How did you pick your goal weight?

summpear
summpear Posts: 77 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm curious how you picked your goal. I've seen women of my height here with a wide variety of goals for their weight so it made me curious how others chose.

Mine was simple - I looked at a BMI chart, saw where i went from "overweight" to "within normal" and picked a few pounds below that threshold. I figure once i get there I'll figure out if I'm happy, want to lose a few more pounds, or if i want to tone up even if that means weighting up too.
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Replies

  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
    I picked mine, because that was the weight I was happy with before I let myself go. I have no idea where I'm going to end up, though. It might turn out to be much different, though, because I didn't work out back then. I'll know when I'm 'there' by how I look and perform.
  • Dani9585
    Dani9585 Posts: 215 Member
    I picked a weight that I felt good at many years ago. It's not set in stone though, more of a guide - I don't know if I will be happy at that weight again. I wasn't lifting before, but am now. So, if I had a higher weight due to muscle increase, I'm happy.
  • tbright1965
    tbright1965 Posts: 852 Member
    It's the weight I was when I left the Army in 1992. The stretch goal is my high school graduation weight. But I know I've filled out since then, chest going from 42" to 48" when I was in the Army.

    The post-Army weight would be 25% less than my starting weight and I'm 50% of the way there, having lost about 13% of my starting weight since 14 Feb. If I continue my approximately 1%/week loss, I would be at the primary goal in late August. It would take until late November to hit the high school graduation weight at the same rate of loss.
  • lorib642
    lorib642 Posts: 1,942 Member
    I thought 50 lbs loss was a good goal and it does put me in the normal range.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    My doctor gave me a healthy range of 145-160. I chose a range of 150-155 to give myself a little wiggle room in either direction
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,069 Member
    edited May 2018
    My original goal was the weight I was for most of my life prior to getting the desk job and not giving enough respect to how much that affected my activity levels and calorie burn.

    I've modified that to a higher goal as I've been doing more weight training and I'm pretty sure I'm carrying more muscle 'bulk' now than I was then.

    BUT, that being said, the "revised" goal is a "get there and see how I feel about my body at that point" goal, not a "that's it!!" goal.

    5' 7", F, 39
    Heaviest: ~163ish (never weighed myself)
    Current goal: 140
    Previous goal: 127-132
    Current weight: ~153-154
  • svel713
    svel713 Posts: 141 Member
    I originally picked 115lbs (21 BMI) because I was worried that even that would be too hard to get to. Even then, I was still slightly undereating 150 cals a day being active and kept losing. I finally stopped and gained 2lbs on purpose and settled there when I noticed it looked like my butt was sagging. The 2lbs minimally fixed it without me looking bloated in the gut.

    Now I'm wondering if butts can have loose skin. I never thought to ask.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    When I am happy I have picked it.
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
    I picked mine based on the body fat percentage I would like to achieve. I'm approximately 30% body fat and want to get down to about 22%. Based on my current lean mass, that is how I came up with my weight goal. Like others, mine will be fined tuned as I get closer due to the fact that I due strength training and may gain more muscle in the mean time.

    5'4", 29, F.
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
    edited May 2018
    My first goal is 150lbs, my high school weight from when I had gym class every day. I was a size 12 and fairly happy with my body then (my first experience losing a bit of weight and gaining some fitness). I know it's comfortable and looks fine on me. I might stop there and work on improving fitness. It's still overweight though, so I'm not sure how my health would be, which is why I have another goal.

    My second goal is from the highest normal BMI at my height - 130lbs. It's sort of an "ideal" goal. But if I hit 150 and want to work on strength and fitness that's also good. It depends on my health and how I'm feeling really.

    Oh yeah my stats are 5'2" 25 F
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    edited May 2018
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    I'll know mine when I see it.

    I'm sort of fine where I am now health-wise. I'm just working on vanity at this point. Recomp combined with extra slow loss of some stubborn fat pockets.

    It won't really be a number, it will be a look.

    ^ Same here, exactly.


    The nice thing about picking a goal weight (if that's the way you choose to go) is that it's not written in stone once you choose it. If you're happy enough with your results at a higher weight than you originally chose, congratulations - you just reached your goal weight. If you reach your chosen goal weight and still aren't happy, choose a new one (or a different goal such as bodyfat percentage or whatever) and keep on truckin'. The "goal weight police" aren't going to come lock you up because you don't settle for the number you originally chose. :)
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    Initially I chose a goal weight which gave me BMI of 25. I honestly doubted my ability to even get there when I first got serious about improving my health and fitness. Once there I decided I could go a few kilos lower which was smack in the middle of the healthy BMI range. Got there and went into maintenance but my body had different ideas and ended up losing more so I now have a BMI hovering between 19 and 9.5. I would like to be a bit higher but it seems my maintenance weight has somehow chosen me rather than the other way around.
  • ljashley1952
    ljashley1952 Posts: 275 Member
    I chose my goal weight as a beginning goal. It is where I want to get to regardless of whether or not I go further. I feel like assigning myself manageable goals will assure myself that I can actually reach the goal. If I chose a perfect weight for me, it would look like such an unreachable goal that I will be easily discouraged when I plateau. I want to be able to reach a series of short-term or mini-goals. I also chose a weight that I know that I can realistically reach and maintain. Anyone can diet and exercise down to a goal weight. The real work comes in maintaining that weight for the long-term. That is where I have failed in the past. I yoyo and I want to prevent that. If it takes me five years to lose my extra weight, I will be happy to just be going in the right direction.
  • bisonpitcher
    bisonpitcher Posts: 519 Member
    Mine is a body fat goal more than a weight goal. I want to get under 12% BF. That should be about 180-185 pounds by my best calculations. I started at 293 lbs and over 40% BF. Now at 207 and 23%. I woke up on my 37th birthday and weighed 293 (my highest ever). I set a specific goal. I wanted a six pack by the age of 40. I'm 38 now and hoping to get there this year.
  • sra455
    sra455 Posts: 57 Member
    I too looked at the BMI for my height and then picked a weight kind of in the middle. I don't need to be on the lowest end of healthy or super skinny, just somewhere in the middle of the range is what i'm going for.

    5'10", goal weight 145 lbs
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    I went for almost half my weight as my long term goal, 150lb seemed like a nice round number. Even though that still put me in the overweight category, thanks to my muscle mass that's a weight that happens to look good on me so I maintained there for a while. I've now decided I want to lose another 10lb, which will still have me overweight, but my fitness goals are more important than a goal weight now.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    My ideal goal weight is 115 lbs. My more realistic goal is 120 lbs. I am 5'0" tall. I want to fit my clothes again.

    Any time I have weighed less than 115, I have stopped menstruating, and had to eat 1200 calories and exercise every day. I was a size 2-4 at my lowest weight. I cant imagine being 100 lbs. At that weight I would be too skinny and less than a size zero. I dont know how some women my height weigh 90 lbs. That is insane to me. I guess our bodies are all different.
  • MushroomLadyJR
    MushroomLadyJR Posts: 89 Member
    Mine is based on getting back into a healthy bmi. I'm just over now, at 26.6. I've never been small so it's difficult to choose a solid number really. I suppose I'll adjust as I move forward.
  • Kfrase83
    Kfrase83 Posts: 42 Member
    My current goal is be back to pre-baby weight, and I am 5 lbs away from it. Babe will be 2 years old in less than 2 weeks, so the clock is ticking! Hahaha.
    I used to be 10 lbs from current for a long time, so ideally I will hit that point sometime again. Getting back to logging, and really focusing on increasing my protein intake have helped so much.
  • Finkelstien
    Finkelstien Posts: 55 Member
    i googled "ideal weight calculator" filled in the form and it said it needs to be 59 kg. Then i looked at the BMI chart and put my goal weight in between 59 and 70 kg which is a healthy bmi. 65 kg. is my goalweight
  • DamienAngelica
    DamienAngelica Posts: 281 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    I'll know mine when I see it.

    I'm sort of fine where I am now health-wise. I'm just working on vanity at this point. Recomp combined with extra slow loss of some stubborn fat pockets.

    It won't really be a number, it will be a look.

    ^ This.

    My original goal was 140, what I weighed when I fit into my two favorite pairs of jeans. Once I got there, while I was happy to wear the jeans again, I wasn't happy with how I looked so I continued to eat at a deficit. I'm now 130 pounds and happy. Certainly there's room for improvement, but that's what recomp is for.
  • jefamer2017
    jefamer2017 Posts: 416 Member
    summpear wrote: »
    I'm curious how you picked your goal. I've seen women of my height here with a wide variety of goals for their weight so it made me curious how others chose.

    Mine was simple - I looked at a BMI chart, saw where i went from "overweight" to "within normal" and picked a few pounds below that threshold. I figure once i get there I'll figure out if I'm happy, want to lose a few more pounds, or if i want to tone up even if that means weighting up too.

    Same here. I'd like to be 135 because the highest weight for my height is 145. This is completely dependent upon body composition if I'm lean enough at 145 I'll maintain if I'm still fatty at 135 I'll lose.
  • etherealanwar
    etherealanwar Posts: 465 Member
    edited May 2018
    I chose my goal weight to be 130 lbs. A weight I used to be at and was happy with. Preferably I'd like to go down to my high school weight of 120 lbs but once I reach 130 I will see how I feel :)

    I am 5'4" as well currently at 179 lbs.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    I'm 5'7" and chose 135lbs as my goal. I'm currently hovering around 136lbs and I think I could actually go lower, maybe 125lbs. I still have a belly pooch and 39" hips so I wouldn't mind continuing to slowly trim down.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Various googlings told me anywhere between 125 and 145 was "ideal" for my height so I just aimed right in the middle for 135. I got there, held it for a year, and recently decided another 5 off might be better and I was right. 130 is kinda nice right now.
  • chornak05
    chornak05 Posts: 135 Member
    I chose mine based on my weight pre kids. I am 5'6'' and pre kids (24 years old) I weighed 145. After my third was born (28 years old), I weighed 165. So, 145 was my initial goal but I decided when I reached it to go lower. I am now at ~120 and happy with what I see in the mirror. I could go up 5 lbs or down a couple and i'd still be happy. I've been in maintenance since December. It took me about 9 months to drop the weight.

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