Setting the goal is such an interesting struggle.
I'm pretty sure someone on this site posted these links in another thread.
This one lists how your weight stacks up from different resources, including what people at that weight think they should weigh.
http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm
This one is includes the age adjustment and lets you know how many people at your height, weight and age are thinner than you. Doesn't mean that everyone in the survey was at a healthy weight, but interesting nonetheless.
http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm
I'm struggling with where exactly to set goal right now, knowing that I will want to be about 5 lbs below it when I phase off. Not sure if I set it by BMI, % body fat, clothing size, or whatever. I am certainly "in the zone" now.
I have weighed as low as 118 as an adult, but obviously never was able to maintain it. Thyroid doctor was good with 140 and Body Fat at 29%. GP is fine with 130 (if I would just maintain it). First clinic suggested 130 as I "would look too thin below that". I picked 120 because of that "rule of thumb" 100 plus 5 lbs for each inch of 5', plus/minus 5 lbs.
I think I'm obsessing on wanting the scale weight in the 120s, and can't quite figure out the "right" body fat percentage and which number I might hit first. I want 130 to be my "panic" weight (aka go back on Phase 1), with 125 my "better adjust what you are eating starting today" weight. I hope I can settle in and keep things steady between 120 and 125. I have to get there first, of course, and interesting body things are happening in balancing hunger and weight training (which I am doing with my 14 year old daughter starting now, June, otherwise I would have waited until a later Phase) with crazy daily scale bounces. I have been losing at under 2 lbs a week for quite a while, so I am pretty resigned to that, and Phase 1 is pretty easy at this point, for the most part. I am starting to need to eat a little more frequently.
I'm fitting into "old school/back of my closet" 6s and "lycra/today's shopping" 4s and 6s, with the form fitting stuff showing too much thigh pooge. Deciding whether to be more realistic or see what the next few weeks bring.
So, I will be stopping soon as I feel really good now. Ironically, most of my friends are thin and, at 53, I think I want to be able to trade clothes with them or something<insert dramatic eye roll and teenage daughter sound here>. Plus, be able to share some "age appropriate" items with my daughter.
One crazy thing I found helpful was to look at "mommy makeover" plastic surgery pictures on line (to see what real people looked like before and after) and also this site was useful (another one someone else posted at 3fc), showing what real women look like at various weights, heights and sizes, although most of the ladies brave enough to post are much younger:
http://www.mybodygallery.com/index.html
It's a really tough and very personal decision.