I started to type out a lengthy response to a post in a different forum (waves to Melissa) and realized that rather than hijack someone's specific question, I would like to continue general discussion of the subject of figuring out a goal weight. So here I am to ask - did you pick a goal weight? If yes, how? If not, why and how do you think you will know when you are there?
One of the things I mentioned on the other thread was the weight loss calculator on the Dukan Diet site. It isn't the Oracle of Delphi or anything but I found it an interesting process to go through. In my case, the suggested target weight was 181 - a lot higher than any numbers I had been thinking about and I'm not sure I am going to accept it as my goal weight.
But I do believe the concept of what is reasonable and sustainable is an important one to think about. I've been carrying dozens and dozens of extra pounds for almost 40 years now (I'm 50). I've been through a pregnancy. I'm 50, and peri-menopausal. I'm a yo-yo dieter and have lost and gained and lost and gained 50 or more pounds several times.
Maybe I could reach 140 or some other low sounding number that is labeled as my ideal weight but how hard would I have to work to do it? And how hard would I have to work to stay there? And esp given my history of regaining, would I be setting myself up for more continuation of that cycle by trying to get to a number that may realistically be too low given the totality of my history.
In a totally different context - about deciding whether to have another child - some people I know use the test of "what if someone told you that you couldn't have another baby, how would you react?" And if the response is immediate defiance and the thought that "of course I can!" that helps define the answer. But if the response is "well, I guess I would end up being happy with the number of kids I have now" then that helps define the answer too.
For me, not having a knee-jerk "**** no!" reaction to 181 is helping me try to stay more open to where this journey ends and I am thinking I probably will be one of those people whose goal weight finds them.
Where are you on this issue and how did you get there?