So I am noticing that others my height (5' 7") have a goal weight where I am right now.

I am feeling so much better, and my clothes fit better. Yet, My doctor says I should be at 145, even 140 is better.

I'd like to be at 130 but that's just starvation for me, not going to happen. I thought I'd strive for the 138, and allow for the gain in later phases to bring me up to the between 140 and 145.

Maybe I'm okay here? I guess it's really personal...I do feel always bloated in the tummy area, can grab a huge handful there & have that muffin top effect all the time that feels yucky.

But, aren't we always so hard on ourselves?

hmmm. 1st I would say do what YOU want and what YOU are comfortable with and motivated towards and not based on what the others are doing. My coach gave me three ranges for my height: a high, middle, and low. The low was 108. Ha! I knew that was not happening so I decided to choose the top of the middle.

I am in the same spot as you. I am also the same height. I started witha goal weight of 140, but now that I am close to that, I am rethinking my decision. The weight came off relatively easily and I am thrilled with where I am currently and where I am heading. My thought was 135-138 recently. I know that puts me several weeks out, but I am also okay with that. I wanted to give myself some cushion if I was the one person who gained a bit with Phase 3.
I'm leaving for vacation in 2 days for two weeks, taking my scale with me and my IP food. Will enjoy my vacation and revisit this subject when I get back... would love to move on, but would also love to lose a bit extra...

I think you are right, we are own worst critics and the hardest ones to please with our success.... don't want to be greedy, but also want to keep off what I have worked so hard to lose.

I like that! My coach asked what my lowest weight that I was as an adult. That was probably about 142-145. So my goal at her office is 140. I would kind of like to get down to 135 for a little cushion. I am also trying to get my body fat % down to a healthy level.

I think the other thing your goal weight depends on is your bone structure. I am still trying to figure out what mine is.

What is healthy fat range? All of you look young and skinny to me. I am 59years old.
My weight in my 1st full time pregnancy was 132lb. I was 25 years old then.
And before pregnancy was 114lb. Do you mean i can go down to 132lb ever?

Personally, I see a big shift in my body when I move into the 130s. I, too, would love to be 130 but maintaining that with my current lifestyle isn't the most realistic, but 135-138 is. Keep in mind these are just numbers and there are variances in our bodies - breast size, bone structure, muscle mass etc. Perhaps strive for a certain BMI, like 22% -- something in the middle of the healthy range and once you are there see how you feel? The end number can always be changed!

I am 33 years old. I am hoping once I get to my goal weight, I will be able to maintain my weight for the next 25 years. But I don't know how likely it will be.

I just Googled healthy fat ranges and got a bunch of different answers. Here are a couple numbers that I got from a yahoo page.

American Dietetic Association recommends that men have 15-18% body fat and women have 20-25% body fat.

Dr. C. Everett Koop's site, ShapeUp.com, breaks down healthy body fat ranges by both gender and age. Men under 39 years of age should have 8-19% body fat, and women under 39 years of age should have 21-32%. Older men may range from 11% to 24%, and older women may range from 23% to 35%.

I want to get down to below 30%.

Quick rule-of-thumb is to measure your wrist when you're at a normal weight. Anything under 6 inches is small boned. Up to 6.5 inches is medium; and over 7 inches is large. (Or so I've read.) Now, all you have to do is get to a normal weight. Or, if you're like me and not yet at a normal weight and wrist is under 6 inches. . . .

My problem is that I am incredibly pear-shaped. My wrists are under 6 inches, but I have very wide hips. (Grandmother actually told me I had good birthing hips when I was just 16. Thanks a lot, Grandma!) When I tell people my goal weight they tell me that is way too little (not coach though. She is cool with it). It's in the middles of my healthy weight range. The last time I weighed 150 I was a size 10 bottoms. I could wear size 6 shirts. That was 10 years ago. I thought my *** was huge then. Go figure.

Hey! Thanks for that. I had never heard of that before. I have always said that I was big boned but often wondered if I was just lying to myself!! Just measured my wrist and it was 7 1/4 inches. Guess I wasn't lying after all!

I have been struggling with a goal weight during this whole experience. Originally, I just wanted to get healthy & felt like I would be more than happy just to be able to wear a size 12. Now I am in a 10 & some 8's and I keep thinking I want to go down to 140 or so which would mean a size 6 or 4 but I have truly never been there. Even when I was in college and weighed 125 (did that by starving myself), I wore a 10/12! I also just want to be done and move on through the phases. I have been OP for almost 26 weeks and while it really is easy, I want to move on and see if I can make it through to maintenance. I don't know the answers yet but it sure keeps my mind busy!!

I am really so thankful that I have found IP & that I feel comfortable in my body again. So many years have passed where I didn't. We are planning a trip to China next year and it will be so great to be able to fit in plane seats and not get the stares while traveling there that I had gotten before. Should be able to take the humidity in Southern China much better this time too!

Pselias - I have a friend who is 5'11 and she is small framed up top and larger on the bottom. I don't even know if pear shaped is accurate, because she doesn't have terribly wide hips necessarily but she carries all her weight in her legs - she has thick legs / calves. I have seen her between 145-150 and thought she looked great. Her upper body does appear very thin, while her lower body would seem good. One thing I have seen done is to lift weights to actually increase the size of the upper body once you get the lower half to look how you want it, it provides some balance in shape. Just a thought in case you start seeing weight loss where you'd least prefer it!

A big factor in this is age. With the three ranges mentioned I would think younger people would aim of the low end. I am 64 and large framed according to wrist measurement so I am aiming for the high end of the range for my height.
I don't care for the gaunt wrinkled face look. Actually I don't care for the shorts and gladiator sandles on fit 60 year olds either but seeing some of that around lately.
pselias; I think Dr. Tein has a section on pear shaped women in the downloadable book. It said this is a bigger problem to get your head around because you are actually working with two different types of body builds at once. I think that's where I was reading about that.

Thanks so much! Happy to report that the boobs so far have stayed put! I was only a 34A before I had kids (even at this weight). So maybe this time around thing will be a little more even.

Thanks for the tip! I will check it out.

Thanks for the info, my Dr told me my bone structure was a large frame and wasn't sure how he came up with this. I just measured my wrist and it is over 7". he set my weight loss goal and I will get to that and then see how i feel and look with my weight