How do you know what is an ideal weight?

I am not sure either...BMI gives me a range of 118-165...no help.

I first set a goal of 165...decided I wanted to lose more so I set another one of 155...then 145...and was happy there last summer...I did gain to 148 over the holidays then another 7 on a vacation down south so back at er again so I decided to see what 140 looks like for me...

I suspect that will be the point stopping as my jeans are a size 4 already and I don't care to buy another waredrobe of size 2's.

Play at the halls.md site.

Cheesy graphics, but interesting date including percentiles and ideal weight calculators.

Also google pictures of the body fat % look you might be aiming for...

BMI range or body fat estimate are both decent gauges when you just want a starting place. But yeah, I agree with the "I'll know it when I get there" mentality. I'm about 7-8 pounds away from what I initially set as my goal weight. I think I might want to go down another 5 when I get there, but, hey, I'll see.

For me an ideal weight is one where I can fit comfortably into a reasonable clothing size, feel healthy and strong, but also feel like I can sustain it without crazy amounts of exercise or too much effort.

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In my experience, it's ever-changing. For me, it was 225. Then 200. I'm now at 190, and I feel pretty good about myself; but I'm now working out out a lot, and will likely end up back at 200 again.

The weight that makes you happiest.

I go by bodyfat percentage.

I determined my frame size (large). I looked up the healthy weight range for my height and chose a weight closer to the heavy end to account for my frame.

DearestWinter wrote: »

I set my initial goal based on a weight where I was previously comfortable.

Same for me.

For most of us (including me), I would say it's when it ceases to become something in the forefront of our minds. I'm not a numbers person, and the ones I've paid attention to in this journey seem very unreliable as guideposts anyway - so (because I don't suffer from any psychological condition related to physical weight/body image) I can rely on my own self-satisfaction to be my guide. This goes for reduced joint pain while running as well as being comfortable "in my own skin."

Simple. Go back to the pounds I weighed all my life before several adversities hit all in a row and gaining weight like crazy.

4leighbee wrote: »

atypicalsmith wrote: »

Simple. Go back to the pounds I weighed all my life before several adversities hit all in a row and gaining weight like crazy.

Wish I could do it like that. I've added weight lifting and turned 40 since then! I'll never be 120 - or even 130 - again. And I'm fine with that.

I'm 62, 5'2", and weighed 110 when I was 51. Quit smoking, had to move to another state at the last minute because of a disaster that struck my city, couldn't find a decent job, and next thing ya know, I'm up to 170. If you don't want to be 120 or 130, that's great. MFP will help no matter what your goal weight is.

BMI is a inaccurate, misleading and can be discouraging measure of body weight. BMI works for a small range of body types and if you don't fit neatly in that range it can be very disheartening to someone working so hard to reach an unattainable and unhealthy goal weight. I have lost 96 lbs. in seven months and only lost 7 lbs. of muscle along the way. I know that because I did a Bod Pod when I started my weight loss and did another at 85 lbs. of weight loss. While many people disagree with the accuracy of bod pod within 2 to 3 percent but as far as I am concerned that's accurate enough for me to figure out my ideal weight within a couple of pounds. The most useful info from a bod pod is lean body mass, once you know that you can do some simple math to figure out a body weight range by adding a target body fat percentage ( in pounds) back in. My lean body mass (weight of my body with 0 fat) is 10 lbs. over my high end BMI range! So I spent decades trying and failing to reach an unattainable goal and I would wonder why I could not reach my BMI range and not by a little I am talking about missing it by almost 40 lbs. so I would feel like a failure get discouraged and drop off my diet and exercise program not knowing that I was actually very close to a healthy body weight for me, what a waste of years of effort. This time I decided to educate myself stop listening to diet and fitness hacks and get a nutritionist and trainer that really understand how our bodies are different and how they work. As you can tell I really dislike BMI, (its very easy to find real, credible information that discredits BMI) do some research educate yourself and invest some resources to loose weight with useful information and goals. There are several ways to get good information, bod pod, dexa scan, water displacement all of which are more useful and accurate than BMI and caliper measurements. They cost money but they will save you so much more over the long run. Right now as of today I weigh 219 lbs. I am 5'9" tall and I am within 10 to 20 lbs. of my target of 18% body fat. which according to BMI is still in the obese range, my trainer is one of the most fit individuals I have ever met and not overly muscled but cut and lean and at his weight his BMI has him as high end over weight my nutritionist is tall and very lean with a distance runners body and she fits neatly into BMI so learn, plan and execute your lifestyle change and get off this weight loss rollercoaster.