help! not sure what weight goal to aim for (fluctuating target weight goal)
 

I know I know, I probably shouldn't be thinking about this some 70 lbs away from my final goal weight. The main reason why I'm thinking this is I'm close to going under 200 lbs here, so I'm thinking as I reach Onderland-- "okay, what should my final weight be like?"

I've been reading up on other chickies on this site, and it seems to be that having your target goal weight within a 5-pound range for maintenance (because weight fluctuates all the time) is the best way to do it to preserve your sanity when going on the scale :D

Originally, I was thinking of 125 lbs as my final target goal weight, and then changed my mind and decided on 130 lbs.

I checked both weight goals for my body height and whatnot on a bmi calculator and I'm in the normal weight range there.

Should I aim for a final weight loss goal of 125 lbs and keep it between 125 and 130 when I go into maintenance? Or 130 to 135 lbs?

(I know I can always change my goal weight later on as I drop more pounds here. But I was just thinking just for the time being.)

Suggestions? Sounds okay or wacky? Anyone else have similar experiences of doubt?

~ tea

It's a good idea to have a final target in mind. When you get close to it, let your body decide which weight is your maintenance weight.

I'm 5'4" and originally thought I should weigh 125 - 130 lbs. I was killing myself/hungry and cold all the time trying to hit that weight so I went for 130-135 and that's been relatively easy for me to maintain.

Dagmar :dizzy:

I think it's a bit of a trial and error process. My initial goal was higher than where I am now -- it was a target that I knew I could make, and one that didn't seem as intimidating to strive for. Once I reached that initial goal, I took it in baby steps after that and kept adjusting my target downward by 5 lb increments until I found a place that I liked, but still felt I could maintain. I'm at a good "happy weight" for me now, but I had to figure it out as I went along.

Weight isn't the only factor to consider; body composition is also important (lean body mass and fat percentage). In the 6 months or so after reaching my current weight, people thought I was still losing (even though my weight was stable), because I was continuing to tone up through exercise. So that is another factor to consider in setting your target -- if you are doing strength training and building muscle while losing fat in your weight loss journey, you can look great at a higher weight than you would if you weren't as fit. And you can continue to drop inches while you stay the same weight on the scale.

I have 130 in mind, because I maintained it before with moderate exercise and very general attention to diet. But that was 10 years ago, I'm older, I've been fat a long time, my exercise is different, my eating is much different. So I will definitely adjust my final maintenance weight when I get closer (getting there!).

I set my target at 127 because that was a five pounds lower than I had ever weighed in my adult life, figuring it would fluctuate up or down. When I got there I kept losing down to 125, figured I would fluctuate between 123-127. Was surprised when I continued to lose to 120 - I stayed pretty comfortably between 119-122 until I get sick, then lost down to the 117 in my profile. I'm actually working to get back up to the 120 as the base.

I've had the same thing as MBN - I stayed between 119-122 for 3 months but every time I saw someone I hadn't seen in a couple of weeks they thought I had lost a whole lot more weight. I've been reshaping so I look different from week to week sometimes.

I never thought I would weigh 120 when I started the process - the 127 was a lot less intimidating. :)

Tea,

I am another occasional Maintenance visitor. I am bit closer to maintenance than you are and I am still not sure about my goal weight. When I originally started (this February) I naively thought that I should lose some 33 lbs - I had no idea what to pick as my goal, as I had some extra padding for over a decade so it was hard to come up with a concrete number.
I think I set my original goal to 175 lbs and then I saw that even taller chicks had their goals set at much lower weights than mine (Tyler Durden comes to mine - although I am not her age [sadly :^:]). So I changed it to 158.

Now, I am not that far from that number but I have a feeling even that won't be good enough. See, I go about how I want to look visually, and I have no idea what number on the scale will represent that look. Also, I want to get to 20% of body fat (currently just below 24%) and so I think I still have a loooong way to go. The final number is not that important to me because I want to continue with weight lifting and I hope to build some decent muscles and all that will affect the final number. I think it will interesting to see what it will be in the end. :D

I would just have a target right now. There are a lot of factors which go into deciding on a final weight. Your body may want a different weight that what your mind wants (higher or lower).

My goal right now is 135. I want to hang out there for a while and let my body tell me what to do at that point. It may want to go lower, but I am not totally sure about that with the muscle I have put on. I'm certainly happy with my size right now.

You need some sort of a target because you need to have a goal. But once you get near that target you should re-assess. Because you're losing a tremendous amount of weight, you may find that what you envision as your final weight is not realistic--or it might be. This far out you may not be able to make a definite decision. Having a range might work in this case. I'd refer to one of the myriad of healthy weight charts and choose the range based on your height and age. For example, I'm 5'8" and a healthy range for me is 125-164. This morning I was 152 which is well within my healthy range, but it's not where I'm happy. I've never been able to obtain 125 (got close a few years ago at 128 and was sickly thin). I am very comfortable with myself at 138-140 so that's what I'm striving for, even thought my doctor keeps saying 135.

Everyone wants a goal weight, and it is the easiest thing to measure and thus to strive for. It's not the best measure of how healthy we are or even how good we look. I'm nearly 64, and I am NEVER going to weigh the 125 I did when I was in my 20's. I'm happy to be healthy and look good, and vain enough to want smaller sizes! I have a pretty good idea of what I weigh to get that look, but it's the look I'm after, it's just easier to measure it with the scale if that makes sense. That being said, I am of course, over any weight goal I've set, but I'm working on that. :)