How do we choose a goal weight?

155 is in the middle of my range. 132 is the low end. The pic in my profile is recent, I am not a big guy, 29 waist. I think I would look emaceated at 132.

I am 5'10 so when I chose my goal weight I picked a number on the high side of the height & weight charts. I think the range was 128 to 169. The number I picked out of the hat was 165. Before my weight gain (the last 2 years) I was around 164 for most of my adult life. Now I am just not sure. Does that mean my body liked being on the high range? Should I strive to go lower? Any input would help. Thank you!

Find out your lean body mass (you'll need to probably get it checked by someone experienced with calipers for an approximate reading).

Now decide what body fat % you want to be. Then use the formula:

Lean body mass divided by (1 minus body fat % desired) to get a goal weight.

IE: Lean body mass 100lbs.
Desired body fat - 25%

100/ .75= 133lbs

Hope that helps.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I just used my ideal body weight. My first goal is 150. Its higher on my ideal scalethen depending how the 150 pounds look I may keep going lower just depends really!

Setting goals shouldn't be about weight because not everyone is meant to be thin. At my largest, I was about 275lb, but I did not feel fat (with exception of the times that my family and even a friend or two made comments like, "Why are you walking like a pregnant woman."). Over the summer, I lost a lot of weight because my mother convinced me to go on a diet with her and I reached my personal goal, which was to fit back into a pair of pants I bought four years ago. As of today, I am 214lb and I feel great, but the comments have not ceased. Of course I expect people who haven't seen me in a while to say, "Have you lost weight? You look amazing!", but still my sister told me she thinks I should continue to lose weight "for health purposes". So while I have reached my personal goal, I have set another goal simply because I want the comments to stop. My three sisters are all thin (in fact, I believe one to be anorexic) and I have always been much larger than them. My driver's license has me listed as 5'11"; according to the BMI chart, the "healthy" range for someone my height is136-172. I set my goal at about 175-180, even though this is still considered "overweight" because I feel good here at 40lb more than that, but it hasn't stopped the comments, and I think that I wouldn't look like me at a "normal" weight. Who know, though. Maybe I'll continue losing and hit "average".
(Reading each post on this thread was a real eye-opener for me because so many of you claim that, at your heaviest, you weighed less than I have even weighted since 3rd grade. The first comment I remember was going to the doctor, stepping on the scale, and my mom saying, "I weighted 175lb when I got married!" And I don't mean to seem rude, but I would like you all to think about that and be thankful. I sincerely hope that one day I will be "average" and my family will hush.)