so confused: goal weight vs maintenance 5'1 female

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  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
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    Beachcalix - I vary my training alot, because I get bored doing the same thing all week.

    I horseback ride, run (lots of uphill running), bike and swim alot at the moment, because it's summer. I love being outside and can integrate my workouts by running / biking to/from work.

    I worked on strength machines for about two years because of some back problems, then started integrating circuit DVDs at home (30 day shred, Fitness blender, etc). I then started with push ups, planks, small dumbbells (2kg) and other body weight training. Nothing extrem, but the regularity of a 10-15min routine almost daily really gave me better results than 2 years at the gym twice a week for 60-90min. I haven't been doing much of it lately, but will definitely start up again, when I can't go outside as much.

    You can integrate those short routines into your stretching / strengthening after your cardio...I should do that again too ;-) Core training actually helps me with all my other sports, because I have more control / stability in my middle. It could help you tighten up your tummy.

    Most say, you can't build muscle on a deficit. My eating plan only gives me a big deficit 2 days a week and I eat normally 5 days a week. I definitely had some muscle build up. Also strength training leads to a higher cal burn after the workout. And sometimes, just mixing things up can keep your body guessing ;-)
  • KateK8LoseW8
    KateK8LoseW8 Posts: 824 Member
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    For BMI purposes, your healthy weight range is 105 to 132 lb. Personally I suggest that people shoot for at least the upper-middle of this range so there's wiggle room for regain, so about 120-125 lb. If you want to get down to 110 though, that's totally up to you. Find a weight where you are comfortable with how your body looks (you can always improve it after fat loss with strength training), and that you find sustainable. While I can technically get down to 112 lb, I find 122-124 lb more sustainable as far as calories go, so I stay there. Maintaining a lower weight means eating fewer calories, so keep that in mind!
  • beachcalsix
    beachcalsix Posts: 23 Member
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    Wow thanks for all the responses! I went to that website http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/ and calculated everything. Without knowing my exact bodyfat percentage for sure it's a little iffy to get a goal weight but I put the higher percentage and the lower percentage I got the other day and got a weight range to shoot for for maintenance
    117-120 is what it gave me, so that's what I'm going to go for :)
    If I still look overweight when I get there I'll probably try to calculate my bodyfat somehow and see if I need to lose more or not.
    this is just all confusing because I've never been this low in my life and not sure where to stop haha.
    the 80/20 is 80% low end calories weekdays and 20% higher end. Not whatever I want but I allow myself to hit 1500 calories on the 2 day weekend. I'm weighing myself again tomorrow so hoping atleast for another 1 lb down but if not I'll live with it :)
    thanks again, you all made me feel a lot better!
  • NatalieWinning
    NatalieWinning Posts: 999 Member
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    Good on you working at this so well! A range that is reasonable is all you can do until you see for yourself and you are different than anyone else. I believe that. Also keep in mind that your brain does not really keep up with your new body image right away, necessarily, It took me a while to get used to the new me in my mind. People that know you might think you lost too much because they know and love you at a certain size in their mind as well. Not this new you. It might take everyone a year to get used to the new size.
    That said, I'd like to add that my 13 yr old daughter who has yet to become a full blown teen size, let alone woman size, is 5'3" and 113. She's got those tiny long legs and has more to gain even for her little frame. She swims on a swim team and is quite fit and narrow. I say this because this girl is going to be like me, where I know the 120's will be a low, and the 130's might even be a good slim weight. That isn't on any chart anywhere.
    Wow thanks for all the responses! I went to that website http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/ and calculated everything. Without knowing my exact bodyfat percentage for sure it's a little iffy to get a goal weight but I put the higher percentage and the lower percentage I got the other day and got a weight range to shoot for for maintenance
    117-120 is what it gave me, so that's what I'm going to go for :)
    If I still look overweight when I get there I'll probably try to calculate my bodyfat somehow and see if I need to lose more or not.
    this is just all confusing because I've never been this low in my life and not sure where to stop haha.
    the 80/20 is 80% low end calories weekdays and 20% higher end. Not whatever I want but I allow myself to hit 1500 calories on the 2 day weekend. I'm weighing myself again tomorrow so hoping atleast for another 1 lb down but if not I'll live with it :)
    thanks again, you all made me feel a lot better!
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
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    Congratulations on your weight loss! You are doing wonderfully and you might even change your profile picture at your new weight to give yourself a boost. I'm 5'1.5" and weigh 120. I'm trying to get down to around 115, but have been stalled myself, but I'm older (55) so my BMR is pretty low. I was advised by one nutritionist that I might not even get below 120 because I do strength training so I have some muscle mass. As you can see from my profile picture, I'm somewhat muscular and curvy. I haven't seen 105 lbs. since my college days. 105 on me was pretty thin with very little muscle tone. If you want to get rid of loose belly skin, try doing some core like pilates or yoga.
  • beachcalsix
    beachcalsix Posts: 23 Member
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    Thanks for the inspiration rosebette! You look great, I'd like to get down to that weight and look like you :)
    Finally updated my profile photo. I made that a month ago so I've lost more since that after picture.

    I'm wondering if there's a manual way to calculate body fat with measurements and height. All the websites do is take your age, gender and some measurements but they don't factor in height (which I think is a major factor right?)

    Anyways, thanks again everyone. I feel like I actually can see the end of this journey now!
  • rawstrongchick
    rawstrongchick Posts: 66 Member
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    There is a group on here called 'Eat, Train, Progress' and the people who run the group give up their time and give feed back on body fat based on how you actually look. For people who know what they are looking at this is just as accurate as the best of anything else. Might be a place to ask, they need specific photos which they do detail on the group.

    I'm also 5'1 and I like everyone else my 'happy weight' is wildly different from other people my height. It depends a lot on build I think, frame size and muscle mass etc.

    Congrats on your weight loss. Slowing it down towards the end is the best way to keep achieving. They say lose no more than 1% of your body weight each week as a realistic and sustainable goal, but that does drop as you near your own personal perfect weight.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    people have different bodies and thus are going to have different goal weight even at the same height. You have to stop thinking about weight being equal to just fat...your frame has weight...someone of the same height but with a larger frame is going to weigh more...someone with a small frame is going to weigh less, etc. You also have to consider muscle mass.

    Having a goal BF% is a better idea. Scale weight is pretty arbitrary. The scale is just a tool to be used to see what direction you are heading....it's not the be all and end all. Nobody ever says, "wow....you must be 115 Lbs!" do they?
  • jenillawafer
    jenillawafer Posts: 426 Member
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    I'm 5' and weigh 105 pounds. However, it's different for everyone. Just because someone else my height and age looks amazing at 100 pounds, doesn't mean I will. Build plays an important role! Don't worry about the number aspect so much. Focus on how you look and feel about yourself in the mirror.
  • jlynnm70
    jlynnm70 Posts: 460 Member
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    http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/training/body_fat/body_fat_percentage.html

    This one uses height too. It won't add your hip measurement in until you chose female -

    I'm a little shorter 5'0" and would be ecstatic if I got to 120 again - I'm 43 now and haven't seen the southside of 120 in years (except for a stint when I was sick and hit about 117 for maybe a month - then I started eating again! LOL)
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
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    I've never had a good calculator for body fat. I had an assessment at the gym at my workplace that placed me over 35% and then around 33-34% when I lost a few lbs, but I would say that's inaccuarately high based on my build.

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