How to decide on a target weight

Options
skinnymalinkyscot
skinnymalinkyscot Posts: 174 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi there, Im 53 and about 5ft 4 and a half inches tall. When I was in my teenage years I weighed around 7 and a half stone. In my 20s , well all through my 20s i was 8stone 3lb and took a size UK8 , In my 30s and after my first child at age 32 my weight was exactly 9stone 5lb , I looked very skinny though and could fit into UK size 10 or 12 and my weight stayed steady until around 38 which is when the weight started to go on after 2 more children at ages 36 and 38.

So.........from 38yrs to 45 yrs after a lifetime of being relatively normal sized I stopped smoking, started binging due to stress & I went up to 15 stone and a size UK20/22 and yoyoed 20 pounds up and down for the last 8 years.

Aside from worrying about losing all the weight and putting it back on which some people do, my main question is what weight should I aspire to be?

I have NO idea what weight to stop at and to maintain at. I thought 10 stone and a UK14 would be okay or should I head smaller to say 9 or 9 and a half stone and maybe a UK12? what do other people think? When I look at weight charts they say an acceptable range is 8 and a half to 10 stone , I think, off the top of my head. Should I try and get back to 9stone 5lb which is what I was in my 30s . Or should I go even smaller, I have NO idea. I do want some curves and boobs , when I was under 9stone I looked like a boy.

Thanks in advance.

ps I may not be able to thank people who reply for a few hours as I have to go to work soon.

Replies

  • skinnymalinkyscot
    skinnymalinkyscot Posts: 174 Member
    Options
    bump from me
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Options
    I wouldn't use your high school weight.

    I would work with what a chart for your age says and work from there. I have very visual/aesthetic as well as physical fitness goals so the actual # is almost irrelevant but has more to do with my BF%.

    And remember- the slow steady wins- don't worry about rushing it. Those who "mosey" on their path to weight loss tend to be more successful than ones who drop weight immediately and quickly.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Options
    Ballpark it. Go for the highest healthy weight for your height and see how you feel as you get close to that. It's not like the loss will go by so fast that you might miss your target :laugh:

    Decide when you're close to that target and re-evaluate. Want to lose more? Just keep going.
  • kirstyfairhead
    kirstyfairhead Posts: 220 Member
    Options
    I agree it's really quite difficult, I'm approaching 40 and had put on 4 stone over the last twelve years (used to be quite slim and well into the normal BMI range). My original target was to hit a normal BMI again (125lbs just takes me in as I'm a real shorty). I would recommend that this is a good place to start and by my calculations your normal BMI would be anything up to about 10.5 stone.

    I'm pleased to say that my original target is now only 2lbs away Woo Hoo!!, however I have now started lifting and decided that I want to further reduce my body fat and improve my muscle definition. I'm not 20 any more and am perhaps not going to achieve that fab beach fit look but I feel stronger and happier with my body (including it's wrinkles) than at any other point in my life.

    You may find that your goals change as you go through your journey and that 10.5 is too heavy or even too light for you in the end. You may even find you care less about the weight and more about the shape but either way I would say think in small steps. I had my 'end' goal in sight but my mental weight goal has always been just the next half stone. It's taken me 13 months so far and I don't regret a minute of it, I'm sure you won't either.

    Good luck and remember to just keep on keeping on!! :smile:
  • rabblerabble
    rabblerabble Posts: 471 Member
    Options
    My target is at the point where my BMI would be a bit below the overweight category and I have a little over 20 LBS to go. (When I started at the first of the year my weight was in the obese category so I'm definitely making progress.)
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Options
    I agree, definitely do not try to shoot for high school weight. You're now an adult and have had kids so things have changed.

    From everything you said, I would recommend setting your primary goal to 10 stone and then once you get there, see how you feel. Maybe you'll feel perfectly fine - healty and sexy and all that good stuff - or maybe you'll want to lose a bit more and try for the 9 stone 5 you were at before.

    When I started out, picking my goal weight freaked me out too! I couldn't even remember the weight I was in high school and the mid to lower end of BMI seemed far too low to be achievable, especially after being obese for so many years and going through so many attempts to lose the weight! Ultimately I decided to go with the high end of what the BMI scale said was good for my height. That also meant a total weight loss of 100 pounds - which again was scary but I faced it and focused instead of smaller goals. I'm getting closer to that initial goal and may decide it's fine or I may decide to try to lose another 5-10 pounds. I won't know until I get there...
  • kelvincornish1
    kelvincornish1 Posts: 40
    Options
    I think it depends on what you want to do with your life. My wife is 61 and is a UK10/12 (depending on whether clothes are from M & S or Primark!!!). She swims about 4 miles a week so is fit too. I personally do not go on weight from the scales because I am trying to lose body fat and gain muscle at the same time. So, you should look at yourself and say at size 14 your are happy and healthy then that is fine for you. If you want to get to a UK12 then it may be hard (I am 53 and know how hard it is even though I am doing Insanity fitness programme) to get to but you can do it with discipline.
  • skinnymalinkyscot
    skinnymalinkyscot Posts: 174 Member
    Options
    Thank you everybody for the very helpful replies, especially Kirsty who worked out my BMi would let me go as high as 10.5 stones, my worst subject at school was maths! It was really helpful to forget the numbers on the scales and think about getting into the right BMI or right weight category , the upper end of the normal category, this has helped me to pull my woolly thoughts together and to realise many heads are better than one and yes I agree with you all lol , so thank you everyone.
  • pete131004
    pete131004 Posts: 3 Member
    Options
    I chose my first goal based on a memory I had of when I thought I looked a decent shape. After a couple of weeks reading blogs and counting calories I changed my goal to a more realistic value that I could reach in a 2 month timescale (I go on holiday in Sept). I Now have a goal to fit into a pair of shorts I bought 4 years ago and have never worn.

    In other words, my goalposts have changed 3 times in the past 3 weeks, First was based on envy of other, second was based on knowledge of a calorie controlled diet and third was for practical reasons to save me having to buy a new pair of shorts.

    I think what I am saying is that I felt uncomfortable at over 17 stone and had a pipe dream of looking like old (i am 52 now) Brad Pitt. Now, as I approach the 16 Stone mark, I feel better and want to continue on with small achievable goals rather than the utopia I started with. One Step at a Time, to coin an overused phrase.

    Hang on in there. Rapid loss is almost always followed by rapid gain (Einstein’s fault I think!). Things will happen as they are meant too. Be happy with who you are (I think that was Gok Wan!) but don’t stop trudging towards the stars.

Categories