Question about goal weights

My first goal was to loose 2 stone by end of May 2013, which i achieved, I have now extended that to another 2 stone by end of december 2013, i think its going to be a little tougher, but will stick at it and see where it takes me.

If you know your current body fat %, Fat2Fit has a goal weight calculator that asks you your goal bf % and tells you what weight that would be. Easy enough to guess what % you'd like by googling pictures of women's body fat percentages. I looked at a couple of charts and decided which end of the normal range I wanted to be in (right smack dab in the middle ) and plugged it in to get my goal.

The weight it gave me seems a little on the high side, but I think that's partly a body composition thing (I wear a smaller size than most girls my weight seem to, as well). And of course it's assuming you lose /no/ LBM at all during weight loss - which would be awesome but not really likely. So for now I'm using it as a soft goal, then I'll re-evaluate when I get there and see how much lower I need to go. It did help me, because my very first goal was apparently way, WAY too low, and I'm glad I found that out now before I got fixated on that number.

Here's the address:

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ibw/

First of all, I don't think there is a magical number as such. I think for most people there's a range, and you won't really know until you get there. That's especially true for people who have always been overweight, but even those that were formerly slim and know how they felt at a certain number - even then, body composition changes so you can never be sure.

I picked my goal number by a combination of different things. Firstly, I aimed for the middle-ish of my healthy BMI range. Secondly, I knew roughly how much I had to lose to lose a dress size, so I estimated how much I would need to weigh to be the size I thought I'd look best at. (That's a bit of a rough way of doing it, because you can lose sizes differently the smaller you get but it actually worked out accurately for me.) Thirdly, I estimated my body fat percentage using the online calculators at Fat2fitradio. Then, looking at online pictures of people at different body fat percentages, I decided what % I would like to be, and used this calculator to work out how much I should weigh, assuming I lost no lean mass: http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ibw/ Again, this is all a bit woolly because those calculators are only rough estimates.

Anyway, the three methods gave me roughly the same number, and was very close to a total loss of 6 stone (don't we all love round numbers?) So I just went with that. That's the number I hit, and have been maintaining (give or take a few pounds here or there) since November. I think it's about right for me. I ended up in the clothes size that I originally planned. Ideally, I'd like to lose maybe another 5 lbs, although it's not a priority right now. At the same time, the people around me tell me that I shouldn't lose any more, so I must be pretty much at the right place.

I don't know if you know MyBodyGallery, but it can be useful to get a general idea of what women look like at different height/weights. http://www.mybodygallery.com/ You need to bear in mind though (and that website helps you to realise) that there can be a vast difference in what 2 women at the same height and weight will look like because of different body compositions, as well as how people naturally carry fat. For example, if you are more muscular, you will look smaller at a higher weight than someone who is less muscular. Also, I am (or was) and apple shape. If I was more of an hour-glass, I'd probably have been happy to be a bit heavier than I am now. As it happens, all my extra fat gets stored around my middle, so that motivates me to be a bit leaner.

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Getting back to my military weight. I was at peak foxiness then.

Just gave this (http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ibw/) a go and what do you know, my goal weight lines up perfectly with my goal body fat percentage. ...That said, I'm not surprised, lol. I was very aware of my weight and my body fat (Thanks Navy for being so hung up on that kind of thing.) three years ago so I genuinely know where I want to be and how I want to look when I get there.

Started with a goal of 100 lbs lost, then moved it to 200 lbs lost. As I steadily approach the 200 and with a date goal by the end of the year, I'm starting to think about when I hit that goal to extend it to the upper limit of the US Army official weight for a person of my height and age and gender. That would make it 230 total.

I used BMI first, then got my body fat calculated and figured a healthier number using that (http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ibw/), depending on how much body fat I want... My goal is still under the number it gives me but I can always adjust when I get closer.

Around 6 years ago I went from 210 to 141 in 6 months and people kept stopping me and asking if I was O.K. as I looked so thin. My next door neighbours husband just kept telling me to gain a few pounds as I looked dreadful. I am just 5'4. This time I've set my goal weight a bit higher and will decide when I get there if I want to loose any more.

I am 5'5'' and weight 217. I started at 237. My initial goal weight was 120. However, I went to a weight loss clinic and had a body composition test done. it showed that I had about 110 pounds of lean muscle. Upon seeing this, the doctor recommended that I set my goal weight at 150 instead. So 150 is my new goal.

You can do your own body composition test using a tape measure to find the 3 values you can enter on the check in page of myfitnespal. Here is a calculator site:

http://www.skinbodyfitness.com/bmr_bmi_bfp.htm

It is reasonably accurate for me compared to the test I got at the clinic. It also gives you an idea of how much you should try to lose, from which you can calculate a goal weight. It told me today I should lose about 61 pounds, which would put me at 156, close to the goal weight my doctor worked out for me.

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I set a goal of what a doctor told me years ago I should weigh for my height. It works out to be in the middle of healthy BMI range, but I'll reevaluate when (if) I get there. To be perfectly honest, though, I just want to weigh less than my sister, who made some very rude comments about my weight the last time I saw her.

My goal weight is based on a previous weight. It's when I felt my best and had the most energy. I'll reevaluate once I get closer, but I'll probably keep it close to that.

I have a target weight in mind (150-160lbs). I was that size in high school. Now most people say high school weight is unrealistic - however - I wasn't super skinny back then either.

Given said info - as I get close to my goal weight it will not be about a number, but about how fit I am and how good I feel



<edit> I am also 5'7 with a larger bone structure

I picked my goal weight based on my pre-uni weight but I'm actually reconsidering now because all the exercise I have been doing has toned me up to an extend where I am actually relatively happy with how I look compared to the flabbier me 6 months ago. I don't think the number should be set in stone, if one day you look at yourself in the mirror and think "wow, this is paying off, I sure look fabulous now" then start thinking about a maintenance plan. It's just a number after all, it's how you feel that really matters.

I was big in high school and got fed up with it my senior year, so I dropped down to 140 (was 5'6" at the time, now 5'7"). I was pretty happy at 150; it's a bit higher on the normal side, but when I was 140, everyone commented that I looked too thin. It's not a 100%-set-in-stone goal, but I figured it's a good start.