Your bone structure and height play a key role as well. at 5'5" and medium large bone structure, 140 is far too thin for me. Some one the same height but with a small frame might look fine. Just like I weight too much at 180, but my sister at 5'9" looks great at 180.

I LIKE it; great suggestion!

BeccaGrim - Thanks for starting this Thread. Nice to read others viewpoints.

I agree with those that say get to the place where you feel comfortable with yourself and your body. I really like benice's suggestion though, I may think on that for awhile.

Numbers on the scale can be so ARBITRARY.
Does the actual number matter that much? There are very few people who will see this "actual" number besides you (Dr. offices, printed on Drivers License, etc). Are you going to actually scream from the mountain top or walk around saying, "I weigh....125 lbs" ?(or whatever the number you fantasize about). My DH doesn't even know what I weigh, lol!
Clothes are the same way. Do we really need to wear size 4 because that's what we think sounds good?

Evepet and Kitkat - thanks for your contributions. The number we pick as our goal and where we phase out can always be tweaked down the road if we decide; it's not set in stone. And I agree that we will have P1 periods after vacations and/or small reboots while we are adjusting to Maintenance where we can act on our desire to fluctuate the end goal number.

I, too plan on changing my goal weight number. When I started IP last October, part of me didn't really believe that I'd even get to 168. So, I picked that number because it's about what I weighed when I got married, almost 20 years ago. I have had weight issues since the end of Jr High School, so I don't know what I'd look like or feel like at any weight lower than 160. I decided to not change my goal weight on my signature until I actually hit it. Then, I will probably change the number by 5-10 lb increments and have a huge bold ? after it, lol! Jen

My husband originally had his goal at 150 but once he got to 155 he went to phase 2 and I am glad, he still lost 4 lb through Phase 2 and 3 and still has to watch it because he can lose weight really easy still. He is trying to find that balance now in phase 4.

This is an interesting thread. I don't have a clothing size in mind at all because I don't have any idea what size I would wear at what weight so that number is not useful to me. A size 8 might still be too big for me OR maybe it's perfect. Who knows?

So, I chose my goal weight because it's in healthy BMI range and I figured that's the goal I should work toward.

I do worry that I might get to my ideal weight via ideal protein and start obsessing about food and staying slim.

I know I am big boned, I know I want to be between 150 - 170. I figure once I get to 170 I will decide. I know at the clinic they would like me to get to 130 or so. I don't ever remember being 130, I think I would feel too small.

So I plan on getting to 170 and see how I feel, I would love to be a size 14/16 (or XL) again.

When I think about clothing sizes I don't EVER remember being less than a 12 so for me I would be happy at that, but the way clothes fit these days I can probably say some stores I would want to be a 10 as they fit bigger.

For weight I am thinking around 165 will be good. I am pretty big boned and 5 foot 9.5 so this should work and it puts me at healthy BMI. But honestly I do go on feel, this is the first time weighing intentionally for a long long time so numbers not that important. Just becoming more so with this diet. Which could be a good thing......being accountable....

I chose my goal weight for 2 reasons... it was in the healthy BMI range (125Lbs will bring me to a BMI of about 23), and I thought about what one of my aunts said she weighed when she got older... I'm almost 60, and at 70, my height and 115lbs, I thought she looked emaciated. But I recently read that studies have shown that people with a BMI between 18-22 have the longest life spans, so I'm considering dropping my goal to 120, which will put my BMI below 22 (and I realize that being overweight for some years may have done my lifespan some damage!). I am small boned, and until I was in my early 30s I weighed 110. I think, as others have said, that I will see how I look as I loose more, but if I don't feel like I'm looking too thin (there's an alien thought!), I'll drop my goal.

I looked my best at 105 and no belly fat.

I made a decision - I'm putting my goal back to 150 and am satisfied with a size 12 jean - I think at 140 or a size 10 I'll look too thin.

This weekend I went shopping and bought about $350 worth at Kohl's, shopped their sales, so many good deals! I like the way I looked in the clothes. It's amazing how much better you look with a good bra (the reason for the shopping trip). I checked out and as I was paying my mother found more stuff, so back to the racks for another load.

My weight that I post here is at the clinic, which is after work, after I've eaten and drank thru the day. To determine when I'm ready to phase off I might go by my home scale, 1st am and naked - yesterday it said 153.5 and today said 157, odd.

My body fat is around 28% (from the scale at the clinic) which is "average". I don't want to rely on the BMI because it's not a good indicator.

Of course, I just started riding my semi-recumbent bike to add muscle (I'm very jiggly), so I might add lean muscle mass.

My hubby had the advice to pick a weight that I don't want to go over. My girlfriend said that she has a cushion in there to - so kind of the same thing.

It's so hard!! I know that gong by the number on the scale isn't what we should do, but it's hard not to!

Congrats on picking a finish line!!!

I did the same thing - chose a weight that would be my "high" number. I still lost a little in P2 and P3, and I've been able to maintain within 4lbs of that weight so far. I don't stress about fluctuations (I can have a 2-3lb difference from one day to the next), I just watch for that upper number. If I cross it, I do a P1 day and that seems to bring things back to where they should be.

I had a full work up with the high-tech muscle/bone density etc machines and my "perfect" weight is 209, according to them. (Not IP, but a medical place). I find this hard to believe, since being over 200 seems still high to me. Though seeing I was over 300 when the tests were run, I'm not sure.

I set 199 as my goal because I think it's attainable, but it's by no means a hard set weight. I will stop when I feel right. In the back of my mind, I have 180 as my perfect weight, since that's the last time I thought I looked and felt perfect. On the other hand if I hit 210 and feel good, that's where I'll stop.

I think it's up to you to decide, not the scale. Not your doctor/coach.

Thanks Scorbett & Leanne

I was thinking of skipping P2 or maybe just a week. I skipped it when I phased off for vacation, but for that I had a shake for lunch, not the whole protein. I'll do it with the whole protein this time.