Seriously confused about my goal weight

xxzenabxx
xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’m trying to lose about 20-24 lbs but now I’m seriously confused because I looked at a picture of female body fat percentages and the 25-26% picture fit my description the best. I was even thinking of dropping down to 124 lbs because I’m 5’ 4”. So does that mean that if I want to get down to 20% body fat (approximately) then I have to lose 6% of my weight. That would be 154lbs x 0.06% = 9.24lbs. I only need to lose 10ish lbs? Is that true? Is this how it works or have I calculated this wrong?! According to this my goal weight would be 144lbs...
My current goal weight is 130lbs. Ugh so confused 😖...!

Stats are:
F, age 26, 154 lbs and 5’ 4”.

Replies

  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
    Forgot to add I have a fair amount of muscle too! Maybe that’s why but my arms feel so chubby...
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    How are you figuring your body fat? There is no easy way to do that...


    I agree to get to a weight where you feel able to stay there and you feel good about yourself.

    For me, 5'8" that's 140-145. That puts me right in the middle of my healthy BMI range. No idea what my body fat percentage is, don't care.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    xxzenabxx wrote: »
    I’m trying to lose about 20-24 lbs but now I’m seriously confused because I looked at a picture of female body fat percentages and the 25-26% picture fit my description the best. I was even thinking of dropping down to 124 lbs because I’m 5’ 4”. So does that mean that if I want to get down to 20% body fat (approximately) then I have to lose 6% of my weight. That would be 154lbs x 0.06% = 9.24lbs. I only need to lose 10ish lbs? Is that true? Is this how it works or have I calculated this wrong?! According to this my goal weight would be 144lbs...
    My current goal weight is 130lbs. Ugh so confused 😖...!

    Stats are:
    F, age 26, 154 lbs and 5’ 4”.

    If you actually are 25% BF (and I'm not saying you are), that means that at 154 lbs, you have 75% lean mass, which would be 115.5 pounds (0.75 X 154).

    If you were able to lose only fat (which you wouldn't likely be able to do), and you wanted to be 20% body fat, yes you would need to weigh 144 lbs (actually 144.375 = 115.5 / 0.8).

    But you will almost certainly lose some lean mass, even if you lose slowly, even if you lift while losing. How much? Dunno. Seems like I've seen people state estimates like one pound of lean for each 3 pounds of fat, or something in that zone, but I don't know that I've seen evidence (i.e. research) to back that up. (Keep in mind that things like blood volume are part of lean mass.)

    So, I think you've arrived at the same estimate, via a different method (I think your method would give a very different answer from my method if you weren't talking about a pretty narrow range of weights, BTW).

    If you're really at 25% BF at 154 (again, I have no way of knowing), then 130 pounds is probably not a great goal for you.

    I'm an inch taller than you, and (purely by guessing based on appearance and BIA trends) probably at something in the region 24-25% BF at 130, but figure I only have maybe 95-100lb lean mass. But I'm 112 years old - oops! - I mean, 64 years old, . . . not 26. ;)

    I think that if you want to keep losing, you should see how you feel about things once you get down to 144. It's not like you have to set a final, non-negotiable goal weight now . . . or ever, for that matter. (Goal weight doesn't affect the weight loss process at all, except maybe in how you personally want to think about tapering loss rate as you get close.)
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    It sounds like you may be overcomplicating things. Get down to a weight where you are healthy and like how you look in the mirror. Actual numbers fluctuate all the time so become a bit meaningless once you are within a healthy weight range.

    This. I would recommend just evaluating as you go. Don't get caught up in all the calculations which will likely be inaccurate anyhow
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
    Thanks for the responses guys. The reason that I was asking was because I didn’t want to aim for a ridiculously low goal weight. It seems that 130lbs would be too low. I’ve now set my new goal weight at 140lbs and I’ll see how it goes from there. No wonder my weight loss has slowed down...because I’m not that over fat despite being over weight on the BMI chart.
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    xxzenabxx wrote: »
    I’m trying to lose about 20-24 lbs but now I’m seriously confused because I looked at a picture of female body fat percentages and the 25-26% picture fit my description the best. I was even thinking of dropping down to 124 lbs because I’m 5’ 4”. So does that mean that if I want to get down to 20% body fat (approximately) then I have to lose 6% of my weight. That would be 154lbs x 0.06% = 9.24lbs. I only need to lose 10ish lbs? Is that true? Is this how it works or have I calculated this wrong?! According to this my goal weight would be 144lbs...
    My current goal weight is 130lbs. Ugh so confused 😖...!

    Stats are:
    F, age 26, 154 lbs and 5’ 4”.

    If you actually are 25% BF (and I'm not saying you are), that means that at 154 lbs, you have 75% lean mass, which would be 115.5 pounds (0.75 X 154).

    If you were able to lose only fat (which you wouldn't likely be able to do), and you wanted to be 20% body fat, yes you would need to weigh 144 lbs (actually 144.375 = 115.5 / 0.8).

    But you will almost certainly lose some lean mass, even if you lose slowly, even if you lift while losing. How much? Dunno. Seems like I've seen people state estimates like one pound of lean for each 3 pounds of fat, or something in that zone, but I don't know that I've seen evidence (i.e. research) to back that up. (Keep in mind that things like blood volume are part of lean mass.)

    So, I think you've arrived at the same estimate, via a different method (I think your method would give a very different answer from my method if you weren't talking about a pretty narrow range of weights, BTW).

    If you're really at 25% BF at 154 (again, I have no way of knowing), then 130 pounds is probably not a great goal for you.

    I'm an inch taller than you, and (purely by guessing based on appearance and BIA trends) probably at something in the region 24-25% BF at 130, but figure I only have maybe 95-100lb lean mass. But I'm 112 years old - oops! - I mean, 64 years old, . . . not 26. ;)

    I think that if you want to keep losing, you should see how you feel about things once you get down to 144. It's not like you have to set a final, non-negotiable goal weight now . . . or ever, for that matter. (Goal weight doesn't affect the weight loss process at all, except maybe in how you personally want to think about tapering loss rate as you get close.)

    I can see my abs if that’s any use lol. I guess I had this number stuck in my mind and yep last time I checked my body fat % on a scale it was 27% (I know the scales aren’t 100% accurate but still) and 160lbs. The pictures ar 25% body fat seemed closest to my current physique. It’s just a guess. Basically it seems that I have only 14 lbs to goal weight. That changes a lot for me because it explains why I need to go slower and why my weight loss has slowed down. That’s all.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    As AnnPT77 says, goal weight doesn't affect anything (in MFP) other than your mental perspective. I aimed for the number that's just under mid-point of Normal BMI for my age and height. That gave me a little bit of wiggle room and also offset any discrepancy between my scales and those at my GP (which often show me at 1kg heavier than mine show). I have no idea what my BF is. I'm happy with how I look now and that's all that's important to me.

    Weight loss will definitely slow as your deficit gets smaller though. I'm a few inches shorter than you and mine slowed to a snail's pace for the last year.

    Have you updated the set-up in Goals and reduced your rate of weight loss / entered your current weight / recalculated your calories since you lost weight?
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
    Strudders67 wrote: »
    As AnnPT77 says, goal weight doesn't affect anything (in MFP) other than your mental perspective. I aimed for the number that's just under mid-point of Normal BMI for my age and height. That gave me a little bit of wiggle room and also offset any discrepancy between my scales and those at my GP (which often show me at 1kg heavier than mine show). I have no idea what my BF is. I'm happy with how I look now and that's all that's important to me.

    Weight loss will definitely slow as your deficit gets smaller though. I'm a few inches shorter than you and mine slowed to a snail's pace for the last year.

    Have you updated the set-up in Goals and reduced your rate of weight loss / entered your current weight / recalculated your calories since you lost weight?

    Yep just updated the information! I use a TDEE + NEAT method to calculate my calories anyway because my activity changes a lot and I don’t stick to a routine anymore.

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