more than that because i want to keep something to grab at, and not that my bf is afraid to break me *lol* And i rather go after when i feel healthy, seriously

Umpire57

Funny thing is I have been thinking A LOT about this lately since I am now 5 pounds away from what "in the beginning" I thought was my goal weight.

I started at somewhere in the range of 333 (333 is what I always put as starting weight cause it is the last time I remember weighing before starting but it could be a bit more)

The lowest I have ever been in my adult life before that is 240 but I was always one to try and set high goals for myself. I have coached both my daughters in softball and always told them "It is better to set your goals too high and just miss them than set them too low and blow them away" so I set my "goal weight" at 230 cause I really wanted to hit that 100 pound mark and I added 3 to that so I could have that +/- number people always say and also so I could say it was 100 pounds lost even if I was fully clothed.

Monday (My weekly weigh in day) I am at 235 and while I have many friends who say I need to stop (I wont even get into how that annoys me), when I have my shirt off I see I still have a lot to lose so even though I am really near my goal weight and lower than I have been since junior high school over 25 years ago, I still am not happy where I am at so I need to set another goal but I don't know what that is.

BMI says I am still obese so that is my first mini-goal. I want to get from the "obese" range to the over-weight" range and then see what happens from there. I have considered getting a session in one of those "BODY POD" things to see exactly what my body fat percentage is and I have an appointment with my doctor next week for a full workup and I am going to discuss it with him as well.

I will follow this thread closely cause It really hit the nail on the head of what I have been thinking lately.

Sorry for the long rant but once I started......

megamom

Personally right now I just want to be out of plus sizes. I will then make a new goal probably of getting out of large, LOL. Mostly I just want to be healthy and active.