5’8” 41 yo woman - help me with a goal/ideal weight please!

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mimimunchery
mimimunchery Posts: 69 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’ve been so terrified of the scale that I *rarely* weighed myself in the last, well, 25 years.

I weighed myself once at my skinniest (age 24.5 - 26.5) and I weighed 136. I was a size 6 or even 4 and looked great. I loved being that thin but it was hard maintaining that weight.

My heaviest weight I’ve seen was this January - about 205 lbs. i think I’ve been hovering around this weight for several years.

Now (after working hard on eating less and exercising) I am 189 lbs or so.

I have a mini goal of 176 lbs (80 kgs) for mid-June. I’m going on a big trip to visit friends and family in England then.

But I’m not sure what my end goal weight should be? Any ideas?

I would love to be thin enough to not feel awkward in clothes - especially in the summer - and to feel like I look good! I looked great at 136 lbs but realistically I don’t think that attainable to for my life right now (two young kids, always busy etc).

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,961 Member
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    Here's a chart:

    https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/healthdisp/pdf/tipsheets/Are-You-at-a-Healthy-Weight.pdf

    So it's anywhere from about 125 to 160ish.
  • bannock_and_biceps
    bannock_and_biceps Posts: 82 Member
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    i'm the same height as you and 132. i was 150 two years ago and lost it all on keto and am maintaining on a regular diet of about 1500-1600 calories a day. i would have been fine with being 150 but because of 3 abdominal surgeries - my belly was just a mess. i will admit i liked the other curves a lot except the belly one :D . but i found more facial wrinkles creeped up when i lost all the weight. it's a tough call. i've seen women our height at about 176 and they wear it well. i think it all depends on where you carry your weight.

  • bannock_and_biceps
    bannock_and_biceps Posts: 82 Member
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    and how you feel at that weight i might add :)
  • carolineb81
    carolineb81 Posts: 459 Member
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    I'm same height as you, currently weigh 139. Goal is 126
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    Healthy BMI for your height starts at 164 pounds. I would set a goal at the higher end, say 155-165. Once you get there, reevaluate how you look and feel, and you can adjust your goal downwards 5 or 10 pounds, and then repeat the process as needed.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,166 Member
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    Just want to be sure you know this fact:

    The ultimate goal weight in your MFP settings has zeto-zip-nada-no effect on the calorie goals MFP will give you for weight loss. That setting's just used in some motivational messages and to show you your progress against goal. You can make a wild guess now, and reset it later, no problem, if you wish.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
    edited April 2019
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    I’m 5’8” and 39 years young. My happy place weight is anywhere 145-155 (puts me in a size 6/8) for my body. I’m pear shaped and when I get much lower than that my upper body isn’t attractive to me because it’s much thinner than my lower half. Ideal weight is really a matter of preference. Also, what activities you do plays a role. I love lifting heavy and have worked hard to add muscle so my goal weight will be different than a marathon runner who hates weight training.

    Edited to add - technically I’m just below 5’8” by about 0.5-0.25” but close enough
  • matrosov65
    matrosov65 Posts: 25 Member
    edited April 2019
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    Your weight is BMI driven and BMI is a range but if you want a rule of thumb weight it'll be your height in cm-100 so you're 172 in cm your weight should be about 72 kilos or 158 lbs for a BMI of 24. So you could set that as your first goal and go down from there if you exercise and want a more athletic look.

  • grinning_chick
    grinning_chick Posts: 765 Member
    edited April 2019
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    It's all about body type. I'm 5'7.5" so half an inch shorter and past my early 20s, look emaciated at anything less than 135 lbs. My happiest my-diet-my-weight-were-never-even-on-the-radar-let-alone-a-daily-thing-like-now early 30s weight, before quitting tobacco and other things caused my weight to spiral out of control with the initial gain to 182 lbs., was 142 lbs. I was a very pear shaped (all thighs and gluts) medium frame loose misses size 10 jeans back then. Wore a 8-10 medium in tops but preferred misses large/unisex large because I don't like tight/body hugging clothes; never have.

    The highest "normal" weight (i.e., didn't seem to have any internal or external adverse impact on my life) I was comfortable with was 160-165. That was a loose misses size 14 jeans/12-14-16 misses top depending on manufacturer, still a unisex large tee.

    I'll be thrilled out of my mind making it to 150 lbs. these days.

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