how did you decide on your goal weight?

I'm 5ft4 set my goal of bmi 22.5 132lbs as this was my pre pregnancy weight before my 3rd child. I've been there a couple of times. Since I've been building muscle I'm more around 145lbs and now I'd just like to be back under 140lb.

zebasschick wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

zebasschick wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/304029/a-quick-way-to-figure-out-your-ideal-weight/p1

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ideal weight varies. a lot of women my height prefer to be 110 to 120 pounds for esthetic reasons.

i was my happiest when i was lifting heavy at the gym in my 40s. doing 600 pound leg presses, 450 pound calf presses, 180 pound ab crunches and 120 pound lat pulldowns didn't lend itself to lean vs fat calculations. i know at 66 and after years off for injuries, i'm not likely to get that back, but i'd rather aim in that general direction.

Doesn't matter. Unless one is willing to lose lean body mass (muscle), then determining what body fat % you want to be based on current lean mass will give you an accurate number of what you'll weigh at that body fat %. Height, frame, shape, etc. don't matter in this formula because it's just determining ideal weight at desired body fat %.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

sure it matters, because most people have no idea of what body fat/lean mass percentages look like or why - other than looks - they would want to be a certain percentage of lean mass vs fat. there's plenty of partial info or full on misinformation out there on this issue - many with pics, so the numbers don't really tell the average person anything.

20%-25% is normal range for a female who isn't looking to look like an athlete. At that point 19% and under approaches that spectrum. And there are references of pics that people can look at online where they can get an idea of body % they'd like to be.

btw, when i was very muscular vs when i was heavy and not muscular, my BMI would have been the same, yet when i was working out heavy, my lean mass was much higher and body fat much lower. yet in non-tight clothes, unpumped, i looked close to the same. and i had 2 trainers give me radically different body fat measurements only 2 days apart using calipers.

Athlete measurements will vary in almost every situation if you're cutting/bulking, but again most people here aren't doing that.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff wrote: »

zebasschick wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

zebasschick wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/304029/a-quick-way-to-figure-out-your-ideal-weight/p1

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ideal weight varies. a lot of women my height prefer to be 110 to 120 pounds for esthetic reasons.

i was my happiest when i was lifting heavy at the gym in my 40s. doing 600 pound leg presses, 450 pound calf presses, 180 pound ab crunches and 120 pound lat pulldowns didn't lend itself to lean vs fat calculations. i know at 66 and after years off for injuries, i'm not likely to get that back, but i'd rather aim in that general direction.

Doesn't matter. Unless one is willing to lose lean body mass (muscle), then determining what body fat % you want to be based on current lean mass will give you an accurate number of what you'll weigh at that body fat %. Height, frame, shape, etc. don't matter in this formula because it's just determining ideal weight at desired body fat %.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

sure it matters, because most people have no idea of what body fat/lean mass percentages look like or why - other than looks - they would want to be a certain percentage of lean mass vs fat. there's plenty of partial info or full on misinformation out there on this issue - many with pics, so the numbers don't really tell the average person anything.

20%-25% is normal range for a female who isn't looking to look like an athlete. At that point 19% and under approaches that spectrum. And there are references of pics that people can look at online where they can get an idea of body % they'd like to be.
[snip]

https://www.builtlean.com/body-fat-percentage-men-women/

I'm still wondering if 20%, 25%, and 30% are corrected ordered in the women in that graphic.

And @springlering62, having seen a number of photos of you, including floof photos, I kind of disagree with your self-perception of appearance. Besides, if your extremities look (say) 15%-ish, ya gotta average things out somehow, eh?

But yeah, comparison is iffy. Personal choice matters, and every person has a different body configuration, besides. It's good to have a body, however it looks. I don't know what I do without mine.

I choose 150lbs because I felt like that was a reasonable goal, and once I hit it I can lower it or not.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I'm still wondering if 20%, 25%, and 30% are corrected ordered in the women in that graphic.

Agree. No offense to the ever helpful and kind @kshama2001 but that particular graph, meme or whatever has always puzzled me. It seems to show women who are sorta awkwardly angled to look great at any size, and because they’re all posed differently there’s no way to compare, and the ones with the lower BF look larger than several with the higher BF.

I wish there were a similar layout with women all posed the same. A bikini police weight lineup?

Then again, it’s so easy to get sucked down the comparison hole and forget to appreciate our own wins. Mine are likely nothing like yours.

Those dang feet for example. I read the NSV thread religiously and kept anxiously waiting for my own “foot shrink” and it didn’t happen til four and a half years in. Somebody may read something I wrote about “bat wings” and feel the same.

Just keep hacking away at it, til you reach your own place of comfort and happiness.

That’s the perfect weight.

Humans. We are so imperfect, trying to be perfect. Maybe seeking perfection is the human condition. 😮

Lietchi wrote: »

I also don't really like the graph above.

This new one I found at least has similar positioning for all the women?

I like this one better too. @Lietchi do you have a link to the page so I can bookmark it?

When I was at my highest weight of 245 I never really gave it much thought to where I wanted to be weight wise or body fat wise, just that it was time to get more serious about my lifestyle in general. I've ended up where I am now at 185 and around 12-15% body fat from that result, and I probably only weighted myself a dozen times during that transition. For me it was lifestyle and my diet, which was and is lower carb and the mirror was my inspiration. Cheers

Basically, had a doctor who said he wanted to see me at 160 when I weighed in at 225. It was fairly easy losing that weight so I kept going until I hit 105 (with a 30 lb gain and the year I gained and lost the same pound in between). I sort of wanted to see if I could break 100, did, and went right back up to a nice round numbered 105 where I stayed for 5 or 6 years.

dmsl977 wrote: »

I struggle with this as well. My body is disproportionate: I'm 5'5.5", but my legs are incredibly long (I wear a 36" length pant.) I've only achieved a 22 BMI once in my adult life and I looked sick. Too thin and bony. My current goal is 150 (currently down 30 pounds to 163.) This is barely within normal BMI range. I will re-assess when I get to goal, but I don't think I can go too much lower than150 happily.

Hi there! Do you know your lean body mass? There was an interesting thread you might like to figure out your ideal weight and it’s not your BMI. I bumped it if you’d like to check it out.