How do u know when you are at right weight?

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kds10
kds10 Posts: 452 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 5'4 and weigh between 137 and 139...I want to get down to 135 but honestly not sure if I should? At my highest weight I was 196 and my goal was 145 but then I thought when I got to that weight why not go for 5 more but now I want to get down to 135.....but not sure if I should just stop and maintain instead...

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  • kds10
    kds10 Posts: 452 Member
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    I appreciate the Insightful comments....hmmm..maybe I should focus on toning instead. I am doing more weights the last couple of months so perhaps I need to focus more on that. I've always been more cardio focused.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
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    I've found that once you get somewhere in the ranges suggested by BMI, it becomes less about the absolute number and more about BF % and body composition as your target. Adjusting your weight is a path to that goal, as opposed to the actual goal itself.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
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    Might be as simple as listening to your body. It is pretty common to reach your goal and than challenge yourself to go even lower. Eventually you will know where you want to be and if the effort required to get there is worth it. When I chose my initial goal, I really had no idea why...it just seemed like a nice number and one I remember weighing at one point (and being happy with). When I reached that number, I had a better idea of what I wanted to look like, and how my body reacted to all the exercise I was now accustomed to. That weight on my more mature, thicker (more muscular) middle aged self was unsustainable and didn't suit my ultimate goals for functionality.

    Maintenance can be tricky. I have found unless I am chasing something, I struggle. It has taken a few years to figure that out but my body really seems to have a hard time finding equilibrium. I need to either have new fitness goals, or focus on the scale, or I tend to let things slip.
  • Emheia
    Emheia Posts: 24 Member
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    Where do you feel the best? Where do you feel the most confident? There are numbers and charts as guidance, but the truth is that an "ideal" BMI looks different on every person, and it might not be the best for everyone. If you're healthy and happy, you're in a good place.
  • nytrifisoul
    nytrifisoul Posts: 500 Member
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    I stopped going by what you should weigh going by height. I have a lot of bone mass and at one point i was 8% body fat and according to those averages i was still considered above my healthy weight. I looked like crap, my face was all sunken in and you could see my ribs.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
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    Congratulations on your progress, OP. Great suggestions. Also, maintenance is usually a range of 5lb or more due to totally normal and healthy fluctuations in hydration. Many people swing 5lb on the scale with no change to body composition other than water weight. There's peace to being genuinely happy with any weight you see on the scale within that range, because you will see a range.

    The "normal" BMI range is pretty broad! So it's personal preference/lifestyle preference beyond that. There's really no substitute for experimenting to see what feels best and is most comfortable to maintain for you. Keep losing slowly (~1 lb/month) until one of the following happens: you don't like how you look/feel, you lose strength/stamina, or you have more hunger than is comfortable. Then you know you need a few more pounds.

    There's nothing wrong with cardio workouts if that's what you like! Personally, I get fidgety and a little anxious if I'm cooped up without some cardio. I need it to clear my mind as much as anything. But people change over time. If you find a sport you love or retire from a sport you once loved, it's normal and healthy to expect body composition changes to follow, and all of that can happen within the "normal" BMI range. Experiment with it and have fun!
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
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    After years of obesity my goal was to get to the higher end of a healthy BMI. Eventually achieved that and have maintained at 7lb below max healthy BMI. I would like to drop a little more weight but really I want to recomp so that's what I'm working on, while being in a small calorie deficit. My aim is to drop another 7lb and then see how I look and feel. I am not a slave to BMI but the range at my height is large so an initial target of not giving my doctor anything to grouse about seemed like a good first step.

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