How do you know what your goal weight is?

mascara blue · 07-06-2010, 09:07 AM

Hi all

I have no idea what my goal weight should be. I once did this diet through a weightloss centre where I lost ALOT of weight. At the time I weight 106kg and the goal weight they had set for me was 62kg. Towards the end just before I broke it and gained it all back, i could see my ribs in the mirror, my period stopped for months, I was freezing cold all the time and had no energy. And yet I wasnt at my goal weight and couldnt get the maintenance plan and eventually stopped the diet and went on a huge binge.

Because I wasnt at the my goal weight, I didnt actually feel thin and all I remember of the time is my ribs (and actually was please about it..seems crazy now) so now that I am trying to lose weight agian, I dont know what my goal weight should be. HOw did you calculate yours? I want to be around 70Kg (abt 155lb). I am 5.57 (170cm). But I dont know if thats the right weight for me or not. I think its important that i set a goal weight plus a realistic one. I always feel fat, so the method of losing weight till I get to a weight I am happy with wont work. But I figured if I set a weight and reach it then maybe then I feel happy with my body.

StephanieM · 07-06-2010, 10:39 AM

It almost sounds like the diet you were on previouslly was unhealthy for you. Those also sounds like the effects of anorexia, ie feeling cold, period stopping, no energy.

The right weight for you may just be the weight you feel best at, but many use a bmi calculator to figure out what their target should be. Though bmi calculators can't be completely relied upon as they don't take into account how much muscle you may have.

I find this site has good imformation about the calculators themselves and has a few of them http://www.halls.md/

When I started I had a bmi that stated I was obese and now I have one that just states I'm overweight

I'm shooting for 140 because that will be in the normal range.

Slim CB · 07-06-2010, 10:57 AM

I used a BMI calculator to figure out what my goal weight should be. 164 is the highest weight for me at a healthy BMI. However I may stop at 170 depending on how my body looks when I get there. As my nutritionist said to me 'when you get to your goal weight, you will know". If your ribs are poking out and you look like you are starving, I would think your weight is too low. Take it in stages, if you get to a certain weight and still have a bit of fat, go for 5lbs more.

Trust me, you will know. I personally dont care what people think about my size. My trainer told me that I should aim for 150lbs but within myself I know that I would look anorexic if I go that far. I just want to be healthy and fit and I think thats what we all should aim for.

ThicknPretty · 07-06-2010, 11:15 AM

My original goal weight was 170. I got there and was NOT satisfied at all. My goal for now is 160...but I'm already at 162 and I know that the next 2 pounds are not going to make enough of a difference for me to be satisfied.

I, like Slim CB, would have thought I'd look anorexic at 150, but I don't think that will be the case now that I'm close enough to it to be able to reasonably anticipate what my body will look like then. I haven't weighed less than 180 in a looooong time, so I really had no idea what I would look like at the lower weights until I reached them.

I think a lot of people end up adjusting their goal as they lose. It's really hard to know what you're going to look like at a certain weight or if you will be satisfied there before you reach it or get close.

TJFitnessDiva · 07-06-2010, 11:27 AM

I started with a goal weight of 150, which was a number in the normal range on the BMI scale that I randomly chose

as I got closer to that weight I decided to go a little lower and then a little more lower. When I got down to 135, it just felt right

loveAcat · 07-06-2010, 10:08 PM

On my last diet, I got down to about 160 lbs. That's still overweight for a 5' 6" woman according to the BMI calculator, but I felt very good and healthy at this weight.

I'd aim for losing 10% of your body weight first, and then seeing how you feel. You definitely do not want to go back to that weight that made you feel sick... a healthy weight makes you feel energetic and happy.

ncuneo · 07-06-2010, 11:42 PM

At this point I'm taking 5 lbs at a time and hoping I know when I get there. I think I'll stop at 143 and see what strength training can do for my flabby parts and if I'm not happy after 6 months I'll give another 5 lbs a go.

mascara blue · 07-07-2010, 08:23 AM

Thanks for your responses everyone. I just did the BMI and my current BMI is obese (no surprise there) but what surprised me is that at 70kg, I come just under the top end of healthy BMI.

So my new goal is 70kg (yikes! 20 more kg to go!!) and then decide whether I want to go lower or not.

Thanks again

marielenrdz · 07-14-2010, 09:43 PM

I'm confused about goal weights as well. BMI chart suggests I be 130lbs (on the high end) for my height 5'2" (age 39). I'm currently at 153lbs and I have people telling me to maintain! They are going on looks and do not know my weight. I'm bottom heavy and look pretty thin from the waist up. I'm wearing a sz 10 right now. Can't imagine going as low as 130lbs and not looking sick, since my face is pretty thin as it is now. At my highest weight I was 230 lbs. I'm starting to think that I'll never be as low as 130 because I'll always have 10-15 lbs of extra skin or flab that will require surgery. For now, my goal weight is 145lbs and we'll see from there.