Realistic?

Over what time frame and are you going to be lifting weights?

Also, are you male or female?

It is nowhere near realistic in that time frame and for a female. (It's not even realistic for a male)

12% is very lean for a female.

I am not trying to discourage you by any means.

EDIT: I am in the neighborhood of 12% in my photo as a reference.

But I could technically be at my goal weight and still have far more than 12 % BF correct?

Absolutely. Bodyweight does not dictate bodyfat% and vise-versa. As you lose weight, unless you are doing it with a great degree of nutritional accuracy and with a solid weightlifting program, you're going to lose lean mass (non-fat weight including muscle). EDIT: In fact, even if you are flawless you could STILL lose lean mass.

In your calculations, it's possible (likely) that you assumed the weight you would lose would be all fat. This is not the case.

Furthermore, if you don't engage in weight training and you don't consume adequate protein, this loss of lean mass will increase.

The end result being, you weigh less but might not look as good as you anticipated when you started.

As a general rule, women really shouldn't be less than 20% from a maintenance perspective. As a reference, figure competitors will end up at about 12% on the day of their competition and body builders will have less, but they certainly don't maintain at that level in the off season.

Unfortunately, "standard" BMI and BF calculators are notoriously inaccurate because it's tough to manage your specific body type in a standardized algorithm. I would suggest starting to lose weight (if you need to), and lifting with a "building lean muscle" goal and see how it goes. You may find that when your body looks the way you wish, you won't care about BF percentage.

I just posted this in another thread. Both of these women are a size 2, body fat percentage is obviously a lot different. The body on the left might be the result if you lose weight quickly and w/o strength training....

As a general rule, women really shouldn't be less than 20% from a maintenance perspective. As a reference, figure competitors will end up at about 12% on the day of their competition and body builders will have less, but they certainly don't maintain at that level in the off season.

I'd think 16-18% would be okay...

From my personal experience I'd say if you're strict with exercise and nutrition, maybe you can drop 2-3% in that time frame. I could be wrong, but as my saying goes, "dropping body fat% is a MOFO!" And I lift weights, do cardio, AND monitor my macros right now.

Try calipers and do the averages of the back arm skinfold, the belly skinfold and the inner thigh skinfold. There's one called Digital Warrior Caliper and it makes the whole thing easy to do. Numbers that pop up the most are the ones you should use.

I tell my man I want to be 12% and he doesn't like that idea. He says I'll be more than lean enough at 18%. I'll take it as far as I can, but for now, realistic for myself is 19%.

My honest thoughts and opinions is shoot for the size/weight and adjust the diet to low fat. I haven't seen or heard about too many fat measuring tricks and tools that I'd honestly think could be realistic readings. Aside from the water test I think its unrealistic to go by a scale that measures it or even those caliper things.

Just build muscle and eat low fat I would think is enough to get you at your ideal fat % eventually.

Calipers are next best to a water/tub scale (whatever they're called). Calipers are pretty accurate when properly used. If you don't want to use it yourself or doubt your readings ask a trainer to do it.

I will just have to get a personal trainer to learn all the work outs I need to do.

Great plan. Having someone teach you the proper techniques first is very smart. Starting Strength is a good program, and I've heard good things about New Rules of Weightlifting for Women... I think Rachel does that program? I bet she could give you some info on it.

Yeah, New Rules is a pretty good book. Explains things well. Starts with basic lifts for newbies. $7 on Amazon. But yeah, if you've never lifted before and can afford it a trainer is a great way to go (I can't afford it and took weight training classes in both high school and college so I know form).

I just posted this in another thread. Both of these women are a size 2, body fat percentage is obviously a lot different. The body on the left might be the result if you lose weight quickly and w/o strength training....

I am not sure if you have BMI and BF Mixed up. I know You are not stupid. But below is says what a women BF should be.
and you BMI will be about 22-23 when you you are 125-130.
So 12 is really really low for BF.
Shoot for 22

The average body fat percentage for U.S. females is around 32%, with the ideal at 22%. Athletic females should be around 15-20%. You could have an eating disorder if you are below 10%. Remember these are guidelines; your physician should help you determine the ideal weight and body fat for you.