I've been giving serious thought to NOT having a weight loss goal...as in, not having a goal weight. I mean, if this is TRULY a lifestyle change, why have a goal weight at all? Isn't it true that if you are consistent with good eating and exercise, your body will decide where to stop anyway?

Also have been thinking about cutting my weigh-ins down to one day a month. I want to focus on something other than the dang scale for a change.

So be honest....how crazy am I for thinking about this??

I think you have a great point. I've been obsessing with the blessin Scale too. I decided that I'm not going to weigh myself again this month. Cause I'm lifting weights as well as doing cardio to lose weight. And if I gain a pound or two from the weights I think it's FAT. Plus When AF comes around I retain water and gain another couple pounds. And then I get so mad and then I get discouraged. SO I'm not weighing in but ONCE a month. So no more weigh-ins for me until next year. Tee hee.

And your right about the life style change. It's a hard one. But WELL WORTH IT.

You know, Jen415, as long as you find something that works for you, I say go for it! It makes sense to me that if your goal is to get healthy than a goal weight isn't needed.
However, I think that you should have some other non-weight type goal that is specific. "Being healthy" is a goal that you can't really measure your progress on explicitly, you know? So try and find another specific goal that you can track, and that you can reach step by step.
For ultimate goals, instead of weight:
- Activity levels (goal to be able to run a 5K 3 times a week)
- Strength/lifting (compare to other people who lift)
- Clothing size (you can pick a range to get down to)
- Eating X number of veggies easily

Yes? For me, I think that I need a goal weight to keep on-target, but I agree that the 'weight' isn't really the reason that I'm doing all of this.

Good luck!

I don't think you're crazy Jen, that's actually really smart. I know that I personally need to weigh in every week or I will not be as careful with my eating, but I know quite a few people who were successful with weight loss weighing in once a month and one who threw out the scale entirely and based success on fitting into her old clothes.

It doesn't sound crazy to me. You have to do what works for you and if that works then I say, Go for it!!

I agree. This a personal choice for each of us, so you need to do what feels right for you.

You know, Jen, I think if you're able to do this without having a goal weight in mind to aim at, and without jumping on the scale at every opportunity, that's probably a pretty healthy attitude to have. You're right about it being a lifestyle change and not just some crazy diet that will come to an end when we hit that magic number.

I know I can't do this because I get complacent. Take the way I've been over the last few months: I feel (and look) tons better than I did at 247 pounds, and I've found myself falling into the trap of easing up. I didn't go back to my old way of eating, but I was definitely much less vigilant about what I was putting in my mouth. It was the slippery slope. I needed to remind myself that I'm still obese, and 50 pounds away from a "normal" BMI.

I agree with the previous posters. It sounds like a great idea if it works for you.

To be honest I've had pretty much the same idea for a while, I have 160lb on my ticker, but only because that's 100lb rather than because that weight has any significance in terms of stopping.

It's in the right sort of region, but I might stop at 165, or I might stop at 155, or I might go lower. I don't know, and now I've got to this stage I'm not going to get too hung up about it. I stop losing when I stop losing, really!

I still check the scale regularly, but I'm not too hung up on "goal", honest!

This is exactly how I've been, too. For me, the scale keeps me focused (for better or for worse, LOL).

That said, if going by clothing size or other non-scale things works better for you, go for it!

Honestly, I have no idea what my "goal" is, but I know that my BMI will be "normal" at 159, so I kinda went by that.

I only get weighed/measured once a month, otherwise I'd snap.

I am learning to put less stock in the scale since my weight hasn't been dropping much but I know that I am gaining quite a bit of muscle and my clothes look smaller. I picked 160 as a goal because its 200 lbs off and because with building muscle I probably wont be going below that but it is not a definate number. I will decide when I get there.

I do weigh every couple days to make sure Im not gaining and I measure once a week.

I do understand that it makes sense that we should not be focused on a scale when this is all supposed to be about healthy living. But I think that because so many of us struggle with the healthy lifestyle, that for now, the scale is a necessity to many of us. Once we have reached our goals we probably won't need to weigh as much if we have really adopted a healthy lifestyle.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I've struggled with this for awhile now. I'm still not sure what I will do, but all of your replies gives me something to consider.