How do you know when you've reached your goal?

millzy64
millzy64 Posts: 50 Member
edited January 15 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 6' tall and after 7 months, I've gone from 234 lbs to 181. My original goal weight was 185 which I reached a few weeks ahead of schedule. I felt pretty good at that weight but based on the official "numbers", ideal weight, BMI, etc. etc. I should probably be right around 175 so that's what I'm shooting for.

Friends and family are already telling me that I should stop where I am. "It's too much", "you need to stop", "people were asking if you were sick" is what I'm getting from people now. I look at myself and I think I look great and I know that once I'm at 175 I'll probably not really stay there. I started weight training and working out about a month ago and I want to have a little room to gain and bulk up a little. I figure I'll probably land around 180 when it's all said and done.

I think that most people I know and work with and even my kids have never seen me skinny. When I was younger I was really thin. In high school I was only about 165. Most people that know me are used to seeing me between 230 and 250 lbs so I guess it's a shock after losing so much in less than a year.

So my question is how many of you are going through this? Now that you've reached your original goal, you want to drop a little more and have people telling you that you're too skinny? I know I'm eating well, plenty of calories, working out and I feel great. At what point do you make the call and decide you've reached your goal?

Replies

  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,333 Member
    well. it is hard when someone you know loses so much weight. At times, they look so different that it is upsetting. I had a male friend who did what you are doing. He lost all he weight down to the suggested amount . I, for the longest time thought he looked sick and way too skinny..and thought he should gain some back.

    However..with time... now when i see him he looks just fine. I had to adjust my perception of him. I say talk to a doctor ask their objective advice...and take pictures of yourself and see what you think.

    Or you could post one here and we will tell you kindly if you wish.

    anyway..congrats on losing so much..what a fantastic job!
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I bet part of it is just perception, as the previous poster said - they aren't used to seeing you like this!

    However, you mentioned starting weight training, so I'm assuming you want to build some muscle...but looking at your food diary, I see your daily goal is 1800 a day but several days over the past week you are only coming in around 1300-1500. I'm a 44 year old, 5' 8" woman, and MY goal is 1800 a day. And I hit it easily every single day, usually going over a bit. :tongue:

    Make sure you are eating enough to fuel those workouts, especially your weight training - gotta fuel those muscles! I found this topic to be very helpful in finding and setting up my calorie goals for losing fat and keeping my lean body mass: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12 Great info there.

    Plus, if people continue to give you grief about "needing to stop" or being too skinny, you can tell them you're eating plenty and throw the calorie number out there for them, and assure them that you are healthy. :bigsmile:
  • millzy64
    millzy64 Posts: 50 Member
    @ Elisa: I think that's what is boils down to. They're just not used to me this way. I have a "before" picture in my profile and my current profile picture is from about 10 lbs ago. I need to take some new ones soon.

    @ Amy: I've been trying to eat 1800 and I'm actually finding it hard to do. I just went back to Fat2FitRadio to recalculate everything and you're right. My new BMR is right at 1800 and based on my workout schedule I should be eating around 2400. I'm just nervous about adding that many calories so fast. I was planning on staying at the 1800 until I hit my 175 lb goal and then increase to 2400, continue the workouts and see where I land.
  • i_luv_irs
    i_luv_irs Posts: 30 Member
    I certainly think it's perception. My tall male co worker lost a significant amount of weight and he told me everyone was commenting (not in a positive way). I asked how he'd lost the weight and he had done it through better eating and daily workouts. I was not concerned about the weight loss after that because he'd done it in a rational manner. I told him that if the comments bothered him he could just tell people that his doctor gave him a clean bill of health or explain how he lost the weight and leave it at that. Otherwise I say to heck with what others say. You happy and healthy. That it's what matters.
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