How do you determine your ideal weight
BryceJohnson1994AD
Posts: 11 Member
Hi guys, at the first of August, at 5'8'', I weighed in at 189 during my annual physical.
My doc told me he wanted me at 175 when I get my flu shot in September and 150 when he would see me again for a check up. He recommended no radical changes in diet, and strongly advised against dad diets like Atkins or Paleo, but just to count calories and recommended MFP.
When I weighed myself at home in the buff, I was 185, which I took as my true weight and used that as my starting point.
I set my goal to lose 1 lb per week, with my ultimate weight of 150 lbs.
Yesterday I weighed myself [again au naturel] and I was down to 169, just barely considered overweight.
I was kind of beefy in high school. At the start of my senior year, according to my football program, I was 175 lbs.
After basic training for the AF, at the end of the summer after his, I was a lean buffed 140 lbs.
There is wide range of healthy weights.
And how do I determine my ideal weight?
Also, I started out with a caloric intake of 2,020 calories. It's now down to 1,940, but I'm hitting around 1,600-1,800 calories s day and I don't have nagging hunger.
My doc told me he wanted me at 175 when I get my flu shot in September and 150 when he would see me again for a check up. He recommended no radical changes in diet, and strongly advised against dad diets like Atkins or Paleo, but just to count calories and recommended MFP.
When I weighed myself at home in the buff, I was 185, which I took as my true weight and used that as my starting point.
I set my goal to lose 1 lb per week, with my ultimate weight of 150 lbs.
Yesterday I weighed myself [again au naturel] and I was down to 169, just barely considered overweight.
I was kind of beefy in high school. At the start of my senior year, according to my football program, I was 175 lbs.
After basic training for the AF, at the end of the summer after his, I was a lean buffed 140 lbs.
There is wide range of healthy weights.
And how do I determine my ideal weight?
Also, I started out with a caloric intake of 2,020 calories. It's now down to 1,940, but I'm hitting around 1,600-1,800 calories s day and I don't have nagging hunger.
0
Replies
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I personally think your ideal weight finds you. The weight you’d like to be, and that I’d considered “ideal” is not always sustainable while living your best life. I’m super glad that your doctors advised not to do a dad (think you meant fad) diet. Listen to your body. It knows best.15
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BryceJohnson1994AD wrote: »Hi guys, at the first of August, at 5'8'', I weighed in at 189 during my annual physical.
...
And how do I determine my ideal weight?
....
Within the parameters your doctor says. I'm now 162-165 at 5'10 and feel great. My doctor mentioned the weight loss and I told him I feel great. He shrugged his fat lil self and said fine. I know he'll ask me at the next appointment....I was 220 when I first started going to that medical office ten years ago.
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I agree with taking your doctor's advice into account when figuring out your goal weight, but I'm aware they often just go by BMI charts and don't all always take body type into consideration. The "normal" weight range for 5'8" per the BMI chart goes up to 163 so 150 may not be necessary.
My husband and I are only 2 cm apart in height but have drastically different body types. I'm just over 5'7" with a small bone structure and not much muscle (i.e. relatively low lean body mass). My husband's 5'8" but has a much bigger bone structure and a LOT of muscle. So even though our BMI ranges are similar, my ideal weight is low 130s (20.5 BMI), his is more in the 180s (~28 BMI) That's technically overweight for his height but for him it's a healthy weight and looks great. (We're both currently working on getting back to GW!)3 -
BryceJohnson1994AD wrote: »And how do I determine my ideal weight?
Periodic reappraisal.
Your ideal weight now may not be the same as other points in your life. My ideal weight this year isn't even the same as last year and I've been maintaining for ages!
Think about the things that matter to you: amount of muscle, body fat percentage, sports performance, aesthetics, health markers, ease of maintenance, whatever is importnant to you....
Then ask yourself lower/higher/stay the same?13 -
Our idea of ideal weight changes I've found. Sometimes it seems easier to maintain a lean weight, other times not just as lean.
The ideal weight is wherever you feel happiest and don't feel as if you are depriving yourself calorie wise.6 -
I would take your personal goals and comfort over your Dr's random #. He sees you a couple times a year max? Mine sees me once a year, and never even noticed I lost 30 pounds and kept it off.
All they look at is BMI. Ive always been in the healthy BMI range - just moved from the top to the bottom.
ANyway, that said, and not to disrespect Drs but you are the best person to decide where your weight is. And like LLD and others mention, it can change over time. I am actually lighter than I was in college but probably in better shape. 10 or 20 years ago I would be maintaining about 5-10 higher most likely but for right NOW I feel great right where I am. It might change next year or the year after but that's the great thing about you being the decider. You can also be flexible with your goals and change.4 -
Yes, as above, there is no ideal weight for a particular person. Other metrics have wide tolerances as well (such as BF%). Once you are at a reasonable level (which you are), it's best to select some personal goals, such as weight lifting, running, cycling, dancing, whatever motivates you, and then achieve them! (Don't forget to add some intellectual goals as well.)
I'm not sure what it means that you lost 14lbs in 4 weeks. It's nearly impossible to lose that much body weight, it means you did without (14 lb) * (3500 kcals/lb)/(31 days) = 1600kcals/day. For a person like you (or me) that would require eating only about 400kcals per day, which is pretty much complete starvation.
It is possible to see a several pound drop if you go low carb, which has a diuretic effect in the first few weeks. Just to make sure, I'd check your scale and make sure your measurements are accurate.4 -
Sometimes I do wonder about my own "ideal" body weight. Having started on 170 kg - 375 pounds last year I have lost over 40 kg so far but I am nowhere near a healthy body weight yet. I guess I will find my ideal weight when my body and mind feels healthy and balanced. How long will it take? The piece of string comes to my mind...1
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I personally think your ideal weight finds you. The weight you’d like to be, and that I’d considered “ideal” is not always sustainable while living your best life. I’m super glad that your doctors advised not to do a dad (think you meant fad) diet. Listen to your body. It knows best.
I agree with this. I think that its the weight you feel your best, preform, and live your best life.2 -
I personally think your ideal weight finds you. The weight you’d like to be, and that I’d considered “ideal” is not always sustainable while living your best life. I’m super glad that your doctors advised not to do a dad (think you meant fad) diet. Listen to your body. It knows best.
This ^^^^^ I couldn't phrase it better.4 -
For those who do not have a seriously distorted body image, I think one can just keep losing at a steady, moderate pace until one feels great and likes how one looks (within reason), and the calorie level to maintain that weight seems sustainable long-term. In other words, you can trust yourself to know when you get there (unless you know something about your personal psychology that's not at all obvious in your post!).
You may find that you reach what feels like a good weight, but not be in love with your body composition, i.e., relative amount of muscle vs. fat (if that's important to you), in which case the strategy becomes more about continuing exercise (especially strength exercise) to change composition, rather than reducing calorie intake to lose pounds.
I'd note that specifics about one's goal weight have zero to do with the weight loss process . . . until you reach the point of deciding when to stop losing. In particular, the goal weight you input in MFP is not used in calculating your daily calorie goals; it has no affect on your calorie goal at all. (MFP uses it for some motivational messages, the "X pounds lost, Y to go" kinds of stuff you can put on your "ticker", and that sort of thing.)
It's good to have goals, but one can also have process goals. Sometimes we overcomplicate things: One option is to wait until you see a good weight in your energy level and your mirror. And if you change your mind sometime after that, you can change your weight later, right?
Best wishes!
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Goals can change.
My initial goal was 11st 5, which is just within the ‘normal’ BMI range and which I honest-to-gods thought was unachievable.
When I got there, I found I was still a bit pudgier than I’d like and decided to keep losing. At around 10st 5, I was still pudgy on stomach and thighs but didn’t like the way my upper body was getting increasingly bony and my breasts were vanishing.
So I found my ‘ideal weight’ by trial and error. I’m now working on staying within a range of 10st 5 and 10st 9, and (more importantly) working out enough to look and feel great with it. (I think I want to marry my shoulders)5 -
Only you can decide what is an "ideal" and "sustainable" (or maintainable) wt for you.
Unlike football, with wt loss, the goal post placement is fluid and often chgs.
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940
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weatherwoman94 wrote: »94
You determine your ideal weight by 94? What does that mean?2 -
weatherwoman94 wrote: »94
You determine your ideal weight by 94? What does that mean?
I thought 42 was the answer for everything? Lol10 -
I focused on losing body fat and inches so I let me weight choose me.
On a random day I decided I'm happy where I was, I lost 5 more pounds to give me maintenance range, then I officially moved to maintenance.7
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