What should my goal weight be for fitness? (Female)

SaraMontgomery940
SaraMontgomery940 Posts: 4 Member
edited November 23 in Fitness and Exercise
Current stats: female, 5'7", 159lbs, 24% body fat

When I first started losing weight, I was very focused on number of the scale. I set my goal for 140lbs and wanted to maintain muscle while losing fat. I did a body scan at the beginning and a body scan again recently. In 3 months, I have lost almost 20lbs, bringing my body fat percentage from 31% to 24% and have GAINED 2lbs of muscle.
If I continue to lose weight and for the most part maintain muscle, 140lbs would be too lean for me, putting my body fat around 13%. My goal is about 18 - 20% body fat but I feel like I have more than 8-10lbs to lose, which would put me at around 150lbs. What do you guys think is a good body fat goal and weight goal for me?

Replies

  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    edited August 2015
    Don't go off of body weight alone... go off of body fat percentage and looks.

    Gained 2 lb's of muscle? How are you so sure? Just wondering.

    I'd say 13% body fat for a woman is a too low... I'm pretty sure at that level your hormones will start going out of wack and what not... I'm not entirely sure.
  • SaraMontgomery940
    SaraMontgomery940 Posts: 4 Member
    @IsaackGMOON
    I used the body scan machine at my gym. I went from 65.9lbs to 67.7lbs of skeletal muscle mass in 3 months according to the machine (which is above average muscle mass for my height, weight and gender meaning that it's harder to relate to the goals of other females hence the post)
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    SaraMontgomery940 wrote: »
    @IsaackGMOON
    I used the body scan machine at my gym. I went from 65.9lbs to 67.7lbs of skeletal muscle mass in 3 months according to the machine (which is above average muscle mass for my height, weight and gender meaning that it's harder to relate to the goals of other females hence the post)

    Is it one of these things below?

    ol84k2e90f7m.jpeg
    abf2ubkzbh1a.jpg

    If it was; these things are really inaccurate. Your hydration levels can throw them off completely... I'm highly doubtful in the fact that you gained 2lb's of muscle while losing 30lb.
  • SaraMontgomery940
    SaraMontgomery940 Posts: 4 Member
    @IsaackGMOON Yes, it is one of those.
    Perhaps not, but I did follow all advice I could find on muscle maintenance (keep protein intake high, lift several times and week and continue to lift heavy and try to maintain strength) so I hope for the most part that I've at least maintained my muscle.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    1. Fat loss isn't this linear thing where the last 15 pounds comes off as easily as the first 15.
    2. Fat loss doesn't happen in such a swift manner that you have to carve your goal weight in stone RIGHT NOW because if don't you'll overshoot it while you're blinking.

    Stop sweating it. Continue cutting until you're satisfied.
  • _bellator_
    _bellator_ Posts: 50 Member
    DavPul wrote: »
    1. Fat loss isn't this linear thing where the last 15 pounds comes off as easily as the first 15.
    2. Fat loss doesn't happen in such a swift manner that you have to carve your goal weight in stone RIGHT NOW because if don't you'll overshoot it while you're blinking.

    Stop sweating it. Continue cutting until you're satisfied.

    ^^This. You'll know your goal weight when you see it. And just FYI, my hormones work just fine at 13% bf and even quite a bit lower than that. It depends on the person. There's a range of healthy for each person. Getting too lean doesn't generally happen on accident, and it's a pretty easy problem to fix...really almost too easy to fix actually. ;)

  • XavierNusum
    XavierNusum Posts: 720 Member
    DavPul wrote: »
    1. Fat loss isn't this linear thing where the last 15 pounds comes off as easily as the first 15.
    2. Fat loss doesn't happen in such a swift manner that you have to carve your goal weight in stone RIGHT NOW because if don't you'll overshoot it while you're blinking.

    Stop sweating it. Continue cutting until you're satisfied.

    right here! You are making great progress, just keep going and see where it leads you.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    DavPul wrote: »
    1. Fat loss isn't this linear thing where the last 15 pounds comes off as easily as the first 15.
    2. Fat loss doesn't happen in such a swift manner that you have to carve your goal weight in stone RIGHT NOW because if don't you'll overshoot it while you're blinking.

    Stop sweating it. Continue cutting until you're satisfied.

    exactly this...I really see little point in setting scale weight goals or even BF% goals...look in the mirror...you likey then all good...
  • SaraMontgomery940
    SaraMontgomery940 Posts: 4 Member
    Setting goals helps me to keep myself on track but I have been using the mirror as a guideline too of course. Thanks for the advice everyone!
  • XavierNusum
    XavierNusum Posts: 720 Member
    SaraMontgomery940 wrote: »
    Setting goals helps me to keep myself on track but I have been using the mirror as a guideline too of course. Thanks for the advice everyone!

    That's completely understandable, but keeping everything realistic is key. Also, your question is really subjective. The only person that can answer it is you. In addition, "fitness" doesn't have a weight. Maybe you could set goals that are more of a real fitness test, 5k, 10k, mud run or similar.

    Last thing, I promise, if you are at 24% BF, there isn't too many places to go from there unless you plan to compete and most competitors don't stay there long, just long enough to get onstage. Also much less than about 12% for women is a serious commitment and comes with some consequences.

    built-lean-body-fat-percentage-women.jpg
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