Hi Everyone,
Newbie to the boards, but not to the attempt at weightloss. I have gone up and down and then up and then down again since graduating college. I was in the low 140s in college and beginning of last year I was at 150s I was happy around 150, yea I wanted to loose more but I was happier.
2 weeks ago I was at 167, not my highest but close and I am now down to 163 so I am heading in the right direction again.

I have been reading posts and noticing a wide variety of goals people have set. I want to get down to low 150s. Thats the main goal in my mind but then I start looking at people similar height to me with much lower goals. I know 150 is still techincally overweight for me, but I guess I just havent seen anything lower then that in over 4 years and I have a hard time thinking I can get there. I have an atheltic build and I guess I just dont know if I ever could be 140 or lower. I'm afraid to set myself up for failure.

So I guess my question is how did you determine you goal? And if you met your goal were you happy or did you want to lose more?

I chose 135 because it is 10 pounds into my healthy weight category. But to be honest, I'm pretty happy where I am!! I want to get to 145 for sure just because I'm stubborn and want to see "normal" on that BMI chart, but those charts aren't the end-all be-all. I judge more by size and I'm pretty happy wearing a size 8 after all these years.

I suggest getting to your goal of 153 (according to your sidebar) and seeing what you think. If you're comfortable there, great.

Goal weights are very subjective. They bug me sometimes too. I see a lot of women with goals far below mine and yet there are days I'm content to stay right where I am!

I think Eliana hit the nail on the head with her post.

I am a bit shorter than you and I was always skinny before I had kids. I mean I got a little chubby early in puberty but it leveled out and I dealt with Bullemia in high school dropping down to 90 lbs. So for me I want to be back at a weight that is healthy for my height and makes me feel confident. I know I look good between 100-120lbs so I chose the weight that was right in the middle.

I think that as you lose weight an get back to 153 you will start to either feel like you are happy where you are or that you think you could lose a little more and I wouldnt worry about a final goal until you get there.

Even though my official goal is 140 (5 pounds in the healthy range) if I got to 150 I'd be really happy. I know once a person gets into the healthy range dropping pounds really slows down, so I'd be okay with being 150 and losing really slowly (especially since I'm a calorie counter who doesn't want to drop to the bare minimum calories).

I've set my goal based on being in the "healthy or normal" range of BMI as well as what i think i'll feel comfortable with. I think its very subjective. I think a big part of it is also where you start at. But i see people like..sorry to call you..Sarahlynn who is taller me but has a lower goal than me. I know people who are you height and your weight and they look great, but i personally feel for me thats too low and I wouldn't like how i look. Don't feel bad about your goal..your weight should be about where you feel comfortable and happy and healthy. You don't have to follow what some chart says.