While my ticker says 140lbs, my goal weight has always been between 140-155lbs. I definitely want to get into the healthy BMI range for a number of reasons (not necessarily because I believe it's some holy grail of health but more because I just don't want to hear from doctors about my weight anymore, plus, I have bad joints and weighing less will help) but beyond that I had a lot of other goals in mind on how to determine where to stop:
- I wanted to fit into a size 8 or below
- I wanted to get to these measurements or below (40/28/40)
- I also have a number of fitness goals but those don't have to happen before I hit maintenance.
But here's the thing. I'm already into 8's and they're too big for me! I've also already reached a 40" bust and 40" hips too! My waist is not even remotely there but I've seen more than one person on here say that sometimes their waist catches up later on down the road while maintaining the same weight... I'm guessing due to skin firming up, fat cells releasing water, and weight lifting? So, I'm not sure if reaching my goal of a 28" waist has to happen before I hit maintenance either, you know?
Soo... I'm kind of wondering where I should go from here. I have 17lbs to lose still to reach a healthy BMI. I imagine I'll want some breathing room there so I'll probably want to get at least to the lower 150's but beyond that I'm just not sure? I hate having just a weight goal left. My body likes to go through spurts of not changing on the scale but losing inches (it's happening at the moment I lost 1" from my bust and about 2" from my hips without a change in the scale in the past 3 weeks and it looks like I might not lose anything this month since TOM is quickly approaching), so I need something to keep me motived with but I also don't want something unrealistic too. ARG!
When I think of a size 8, I think of the size 8 I was in high school. I was 140lbs then and very active. Granted, that was before having a kid and before lifting so I have a feeling I wouldn't look the same at 140lbs now. I really just wish I knew my measurements back then so I would have something to work towards now. Anybody know what the measurements for a size 8 were in the late 90's?????????????
I guess all this is to say, anybody else deal with this? Did you end up picking new goals and if so what were they?
I've been thinking about this a lot as I approach my goal weight. What I plan on doing is to set fitness goals; I wanted to run a 5k, I succeeded, now I want to run longer and faster. I want to look into some long distance cycling events and train for that. So, for me, it's not just about the weight/size accomplishments, but also the physical accomplishments that I wouldn't be able to do before the weight loss.
I've been thinking about this a lot as I approach my goal weight. What I plan on doing is to set fitness goals; I wanted to run a 5k, I succeeded, now I want to run longer and faster. I want to look into some long distance cycling events and train for that. So, for me, it's not just about the weight/size accomplishments, but also the physical accomplishments that I wouldn't be able to do before the weight loss.
See, I would really love to do that, but physically, it's not really possible for me right now. I have a knee injury (I'm actually getting an MRI tomorrow..) and can't do anything with my lower body at the moment, so it really limits what I can do. I am working towards doing a pull-up but I have a lot of other things I'd like to do that are being put on hold for the moment (deadlifting my own body weight, running a half marathon etc). I could do some sort of timed swimming goals but even then I have to be careful because I might be tempted to use my legs too much just to get a faster time (which would not be a good idea at all! ).
do you have any of your old clothes from high school? If so, I would use fitting into them as the goal, and not pay that much attention to current inflated clothing sizes.
I've got some old school completely non-stretch jeans in a 16. Right now, I'm wearing a range of 14,15,16 depending on cut but the old school jeans are not close to fitting. I suspect I'll be in a current 12 (or 13 since jr sizes fit me better) before that happens. It's not my final end point but it's been a great mile marker for me to work towards.
If you don't have any of your old clothing, I would look at a UK size chart and go by their size 8, I think that may closer to older measurements, although it may be even before the late 90s.
do you have any of your old clothes from high school? If so, I would use fitting into them as the goal, and not pay that much attention to current inflated clothing sizes.
nope between many international moves we barely have any clothes left! I can fit into my last of my prepregnancy clothes and even a skirt I had in college so I'm in uncharted territory here. Plus, I had no clue how to buy clothes that fit in high school and most of my clothes were way to big on me anyways.
Ok, so I found this:
It's clearly WAY off for the current US sizes but I wonder if that might be pretty accurate compared to my high school size 8. So that means a 35" bust, 28.5" waist, and a 37.5" hip. I'm not sure if I can hit that bust size but the hip size sounds realistic. Hmm...
I would go ahead and order a UK size 14 as an aspirational goal because I love it that much. But I don't think I will ever have 38" inch bust, which is what they give as the measurements for a UK14.
Not that I have ever found that tape measure measurements on me translate that closely into clothing size meaurements. I don't usually bother to measure because of that, I just go by how clothing fits.
I would go ahead and order a UK size 14 as an aspirational goal because I love it that much. But I don't think I will ever have 38" inch bust, which is what they give as the measurements for a UK14.
Not that I have ever found that tape measure measurements on me translate that closely into clothing size meaurements. I don't usually bother to measure because of that, I just go by how clothing fits.
I hear you! I don't think my bust has ever been smaller than my hips (or if so I was probably measuring incorrectly!). The fit is always off for me too because I have a small back but large breasts. So even if it's 40" in circumference that doesn't work if they're putting 20 or most of those inches on the back!!!! I need something that is cut for a small ribcage and large busts.
That's why I've pretty much given up on shopping in stores and now just shop at specialty shops online that are made with large busts in mind. I hope to order from Biubiu soon but, unfortunately, because many of these shops are new and haven't been around for awhile you can't find more exotic (not quite the word I'm looking for her.. maybe unique?) clothing pieces in them. Instead you get your basics, which is great and all but sometimes you want some really cool and funky!
I'm thinking of resetting my hip measurement to 37.. maybe 38. I wonder if I should reset my bust measurement to 38 too? Not sure if it's remotely realistic, though. Hmm....
Ah, to be young again! LOL, I will never cease to be amazed at how different we all are in sizes. I can't even cram myself in to size 8 pants and I'm right at 161 and 5'7" tall. I admit to a shortage in the boob department, so If I had more there and weighed 161 I'd be a bit smaller elsewhere. My original goal was to lose 100 pounds, and I've mentioned many times that I stopped at 90 because of baggy skin. This is where I am, this is where I'll probably stay. At my age, I'm not as concerned about being the same actual shape I was in high school. That will never happen. My waist is bigger than it was (proportionately) but I'm OK with being more straight up and down than hourglass. Remember this - whatever your shape now, it sure as heck beats ROUND.
Good luck in figuring out what works for you. It's all better than what it used to be.
Ah, to be young again! LOL, I will never cease to be amazed at how different we all are in sizes. I can't even cram myself in to size 8 pants and I'm right at 161 and 5'7" tall. I admit to a shortage in the boob department, so If I had more there and weighed 161 I'd be a bit smaller elsewhere. My original goal was to lose 100 pounds, and I've mentioned many times that I stopped at 90 because of baggy skin. This is where I am, this is where I'll probably stay. At my age, I'm not as concerned about being the same actual shape I was in high school. That will never happen. My waist is bigger than it was (proportionately) but I'm OK with being more straight up and down than hourglass. Remember this - whatever your shape now, it sure as heck beats ROUND.
Good luck in figuring out what works for you. It's all better than what it used to be.
Lin
Lin, I definitely agree that this is a good problem to have and I feel infinitely better about my body than where I was at to begin with. But I'm also someone who is really goal originated so having these things in mind helps a lot with keeping me on tract for my weight loss journey.
Realistically, I highly doubt I'll be the same shape I was in high school. Goodness knows I have the stretch marks and loose skin to prove it! But I do see that size (more or less) as an achievable goal. Part of it to is that I want a point where I can say "ok, here I'm happy, I can stop now". I know I'm not quite there yet. I don't expect to have the perfect body when I get there either but still would like a size in mind that I could recognize and feel happy that I achieved. In a way I feel cheated by being able to fit into 8's already because my current size is so different than when I was an 8 in the past. I know that's sort of a silly way to look at it because it's only a number but I guess I had a lot more emotion tied to that number than I realized.
Lin, I'm wih you. I'm in the upper 170s and can just get into "large" sweaters. I have some size 18 pants from 10-12 years ago that I can't zip. But I can wear my favorite jacket from back then, so I'm really happy about that.
I need some new goals...
).
between many international moves we barely have any clothes left! 
