How did you pick your goal weight?

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Replies

  • avalonblues
    avalonblues Posts: 558 Member
    When I started MFP, I set my goal weight 10 pounds lower than my current weight. When I hit it and maintained for 6 weeks, I reset another 10 weeks loser. I have 12 pounds to go.
  • Live4Pasta
    Live4Pasta Posts: 5 Member
    My initial mini goal push was to just get under 200lbs. To stay there for a few weeks before I said to myself I was under 200lbs. It sounds so silly and arbitrary typing it out, but it helped me finally be serious about getting control of my weight again.

    Then my next mini goal was to get from 'obese' to the 'overweight' category of BMI. I did that, and knowing I can hit these goals makes me feel so much more positive.

    Next mini goal? top of the 'normal' category of BMI. So I have a fair bit of work to do.

    Overall I'd like to hit the middle of normal (around 140lbs) and then decide from there how I feel about things.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I didn't pick a goal weight, I picked a weight range. Once I'm in that range I'm planning to let my goal weight pick me. If I feel good at a certain weight I will stop, if not, I will keep going to the bottom of the range then start experimental maintenance and gain back some weight if needed until I arrive at a point that is relatively easy for me to maintain.
  • samhennings
    samhennings Posts: 441 Member
    For me it was a voyage of discovery really.

    I had the initial goal of getting into the normal range on BMI (161lbs), basically just to prove it is nonsense.

    Which I did, but was far to underweight, so ended up putting a stone back on (175lbs).

    I was working in the gym at that point so it was part recomp as well, and found that higher number was just right for me. Stayed at that weight for 3 years (give or take a few pounds) until recently putting a lot on again.

    Now Im working back to that 175 thanks to my original experience.
  • Piqueaboo
    Piqueaboo Posts: 1,193 Member
    The middle of the BMI scale for my height - that's where I'll start unless I'm comfortable before.
  • Samantharavenclaw84
    Samantharavenclaw84 Posts: 161 Member
    I've chosen the lower 130's as my goal weight. My BMI says 104 to 131. When I was lower than 130 I looked sick. I didn't feel that great in the 140s. I figured I would shoot for lower 30's and then see how I feel. I was 133 the day I got married and I felt and looked my best, I think.
  • WholeFoods4Lyfe
    WholeFoods4Lyfe Posts: 1,518 Member
    I've gone up and down in weight in the last 20 years more than I care to admit, but my lowest number is very realistic for my height and age, and is actually near the top of "normal BMI". It's also what I weighed in High School and while that may seem unrealistic at 44 years old, I don't care, I'm going for it!
  • slbbw
    slbbw Posts: 329 Member
    Moving target. It started as something below the top of my healthy BMI range. I have nudged it down by a few lbs based on the BF% I think I want to get to. Once I am there I may be interested in gaining muscle so the range might go up a bit. Having my BF measured towards the end of my weight loss has helped me hone in where I think my goal weight should be.
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
    I started out with a high school weight that I hit briefly at 16 then realized at 60 years old that was unlikely. I'm 10 to 15 pounds above that and just below the overweight line, lol. I still try to hit the lower number from time to time but haven't gotten there yet in 1.5 years of trying. I figure if this is it then I'm ok with that.
  • Dianetheinvincible
    Dianetheinvincible Posts: 18 Member
    edited June 2019
    I do think it's easier to get and stay motivated if you set mini-goals on your way to your ultimate goal. Otherwise it can be too discouraging to see how very far away your ultimate goal is. I tend to look at 10 pound increments because it's very satisfying to break into the next lowest bracket but it's not an overwhelming task.

    From high school into my 30s I was in my ideal shape and always weighed around 125. So my goal is get back to that.

    However, I understand that it gets harder to keep lean muscle mass and keep off fat as you get older, so I'm not going to worry about it if I have trouble getting all the way down to 125, as long as I'm within a few pounds and I'm as fit as I can be for my age (54).
  • mgodniak2106
    mgodniak2106 Posts: 15 Member
    Similarly to a lot of people I aimed at my weight from when I was younger which I felt comfortable with. I haven't reached it yet but now I just want my fat tissue to decrease and I'm going to go by what I see in the mirror and not necessarily what the scales are showing.
  • MercuryForce
    MercuryForce Posts: 103 Member
    Honestly, I'm not really sure where my goal weight is. Right now I'm at 190 and my goal is "comfortably fit into the pants I bought before I started gaining weight"...which will be somewhere around 175. After that, it will be "fit the pants that make me keep saying 'I'll fit these once I lose a little weight'". After that, I'll reassess set a new goal. For me, these small, achievable goals work better than saying "I want to lose 50 lbs".
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,226 Member
    Army entrance physical weight two months shy of 18 years old and fully-grown, weight of 161 lbs. plus 10 percent for being a middle-aged man equals 177 lbs. Set my goal weight range of 172-177 lbs. Got as low as 169.6 lbs. which was equivalent to Army exit physical weight of 169 lbs when I was slightly shy of age 21.

    Have weighed 172-177 lbs. for 120 of 127 days since striking 177 lbs. on 2/20/2019. Periodically study whether to reset maintenance weight range to 170-175 lbs. Life is good at the moment.
  • ShayCarver89
    ShayCarver89 Posts: 239 Member
    I picked where I feel good about myself
  • Five0Six
    Five0Six Posts: 110 Member
    BMI calculation. It will put me in the normal weight category. I may adjust my goal weight when I get there, but I have to get there first.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    I have the same weight loss goal today as i did 18 months ago when I started.

    "Be consciously in control"

    That's it. As long as I'm in control of and consciously managing my weight I'm "succeeding".

    Right now I'm too heavy so most of the time I'm 'successfully' managing my weight downward. So as long as, for the most part I'm weighing less as the weeks and months go on then I'm succeeding in controlling my weight. Doesn't matter how much it's going down, doesn't matter how long it's taking.

    This also means that occasionally it's appropriate to manage my weight up. On holidays, special occasions and whatnot then I'm not going to diminish my enjoyment of these occasions even if it means putting on a kg or two. The important thing is that I'm deliberate and conscious of what I'm doing I'm still meeting my goal. I'm remaining in control.

    I'm not looking at this as 'losing weight' as much as "managing my weight". I realised that the problem wasn't that I gained weight. The problem was I gained weight unconsciously and that's what needed to be fixed.

    Now I'm in complete control and staying in control is my only goal.

    As to when I think I'll have to stop controlling my weight downwards and start maintaining? Who knows? I don't have a specific number in mind that a MUST get to or I'd consider it a failure. I'll just keep losing weight and managing my weight down until I get to a point where I don't want/need to. Right now I think that might be somewhere around healthy "normal" BMI range. I'd also like to at some stage hit 80kg since I started at 160kg and I'd like to be able to say that "I'm half the man I used to be" LOL! =)
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,699 Member
    I've never had a goal weight. It is what it is as long as it doesn't go over a certain amount.
  • a_candler
    a_candler Posts: 209 Member
    When I started I weighed 193, I just wanted to get to pre-preggo weight of 170, which I'd been my whole life. When that goal came so quickly, i then realized i COULD get skinnier. So then i chose 160, then figured I'd see how small i could get. 1 got down to 142, but was just skinny fat and dh hated it. I've since put on 12lbs, and while wanting to get back down some, this time goal is to gain more muscle along the way.

    My goals were very fluid, as i was afraid of not reaching a huge goal.
  • ntnunk
    ntnunk Posts: 936 Member
    Mine was a combination of things. My "good enough" weight is in the 170 lb. range, my target is 165, and my stretch goal is 160. While I'm fully in agreement that the number on the scale normally isn't the best thing to fixate on, in my case as someone who loves to race bicycles, actual weight does in fact matter. BMI plays a part, as "active" mass is better than fat which is just dead weight, but ultimately heavier means slower going uphill, more energy required for snap accelerations, etc.

    So, all that said, 170 was arrived at as "good enough" because I've been there in recent years and I know it's comfortable and sustainable for me. Target and stretch goals were set because I've been around 160 as an adult so I know it's a good weight for me. 165 will probably prove to be a bit more manageable and sustainable though.
  • adotbaby
    adotbaby Posts: 199 Member
    My original goal was 150. That was the thinnest I had ever been, as an adult; I was heavier in high school. Once I got under 160, I reset my goal to 138. My ideal weight is around 140, but a few pounds less gives me some wiggle room.
  • wifeoferp
    wifeoferp Posts: 86 Member
    I set a goal to wear the same pants size I wore in between babies #4 and 5. I put in 130 as my goal weight for MFP because that is how much I weighed at the time, but I wouldn’t mind being a bit heavier if it’s due to muscle. The pants size is more my goal than the weight number.
  • MichelleMinn
    MichelleMinn Posts: 90 Member
    I pretty much pulled it out of the air, with some vague notion that it's the upper limits of where I've felt okay in the past. I don't expect it to really be where I end up. Kinda think it'll be somewhere between that number and my lowest weight, and I'll trust my body to settle where it wants to be.
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