What made you pick your goal weight?

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Replies

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Mine was BMI based. I didn't really have a specific weight in mind but MFP wanted me to put something so I chose a weight near, but not at, the highest healthy BMI for my height.
  • harpsdesire
    harpsdesire Posts: 190 Member
    edited April 2015
    Less 'what' and more 'who': My doctor.

    I know there's a rage of bmi numbers that can be healthy, and bmi isn't really all that amazing an indicator of health according to some, but the doctor measured my height and plopped down a goal number a touch over the middle of the healthy bmi range for my height and said 'go there'.

    It didn't seem unreasonable for me since I have a medium frame. I'm going to get close to that and see how I look/feel/bodyfat % and then fine tune if needed. I have a WHILE before I get to that point though....
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I picked my goal weight because it seemed like a good weight the last time I was that weight. It is near the top end of Normal BMI but it also happens to be in the middle of Normal when using Nick Trefethen's "New BMI" calculation.
    I'm a big fan.

    "Normal" BMI = 24.80
    "New" BMI = 22.47

    I'd never heard of this "new BMI" so I googled it. My new BMI was higher. :/
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    My ultimate goal is visually based rather than numeric. I'm another one who started with a bmi based goal to get into a good range. Now I'm just focused on continuing to lose fat in the slow-to-go area. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get there this year. I'm 5'6" and 147 right now. I've seen a big improvement in my stomach this year after a tiny bulk and going back to cutting (just put a picture of the 3 lb difference in my profile) so I think I can get there around 140.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    I picked my goal weight because it seemed like a good weight the last time I was that weight. It is near the top end of Normal BMI but it also happens to be in the middle of Normal when using Nick Trefethen's "New BMI" calculation.
    I'm a big fan.

    "Normal" BMI = 24.80
    "New" BMI = 22.47

    I'd never heard of this "new BMI" so I googled it. My new BMI was higher. :/
    It bumps down for taller people, and up for shorter people, while those in the middle are relatively unchanged.

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  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    I'm 5'5", I was around 140 before I got pregnant and felt pretty good there.

    But my goal weight for now is 149 - that's the highest weight in the normal BMI range. I started at 232 pounds, so my main goal has always been to be "normal" :) . I'm 5.8 pounds away, and I'm pretty sure I'll keep going a bit longer and base my new goal on how I look/feel, rather than the scale.
  • AgentOrangeJuice
    AgentOrangeJuice Posts: 1,069 Member
    UFC Fighters, that guy looks like that at that weight, I'm in!
  • yourradimradletshug
    yourradimradletshug Posts: 964 Member
    Apparently it's the "healthy" weight for someone my size. Honestly if I could get to within 5 pounds of my goal weight I think I could be happy/healthy.
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
    I was there before as an adult and it was where I was happy. 150, 5'11, 36 years old. Little less than a 21 BMI. And after an 18 lbs loss I'm a bit south of that at 148.4. Maintenance range of 147-153.
  • BigLifter10
    BigLifter10 Posts: 1,153 Member
    edited April 2015
    Visual, for the most part (and how clothes actually fit). There was a time when I wasn't into physique and I could be 180 and look soft and had much higher body fat, now, I am 165 and have a lot of muscle, about 19 percent body fat versus 30 percent. Big difference. I currently wear size 10, but if I drop to 155, I'll be in 6 or 8 and look too thin and the muscle will look more stringy. I need to stay between 160 and 170 for optimal health and healthy look as well. I am a shade under 5'10". My highest weight ever was 207.
  • craziedazie
    craziedazie Posts: 185 Member
    My goal weight is 169. I'm 5'9. This may seem a little high to some people but I was able to easily maintain that weight before I began overeating on a regular basis. When I reach that goal then I may consider going lower.
  • Debbjones
    Debbjones Posts: 278 Member
    For me it was the lowest normal BMI combined with the nice round number of approximately 90 pounds lost.

    If I had any advice to someone just starting out on their weight loss adventure... that would be to weigh yourself at the start (I waited until 2 weeks in to weigh for the first time because I was afraid to get on the scale... I just did not want to see the number and then fail to stick to my plan) and take body measurements. I never took body measurements... in retrospect it would be nice after a 90 pound loss, to realize the actual number of inches I lost.
  • TiffanyR71
    TiffanyR71 Posts: 217 Member
    I picked my goal weight because it seemed like a good weight the last time I was that weight. It is near the top end of Normal BMI but it also happens to be in the middle of Normal when using Nick Trefethen's "New BMI" calculation.
    I'm a big fan.

    "Normal" BMI = 24.80
    "New" BMI = 22.47

    I'd never heard of this "new BMI" so I googled it. My new BMI was higher. :/

    Me, too, by ~4lbs... I'll wait and see if I want to keep going when I get to healthy weight based on old BMI... I'm quite certain that those 4 lbs won't make or break my health.
  • svetlay
    svetlay Posts: 11 Member
    see I was curious about that too. I chose mine to be 3-4 kg lower then my lowest point as an adult. I've always been on the heavy side and even my lowest didn't feel comfortable). That said I'm about 15 pounds above my goal and 8 above my "lowest" and I look and feel better than ever, almost out of sizes to drop and I might just up my goal by 10 lbs. before I just did crash dieting and cardio and was probably "skinny fat" back then, mind you not even that skinny. Now the difference feels huge. At 142 some years ago I was a size 6, at 150 I am a size 2.

    Here is what I'm curious about: Now that (presumably) most of us are educated on healthy fat loss while working to maintain muscle... aren't most indicators of ideal weight flawed(bmi, past weight etc). If you are say 150 lbs and carrying the muscles of a 180lbs person doesn't that carry a big difference in GW? Not that I'm complaining, reaching your "goal" sooner than expected is awesome, but I think personally I just learned to enjoy the process, because goals can be innacurate and plus goal implies an end to the process.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited April 2015
    I went at it pretty simply and somewhat naively. I used the formula I learned in school: 5'0=100Lbs, add 5Lbs for every inch. So I mentally aimed for 130. I was at 129 when my weight loss stopped, naturally. So I stopped there. Later I saw a BMI chart and my weight was pretty good according to that. I ended up gaining a couple back, and settled at 132. My happy range these last many years has been 130-135.
  • juleszephyr
    juleszephyr Posts: 442 Member
    9:13 as it is 139 lbs so under the 140 lb - ten stone barrier... It just sounded good. I am at 142 today and now thinking I might re-assess and push to 130 - 135 lbs slowly over the next six months with some lifting and body recomp and toning work!!
  • I have been overweight/obese since late elementary school. At the time I started losing weight, I was at the low end of morbidly obese.

    My doctor recommended that I set my goal weight for a ten pound range (5 pounds either side) of the top of the 'overweight' range for my height. I am currently 12 pounds away from the top of that range.

    From there, I am planning to keep going until I get to the top of a 'normal' bmi for my height.
  • HollandOats
    HollandOats Posts: 202 Member
    edited April 2015
    I'm 5' 8" female and aiming for 145lbs. My original goal was 140, as that was the median of my healthy BMI range, and I figured that'd be just right. But I'm finding it hard to stay under 150 (I weighed in at 150 again this morning after being 147 last week) and when I look in the mirror at this current weight, my rib cage is defined (not individual ribs) and my hip bones show, but I'm still soft and feminine... I think 140 would rob me of that soft quality... but I have this strong desire to be under 150, probably just because it's eluding me so. I think 145 will reflect the healthy lifestyle changes I've been making, and I'll appear "lean" rather than average.

    I have an inkling that once I eventually hit and stay around 145, I may decide to drop it lower prior to recomp work, as then I can gain back in muscle, but possibly keep around 145. The number itself shouldn't matter that much, but I can't deny, it has a mental hold on me.

    Either way, even now at 150, I feel good, I like how my clothes fit, I eat delicious foods and I don't kill myself in the gym (just fun, mixed intensity/interval cardio 2-3 times a week). I'm acceptably active for a 30 year old living life... if my weight stays right where it is, while still having a cheeseburger every now and then, and enjoying cold beers with friends and family, then I won't be mad. :)

    My highest weight was ~186, 2.5 years ago. Simple lifestyle change helped me down to 150 over that period (eat out much less, no snacking, get outside more).
  • ar9179
    ar9179 Posts: 374 Member
    I picked the highest "healthy" weight on the old BMI chart, but I guess I need to re-evalutate that since I'm short and the new BMI numbers are a tad lower.

    I want to weigh as much as possible and fit into a single digit size, so I'm trying to keep as much muscle as I can while losing. I'm 5'3" and the notion of weighing 100 lbs, like the previous poster wants, doesn't even compute for me as it's close to my estimated current LBM that I'm trying to preserve. My goal was 140, but with the new equation it should be 137. Honestly, I can't imagine being there so I'm exited to see what I'll look like!
  • slimmingbutterfly
    slimmingbutterfly Posts: 8 Member
    the weight i have picked is a weight i felt best at before my eating disorder started, i felt my strongest.
  • Allelito
    Allelito Posts: 179 Member
    It's the weight I was at around 2 years ago or so, ~120lbs. If I'm happy with my body before that though, I'll stop losing. :) I'm currently ~128lbs, 5'6". As of now, I think I'll be happy before 120lbs, maybe at around 123lbs or so (I just have a little bit of belly fat I still want to get rid of.) After that, I'll either do a recomp or bulk for a while!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Was it by choosing a particular BMI, or a weight you've been in the past which you felt good at?

    Or did you choose a weight to see how you felt when you reached it, and then decide if you wanted to lose anymore?

    I was shooting for a certain BF% or at least being in the general vicinity of that BF% and figured out what my weight should roughly be at that BF% provided I didn't lose a lot of muscle. I estimated fairly well.
  • DianaLovesCoffee
    DianaLovesCoffee Posts: 398 Member
    I was there before as an adult and it was where I was happy. 150, 5'11, 36 years old. Little less than a 21 BMI. And after an 18 lbs loss I'm a bit south of that at 148.4. Maintenance range of 147-153.

    Kristen, Is this about a size 8/10 pants? I'm same height but older. I was 150 in college and was a small size 10.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    Basically it's what the nutritionist recommended. She said it was the weight I would be at the healthiest BMI for my body type.
  • TakeMyTai
    TakeMyTai Posts: 28 Member
    edited April 2015
    I picked a weight that I felt good and didn't look annorexic. I'm 5'7" and I look amazing at 180lbs. I once dropped down to 159lbs during a messy divorce and I looked so sickly people kept asking if I was okay. 180lb gives me a 39in hip, 29in waist, and 36in bust. Even though it's not a 'healthy' weight for my height, I look healthy :)
  • jmbajb921
    jmbajb921 Posts: 4 Member
    I wanted my driver's license to stop lying.
  • HollandOats
    HollandOats Posts: 202 Member
    edited April 2015
    I was there before as an adult and it was where I was happy. 150, 5'11, 36 years old. Little less than a 21 BMI. And after an 18 lbs loss I'm a bit south of that at 148.4. Maintenance range of 147-153.

    Kristen, Is this about a size 8/10 pants? I'm same height but older. I was 150 in college and was a small size 10.

    @DianaLovesCoffee - Hello, not to butt in, but I wanted to say, I'm around 150lbs and 5' 8" and I'm in US size 8 pant and Medium tops. I still buy Large sometimes, just because I like the room, but definitely fit a Medium. And size 10 pants are just too sloppy looking (had to retire a bunch).

    Edited: Wups, just realized you're a right bit taller than I am... disregard, haha.
  • BettyM1017
    BettyM1017 Posts: 616 Member
    I picked a weight that I felt healthy at and was able to maintain for years until I hit 40 and a sedentary lifestyle and my weight jumped 40 pounds.
  • DianaLovesCoffee
    DianaLovesCoffee Posts: 398 Member
    I was there before as an adult and it was where I was happy. 150, 5'11, 36 years old. Little less than a 21 BMI. And after an 18 lbs loss I'm a bit south of that at 148.4. Maintenance range of 147-153.

    Kristen, Is this about a size 8/10 pants? I'm same height but older. I was 150 in college and was a small size 10.

    @DianaLovesCoffee - Hello, not to butt in, but I wanted to say, I'm around 150lbs and 5' 8" and I'm in US size 8 pant and Medium tops. I still buy Large sometimes, just because I like the room, but definitely fit a Medium. And size 10 pants are just too sloppy looking (had to retire a bunch).

    That's great news! :)