I posted this over at my "home" board, which is the 100 Lb. Club, but realized that it may be more appropriate to ask people who have completed their journey, rather than those still on their path.

I'm curious as to how many people have adjusted their goal weight up or down, or got to their goal and went lower. Because I am a Weight Watcher, I can set my goal anywhere from 135 to 169 based on my (advanced) age and height (5'9"). Since I haven't been 135 since I was in elementary school and several inches shorter, there's no way I'm going to get to the lower number. But if I set my goal at 169, which means I can quit paying that pesky weekly meeting fee, I worry I may just stop, even though I so want to lose 100 lbs. Plus I've noticed that the more I exercise (which includes lifting heavy weights), the more I'm not losing weight, although I know I'm shaping up. I gained .2 lbs. the other week following WW strictly and really giving it my all at the gym. This week, I was ill, didn't get to the gym for five days although I ate on plan--and I lost 2 lbs., which is a big number given how much I have left to lose.

Thoughts, experiences?

I didn't really move my goal, although I am now lighter than my original goal. I'm the same height as you, and 160 was 100lb lost so seemed a logical place to fix it. In a normal weight range, a nice round number, and achievable.

I keep considering setting my goal lower, but at the moment I don't have the motivation or discipline to really shoot for it. My priority at the moment is to run my marathon, and if keeping myself fuelled up sufficiently to do that means I gain a bit then I'm happy with that (equally if the extra mileage makes me lose more then I'm happy with that too). I tend to adjust the goal weight in my sig/profile to wherever I am at the time...

When I got to 160 I realised that I could afford to lose more weight (and to a lesser extent I still could), but I just don't have the desire any more. I'm happy to cut back if I start gaining and going above 160 post marathon, but I am happy with my lifestyle now and I'm not sure that I'd want to lose those extra pounds badly enough to stick with it.

Maybe one day I'll focus on losing again, but for now I'm happy to let my weight fluctuate around a bit and take care of itself.

I started at 200 lbs. My original goal was 150, a weight I had maintained more or less successfully for a couple of years earlier in my life. I lost weight at 1-2 lbs per week fairly steadily. When I hit 150, the weight was still coming off steadily and my small frame size was beginning to emerge. I adjusted my goal weight to 135.

My weight plateaued at 140 for months. I decided my body was done losing weight. I was happy at 140, so I decided to maintain. Over a period of months, I slowly raised my daily caloric intake to right around maintenance for someone of my height/weight/age/gender/activity level. Imagine my surprise when I kept losing, very very very slowly. I ate more and lost more! My weight loss eventually stopped around 130 and I have maintained that weight.

Note: This Is My Own Personal Theory
Reducing calories freak the body out, makes it think there's a famine. The body reacts to the perceived famine EXACTLY how I would want it to react if I were really starving - muscle loss (since muscle takes more calories to maintain), slow metabolism, hold onto fat reserves). For me, ultimately, a smaller caloric deficit led to greater success since I was in the "sweet spot" - a suitable caloric deficit to lose weight without eating so little I freaked out my body into holding onto every gram of fat to keep me alive.

I NEVER EVER thought I would weigh less than 130 lbs. The lowest I can remember weighing is 133, and that was in 10th grade. To me, that means it's a good idea to keep the goal flexible. Some people might look GREAT and be healthy at a higher weight. It is so individual, it's really the point where you are happy.

My physician set my goal weight for me at 150. I was 234 to start with. I actually thought this number was a little low and would have liked 155. The closer I got to goal, the more slowly the pounds came off. I decided that I could stand to lose a few more, so I lowered my goal to 145. I was thrilled to finally reach this number. A few days later, I was at 143. Still trying to maintain the 145, the next week the scale said 141. I haven't lost anymore, so I think this is just where my body wants to be. If I do lose a few more lbs. that is OK with me, if I stay at or below the 145 I am happy too. I am 5'7and my goal is right in the middle of my healthy weight range which is 128 to 159. I am not going to struggle to try to lose more, if it happens, it happens. Good luck. Many of us have adjusted our goals once we got close enough to know what size we wanted to maintain at. I weighed 135 in high school and just didn't think with my age (46) that this was achievable for me on a long term basis.

I originally picked a goal weight of 135 based on BMI charts. When I reached it, I wasn't really concerned about the scale weight, I just didn't like my body. After a few months of HEAVY weight training instead of the "fat burning" circuit training that I had been doing, I was 2 pounds heavier, but 2 sizes smaller and my bodyfat % had dropped from 27% at goal to 20% at two pounds above. I maintained there for about two years.

I really wanted to see what I'd look like at a much lower bodyfat, and got down to 116 for a few months last summer. I looked ripped, but tiny. It was unmaintainable for me. I lost a lot of muscle mass as well as fat. I loved the way I looked, but hated the lifestyle. I'm back at 125- ten pounds below my original goal, but 9 above my lowest. This is maintainable for me. I still have to put a lot of effort into maintenance (lots of exercise and very mindful eating), but I don't feel deprived or miserable that my weight is the center of my existence. I'm almost 52 ( yikes!), postmenopausal, and plan to continue this lifestyle as long as I can move!

Mel

I'm contemplating just staying where I am now and getting myself into a maintenance mindset. But I'm concerned that I'm giving up....we'll see. I've been at the same weight for a few months now anyway...so it's kind of a self fulfilling prophesy. I don't remember the last time I was at 150 pounds...it was just a nice sounding number. I'm actually pretty happy in a size 10 - and who knows maybe I'll lose more if I relax a little. It's not like I'm proposing to stop journalling and exercising daily. I don't plan to ever stop that.

Seems that weight maintence is an up and down game for most of us.
My original goal was to lose a 100 pounds. From 260 to 160 and I did that over a two year time frame. My line in the sand and time to panic is still 160.
Thats way over weight watchers goal for a person my size but realisticly I was way over at 260 so that fine with me. Over the years, I have been on the journey for 14, my weight has change during may of them. One year I have even gone over the 160 mark. Life happens. I didn't give up. For the majority of the time I have ranged from 138-145. But like I said I always remind my self that I am a winner and I will never go back to 260, so little blimp and set backs are just that.
This board continues to inspire me and everyones input helps all of us.

I'm like some of the others. I set under 130 lbs as a goal and now that I'm here (and find it easy enough to stay) I don't like it. I'm not trim enough.
I guess it's kinda like fine tuning.

My original goal was around 125 (I remember joining a gym at that weight and telling the initial consultation trainer that I wasn't interested in losing weight, just getting into better cardio shape). Then, I thought 120 would be about right to stop the jiggling. Now that I'm at 122 and still with lots of flab, I've adjusted to 115 but I'm not really worrying about the weight per se, but more about BF%, i.e. I'd be overjoyed to see the scale at 125 with about 5-10% lower BF%.

Edit: To respond to the last part of your post...I find that if I'm going to the gym religiously and then stop for a couple of weeks, I lose 2-5#'s as if by magic. Somehow I don't think it's the weight I'm wanting to lose...

For a lot of us, it seems like the number on the scales becomes less important as we get closer to goal. Mel always talks about a goal BODY versus a goal WEIGHT and it seems like that's where most of us end up. It's a look and a feel and how we fit in clothes that counts, rather than a number on the scale.

I'm with Julia - if I had to pick one number to focus on, it would be body fat %.

I don't actually have my goal body or my goal weight. Maybe I should say dream body or dream weight since I never really set a goal. What I have (well, in another 10 lbs) is the best compromise between the goal and the lifestyle I seem to want to have, which is on my best behavior most of the time, but also able to eat a cookie or a piece of pie if I really want one.

What I did reach is all my exercise and health goals. My cholesterol is perfect now, I've run a marathon, climbed a mountain, completed a half-iron distance triathlon, and been healthy and energetic enough to have a baby. I'm still picking at those last ten or so post-baby pounds, but aside from that, my weight and my body just result from my lifestyle, and they are what they are. I'd love to see them lower, but overall I'm in a happy place.

Anne