I was wondering what is the correct approach to deciding on a goal weight? My doctor was no help when I saw her last. She told me to lose weight, gave me a sample menu for a 1400 calorie diet and told me to come back in a few months to run the yearly blood tests. Since I was 3 lbs more at this years physical, than last years, she didn't want me to be discouraged that my cholesterol hadn't changed. So I chose my first goal weight of 160, by looking at the BMI charts and choosing a number at the upper end of the healthy range, just below overweight. I changed my goal weight today to 180, which is in the overweight range.

There are 3 of us in my office on weight loss/lifestyle changes. The lone man in the office started in Janunary and as of today has lost 40 pounds and met his goal of 180. He looks great! I am 2.5 inches shorter than he is and I do not have a tiny frame. (I wear an 11W shoe!) When I told him my goal was 160, he said I would look like a skeleton. My boss said I would look like a bobble-head ...that 160 is too tiny. She's aiming for size 14, I want to wear a 12 again. So I decided to aim for 180, then re-evaluate how I felt and looked. If I want to lose more, then I will.

How did everyone else decide on what their goal weight is/was?

Hi, my Dr. told me he wanted me at 150 lbs. or below. So, I chose 145. I always try to stay in the range of 142-147. I am 5'7. I wear a size 8.5 shoe and am medium boned.

I think that at 5'9, 180 is a reasonable goal. Once you get there, you can re-evaluate whether that is where you want to stay or not. Congratulations on your wt. loss thus far. I have a couple of nieces that are your heighth and they look very slender in the 175-185 range.

Since I was going to Weight Watcher meetings, I chose the high end of their range for someone my age and height. However, I always knew I wanted to lose 100 lbs. But another goal is to get into a single digit dress (at least one!), and I know that's not going to happen until I get into the 150s. But. . .I'm not stressing over it either. Being able to comfortably wear a 12 and sometimes a 10 is nice. I think you're right on shooting for a dress size and then evaluating how you feel at the time.

I chose 178 because that would be a 100 pound loss for me. I figured that I spent some time there before and when I was lower it was way too hard to maintain (2 plus hours at the gym). I figure this time, the weight loss is much healthier (hello, no metabolife), so we'll see when I get down to 178 where I'm at.

I have a large frame. I'm 5'7. When I look back on pictures of me from 8th grade I was the same height and 140's. I did have a bobble head look to me, so I don't want to get too low.

I just kind of picked a number that sounded pretty good. I remember weighing 145 in college and I think I looked great. However, I'm wondering if it's attainable. It kind of scares me to have this elusive goal that may or may not be feasible for me. I've thought about changing it to 161 so that, like jennylou, it's a 100 lb loss goal and then I can evaluate where I am from there...but it kind of seems like cheating upping my goal weight now! hahaha That would remove almost 20 pounds from my need to lose total!

I chose 140, which was my weight my freshman year of college, when I was playing college tennis and was really athletic. At 140 pounds, I was mostly muscle and wore a size 6. I still have all the muscle, but you can't see it under all the pounds I put on. I'm still very active and in excellent physical shape, but have really been cutting back on the calories and upping the exercise. Before I decided to lose weight, I would still walk several miles a day and always take the stairs, but I was probably eating well over 3000 calories a day.

I also wear an 11W shoe as well! I don't know many people with shoes as big as mine! I wear a size 12 in tennis shoes and usually end up buying men's tennis shoes. I have found plenty of cute ladies shoes at Payless, though.

I think the only reason I didn't get obese until the end of college is because I was raised by a very health-conscious mom and we primarily ate what we grow, so I never even had red meat for the first time until high school. Once I was in the real world and discovered junk food, then it was all over and I put on almost 100 pounds in five years (with a baby to credit for a lot of the weight).

I choose a number near where I was in college and felt good, I am big boned and the high 160's is a 12-14 for me and is ok, When I was in 11th grade I starved myself to the 140's only to feel horrible, and gained 20 lbs back fast as soon as I began eating. If I get a little higher it is ok, I just would like to be healther and happier. Cheryl

My first goal was 175- because it was a happy weight and a really happy time for me.I was fluffy-but not obese.
Now that I made goal I am unsure. I remember being 135 in high school and my little sister telling me she thought I had an eating disorder.I remember I dropped to 142 when I got married, my dress being taken in due to a loss from stress.
But at 5'6 and age 42 I think I would be comfortable with 145. It's not stress or teenage dieting- but a life style change with muscles.
But it's not just about the scale-when I started doing push ups I did them every day with joy. I do jumping jacks and think how I hated them in PE as a kid.I smile as lil sister ( who now is working out) shows my Dad her version of a "an ab work out" . I am rocking around with the aerobics VHS tapes from the 90's and lovin it!

You have to decide for yourself what YOU think looks best on you. If you have old pictures of yourself, those are great for goals and mini goals. I have an old picture of me on the fridge. One of my mini goals is for my chin to look the same as it did in that picture.

I know a woman who did lose too much weight (she did it the bad way) and she does look like a bobble-head, so be careful how far down the scale you go!

I'd say just keep going. Don't worry so much about weight...watch your BMI and keep exercising to build muscle as you drop fat...until the day comes when you look in the mirror and say to yourself, "Wow...I'm babe-a-liscious!"

Like Sheila, I chose my goal weight based on the WW chart for the high end of the range for my height. That is my OFFICIAL WW GOAL, but not my own goal. 145 with WW, but 135-140 for my personal goal. Knowing that I want to continue going to meetings after I reach lifetime, I don't want to have to worry that if it's my TOM the scale will show me at 148, and I'll have to pay for the meeting. I want that cushion not for actual weight gain, but for the hormonal flucuations that I know my body battles every month.

I'm only 5 foot 2 and have a very petite frame. I will be considered over weight until I'm down to 136, so even if I get to my goal of 130 I'll be on the higher end of the healthy range.... WHY COULDN'T I BE TALL????

Honestly,
When someone doesn't have any idea what their goal weight is then I think they have to play it by ear. I weigh now what I weighed in elementary school so I have no concept of what I'll look like when I get down to 200 or even what I have on my ticker at 182.

When I first started losing weight, I made my goal to be 199. It wasn't until recently that I've moved that down to 182 because as I start to get closer to the 100s, I figured I should go for half my former body weight. Once I get to under 200, I will probably change my goal again.

So basically, I say estimate a goal and when you start getting close to it, then worry about figuring out what the ultimate goal will be.

I agree with what everyone else is saying -- that you really do have to pick a goal and then update it when you get closer. I initially picked a goal of 165 for the same reason you picked 160 at first -- it's in the upper end of the "healthy" range for a 5'9" woman, and I'm kind of a big girl. I'll never be a delicate flower, that's for sure. However, I must caution you that that can change. Even my shoe size has gone down after losing this much weight, believe it or not. So now that I'm close to my goal, I know I will be changing it. I'll still be excited when I get to 165 (heck, I'm already excited now), but I'll also most likely reset my goal at around 150-155.

Just for a frame of reference with sizing and all that, I currently weigh 179 and I fit in most size 12 pants and am very comfortable in 14. I just got into 12 recently and the ones that are made a bit bigger are starting to get too loose. You go through sizes really fast when you get down to this weight. Obviously your sizes could be different, but I know when I started I liked hearing from people who were my height.

I would be thrilled to make it to my goal weight of 180. I remember weighing that when I was leaving college and it was a good weight for me, but like the others, when I get there, I might want to lower it. If I were to put 140 or 150 as a goal weight now, I'm afraid that I might get too frustrated to make it that far. I'd like to see the little victory at 180 first.
Actually, in my head I have a couple of other mini-goal weights. One is 260 because that is where I got down to a couple of years ago. Then, another one is 240 because I had gotten to that point a couple of years before 260. THEN... 212, because that was how much I weighed when I got married.

*** hard to look back at those old weights without kicking myself really hard!!! ***

i chose 150, because my body does not let me go under that weight, I am 5'8".......