I would like to know how people choose their goal weight. According the the BMI my goal weight will still be about a sleeve of Oreo's and a pint of Ben & Jerry's away from being overweight, but knowing my body type, I know that anything below my goal would look unhealthy. What other things should I factor in when determining my goal weight?
I just chose the weight right in the middle of the healthy BMI range for my height. I've been overweight since my teens so I don't know how realistic it is. I figure I'll adjust it as needed when I get closer to it. I just want a healthy, sustainable weight.
I chose my goal weight based on what I weighed in college... I'm 5'9" so 125lbs.... which might be slightly unrealistic at this stage in the game... But we'll see... I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be able to fit in to what I want to wear at around 135lbs. and have the "look" that I want...
So as shallow as that might sound... that's what it really comes down to for me... Being able to wear what I want to wear and look good doing it...
Good luck in finding that "place" that makes you happy....
I chose the weight I was when I was at my lowest, healthiest, etc... It's been a couple of decades since I've seen it, so even though it's in the healthy range for my height, I don't know how realistic it is now. If I can't get to that exact weight, I'll go by how I feel and how my clothes fit. I've gotten to the point where I pay more attention to how I feel and how my clothes fit, than the actual number on the scale. The scale is not my friend.
I chose a number that was in the healthy range. I actually started with 135, but have since dropped it to 130 since I have ALOT of fat compared to most women my height/weight. In the end though, I honestly don't care what I weight. How I look and feel is what I really care about.
1. It's smack dab in the middle of the normal BMI for my height.
2. Back in 2006 I got down to 142 pounds and I felt like I had 5-10 pounds more to lose, so I settled on 7 and picked 135.
BUT I'm weight training this time around, so I very well may be content at a higher weight than 135. Once I get under 155 I'm going to focus more on body fat than weight itself.
I have my first goal is getting to 257 which means that I lost 100 pounds.
My second goal is to get to 235 which is where I was when my mother died in 2006 and I was looking real good then but could afford to loose some more.
My third goal is to just loose until I feel and look good to myself.
I am not even concerned with Insurance charts, BMI, labels, etc. They are all just numbers and opinions of what is the normal and sorry but I am unique.
I never chose a goal weight. I still haven't, really, and I am transitioning into maintenance.
I just decided that I would stop trying actively to lose weight when either (a) I was happy with how I looked, or (b) losing more seemed like more work than I was willing to put in.
In fact, both (a) and (b) have happened. I am still a bit into the "overweight" BMI category for my height. But, my exercise of choice is heavy weightlifting - I am strong and muscular. Yeah, I have a little bit of saddlebag and belly that I could stand to shed. Maybe it will come in time as I keep working on my strength training. But when I have tried to restrict my calories further, I haven't found it sustainable - I've struggled with overeating and binging. So, I've decided it's time to transition to maintenance.
I never set a goal weight because I didn't see the point. I didn't know how I would look when I got there, and whether my goal weight was 150 or 155 or 170 didn't make a lick of difference to what I actually had to do when I still had weight to lose. So I just decided not to think about it in terms of a goal number.
I think it was the right choice for me, and I'm always surprised that more people don't approach the question of goal weight the way I did.
My goal weight is what I weighed and stayed comfortably at for a decade. That was before my metabolism hit a huge brick wall. Its in the middle to upper middle end of a healthy BMI. It's also the size of most of the clothes in my closet that Id like to be able to wear again.
Right now, I'm mostly aiming for my lowest adult weight- 160- where I was happy, fit, and healthy. Then I'm going to readjust based on my needs and wants at the time. Ultimately, I would like to be my "ideal" weight (according to health care providers), which is 135lbs. However, I'm leaving that alone for a while based on the idea that I might be happier anywhere below 160, and don't necessarily want to aim for "perfection." 145 seems like a good number right now, because it marks losing half my weight and it is just into the "normal" BMI range.
I originally set a goal weight of 150 -- smack dab in the middle of "normal" on the BMI chart. But then I lost 50 pounds. I was feeling and looking so good, that I knew I didn't need to lose 40 more to be happy, so I changed my goal to 170.
That's actually at the bottom end of "overweight." There is a study out there that says our BMI charts are wrong and that longevity correlates best with the lower end of overweight.
Then when I got to 170, I suddenly felt really motivated to at least see what it feels like to be "normal" weight. I got down to 165. Since then, I've mostly stayed between 165 and 170 and haven't fully committed to what my maintenance weight is. It's a tricky balance between how diligent I want to be and what is diligent enough that I don't start being tempted to go back to my old ways. I can stay around 167 without too much trouble but fairly stringent day-to-day. I can stay around 169 with less trouble but I sometimes feel like the overeating monster is constantly at my back when I'm doing that.
I went by how I felt while I was at that weight and would like to be there again! I might end up trying for a couple of pounds less for a little wiggle room
a weight chart & saw what the highest & lowest weight I should be. I picked a number I use to weigh & willl try to mauntain. My Dr says about 15 lbs heavier than my goal...we will see. I'm short so us shorties don't get to weigh alot.
Last edited by 1spunkygal; 09-16-2012 at 09:32 AM.
How did your choose your goal weight?
I googled
