How do I find my Ideal Weight?

I was thinking about this earlier. My scale barely moves, but I can feel it in my CLOTHES.
Fat dissipated and is being replaced by muscle so the scale will crawl.
When I got out of boot camp, I weighed 15 pounds MORE, but I was a STICK!

Use one of (or a compilation of) a few different online body fat calculators to determine what your current lean body mass is (LBM). Then, get an idea of what your ideal goal bodyfat percentage is- you can look up pictures online of different bodies at different bodyfat percentages. So, say you find out that your LBM is 123 lbs, and your ideal BF% is 20%, then you figure out what weight will get you there.

So the equation is:
Ideal Body Weight BW= [(100*LBM)/(100-BF%)]
BW = [(100*123)/(100-20)]=12300/80=154lbs

It's not perfect, because it assumes that you'll have the same LBM now, which is improbable, but it will give you a great estimation.

That said, no matter what your goal is, you should be working with a moderate deficit to lose a reasonable amount of weight each week- the plan-of-action shouldn't change no matter what your goal is at this point. You will have to reevaluate when you get closer to goal and adjust based on the results you're getting and how you feel.

Would you rather be 150 lbs. and flabby, or 160 pounds and lean/defined? Take a look at the photos in Leigh Peele's blog about bodyfat percentages (http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages) and get an idea of where you'd like to end up (remember that genetics play a part and you won't necessarily look exactly like somebody else at a given bodyfat percentage). Body fat percentage is a much more relevant indicator to what your body aesthetics will be like than choosing a number on the scale.

First of all please dont take this the wrong way, I am not arguing with you, i just dont agree
This girl need to lose weight, just like pretty much all of us on this site.
I think most of us mistaken what a diet is, we can't think of it as a diet, it has to be a life change. Most of us sets a goal and not all meet it. Why? Bcos we hear comments like " oh you look fine, you look a bit skinny or you should stop now" And you find your self quiting in the middle thinking, oh well, i did my best! NO you did not do your best and guess what? your weight somehow come back so NO! Never stop untill you reach your goal cus you always going to struggle, actually i believe that going a bit lower that your goal will put your mind at rest! i know it is difficult and painfully slow and frustrating, but would you rather do it right or would you like to find your self doing it over and over in your life time? I wouldnt, i already been there, done it far too many times- but never done it right just bcos i listen to the wrong people. So yeah, here i am again.
As for body fat %....im 123 pounds and my body fat is 25%. They say! Having 25% fat on my body will make me look quite chubby and I'm not. Please have a look at my photos. I have fat to lose from my belly and my legs mainly. But hey i am 25% fat. Now why i do not agree with you or the website with the pictures etc is bcos i used to weigh 209 pounds 30 months ago. I lost 86 pounds, now is there a calculator to measure your extra skin? Cus i have alot of it and thats why if i have to measure my body fat comes up to 25%, but it is actually lower than that!
Again, please dont take it the wrong way, i know we all want to help each other, but lets be realistic and achieve our goals. If we get lucky enough to get too skinny, we can always build up on muscle and define our bodies Hugs to you all xx

Would you rather be 150 lbs. and flabby, or 160 pounds and lean/defined? Take a look at the photos in Leigh Peele's blog about bodyfat percentages (http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages) and get an idea of where you'd like to end up (remember that genetics play a part and you won't necessarily look exactly like somebody else at a given bodyfat percentage). Body fat percentage is a much more relevant indicator to what your body aesthetics will be like than choosing a number on the scale.

First of all please dont take this the wrong way, I am not arguing with you, i just dont agree
This girl need to lose weight, just like pretty much all of us on this site.
I think most of us mistaken what a diet is, we can't think of it as a diet, it has to be a life change. Most of us sets a goal and not all meet it. Why? Bcos we hear comments like " oh you look fine, you look a bit skinny or you should stop now" And you find your self quiting in the middle thinking, oh well, i did my best! NO you did not do your best and guess what? your weight somehow come back so NO! Never stop untill you reach your goal cus you always going to struggle, actually i believe that going a bit lower that your goal will put your mind at rest! i know it is difficult and painfully slow and frustrating, but would you rather do it right or would you like to find your self doing it over and over in your life time? I wouldnt, i already been there, done it far too many times- but never done it right just bcos i listen to the wrong people. So yeah, here i am again.
As for body fat %....im 123 pounds and my body fat is 25%. They say! Having 25% fat on my body will make me look quite chubby and I'm not. Please have a look at my photos. I have fat to lose from my belly and my legs mainly. But hey i am 25% fat. Now why i do not agree with you or the website with the pictures etc is bcos i used to weigh 209 pounds 30 months ago. I lost 86 pounds, now is there a calculator to measure your extra skin? Cus i have alot of it and thats why if i have to measure my body fat comes up to 25%, but it is actually lower than that!
Again, please dont take it the wrong way, i know we all want to help each other, but lets be realistic and achieve our goals. If we get lucky enough to get too skinny, we can always build up on muscle and define our bodies Hugs to you all xx

Setting a goal weight lower than you want to be with no consideration of body fat, and doing everything you can to achieve it, is not a good plan. It's setting you up for failure when you hit goal. A much better plan is to lose fat slowly, setting your diet according to your cody composition and body composition goals, and working from there. If you get too skinny, you can't just put on muscle and end up with the body you want- that's actually EXTREMELY difficult and requires a lot of dedication. Not to mention, it's almost impossible to do without adding fat at the same time- it's why people go through bulking and cutting cycles. Losing fat is much easier than gaining muscle. The reality of what happens is that you get skinny with an artificially suppressed metabolism, and then you gain it back quickly, and it's a higher percentage of fat than you started with. You actually get fatter than if you had never gotten skinny in the first place. It's called yo-yo dieting, and you say you've been there- don't do it again! Maintain your LBM and lose the weight slowly, and you will minimize extra skin and end up looking better than people that weigh less than you.

The circumference methods aren't great- they assume that at certain sizes you have a certain percentage of muscle- the only way to really know your BF% is to get it professionally tested using a hydrostatic test, bod pod, or DEXA scan. It sounds like you feel like you look like your body fat is higher than 25% but the tests say 25. If you've already lost muscle in the yo-yo process, it's likely that your BF% is higher than the online calculators are telling you.

I would suggest making sure you're eating a good amount of protein and starting strength training now.