Original Goals?

My goals are clothing sizes not weight. I'd rather have something tangible that I can wear than some number on a scale.

When it get to a place where I am happy I have achieved my final goal weight.

These are my personal preferences so they only have to be right for me. How you set your progress goals (if you have them) and major goal is up to you. If celebrating more often will help you set your goals accordingly.

My goals are constantly changing. When I started on MFP many years ago I was 130 lbs and my goal was 120 lbs. Then it was 115 lbs, then 125, and now 140. I started as a runner and became a lifter, so my ideal physique has changed a lot over the years.

I have an ultimate goal but I set up mini goals with rewards along the way. Ie: 10 lbs down - mani pedi. 15 lbs- new undies, 20 lbs - new jeans etc all the way up to professional fitness style photos at my goal. (Or a trip. Or both. Lol)

Initially I chose an ultimate goal (10 stone -140lb), but altered it a few months ago to 154 (11 stone) as an initial goal because I’m beginning to suspect 140 will be rather low for me. Once I hit 154 I will reassess. (161 now). I’m actually not fussed where I land now weight wise, it’s more about finding my happy spot where I fit in the clothes I want to fit into (size 12uk).

I think a lot of it really depends on where you are at on your journey. I am 6' tall and if I were the 195 pound guy I was shortly after high school it would be reasonable for me (personally) to set my goal of getting to 175 and solid. Now when I started my weight loss & be healthier lifestyle change, I was at a BMI of 52.5 and weighed 387. Buying clothes meant either going to the limited expensive stores (like Casual Male XL or the like) or ordering them online.

Ideally I WOULD like to get to the 185 I was in high school 32 years ago but it is easy for many people to set themselves up for failure that way, including myself. The idea that anything less than perfection is failure.

So for me, when the doctor at the hospital's bariatric center asked me "What would you like to see yourself get down too?" I felt that even though I was down to 356 at that time, I thought that 225 was a reasonable first goal and that from there, I could reassess how much more I wanted to lose. She agreed and that is where that is at for me.

If you look at my goals and motivations in my profile you see something I mentioned earlier. I wanted to be able to buy clothes in "normal" stores like Walmart, Fred Meyer and other everyday stores. Most of them don't carry pants that are above a size 44 to 46 waist or shirt sizes above 2XL. At right around 300 pounds now that is happening and it feels great to not have to dread buying clothes and having the hope that MAYBE this store will have 1 item that will fit me.

One of my other goals/motivations is living and the commitment I made to my wife when we came together. We met online playing Everquest (a video game) and when things clicked and I knew I was supposed to be with her, we talked about it a bit. We lived 2300 miles apart at the time and it meant I would be moving to her. I said to her during the conversation, "I don't think you understand what I am offering..." She said, "Yes I do. You are talking about the next 20, 30, 40 years." I couldn't keep that promise to her if I was going to eat myself to death before we made it to 20 even. So it was important to me to get myself in better shape and better health to be able to keep that promise by reducing my risk of pre-mature negative outcomes.

For different people it is different obviously but I think it is important to have smaller goals along the way that allow you to celebrate your progress rather than having it be an all or none proposal. I feel this is especially true for those of us who are larger and have a lot farther to go.

I started with a goal to get to a weight range I was comfortable with for several years. When I was getting close, I thought about adjusting my rate of loss to come in a little slower and decided not to adjust it and aim lower at the top of my BMI range. Then I decided to keep from repeating mistakes of the past, I would not allow myself an ever increasing upper limit if I expanded my range, so I made the goal weight be my upper limit. After I got below it, I didn't like being close to the limit, so I decided to maintain in the range of 4-9 pounds below limit.

I am 5'8" and I was 223 pounds last summer. My first goal was 180. I changed it to at or below 164. I decided on a maintenance range of 155 - 160. This morning I was 156.6, so I am where I want to be. I need to make adjustments to stop losing. I stayed very close to 160 for over a month before deciding I want a lower range, so I know about where to adjust to to stay close to the same weight.

Ultimate goal is my original goal with mini goals in between. For instance I wanted to be in a certain pair of jeans a certain time frame. Then set a new goal whether it be a fitness goal or a weight/size goal. I decide as I go but have not changed my original goal. 37 more pounds until I hit that number.

My first goal was to lose down to my starting weight at the beginning of my last pregnancy. That was 55 pounds. Then my next goal was 10 pounds after that. I'm 2 pounds away from that second goal, which puts me at the top of a healthy BMI. Based on aesthetics, I'd like to lose a little more than that but no more than 10 pounds I think. That puts me a little higher than the middle of a healthy BMI. After that, I'll continue with strength training and recomp,