Setting goal weight

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apreimer2
apreimer2 Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I have been using MFP since January. I was at 187 (5'9" male). Initially I set my goal weight at 165, which is about what I'd weighed for most of the years since graduating college (say 2006-2012). Then my first kid came along and I started to put on some weight (more eating, drinking, and less exercise).

Anyway, I have now hit passed my goal weight and am hitting the scales at 163 (back within normal BMI range). I am definitely happier where I am at. I have more energy, I am exercising a lot more consistently than I was previously, I pulled out some jeans I haven't been able to wear in years and ditched the baggy ones. But now that I am where I wanted to be, I am considering going further. I have really adapted to my current calorie allotment and I think I could easily keep going. I realize however that I am only about 5 months into this, which is much less time than many here, so I need some advice on sustaining a healthy weight long term.

How did you determine your weight goal? Has anyone else hit their initial weight goal and then re-evaluated? (go easy on me, I know people here have a low tolerance for dumb questions, I hope this isn't one of them!)

Replies

  • ruggedshutter
    ruggedshutter Posts: 389 Member
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    I set myself with multiple goals and reevaluated at each. For me I decided to keep going. Now my goal is 170...not sure if I'll go lower as I'm at 179 right now and that is only 1 pound higher than I was in high school. I say, keep going if you want. Evaluate when you feel like it and see how you look and feel.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    One article I read suggested that men should use 106+6(height in inches-60) and women should use 100+5(height in inches-60). For me, that worked out to be 208, which is a weight I felt comfortable at the last time I lost this much weight, so I went with it.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,709 Member
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    Find you lean body mass. Then decide what body fat % you want to be. Insert the formula:

    LBM/(1- desired body fat %)

    EX: 140lbs/.80 (desired body fat% is 20%)

    Answer= 175lbs to be at 20% body fat

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,416 Member
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    I don't so much have a goal weight as I do a goal body fat percentage... That's easy enough to estimate at any weight, and since it's a LOOK and FEEL I'm shooting for, rather than a NUMBER (because seriously... not like I'm going to have that number printed on my bikini...) I just look myself over in the mirror periodically (and in pictures - pictures give you perspectives you might not see in a mirror) and go from there.
  • apreimer2
    apreimer2 Posts: 15 Member
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    Thanks for the input folks. I like the idea of body fat as a general "look" approach. How do I find lean body mass? Can I just use one of the online calculators to estimate?
  • apreimer2
    apreimer2 Posts: 15 Member
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    Guess I should have mentioned something about clean eating or diet pills if I'd wanted to get more people to respond to my question.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    apreimer2 wrote: »
    Guess I should have mentioned something about clean eating or diet pills if I'd wanted to get more people to respond to my question.

    Or better yet, tell them you aren't using a scale.
  • harmar21
    harmar21 Posts: 215 Member
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    TimothyFish wrote: »
    One article I read suggested that men should use 106+6(height in inches-60) and women should use 100+5(height in inches-60). For me, that worked out to be 208, which is a weight I felt comfortable at the last time I lost this much weight, so I went with it.
    ]
    That just seems like such a general formula though. Doesnt take into account LBM,BF%, or frame build, or age.
    My two friends are same height, 2 years apart. Both extremely fit. One weights 180lbs the other weighs 205lbs. The heavier one has a much bigger frame then the lighter one, and both of them are over that calculation.;

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