What should my target weight be?

Ian_Davies · February 2015

Male 43, single, often under stress, with poor sleep patterns.

I appreciate this might be a straight forward question but having read so much info, on so many sites, and tried so many calculators I am now completely confused as to my ideal weight.

BACKGROUND - To start I have been on a journey of tweaking habits and improving my life for about 12 months. In that time I have tried a few periods of clean eating and trying to lose some weight. At my highest (worst) last year I was 92kg.

STATUS - I am 180cm, weigh 84.8kg and have set myself a daily allowance of 1440 cals, this is low carb and high protein. My ironman scales say i am 25.5% bf and it feels like although i am losing weight i am not noticing any real drop in bf.

GOAL - I don't really have an ideal weight although I had thought 80kg would suit my height. I am more bothered about getting below 15% body fat to be honest.

My latest research has suggested a weight of 75kg to get a 15% bf.

I guess my question/confusion is in that you could have 15% bf at any weight, so how do you determine an ideal weight.

Sabine_Stroehm · February 2015

No offense, but how are you existing on 1440 calories? I'm a 50 year old woman and I'm sure I eat more than that.

MynameisJerryB · February 2015

Every body type is different and depends on how much muscle mass you carry. The body fat scales are very unreliable so I wouldn't put allot of faith in them. I can't give any good advice to answer your question other than to say your ideal weight is one that you are happy with

Ian_Davies · February 2015

No offence taken and to be honest i love the brutal honesty of the forum.
I took the view i wanted to kickstart my weight loss so am aiming to lose 1kg a week over 5 weeks, hit 80kg and then plateau out. Although now I am wondering if 80kg is the right weight to aim for.

obscuremusicreference · February 2015

Ian_Davies wrote: »

Male 43, single, often under stress, with poor sleep patterns.

I appreciate this might be a straight forward question but having read so much info, on so many sites, and tried so many calculators I am now completely confused as to my ideal weight.

BACKGROUND - To start I have been on a journey of tweaking habits and improving my life for about 12 months. In that time I have tried a few periods of clean eating and trying to lose some weight. At my highest (worst) last year I was 92kg.

STATUS - I am 180cm, weigh 84.8kg and have set myself a daily allowance of 1440 cals, this is low carb and high protein. My ironman scales say i am 25.5% bf and it feels like although i am losing weight i am not noticing any real drop in bf.

GOAL - I don't really have an ideal weight although I had thought 80kg would suit my height. I am more bothered about getting below 15% body fat to be honest.

My latest research has suggested a weight of 75kg to get a 15% bf.

I guess my question/confusion is in that you could have 15% bf at any weight, so how do you determine an ideal weight.

1. Eat more food. I am certain that you are not properly fueling your body. Go with MFP's recommendation. ESPECIALLY since you're going to be cutting muscle along with fat at that level. A less-aggressive goal would work best for you. How are you going to fuel your workouts on 1440? I am a smaller female and I have a hard time fueling my runs on 1200, let alone the lifting that you would require to reach your BF%.
2. Those bf scales aren't 100% accurate.
3. I think you should set 80kg as an initial goal, then reassess based on your composition at that time. Again, eat more calories to achieve your ideal composition.

Ian_Davies · February 2015

Thanks Obscure, I was thinking 80kg could just be a stepping point so will keep aiming for that. Trying to educate myself on this and I tend to like seeing a target and going for it.

I'll grab a new way to get a more accurate bf measurement. I friend has suggested a few options.

Oddly i have felt so much better (after first 2 days) of cutting down carbs and don't feel hungry. I'm eating eggs in the morning and they tend to remove hunger pangs and the sugar cravings are gone.

Ian_Davies · February 2015

Thanks Jerry. I totally agree with just aiming for a look I am happy with, losing the belly was the first goal but now i want to tone up but feel i still have a lot of weight to lose and i'm not convinced 5kg will do it.

obscuremusicreference · February 2015

I felt completely fine for a couple of months of undereating. Then I started feeling exhausted, crabby, nails started breaking, skin and hair were drier. So you can continue feeling fine while you lose muscle along with that fat.

I don't know what exercises you do but you should get an accurate assessment of your calorie needs based on that. You can either go with MFP's default and eat half or more of your exercise calories OR skip putting in your exercise and use an online calculator to get your TDEE.

Either way, eat more to retain muscle.

Ian_Davies · February 2015

Thanks Obscure. I am still self conscious about how i look so have been doing body weight exercises at home. I will work out the cals and eat the exercise cals.

Typically I do 2 sets of 20 reps each day of exercises like: lunges, press-ups, squats.
I also do 3 1 minute planks

I was hoping to only do this for a 5 week period, hit 80kg and then adjust to a shallower approach.

betuel75 · February 2015

Im 40 years old and am consuming between 1100 to 1500 calories a day. Lift weights 4-5 days a week with some cardio in there too. I feel just fine, look just fine, my skin is perfect and am close to my target 8-9% body fat. I dont think he's eating too little...

jessiethe3rd · February 2015

Below 10% BF is what I want personally. The weight is irrelevant yet relevant. Dropping BF% requires more than just diet IMHO. At the weight you are at to power a burn you are going to need to eat more food and lift for best results.

cw106 · February 2015

Ian_Davies wrote: »

Male 43, single, often under stress, with poor sleep patterns.

I appreciate this might be a straight forward question but having read so much info, on so many sites, and tried so many calculators I am now completely confused as to my ideal weight.

BACKGROUND - To start I have been on a journey of tweaking habits and improving my life for about 12 months. In that time I have tried a few periods of clean eating and trying to lose some weight. At my highest (worst) last year I was 92kg.

STATUS - I am 180cm, weigh 84.8kg and have set myself a daily allowance of 1440 cals, this is low carb and high protein. My ironman scales say i am 25.5% bf and it feels like although i am losing weight i am not noticing any real drop in bf.

GOAL - I don't really have an ideal weight although I had thought 80kg would suit my height. I am more bothered about getting below 15% body fat to be honest.

My latest research has suggested a weight of 75kg to get a 15% bf.

I guess my question/confusion is in that you could have 15% bf at any weight, so how do you determine an ideal weight.

try the NHS online weight calculator.plug in your vitals anf off you go.
i get my body fat % measured by pros at gym.at 76kg got it down to 15.5% thru diet and 8 months of planned exercises/ routines.
BMI mid range is a great starting point.

Ian_Davies · February 2015

betuel75 wrote: »

Im 40 years old and am consuming between 1100 to 1500 calories a day. Lift weights 4-5 days a week with some cardio in there too. I feel just fine, look just fine, my skin is perfect and am close to my target 8-9% body fat. I dont think he's eating too little...

Thank you for your reply Betuel. Really reassuring to read that you are already achieving similar aims to mine. Great job. Looks like you are way ahead but where I want to get too. Any tips you can share would be appreciated. I don't have access to weights atm, but enjoy the body weight exercises.

Ian_Davies · February 2015

Thanks for the advice everyone, will be applying it all and see how i get on.

What should my target weight be?

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