What are you basing your weight goals on?

I'm basing mine when I ran track in high school and my lowest weight. I'm short with a small frame. I'm not basing mine on BMI because I don't think it's accurate for me. I wound like to sometime find one of those bod pods (or whatever they're called) or get a skin calliper to see what my body fat really is.

A number that I think I can maintain sanely! And possibly be in single digit clothing. Possibly

For me the amounts I put in here are just a guess'timate. I think I put 110 or 115 but when I was 33(last time I was thin/normal)I didn't have much muscle and sort of looked like a toothpick. Now that I am going on 60, gaining muscle and losing fat, my "right" weight may be different from the 110 area.

Mostly though, sort of a height/weight proportionate deal as well as clothes fitting right. Now if I get jeans, they are either too big in the butt and fit my waist or visa versa:)

I was pretty much the same weight from the time I was 17 until I was 42. Yep, that's right, all of my weight gain has been in the past five years and most of *that* was in a three year period. Sooo, I have to consider my weight gain an anomaly and work back to my norm.

That said, I did check out a number of different calculators (reverse BMI, CDC, WHO, etc) and discovered that my normal weight was at the low end of normal. So, if I come within +10lbs of my previous weight, I'll consider it good :-)

My goal weight is 156. This is:

1) Ten pounds under my high school weight (which I was happy with since I was toned, but I always wanted to drop ten pounds)
2) Within the healthy weight guidelines for my height and build
3) Puts me at an even 200 pounds lost

(I have my ticker set for my first goal, since setting it for the big goal makes me feel overwhelmed some days.)

I'm basing mine on my bodyfat %.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I don't believe in the BMI because it's antiquated and outdated. My bones, muscles and organs alone weigh more than the BMI thinks I should weigh by like two pounds. And I have pretty low muscle mass right now. But I'm not a big girl. I have a pretty small frame and I'm really short. I have really dense organs and bones so I weigh a lot. BMI just doesn't make sense.

I remember what I weighed, looked like and felt like when I was at my healthiest, before I got sick. And that is what I am aiming for with my goals.

My doctor and a nutritionist have both recommended a goal for my lean muscle mass and my total percent body water and I switch between focusing on those and focusing on fat and weight.

For me its basically my BMI. I've never been small in my adult life, so I figure its a pretty good range to shoot for. There's a 40 pound difference between the low and high end of a healthy BMI for someone of my height. I figure that's more than enough room for me to play around with to decide what looks best on me for someone of my height and build.

Because we all know 140 on some people looks amazingly healthy and on some others, not so much. Best advice, find a good weight range that should be doable, take your time getting there and once you're there - decide what weight works best for you.

Im not happy with myself at the size i am. (currently 132) I want to get down to 120 because i feel like i will be happier with myself and more confident! I really want to have the famous leg gap. Having my thighs touch makes me so self concious i hate it!
I just want to be happy with myself...and feel like im good enough for someone.

Definitely NOT BMI which is an outrageous measuring tool. I was 174 and wearing 10's in the past weight loss run. I figure if I go just 10# more into 160 range I should have a nice cushion there. If I went to my "healthy" BMI I would look emaciated.

Same here. BMI says I should weight about 100. I spent my junior year in Rome and was 120 when I got back. With my frame (wrist measures around 6.125 inches), I was incredibly skinny at 120, so I'm using that and an estimated body fat percentage. BMI is a good measure of populations, but not individuals!

a combination of the BMI's evil numbers, the weight btwn my skinniest when i was entertaining an eating disorder and my heaviest when i was least interested in myself and life.

Mine was pretty much the same as you! Nice to know I'm not alone!

I am cutting as long as it takes to get the last pack of the six-pack visible!

I based mine on BMI with guidance plus the excellent called the "People's Choice Ideal Weight" calculator, which shows the average weight that other people of your Age, Height, Weight and Gender would describe as their ideal weight.

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

Good luck on your journey!

That's really interesting - significantly lower than other calculators I've seen. Do you know anything about how they collected their data?

EDIT: Never mind - I found the link to the page about how they arrived at the number. Thanks for sharing that site!

I based mine on the BMI chart. I wanted to be in the middle of "healthy" which is 10 stone which is a nice round number too :happy:

Threads like this upset me a little. Has no one looked at who is asking here? She's 5'6" and weighs around 116. She's at the lowest weight she can be to fall into the healthy category on BMI.

Sweetie, if you still think you need to be losing weight, please get help.