The last few weeks, I've been thinking about officially changing my goal weight. When I first started trying to lose weight, I just picked a number out of the sky - 180. I remembered being 180 lbs in college, and it was a comfortable weight for me and I was wearing a 12/14 at that time (would probably be a 10/12 in today's sizes.) At the time, I couldn't imagine going any smaller than that, as even 180 lbs would mean that I had to lose 166 lbs.
Now, I am questioning what I really want as my goal weight. I would love to be in the normal BMI range, not obese or overweight, and I know I can eventually get there, it will just take some time.
Any suggestions? I'm considering changing it to 165, which would be a BMI of less than 25, and a daunting weight loss of 181 pounds. How did everyone else choose their goal weight?
First of all, I must say that you have done absolutely AMAZING and that you are SUCH an incredible inspiration to me and I'm sure tons of people here. I love, love, love seeing your starting weight and your current weight. Everytime I see it my mouth hangs open, just thinking about what a incredibly difficult thing you have accomplished, even if you should never lose another pound. I know you probably hate hearing that because I know someone actually said that to me yesterday, my friend said "even if I stay at this weight I am already so much healthier then when I started this" And I looked at her like she was crazy and said, "oh no, I didn't start this just to stop in the middle, I wanna go all the way"
As for changing your goal weight, I too have been thinking of changing mine. Keep in mind I am much,much shorter then you and 125 lbs for me is not all that small. Probably somewhere in the low 110's would be better, but I'm 43 and have had 3 kids and would have to lose over 170 pounds to do that. So I think that's why I picked 125, I just thought it would be more doable. And didn't want to make a very difficult task even more difficult. So I've been thinking of lowering it. As of yet I have not come to any plateaus, thank goodness so I feel like I could just keep on going, but I know that is being naive on my part. I know this is going to get harder and harder as my numbers drop. So for now I am going to leave it there and I'll see what happens as I get into my mid 100's and what I feel like when I do get into my 120's. Wow just writing that down felt funny - "When I do get into my 120's" as if it's a done deal and is going to happen within the next month or so. Whatever.
So, I don't know maybe you want to see what happens when you do hit 180, which I see is not that far off for you? No one's to stop you from lowering it at that point. Maybe you'll hit 180 and think "Wow this is absolutely fantastic, but maybe I could push it another 5 pounds or so." And just give it a try at that point. And then maybe another 5, that's how I kind of see it playing out with me. Keeping it at the 125 and just seeing how much I could push it past that poing. But obviously only you can make that decision. I know that wasn't very helpful, I'm sorry. But if you need some good recipes, now that I think I can help you with.
I like that suggestion, Robin. I am tall and I picked my goal weight because the last time I got to 166 I felt like I was still carrying about 20 extra pounds. 145 is 8 pounds above the low end of the weight range for my height, but surprisingly (you wouldn't think it to look at me) I have a relatively small frame under all this (tiny wrists and ankles even now) for being as tall as I am. That being said, I would not be opposed to changing it if once I got close I decided it was too much. Who knows, the amount of muscle a person has makes such a difference, the smart thing to do is probably go until your body looks its healthiest, stop there, and ignore what the number on the scale says.
My goal weight was given to me at my last full checkup, it's in my recommended range for my height, with a little padding towards the high end. Once I'm there, we'll take a look, and see if I need to take it any further.
Tammy, you have done incredible. I had set my goal at 145 and found that I was still losing wt. slowly when I reached my goal. I certainly wasn't too low for my height of 5'7 so, I just let my body decide from there. I tend to stay at 140-145 and this is OK with me. I have gotten as low as 136 but can't maintain that low, so 140's it is for me.
You could keep your original goal and see how it goes from there. See if you are still dropping lbs. without having to decrease your food intake or increase your exercise significantly. The best advice that I can give is make it a goal that you don't have to "fight" your body to maintain. The number on the scale means nothing compared to how you feel about yourself.
Tammy, I set my original goal exactly the way that you did - I picked the lowest weight that I could remember weighing as an adult (160 for about three minutes! ) I couldn't imagine weighing less, but when I got to 160 I realized that first, I wasn't done and second, it would be easy to keep going because I was still losing at a steady pace. I felt terrific and it wasn't hard at all. So I made up my mind that for once in my life, I didn't want to be overweight or plump or chubby. I wanted to be normal and wear cute clothes and not worry about my weight all the time!
My body decided that 135 was as far as it would go. For a while, I was trying for 128.5 simply so I could say that I had lost half of myself, but it just wasn't happening. Lily has good advice about picking a maintainable, liveable weight and for me, 135 - 140 is a maintainable range.
Once you get to your original goal, I think you'll know if you should keep going.
I rearranged mine a few times too.
Something that comes to mind when I read Meg's post is that we really have no idea what we'll look and feel like at a never-before-low weight. It's an adventure!
I've learned a lot about nutrition and body composition too. I don't mind being this size but I'd like to get my BF% down.
I just want to add one more thing. I know that when I do get close to 125 I will be carrying a lot of extra skin. There's just no way having been 287 at 5 ft.tall that I will not have extra skin. So that's weight that should not be there but will NEVER be coming off (except with surgery, not doing it) so I believe that will have to have an effect on my overall weight and perhaps keep me from reaching my goal, I don't know just a thought (and a scary one at that)
Thanks for the sage advice ladies. They are all great points, and it's interesting to see how we all chose our goal weight and how you maintainers have adjusted as you needed to. After reading your posts and thinking it over, I believe I'll leave my ticker where it is at right now. When I near or reach that goal, if I'm still losing and still feel like my body is not where it needs to be, I'll reconsider. Like Susan said, it will be an adventure, as I don't really remember what anything less than 180 looked like.
I read the book Thin for Life a few months ago, and you guys have reminded me that in several interviews with maintainers they adjusted their goal up or down depending on how they maintained at that weight.
My one other thought is that it seems a little anti-climatic to adjust the goal at the end, but I know it's my life, not a movie ending, so I have to do what is best for me, not most dramatic.
And rockinrobin there will definitely be some loose skin on the belly, and like you, I don't know how that will affect my weight.
jtammy, you've done such a wonderful job -- you're one of the people on this board who keep me going. I see how far you've come and it makes me believe I can do it too!!
I'm your height, and I set my goal at 165. I'm not sure where I got the number, though it is just under the upper limit for the "normal" range according to most charts. I don't remember what it's like to weigh 165 -- in fact, I barely remember what it's like to be under 200. When I was in college, I got to 140 and I remember what that was like, but I certainly don't expect to see that again. I'm going to see what I look like around 175-180, but I expect to shoot for 165. It's so hard to tell what my body will look like under all this weight I've carried for years. I've lost 54 pounds so far and my body has changed so much.
Our oldeat son is getting married this coming August. When he and his fiancee got engaged in June of last year I recommitted myself to losing the rest of the weight that I had begun to lose a few years earlier. (My heaviest was 275 in 1999.) I thought that having two years to lose the weight would work out great. We have our own wedding picture hanging in our living room, and I got the idea of trying to reach 160 lbs. which is what I weighed on my own wedding day. I just happened to be 260 when I recommitted myself, so that would mean a loss of 100 pounds. It sounded like a nice round number! (And I certainly was ROUND!!!)
My son and his fiancee are both athletes, and both have run marathons. My son's fiancee qualified for Boston and ran it last year. I am no athlete, but I thought that a bonus wedding present for them would be showing them my efforts to lose weight, getting stronger and healthier and in better shape, and hopefully looking good in their wedding pictures in a few months.
My first fifty pounds came off pretty well, but this second fifty is really tough! I am just not used to the smaller amounts that people must eat when they weigh close to 199. I'm also finding it hard to exercise as much as my body seems to need to continue to lose more weight. My body REALLY seems to like weighing what it does!!!
Another interesting thing is that I am already wearing size 14-16 tops and recently bought size 18 jeans. How is it possible that at 160 I ALSO was wearing size 14-16 tops and jeans just a size smaller than I am right now? I just don't get it!
I mentioned in an earlier thread that I haven't been motivated as much to lose this last fifty as I had been to lose the first fifty. I'm very large-boned even though I'm average height (5'6"). I also am losing weight all over my body due to all the exercise that I am doing.
Maybe I set my weight loss goal TOO HIGH...
Maybe if I could somehow get my rear in gear to lose these eleven pounds and finally see that scale M-O-V-E I might think differently.
LisaMarie, Thanks! I've watched you do so well these last few months, and the results of all of your efforts are really showing.
Hi Cheryl, The weight loss has slowed down for me lately also. I'm eating between 1600 - 1700 calories per day and losing between 4 - 5 lbs a month (average). I can stay pretty content with those calories most days, which is great, because I can't do hungry.
Maybe all of the exercise you are doing makes you smaller, even though your weight is higher than last time you were wearing size 14/16.
Have you ever read Glory87's story here at 3FC? She posted about how she stopped losing weight, so she decided to maintain at that weight. SHe slowly started adding calories back to her diet to maintain, and ended up losing more weight after she added more calories. It's interesting, and your post reminded me of hers when you said your body seemed to really like that weight.
Yes, I did read Glory's post and was thinking the same thing! It seems weird that would happen, but I've read that when the body "thinks" it is in trouble (lower calories eaten per day) that it "gets worried" and shifts to a lower metabolism to maintain its weight (ie. "not die").
I really have to pay closer attention to calories and portions, too! I've got the exercise thing down well, but where I falter is really watching those calories.
I can tell that I am a lot more firm due to the exercise, so maybe that's what takes off INCHES but still leaves the POUNDS to show up on the scale. I guess I should be happy that I am fitting into smaller clothes, but I would like to also see that scale go down!
This website has been FANTASTIC for me because I KNOW that people here KNOW how I am feeling because they have been there or ARE there NOW. Thank you for answering and supporting my efforts!
Your monthly weight loss says that you and your body are working well together on this journey! Good goin', Tammy!
Considering changing goal weight
) I couldn't imagine weighing less, but when I got to 160 I realized that first, I wasn't done and second, it would be easy to keep going because I was still losing at a steady pace. I felt terrific and it wasn't hard at all. So I made up my mind that for once in my life, I didn't want to be overweight or plump or chubby. I wanted to be normal and wear cute clothes and not worry about my weight all the time!
