How do you set your weight goal?

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Jthanmyfitnesspal
Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've picked a target weight fairly arbitrarily.

If you use the standard BMI calculation

BMI = Weight(kg)/Height(meters)^2

My BMI at my (somewhat arbitrarily chosen) target weight is 26.7

The target weight to achieve a BMI of 25 based on the above formula is substantially lower than what seems reasonable to me.

So: how do you pick your target weight?
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Replies

  • 30kgin2017
    30kgin2017 Posts: 228 Member
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    I am not sure what my ultimate goal weight is. ATM its getting out of obese and into overweight range. Even that I've broken into 2 goals. Then I would like to work towards a BMI of 25 or maybe a bf% not sure yet.

    Either way for me it easier to focus on small goals because the ultimate goal is probably like 30% weight loss which is pretty daunting.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I picked an arbitrary number of 135lbs, no reason really. After I hit that I realized I wasn't where I wanted to be and kept losing, all the way down to around 117lbs (low end of the health range for bmi). In the few years since then I've fluctuated in the low 120s to the low 130s. I don't look at maintenance as being at a set number, but more as a range that fluctuates due to all sorts of factors, (but the changes are controlled).

    Morning weigh-in put me at 127.6lbs and I'm casually working towards being back down in the 122lb-125lb range for summer ie shorts season :) That puts my bmi at 20.6 currently.

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I picked a rough scale number and/or fitting comfortably in my favourite non stretch levis (without having to gymnastically contort while laying on my bed trying to do them up). Whichever came first .

    The number on that stupid scale is secondary to how i look and feel.
  • kq1981
    kq1981 Posts: 1,098 Member
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    I haven't really picked one either. I've set myself "mini goals" of 5kg/11lb at a time. I'll reassess wen I feel good and out of the obese bmi zone. Good luck :-)
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,680 Member
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    My original goal was simply to get back into the clothes I liked that were too small. When I did that, I decided to go for another 5 pounds. Then 5 more. Then I started running and lost a few more and liked where I was. I have stayed around that weight for a few years with some ups and downs due to travel. I occasionally think about getting down to my high school/college weight, but I think that would be too skinny for me now. I got close once, but only because I was ill. It wasn't sustainable.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,951 Member
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    At first, I wanted to be reasonably comfortably within my normal BMI range.

    When I reached that point, then I wanted to be in the lower half of my normal BMI range.

    Now I'm looking at the bottom of my BMI range with some interest. :)
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I picked a random number just as a starting point (25-26 BMI like my mom who looks stunning). Once I get there, I will eat a comfortable amount of food and do a comfortable amount of activity so the total mental and physical effort doesn't feel too hard or too easy but just right (basically do what I feel would be sustainable for life). Then I will let my weight settle up or down from there on its own, with a hard line to never go above 28 BMI (to be lower than 80 kg) and to never go above 81 cm (32 inches) in waist size, whichever comes first. I'm more concerned about this being a lasting change than any specific number on the scale or clothes size (although I wouldn't mind fitting into a medium for convenience purposes) but I also don't want to get into the danger zone for diabetes. If at any point in the future my blood sugar doesn't show numbers I like, I will put in more effort and try to maintain a lower weight, all the way down to the bottom of BMI scale if needed, but I hope I never need to because my aesthetic preference is higher on BMI scale.
  • BeChill73
    BeChill73 Posts: 75 Member
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    I picked a spot in the middle of my BMI ideal range.
  • kq1981
    kq1981 Posts: 1,098 Member
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    tomteboda wrote: »
    I started at 270 lbs.. I knew I was really overweight but couldn't really mentally handle the idea that I was more than 100 lbs overweight. So I set a goal of 180 lbs, which was less than 100 to lose and seemed achievable. I also could remember being that weight as an adult, though it'd been about 10 years.

    By the time I hit 190 I knew that 175 was achievable and probably better for me, so I lowered my goal. At 175 I waffled a bit, and lowered my deficit. Six months later I hit 165. Now I'm aiming for 155.. at a similarly glacial pace. None of this is motivated by BMI, it's all anchored in how much better I'm feeling every time I lose 10-20 lbs because of the reduced stress on my back and joints.

    I've now reached a point where my measurements are smaller than they've been at any time in my life post-puberty. This blows my mind, to be honest, and is challenging my self-image.

    These kinds of posts make me want to keep going wen I'm having a bad day! Such a wicked effort, well done!!!!!!
  • Chadxx
    Chadxx Posts: 1,199 Member
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    Mine was just an educated guess as my real goal is all about being lean and fit vs a number on a scale. I pay no attention to BMI as I simply don't fit into that mold.
  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
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    I didnt pick a weight goal, I picked a clothing size, and the ability to shop for clothes at any store, not just the plus size specialty shops. So now that I am there, I see that I can go a bit farther (or lower) and I have another goal now of being classified as a "healthy" weight according to BMI, not in the obese or overweight category.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I didn't really...I had a desired BF% in mind...various calculators gave me reasonable estimations of what my weight would be, but they were just estimations.
  • maybe1pe
    maybe1pe Posts: 529 Member
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    I originally picked a goal of 150 which is the very top of my healthy BMI. But now I'm about 40 lbs from that and I've changed my mind. My goal is now not so much a number on the scale but a level of body comfort. If that comes before or after the original goal I don't really care. I just want to be comfortable and happy (mostly) with my body.

    I've also considered aiming for a specific body fat % over the long run but I haven't committed to that yet
  • rachelcgn
    rachelcgn Posts: 148 Member
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    I just picked a random number as goal weight. When I started I was almost 273lbs and felt overwhelmed by having to loose basically half my weight. In the beginning it was a lot about just losing and then to go from there. When I was down to 252lbs a coworker and I started to support each other a bit and have weigh ins etc. Unfortunately she wasn't quite committed, but I didn't wanna stop. Wanted to make it to 220lbs, then to Onederland and now my goal is 154 to 160lbs. Since I am currently at my lowest weight in probably 20 years (am 35) don't know when I actually wanna stop. Have never been at a normal weight in my life and don't know when I can say: that's it, that's where I am happy at. As of today I am 189.6lbs and almost at being 'only' Overweight according to BMI, started at Obese Class III.
  • chubbs415706
    chubbs415706 Posts: 13 Member
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    I set my goal to my pre wedding and baby weight. Since I got married I've had 2 kids and gained 40 lbs. I broke that goal into 2 goals. First, being pre baby number 2 weight. Then goal is pre baby number 1 weight (wedding weight). Once I get there my goal will to be get out of the "overweight" BMI. I'm currently "obese".
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I decided to plan to lose 1/3 of my weight. So from 330 to 220. Still in the overweight range for me, but not obese.
    I also set mini-goals based on different things.
    315
    300
    290 - under 40 BMI so no longer morbidly obese
    280
    264 - 20% gone
    257 under 35 BMI so no longer Obese class II. This one was a *kitten* and just hit it this week
    247.5 - 25% gone
    231 - 30% gone
    220 - overweight

    Plan is to get to 220 by the summer and then stop actively trying to lose weight for the summer. Sept I plan to join a gym and start seriously building some muscle mass.
  • akmomof7
    akmomof7 Posts: 162 Member
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    I agree with a lot of the previous posters that the goal changes over time. I initially wanted to hit 145, but as I got closer I found it was still a little high so I set my sights on 140. I am going to keep 140 as my upper limit. From here I am going to call myself in maintenance but still aim for a tiny deficit as I concentrate on fitness and body composition.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    I set my ultimate goal at the top end of the normal BMI range. For me that was 194 or less. So I chose 190. I then set mini goals for 250, and 225, and finally 190. By the time I changed over to maintenance slowly I had hit 178. I've bounced back up building muscle so I'm around 185ish now maybe a tad more but I'll try and stay at or under 190 permanently depending on the amount of muscle I am able to build. That gives me roughly a 5 lb tolerance to stay in the normal BMI range. That may change later, and I may go over if I decide to build more muscle. I really have no specific goal for that except what I want to look like in the mirror. Whatever that takes is where I'll end up.

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