Ideal Weight

I am still trying to figure this out too! I am 5'3" and weigh 114 and I havent changed my calories yet because I am maintaining at 1380 right now. Not sure why so I havent upped it. I am going to up it to 1500 soon and see where that gets me! I would just try upping by 100-150 calories and see where that takes you!

You don't have to jump right into maintenance. Up by 100-200 and see what happens. Stick with that new amount for at least 4 weeks to let your body get used to it.. then up again until you reach maintenance.

Maintenance doesn't necessarily mean that you will gain back weight... esp if you keep exercising and eating better. The only time that you would gain back weight is if you went back to your old ways..

I'm 5'6" and weigh 143. My goal is 138, but I have been fluctuated between 141-143 for the past month. I don't look bad, but my
BF is still at 30% Don't know if I should try to lose more weight. I am 57. Advice?

I checked this website.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/toolkit/weightcalculator/index.aspx

According to this, you are already at a healthy weight.

Which is another reason I think I'm done losing. 125 would still be in the healthy range, but at the bottom end.

I'm 5'5", and had planned on stopping at 130, but I've lost another 5 pounds on maint and I don't look scary skinny. My arms and legs are very muscular (built up some nice muscles on maint doing heavy lifting). My collar bone and hips are sharp and pointy though. Just wish I could gain a little in my hands -- those are the only part that are TOO skinny.

i doubt youll look sick if you keep cutting. your body probably just took fat from those areas first.. im sure you'll burn off your 'problem areas' way before you start looking sick

i'd say up your calories if you feel your losing too fast and you dont like how your skin is looking if you wanna give it time to catch up. good luck

I agree. I'm 5'4 and most of my weight is in my lower body. When I was at 110 I looked and felt perfectly healthy.
But, you go girl! If you feel that you look your best at that weight, then I think that is all that matters. Screw that scale and just stay healthy for YOU [=

Thanks for the input! It's always nice to hear other people's thoughts.

i was not even aware that there is a maintenance mode - is that setting on the tracker? How do you turn it on???

I am past goal weight, lower actually but feel worse than before- aremt you meant to feel healthier and happier? Truth being that low weight does not always equal happiness.... its a sad fact considering all the efforts we put into it...

I'm 5'4ish (I've always been 5'3 and then I was 5'4 at the doctor last month...), and I weight between 130-135. I was 125 for about 5 years, but then realized I was starving myself to maintain that weight, after my metabolism gave up on me and I gained 10 lbs. I have a really large body frame (was told that once by a nutritionist, whom I nearly punched), so I weigh more than most people of my size. Now, my body seems to change size, but the weight stays the same....so I don't really weigh myself anymore.

Don't forget to take into account your body frame (eg. big boned, or small boned). That will change your goal. See this link, for example: http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/met.htm

So if you're medium to a large frame, you're already at the low side of healthy and will start to look emaciated if you go any further.

I think you're right, like I mentioned in my post...however that scale seems somewhat skewed. Look at the men's side: it only crosses 200 lbs when the person is 6'3...that's a lot of skinny guys...

I agree with you on that. However, I haven't been that skinny in forever, but I'll set my goal for now and see where to go from that point.

I'm 5'6" and weigh 143. My goal is 138, but I have been fluctuated between 141-143 for the past month. I don't look bad, but my
BF is still at 30% Don't know if I should try to lose more weight. I am 57. Advice?

How was the body fat % calculated? What is your lean muscle mass (lbs)? Sounds like you may need more muscle to help you burn more calories and help lose the fat. 30% is on the high end of 'average' for body fat. so you could probably stand to lose a few more pounds, but you want it to be fat and not muscle.

Thanks for the comment. The body fat was calculated by my scale. My lean muscle mass is 100 lbs. I think you are right that I need to build muscle. I would like to reduce my body fat to 28% and get down to 138, but that would require those last few lbs to be fat, not muscle, and I am not sure how to do that. I have started JM 30D shred. Do you think that will help me?

Calorie reduction and exercise. Yes, I think the 30DS will help you maintain the muscle you have. I think you should strive to lose at most 0.5 lb, and maybe even less since you're so close. Try eating as you normally do, up your exercise and see how the numbers change.

For point of reference my lean mass at my last weigh in was 99.8 lbs, BF ~37%, so I have many pounds to go but in the 22 lbs I've lost, 99% of that was fat. I only had a .2 loss from muscle. My exercise has mostly been walking, run/walking and a light weight routine.