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Old 02-13-2010, 06:34 PM   #1  
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Question Changing your goal

I'm really good at playing mind games with myself. I have a talent. A few tweaks and I'd have been in Vancouver this weekend carrying a flag. Maybe it's time to use this for my own benefit?

My weight's been bouncing around for the last few weeks - even the weeks when I've been on plan. I'm not going to use the p-word because, well, I'm stubborn. Yesterday I talked to my PT about my stalled weight loss and in the process of doing so I mentioned the p-word. He looked at me and told me that a plateau was by no means inevitable if I didn't want it.

Now there are things about weight loss I don't agree with my PT about. Daily weighing and counting calories, mainly. But when he said this about plateaus (plateaux?) my gut was inclined to agree with him - so I'm looking for ways to chug on.

One of them is to maybe change my goal. When my height got 'adjusted' to 5'9" I looked up my bookmarked table of healthy weight ranges and adjusted my goal to 150, the 'target' weight bang in the middle. Then I noted that would be a total loss of 99lbs and thought 's*d it' and put down 149 to round it off.

I wonder if I should change it to the top value on that table, 170. There are two main reasons for this: firstly, if I don't have as much to lose maybe my standing-like-a-deer-in-headlights thing can get shaken a bit (which I suspect is contributing to my not-p), and secondly, I'd much rather get to a goal and then adjust it lower than aim for a 'central' value and possibly have to adjust up.

What do you guys think?

And if you might have any tips on dealing with a not-p, please do feel free to share those too I'm all for playing as many mind games with my body as is necessary to kick its behind.

Oh and don't think you'll get rid of me from the 100lb club just because my target weight loss would be 79lbs instead of 100lb...
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Old 02-13-2010, 07:20 PM   #2  
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I've mentally adjusted my goal several times, and I've pretty much decided on a "I'll see when I get there approach." I allegedly have a small body frame so my 'ideal' range is be around 120-133, although I don't think I could ever be that small without looking gaunt & sickly. In my mind, my goal weight is 135. I'm not sure if 135 will be my actual goal weight, but I'm planning on getting down to 150 and then taking it from there. If 150 looks healthy then I'll maintain that weight, if not then I'll keep going. I try not to worry too much about it since it's months away before I'm there. As for your goal weight...I'd suggest the wait & see approach, you don't know what your body will be like so get to 170 and then re-evaluate.

As for your non-p...I've experienced a few of those myself, lol. Since I started my journey I haven't had an actual plateau, but I have managed to stall my weight loss twice. Around the holidays my weight loss stalled for a little over 3 weeks (I was stuck at 203), and I just spent a little over 2 weeks stuck at 187. Coincidentally, both stalls occurred right as I was about to hit a major milestone, onderland & being 'overweight' not obese. I pretty much mentally plateaued myself by not exactly sticking to plan (I had a few more cheats and exercised a bit less). Once I got over those mental barriers I wooshed and my weight loss continued. I don't know if your non-p is anything similar but maybe you need a bit of a change or something to help your motivation.
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Old 02-13-2010, 07:29 PM   #3  
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I have a goal, and yeah, it would be awesome to say I lost 100 lbs. And maybe that will be where I end up.

Honestly, I don't know - I may get down to somewhere else and decide that is the right fit for the way I feel and look and what seems realistic to maintain. But I also don't think that if I don't at least try for the more dramatic goal (which is still not going to be very thin - still 12 lbs more than my Wii Fit thinks I should be! lol!), I won't know what would happen if I challenged myself to go that far.

I'm still working on figuring out the ideal number of calories to have each day, and I'm sort of thinking that I will be around 1600 calories a day (allowing for some natural variation) and however much weight I lose eating that amount will be my end weight and when the weight stops coming off, that's how I'll know I'm at maintenance. I have no idea how that will work in reality, but I'm pretty comfortable with the amount I eat each day, and honestly feel like the only way I'd get much higher than that would be adding in less nutritious food on a regular basis. So the idea of eating the way I eat right now for the rest of my life seems pretty doable to me, and it will be interesting to see where that makes me end up.

The nice thing is that none of this is written in stone - I may get to a point where I stop losing (and no, not a plateau but where my calorie input is in balance with my calorie burn), and decide that it's not enough of a loss, and I'm willing to do more, work harder, eat less, to get lower.
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Old 02-14-2010, 02:40 AM   #4  
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I set a goal, 195, that I felt might just be possible. I did it, in part, to take some of the stress and pressure off, because, gosh, at my highest, that seemed almost unimaginably low, even though, at my height and build (medium), that's still in the 26 BMI neighborhood, but honestly, now I'm just under 200, and less than 5 pounds away from that goal, I look pretty normal and healthy, if not THIN. The last 40 pounds have made an unbelievably huge difference.

Nonetheless, I am adjusting that goal downwards once I get there. I'm thinking about 180 sounds pretty good, although I plan on being flexible about it. It's still on the higher end of the normal BMI range for me, but I've got a lot of muscle, and plan on building more. The most important thing for me is that my final goal weight is SUSTAINABLE, and other than as a rough guide, I don't think that highly of the BMI. I can tell when I'm fit, I can see when I look good, and I know how I feel.
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Old 02-14-2010, 07:50 AM   #5  
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I think this journey is every changing.

Even Bob Greene says that plateau's can happen.

I think our goals can change as we move along in this journey. Sometimes looking at the ultimate goal can seem too daunting. Perhaps - using five pounds goals as you approach your other goal. Also - your final goal can change as you get closer and might want to change up or down.
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Old 02-14-2010, 08:44 AM   #6  
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Honestly I can't even imagine myself under 150lbs right now, and honestly just to get to 150 I need to lose about that much weight. So, I'm just going to focus on my day to day stuff and see what my body is like after I get to "Onderland." I don't even know what kind of body type I have.. I've always said I was a heavy build, but I've always been obese so how do I even know that? According to charts, my ideal weight for my height (5'6") is between 150 and 135 depending on my build. So... somewhere in there is what I'm shooting for.

Not to mention, my husband and I might want to start trying for children when I get around 200lbs. It's one of my main goals to lose more weight before we try. We're hoping that I can get down there in 1 - 2 years. So it may be even longer before I actually get down to my goal weight.

Last edited by rakel; 02-14-2010 at 08:47 AM.
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Old 02-14-2010, 10:45 PM   #7  
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I agree - you need to figure out what is best for you. Maybe you will get down the 79 lbs and go yanno I am feel I can do a little more or maybe you will be ok.
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Old 02-15-2010, 09:59 AM   #8  
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Well, you know, I have been fighting imaginary plateaus all the way along my journey, and the one thing it has taught me is that while I am right at the edge between overweight and obese, I feel 100% better than I did at my high weight, so even if I never make my goal, I'm a lot better off than I was.

Clearly I still have a lot to lose. I mean, I'm short, and I can *see* me, so I know I've still got plenty of weight to lose. But my body does not want to cooperate, so I do what I can and if I reach my goal someday, well. Maybe I'll be able to go lower. According to the charts I certainly could, but I have discovered that the charts don't really mean much, you know?
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Old 02-15-2010, 10:23 AM   #9  
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I remember weighing my goal weight-- 175-- and thinking I was overweight. But I picked that weight because that was 120 lbs, and I couldn't bear thinking of losing any more than that. I hear stories about formerly obese people having 10 pounds of loose skin... I am just wondering if I'll look thinner at 175 now than I did in my twenties since I'm older now. ON the other hand, I've heard that the best weight for women is their high school graduation weight, and I think I weighed about 150-155 then.
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Old 02-15-2010, 10:33 AM   #10  
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I don't know if age has changed my perspective, or whatever, but the last time I weighed this much, I thought I was HUGE. I mean, just enormously, hopelessly fat. My BMI is currently 27.1, and that's certainly overweight, and I'm by no means done yet, but I'm a heck of a lot easier on myself when it comes to my ultimate goal. I don't need to be in the bottom of my "healthy" BMI range, when even now, I can feel my pelvic bone, my collarbones and wrists and jawline are all very prominent. I need to be in a weight range that's healthy, lets me feel good, and is, above all, SUSTAINABLE.
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Old 02-15-2010, 10:30 PM   #11  
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For me, it's important to focus on a goal I believe I can achieve, otherwise I lose motivation. My final goal is the top of my BMI range, which still seems crazy low. At the moment I am focussed on 75kg, a number I believe I can get to by May.

I don't believe that my weight loss "journey" ends when I see 66kg on the scale.
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Old 02-16-2010, 11:24 AM   #12  
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Looking at your last 2 months progress, I would say that you have plenty of time to decide a goal over the next year and 1/2. I really wouldn't sweat it for at least 12 more months, which would put you down about 30 more pounds at your current rate of 2.5 pounds per/month loss, (which is fine by the way!) You have lots of time to decide where you want to stop. Just worry about today!
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