Deciding on a goal weight

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  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
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    I do triathlons so I looked up the BMI of some of the elite competitors. That got me to 165. However, my BF is not where I want it to be (20 vs 12-13) so I am continuing to lose down to 150-155. Then I will go through bulk and cut cycles getting to 165 as a target.
  • Klmom123
    Klmom123 Posts: 91 Member
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    My goal weight is a general number.that I have maintained most of my life. Through kids, age, etc. it's not my high school number, i feel that would be unrealistic at 45. Now that I'm here, at my goal weight, I know why I picked that number. It's where I feel comfortable in my own skin. Pick a number that makes you feel good but is realistic.
  • CaliMomTeach
    CaliMomTeach Posts: 745 Member
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    I currently have a goal of 135. I'm a 5'6 47 year old female. When I started this at 193 pounds, my goal was 150. Once I got there, I decided to keep going. I got down to 137 in April, but went back up to 145. I'm now at 140. I could stop here easily. I look thin, and am in a size 4/6. I want to get a little below to allow room for a 5 pound range. I think weight sits differently on us all, even when we are the same height. I think I would look ill if I got down to 120. I have a large frame. Another woman might look fantastic at 120. Some people told me that I looked better at 145, than I did at 137. I did not agree. I think the number is probably not as important as how you feel.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    CaliMomTeach wrote: »
    I currently have a goal of 135. I'm a 5'6 47 year old female. When I started this at 193 pounds, my goal was 150. Once I got there, I decided to keep going. I got down to 137 in April, but went back up to 145. I'm now at 140. I could stop here easily. I look thin, and am in a size 4/6. I want to get a little below to allow room for a 5 pound range. I think weight sits differently on us all, even when we are the same height. I think I would look ill if I got down to 120. I have a large frame. Another woman might look fantastic at 120. Some people told me that I looked better at 145, than I did at 137. I did not agree. I think the number is probably not as important as how you feel.

    You and I are MFP twins! Except I'm on the east coast! I'm currently at 142, aiming for 135.
  • fowlkes59
    fowlkes59 Posts: 6 Member
    edited August 2017
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    I was 172lbs in April this year. I am now
    down to 145lbs. I got rid of my car and started walking. I stopped eating fast food and cut out sugar most of the time. I drank a lot of water. I am comfortable with my weight as it is now. Funny thing about this is that my pregnancy weight was 172 both times (twins boys first and 1 daughter).
  • jacquih2981
    jacquih2981 Posts: 120 Member
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    My lightest was 144 pounds at 5' 9" and my SW was 284 so I thought I would drop 100 pounds as that was a nice round number and then I could look at a goal weight. I still have 70 pounds to go before I need to decide
  • ISweat4This
    ISweat4This Posts: 653 Member
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    I just picked a random number (120), I'm 3lbs away. My new goal is to work on getting a leaner physique.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
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    As previous posters have stated weight is just a number. I also don't like using BMI cuz I never believed in it. If you go by the BMI index every guy who plays in the NBA is either overweight or worse. I think when you look at yourself in the mirror you'll know. Don't get fixated on a number because the number will drive you crazy. What you have to do is to look in the mirror and like what you see

    I started at 288 made it a goal to drop down to 250. I hit that had a crazy idea let me go down to 230. I hit that number and I said let me try to 220 that was my old weight in high school.
    When I hit 220 I decided I'm happy where I was. Went into maintenance totally screwed that up and I drop down to his lowest 204. I actually had a crazy idea to drop down into the 100s just for the hell of it. But when I looked at myself in the mirror I didn't like what I saw I was skinny fat. Gained a couple pounds with a lot of lifting and I've been maintaining in that 208 to 210 range for approximately the past 11 months.
  • joanreneepas
    joanreneepas Posts: 85 Member
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    I've reset my goal 3 times ( each time 5# less) based it on how I look and feel.
  • knitski2002
    knitski2002 Posts: 64 Member
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    I didn't really have a goal. I just kept gradually losing and was feeling great. I donate blood every eight weeks and I read somewhere that you can't give if you weight less than 110 so I said to myself, "There is my goal weight!" I have maintained that within a couple of pounds since January.
  • gustafgirl
    gustafgirl Posts: 45 Member
    edited August 2017
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    After 4 children and gaining weight over the years, I finally realized that even when I got back down to the ideal weight (I mean the number I set for myself) I didn't look the same. I have since learned to stop comparing my health to a number on a scale and the mirror. I am healthier than before, fee as though I'm in my twenties again. I do try to keep my body fat percentage in the normal healthy range. I never in a million years thought I would ever be under double digits in size, but I went from a size 20, to a very comfortable size 8. In short, numbers are deceiving, when you feel good in your skin and your health is good, that's a win!! Maintain that!!

    From the looks of things you are well on your way!! Your hard work is paying off! This really is a lifelong journey, you will know once you get there, what feels and looks good. I got down lower than I expected and honestly didn't feel as good, but gained back ten pounds and get great and liked how I looked. Keep up the good work!!!!
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Never had one...arbitrary number is arbitrary.

    This! ^ My goal weight is when I'm satisfied with how I look within reason. It is integrated with my exercise program. I didn't pick an arbitrary number ahead of time. I don't know what it will be.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    everher wrote: »
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    For now, it's 10 lbs below the top of my BMI range. When I'm within 20 lbs of that (I.E. less than 10 lbs away from a healthy BMI), I mean to consult my doctor for advice about where I probably want to end up. My reasons for my 'working' goal:
    • I am aware that I have some low-level stress and anxiety issues. I know that if I'm 0.2lbs under the top of my BMI range, I'll be fine and if I'm 0.2lbs over, I'll panic and worry that the weight is creeping back. Even though intellectually, I know that weight fluctuates depending on time of day, time of month, how long ago one ate, exercised, eliminated, etc. I know it, but I think I'll still stress. By setting the bar 10lbs into the range, I believe I'll still be within the range, no matter what the fluctuations.
    • Everyone says that the last 10 lbs are the hardest. If I get frustrated and want to just quit, I'll still be at a healthy weight. I will now stick my fingers in my ears, in case anyone wants to tell me that it's the last 10 lbs before healthy BMI, not last 10 lbs before goal that are going to be troublesome. This is one time where I don't want to know the actual facts. I want to delude myself... and maybe I'll be that outlier who doesn't struggle at the end. (Mental game: If I assume the last 10 lbs will be the hardest, on some level I will loosen up my logging, exercise a drop less, etc. and then blame it on my being in the last 10 lbs. If I act like it's actually going to be the 10 lbs after... maybe I'll still struggle, but I think I'll be able to keep from self-sabotaging.)

    Time will tell!

    If it makes you feel better, I'm 7 lbs away now from a healthy BMI and it isn't any harder than it has been before. I'm not sure if even the last 10 lbs will be hard. I think it just depends on how lean a person is trying to go. Like if I wanted to go to the bottom of the healthy BMI range for my height I'm sure that would be a lot harder than me stopping mid range.

    Good to know!
  • Tweaking_Time
    Tweaking_Time Posts: 733 Member
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    When I hit goal, I was thrilled with my body shape and hitting goal - FINALLY - after 18 long months.

    Over the next few months my body shape changed. I guess it was catching up to my 18 month transition. I decided to lose 10 more pounds and had to open another MFP account as Tweaking_Time because I was very stupid and cancelled my old account when I hit goal.

    Moral of my story - DON'T CANCEL YOUR ACCOUNT WHEN YOU HIT GOAL! And over the next few months a little fine tuning may be in order.

    Congrats on your success! Excellent work!!
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
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    @bizgirl26 My goal was decided by my doctor for medical reasons.
  • lottathought
    lottathought Posts: 19 Member
    edited August 2017
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    I am wrestling with this same issue.
    I started at 283 lbs and I am now at 178 lbs. ( I am 6'1") I have now had more than 1 person tell me it is time to stop. ( And I have also thought that they are just used to seeing me heavier)
    I am currently at my highschool weight.
    I think that you and I are asking ourselves the exact same question. What is my actual IDEAL weight?
    I am not talking about the weight on a chart...or a weight you might have been as a kid. What I am asking is...what is the weight that is most healthy for me? Of course that number will be different for each person. That is why I can not simply look at a chart.
    Yes, I am in a good BMI range .....but I did not come this far to leave any excess on the table. So where is the actual line of too far? I have believed that it is likely a bell curve..and when I pass the prime number, I will start feeling worse in some way. The thing that I do not know is what to look for when that time comes. What are symptoms that indicate that you have lost too much weight?
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
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    My original goal was 9.5st (133lbs) because it was a round number that was safely in the healthy BMI category (I'm 5 ft 3). However, now that I have hit that goal I feel I still need to lose some fat so I have adjusted my goal by another 5lbs to see how I feel when I get there. I have been maintaining between 131 and 135 for a few months now so I don't know when I will reach my new goal but as I am a healthy weight I am in no particular rush. It would just be nice.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    lottathought wrote: »
    I am wrestling with this same issue.
    I started at 283 lbs and I am now at 178 lbs. ( I am 6'1") I have now had more than 1 person tell me it is time to stop. ( And I have also thought that they are just used to seeing me heavier)
    I am currently at my highschool weight.
    I think that you and I are asking ourselves the exact same question. What is my actual IDEAL weight?
    I am not talking about the weight on a chart...or a weight you might have been as a kid. What I am asking is...what is the weight that is most healthy for me? Of course that number will be different for each person. That is why I can not simply look at a chart.
    Yes, I am in a good BMI range .....but I did not come this far to leave any excess on the table. So where is the actual line of too far? I have believed that it is likely a bell curve..and when I pass the prime number, I will start feeling worse in some way. The thing that I do not know is what to look for when that time comes. What are symptoms that indicate that you have lost too much weight?

    To some degree, I get the idea of optimization. On the on the other hand, perfectionism isn't great either. If you are at a good BMI, have good blood markers and have a reasonably well developed muscle structure, you are as good as there. I don't think there is any single real ideal weight. It's within a range.
  • SandraNancy
    SandraNancy Posts: 127 Member
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    I don't have a goal weight so much as I have goal measurements. I'm 5'7 like you, and I suppose I'd be considered pear-shaped. My goal measurements are 32-26-35. I started at 150 lbs, with measurements at 33-28-38. After 8 weeks I'm at 139 lbs, with measurements at 32-26.5-36.

    I've been 135 lbs before and liked that weight, but if I woke up tomorrow at 138 and had the measurements I wanted, 138 would be my goal weight. As some of the other posters have mentioned, weight can be misleading when you get smaller. You could be a toned 150 lbs and be a size 4 or a puffier 150 lbs and be a size 8, which is why I find measurements to be a better goal (at least for me).

    Congrats on all your success so far!
  • KatieNicole95
    KatieNicole95 Posts: 133 Member
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    For me - I have made actually 4 milestone goal weights to reach. The final goal weight is actually still considered overweight for my height - BUT, I was very happy with my size and shape at this weight before. I may possibly not be happy there once I get there but for now, that's the goal.

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