With only 4lbs to go to get to my goal, I have fallen into the trap that I saw so many featherweights posting on.............the trap of lowering the goal weight!

Now that I am so close, I have decided to go for another 6 to make my goal weight 160lbs. That would give me a total weight loss of 38lbs.

Then I started thinking....38lbs? Why not make it 40?!

Why do we do this to ourselves? Is it healthy behaviour/thinking?

As I near my goal weight I keep thinking about changing it too. For me it is a scary concept to not be losing weight anymore... Also, I kind of want to see just how I look at lower weights - I can always gain some back if I don't like it!

As long as you stay in a healthy BMI, I don't think it is a concern.

how are you supposed to know which exact pound will be enough when you start?

I used BMI

Slim CB and Shytowngal, I noticed on your stats that we are or were at the same start weight... Just wondering what plan you followed to loose the weight? Are you happy with it? Great job on getting to your goal!!! In response to your posts I think when you get to your goal and you still want to lose a little more than go for it!!! There are no numbers written in stone and you cannot pick a goal weight until you get there and see how you feel... Just my opinion... Again, great job!!

Agree with Cherrypie's comment; there's no good way to know in advance what you will look like at a particular weight, especially if you haven't been that weight since, say, junior high (like me). I refused to pick a goal weight until I had gotten below my previous adult low weight (140) and could do a better job of estimating how much more I should lose to look the way I wanted to.

So, no, I don't think it's a matter of "we're never satisfied," just a matter of not having a crystal ball at the outset.

Ideal weight is a highly relative concept. If you're overweight, your first goal should be to get to a healthy (24.9) BMI. Beyond that, it's a matter of preference. What is feasible and healthy for one person within that range (18.5-24.9) may not be doable for another person. Once you get into the healthy range, figure out what healthy living looks like for you. If more pounds/inches come off, great. If not, know that that weight is where your body is happy and healthy.

I think changing your goal is quite reasonable. For one thing, you have no idea how it will look/what your body fat percentage will be. And you won't know how hard it is to lose weight until you are doing it, in other words how much effort it would take to keep going lower than the original goal weight.

I've changed my weight goal several times, but I've done the opposite! I raised my goal weight after I realized how long it was going to take, and how much effort, to get to my "dream world" goal. I might even raise it again. Not sure yet.

If I continue to lose weight in maintenance, yippee! I plan to keep challenging myself so it might happen. So I guess I still have my dream goal but I'm trying to not psyche myself out with something unattainable, always feeling like a failure that I can't reach my goal. I just want to be proud of what I have accomplished and to find my (maintainable) happy weight

Also, I am trying really hard not to be so consumed with the scale number. Trying. It's really hard if my goal IS a scale number. So I have to come up with other goals...

i think we almost have to change our goal as we get closer to it. edit, revise. my initial goal has been to get to 200, then 170. i feel i can definitely get there, but it's not clear if my body will be where i want it to be. for all i know i have to get down to 150 just to see muscle tone in the quads, where the fat seems to stick like super glue on me, but comes off without trying on my arms and tummy. go figure. so it's totally a work in progress. i'm still trying to revise my goal. but it's not really about the number anymore. and if i don't lose another pound, i am happy now that was my exact thought when i fit into a pair of jeans from years ago. the exact pair of jeans i wore before pregnancy. i was never really skinny, but i'm normal sized again. i am happy about that.

This was a big issue for me the first time I lost weight. My brain hadn't caught up to my body yet, it wasn't all I'd hoped for, I wanted more, etc. so I kept losing, and losing, and losing... Ultimately I became very unhappy and sick.

But I don't think it's bad to keep revising your goals. As long as you don't drop below what's right for you and you're healthy and happy.

There is a lower weight limit I know that I can't healthfully cross because I've been there before. I think it becomes potentially dangerous mentally when it's a game of how low can you go. That's just me, though.

My plan is to get to the goal in my ticker and maintain it for six months to get used to it before reconsidering. I've been there twice and it was a good weight for me, so I'll probably maintain for good.

Congrats on your loss

I think it's perfectly healthy so long as you don't get sucked into the "Let me get to an underweight BMI just to see what it's like" trap. When it becomes a game of "how low can you go" then I think re-analysis of your motives is needed.

I am at what I considered my original goal weight, 128. I've been here for a while and I think I can do a little better for looks and measurements, but I don't know what number that will be. I think once you hit goals it's good to lose fairly slowly so that you're not just reeling from body dysmorphia and unable to tell what you actually look like.

This. I started November more-or-less reluctantly maintaining, but I think it gave me an honest perspective on where I'm at physically, and it if losing more is something reasonable (I decided that it is). I wouldn't be surprised if I lowered my goal, but I'm going to get a little closer to it first before I decide for certain.

It depends on the kind of look you're going for, IMO. If I were interested in accentuating my curves, I probably would have stopped 10 pounds ago. I just can't get on board with that look -- I'm into being as lean as reasonably possible. Different strokes for different folks, I guess!

I will go as low as I need to lose belly fat. It's the most dangerous kind of fat and I still carry quite a bit. I agree with Krampus about keeping the weight loss slow and steady. That way you can stop if you know you have gone too far.