I'm 5'2, 172lbs. I guess it's not something I have to worry about right now, if I want to lose more when I get to my goal, I'll just keep going. But when I told my friends I wanted to get down to 130 I got lectured about how that's way too light and how I need to stop comparing myself to other people. Which I'm not. But, my sister is 5'7 and 129 and yeah, she's skinny but she's healthy, she just as a killer metabolism because she eats like I do. So how can 130 be unreasonable? I'm built way differently then my sister...which is where my friend was coming from, I'm very large busted and I have big hips, but she has 5 inches on me. All that to say, 130 is in my healthy weight zone, and on the higher end of it too...in fact I'd love to go even lower then 130, if I could be 125 awesome! I just hate to set my goal to high, I want it to be healthy and reasonable but how do you choose a number?
Just go for it a little bit at a time. You don't have to pick a set 'goal' right away. Aim for the first 5 pounds. When that's down, aim for another 5, etc.
How did I set a goal? I might as well have thrown a dart at a dart board. I have never been this small, so when I started at 265 I thought to myself "well, 175 sounds good." Then when I started losing, I decided it sounds cool to say 'I lost 100 lbs' so I changed my goal to 165. I think you'll know when you get there, so I would ideally like to try for 155, but I'll see how I feel at 165
I understand your dilemma. Personally, I don't think it's necessary to set a number in stone. More realistically, you may choose a number and decide to tweak it once you get closer to that number. For some people, it might mean raising the number, for others it may mean lowering the number. So for now, I might choose a number but mentally think of it as an estimate that very possibly may change as I near it.
Ultimately, what's most important is how you feel at that weight and your health at that weight, rather than the weight itself.
I used to be anorexic and I took picks of myself in my underwear at different weights-my lowest being 109.8. Back then I thought I was fat at all of them.... now I look back at SOME of them-like 125-and go "Damn I was hot!" xD I wasn't too skinny at all I was hot with a 25in waist and an hour glass figure! I am small boned. But at 110 my ribs and hip bones were JUST starting to poke out-like just barely. For me my self esteem is really important. And at 180 my self esteem was dead and I just wished some one would shoot me... but I decided to do something about it instead.
Last edited by wolfgirl69; 04-20-2013 at 10:33 PM.
Choosing something you are able to live with and not constantly battling ....this is something you need to be truly honest with yourself, are you willing to keep a close leash on everything that goes into your mouths...or do you want a more relaxed but healthy way of eating ...the Choice is yours!
I am done telling myself things that are comfortable to hear
I will always have to assess every morsel I ingest for health reasons...and I will never be able to eat things that others eat ....without paying a High price of being severely ill afterwards...Great tasting it.....Then later doubling over in severe pain and agony!
You know what you can live with and without ....just be honest with yourself ...and follow your instincts plus consult your healthcare team for guidance.
Good Luck,Roo2
I did it based on BMI, I'm trying to get my BMI to be in the middle of the healthy range which was around the 130 lbs mark. If I get to 140 lbs however I find I feel great and have the body that I want then I'll stop. I've never been this light before though, so I'll play it by sight!
I picked the highest "normal" weight for my size on the BMI and body fat % chart and then subtracted 5 lbs to be safe. I'm not married to 135 lbs though. If I feel awesome at 145, then so be it. If I want to keep going after 135, that's fine too, as long as I don't become underweight.
Mine kind of works two ways, it's right in the middle for a healthy bmi and it's at exactly 100 pounds lost. It's not set in stone though, if I'm happy either before then or a little bit after that's fine too.
Well, when I first signed up, my original goal was 150 because that was the last weight I remember feeling really good at. Now that I am 16lbs away from 150, I am starting to realize that my current body vs high school body will look/feel very different at the same weight of 150 with the loose skin and stretch marks, etc from having been nearly 250. I decided to go ahead and pick the highest healthy weight for my height (varies from 5'2.5" to 5'3") came up with 135 after taking a few lbs off. I have never been under 150 (maybe it was 160? I can't recall) as an adult so it will be all new territory to me after that!
I guess I just want a flexible "what I'm working toward" goal. I know I'm never going to be a stick...I'm just not built that way lol. A healthy bmi would be a good place to start, I suppose. I think 130 will still be my flexible goal. I think it's reasonable and achievable...and 25 pounds lighter then I have been since...idk, early high school? At this point, anything under my lowest weight of 155 would be nice. Thanks ladies!
I first picked a goal that was the upper limit of BMI for my height. A few months ago, I had a long talk with my medical practitioner and my husband and bumped that weight up by 15 pounds. I chose a goal that is realistic for me as a near 50 year old woman who has never been a normal weight. Once I get there, I can re-assess.
I chose my ultimate goal of 125 based on BMI. I would like to be in the middle of "normal" (which for me is 106-132) so that I can gain or lose and still be in the normal realm. My mini goals are 5% increments based on my starting weight. Each 5% I lose I feel like I reached an attainable goal and it keeps me motivated. Just because I pick a certain ultimate goal though doesn't mean that when I reach 135-140 I'm not going to say "I look good here" and change my goal. It's up to each person, but I recommend using the BMI chart as a healthy judge of where you *should* be.
How do you choose a goal?
