Mid 70s I was in my mid 20s. Remember those charts?

The chart said I should weigh 168 lbs max. I weighed about 176ish. I battled my way down to 168 and I think I stayed there 1 day. I couldn’t stand it. I wasn’t willing to eat/live in a way to stay there long term.

I needed fitness. The flab around my middle never disappeared even at 168. I needed fitness, not weight loss.

I let the idea that I was fat at 176lbs really take over my head and cause a lot of problems. Bad thinking.

Schedules- since you bring it up. All these gadgets and calculators reinforce the idea that we can schedule our weight loss. Just put it in the planner- meet up with 185lbs on March 18th.

Schedules turn weight loss success, losses, into failure, not on time.

My whole post here is under the umbrella of failure to correctly define a problem and measure/accept progress to the solution.

Weigh loss is really one big exercise in problem solving.

I have set weight loss goals, but now any loss is a WIN.

I think setting weight loss goals have proven more stumbling blocks then helps at times. At times, like now, when lifestyle behaviors are challenging, WL goals are unrealistic and not healthy. I find it is better to settle on those. Recipe planning, tracking, activity are more healthy and positive.

Amen. Not sure I ever had specific weight loss goals especially in terms of rate of loss. I agree that goals can be a deterrent to success if we adopt an "all or nothing" approach.

In my case I joined WW after numerous stuff with other diet schemes. I lost weight but then lost interest in those.

I had NO clue what my final weight might be. OK OK probably 5 LB in a tin can but I mean here enjoying life on earth. How could I know starting out at 213LB what weight to choose?? I thought maybe I had a "set point" of somewhere around 175ish LB and that my body would rebel big time much below that. I would have gotten a Dr's note in a heartbeat if needed once I reached some weight level. I was surprised as anyone that I went down below 175 without undue deprivation and eventually settled on 165 LB which is about the top of my "healthy range". Kinda struggled a bit sometimes near that weight off and on.
Bottom line for me is that until I got close to a healthier weight I didn't know what "my body might like" for a weight. I believe it is always better to be at a sustainable weight than try and be something I can't maintain. So no actual weight goal or rate of weight loss goal either.

Without a goal my body lost over 50 LB at about 1.9 LB per week on average but was faster in the beginning and quite slow at the end of its journey. At times I am closer to a 60 lb total loss and currently about 55 lb less than when I started (SW=213 lb and probably higher before I had an official weigh-in)

Again, GOAD helped me eliminate that thinking early on, thankfully! You guys have no idea how helpful and insightful it was for me to find GOAD on Day 1 of WW (well, maybe you do)!

This is a road I never went down. I know if I'm making choices consistent with my long-term objectives (which could include some coloring outside the line on any given day), I'm going to be healthier than I was in my previous life. Thanks to some of your guidance, I also know I just have to keep plugging along at this one day at a time. If I get too cocky and / or walk away, it's only a matter of time before I slide backwards.

Like you Jim, I see those proclamations all the time. To each their own, but I won't make them. Nor, for that matter will I say I've lost X # of pounds "forever". It's up to me, all day every day and I know I can as easily (or moreso) go back up in weight as come down.

beachwoman2006 wrote: »

I see so many people say they're going to lose X number of pounds by ________ (wedding, family reunion, class reunion, birthday, etc). That just doesn't work. At least not for me. The body is a fickle mistress. What works this week may not work next week.

Plus setting date/time-related goals can just lead to frustration and the "I might as well give up" mentality.

After reading all of your responses, and particularly Cindy's, I was reminded of something I've been mulling over lately.

I have watched so many people come to WW with an event based goal. We support and celebrate with them as they lose weight, sometimes remarkably quickly. We watch them go off excitedly the week of their target event, ... and we never see them again. Or if we do, it's the "I'm back and I have the same, or more, weight to lose". I haven't seen 1 event/time based weight loss last.

So when I'm tempted to do a crash diet to get to goal, to deprive myself along the way, I resist the temptation, and trust the process. When i get "there" some day, I want to stay there!

The past 2 years, I've wanted to be back to my personal goal weight in time for my annual physical in January. And for the past 2 years, all I've managed to do was maintain my weight.

Time based goals apparently don't work for me.

@Al_Howard - very true! And considering that I never, ever maintained my weight for even 1 year in the past, I shouldn't take this for granted. It will be 6 years that made the WW goal weight and then dropped below for nearly 4 years.