Hi everyone, when I started this journey, I anticipated needing to weigh about 150 by goal, knowing that I would adjust that number as I got closer to the end of my journey. I'm 5' 5 1/2", and I would suppose of a medium frame/build. So some could say as low as 125/130, but I don't think that's realistic, so I never went that low.

So then I start tracking my bodyfat %. My most recent reading, at the health seminar I went to that I mentioned last week, gave me a bf% of 37% currently. Now, in doing the math, I get a goal weight for myself of like 171-172. Can this be right? It just seems awfully high is all. A nutritionist told me I should goal for 25% bodyfat at first, which is a healthy range for my age of 41 soon to be 42.

Here's the math.....weight, 217.6 at time of measurement, bf%=37%.

So 217.6 x .37 = 80.51 lbs of fat on body currently.
217.6-80.51 = 137.09 lean mass lbs currently. So knowing you don't want to lose any lean mass, that would mean......
137.09 x 125% (for 25% bf on top of lean mass) = 171.36

???

Believe me, I'm thrilled to death to have such a high number as a goal, but I just feel odd when I hear people my same age and height hovering around 125-130. Do they just have thin bones and absolutely no muscle tone even tho they are avid walkers (but not lifters)? I just need a sanity check to validate my joy at such a realistic goal for myself!!

Oh, and the measurement was taken mid-morning via handheld impendence Omcron device. Do even the gyms do calipers anymore or is everyone using impendence now?

Thanks for sticking thru the long post!

I think something's goofy with your math, though I'm not smart enough to say exactly what (sorry, I'm math-tarded ). If you weighed 171 at 25% BF, you should have 43 pounds of fat, leaving you with a LBM of 128. I think the problem is that you can't multiply LBM by 125% and get the right answer?

Regardless, I have a couple of thoughts ...

The Omron is notoriously inaccurate, especially if you work out and it wasn't set in athlete mode (mine has two settings - normal and athlete). Even in athlete mode, it reads me about 6% higher than a nine-site calipers test. So the first thing to consider is that the number may be out of whack.

Second, even if it's correct, you're assuming that you can lose 100% fat and no lean body mass as you reach goal. Yes indeedy, we always say that our goal is to lose fat and not muscle. But keep in mind that LBM is more than muscle - it's hair, skin, bones, and water. It's everything that isn't fat. Chances are good that your body is going to dump some water as you lose fat because it won't need as much water in a smaller sized body. And that water loss is going to show up as loss of LBM, even though you're not losing muscle.

And honestly, I don't think it's possible to lose 100% fat, though that would be ideal. My personal experience was that as I got to the last twenty pounds, I lost a lot of muscle along with the fat, though I was still lifting intensely. I think it's inevitable that some muscle will be lost along the way, though the goal is to minimize it.

My suggestion is to not worry about a final goal weight quite yet. Perhaps have a provisional goal weight, like 171, but wait and reserve judgment until you get there about whether you want to go on and lose more. You may look and feel wonderful there or you may decide that you want to go on and lose a few more pounds. You'll never know until you get there!

PS - I hope someone smarter than me can come along and help with the math!

Wow, you make good points about the math. And using your example would be less lean mass than I have now! What's up with that? But, if I do lose muscle and 10lbs of water, it may not be that far off. OK, so not saying much here other than, I am confused! Hopefully someone has the right formula! Oh, and since you told me the Omron measures high and not low, that actually made me happy! She did ask me how often I exercise before we started and she did something to it, so hopefully it was set right, altho I would never deem myself an athlete! lol But it's nice to hear that they might.

DH (the math whiz) and I went out to dinner last night after I posted and I explained the question to him. He said you have to multiply LBM by 4/3 and it works out to just about 180 pounds.

I honestly think you're just going to have to wait and see how you look and feel as you hit each ten pound mark. You'll know when you're happy with how your clothes fit and what you see in the mirror!

And of course you're an athlete if you work out, silly girl! Your homework for today is to stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself that I am an athlete!

Thanks Meg. You just keep giving me more and more good news!!

I AM AN ATHLETE....I AM AN ATHLETE....I AM AN ATHLETE....I AM AN ATHLETE....!!

Fran- I of course agree with everything Meg said So why am I bothering to post? My personal experience has been that a goal weights mean very little. I didn't start out with one, other than to be healthy. Once I reached it, I still didn't like my body, even though my scale weight was healthy and I was under 25% body fat. At a certain point, it becomes a cosmetic rather than a health issue. That sounds like a pipe dream and one that you brush off when you are at the beginning of your weight loss journey, but if you read some of the maintainer's posts, it's a very common phenomenon. Some women don't want to look "hard", others don't want to look soft. You won't know how you feel or what is maintainable until you get there.

In terms of losing lean mass vs. fat, when I went from 135 to 120, I lost 25% LBM. I was lifting (and still do) a 5 day split and doing cardio designed to minimize muscle loss. Two competitive bodybuilders were helping me with diet, so I don't think there was much more that I could have done to preserve muscle. The leaner you get, the harder it is to lose anything, let alone 100% fat. Unless you are using banned substances Common in the bodybuilding world, but we aren't talking about that here, right?

I find the Omron devices read higher than calipers for older people (and older is anyone over 30 in this case)...I don't know your age, but for me when I enter that I'm 24 ( I'm more than twice that!), I get the same reading as when my boss does a 9 point caliper test on me. Conversly, if you are younger, the Omron puts you lower. There is an age factor built into the algorithm of the device that is not used when most people use calipers. As for the athlete mode, it reads lower if you set it on athlete mode. There's no criteria for what an athlete is...I use it for people who workout at least 4 days a week and lift and have done so for at least four months.

My guess is that at 5'5", no matter how much you lift, you are going to still feel heavy at 170-180. Look at the BMI chart. At 170-180 you'reBMI would be around 30'ish. Generally, a BMI of 25 or under is considered healthy. This is the high end of the range and would take into account plenty of muscle. This gives you a weight of around 150-155 lbs.

Again, you really need to just keep at and take a wait and see approach. A goal weight is great...but remember that it's not carved in stone and you may or may not have your goal body at that weight. You may be thrilled before you get to that magic number, or the number may be fine but the composition needs to change, or you may decide to revise based on how you feel, what's maintainable, and how your clothes fit and feel.

You are an athlete!

Mel

Thanks Mel, I appreciate the time you took to type out such a great long response. Makes sense, really it does. 150 was my original "goal" or let's just say, number that I had in mind from when I remember weighing that in h.s. and thinking I was healthy then (but was not a lifter just active as a teen normally is). And then as I have kept lifting, and seeing my bf drop and lean mass increase, I've been raising my goal. Very good story to hear though about what you've done through on your own personal journey. Shocking to hear how much lean mass you ended up losing!! But what a good point that makes about how you need to get there before you set a number in stone.

And no, def not talking about any banned substances here. I'm totally against even using the otc "enhancing" products because of how they always seem to be discovered to be a health risk a few years after being on market.

So I went over to Dick's sporting goods today and played around with a Smith machine (decided I wasn't in love with it anymore after using one, I had seen them on the old Bodyshaping shows), some delicious high-end treadmills, and the thing I want now, the Bowflex adjustable dumbells!!! But at $499, they had to stay at the store.....!! But it's fun now that my idea of a good time on Sunday afternoon is to hang out in the fitness section of a sports megastore. This, I believe, is what is known as a LIFESTYLE CHANGE!

Hey, those dumbbells are on MY wishlist too! I'd love to have just one megaset instead of the racks in my exercise room. Every once in a while, Dick's or Sports Authority has a 25% off for one day only sale. SA had a coupon sale this Saturday and I splurged on hockey equipment Next time, I'm going to seriously look at those dumbbells! It would be nice to be able to do a fairly complete workout at home.

Mel

I think we also have to keep in mind that lean bodymass is muscle+bone+WATER, and that we might lose a lot of water as well as we lean out. I am pretty sure that most lifters who think they are losing a lot of muscle are more likely just dropping water. Your body really wants to hold onto muscle IF you are using it.

137# of lean bodymass at 5'6" and 25% BF would be a pretty awesome physique. However, unless you are a very advanced lifter, I suspect that LBM number is not going to stay so high as you diet down.

As Meg and Mel pointed out, we shouldn't waste to much effort worrying about our goal bodyweight. My plan is to diet down until I can see my abs.

The goal weight on my ticker is just a guess.

Thanks Robert, I appreciate your encouragement. I think I've decided to just use my first "goal" as an official reassessment point. When I get to 180 I'm sure I'll be walking on clouds and better able to decide what additional work I need to do in what areas. Whether I continue on to 170 or 150, I won't really know til then. I think I will also add in some new additional challenging cardio when I "think" I'm at my goal (either 170 or 150) and see what happens to my body then, something like running or the FIRM exercises. I think that could give me a whole new level of development and challenge my body further.

Definitely. I keep lowering my goal weight the more weight I lose, even though I am clearly gaining muscle.