I know my stats say I'm 5'5", but I'm really around 5'4.75" or so... I can't decide if I should be 130 or 135. I'm quite broad, shoulder and hip wise and a medium frame. I've always had a decent amount of muscle.

On one hand I think 130 might be a little out of reach... on the other hand I've already come this far right? My Mom doesn't want me to be 130, I'll admit that is quite light. But is there much difference between 130 and 135 besides the number in my head?

Also, I think about how you always hear people are struggling to lose "that last 5 pounds". And I think maybe if I aim for 130 I'll end up weighing 135 but if I aim for 135 I'll end up at 140. I know, I know... it's all in my head right? But what happens in my head has a great impact on me.

Help!?

Don't stress. It's just a number. What's important is how you feel with the way you look.

Someone posted this article on a thread a couple weeks ago and I bookmarked it because I really liked it.

http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/06/22/...ddicts-part-2/

keep in mind, whatever goal weight you pick, youll want that to be your "fed" weight.
In other words, when you come out of a deficit you are going to gain back a couple of pounds in water/glycogen and food. THIS WILL HAPPEN NO MATTER WHAT. BE PREPARED. Maybe if you shoot for 130, youll settle into 135 as your maintence weight. but if you want to maintain around 130, then youre going to have to hit a lower number (like 127 at least) to account for the "fed" regain

People have posted this site before and I thought it was really useful.

http://www.cockeyed.com/photos/bodies/heightweight.html

It is a chart that shows pictures of people at various heights and weights. There are multiple pictures of women in the range you are looking at. It is interesting to see how differently people "carry" the same weight at the same height.

I am in awe at the variation of the people on here who weigh the same and are the same height. Wow.

why don't you go for 135 and the decide if you are happy with how you look and feel at that weight and then figure out if that's the right stopping point or if you want to lose that extra 5 lbs? It's hard to say when you are still ~20 lbs away because even a few lbs starts to make a pretty big difference! Plus depending on how much you exercise, you may find that your body gets to be the size and shape you want, regardless of the number on the scale.

Remember nothing has to be written in stone. You can decide, then try that weight on for a while and see if you want to do more. It's really why I set my goal weight at 299. Not because I plan on staying there, but because it's been nearly 20 years since I've been there.

My ideal weight would be about 150 lbs. But when I asked my doctor for a goal weight slip for my TOPS group, I suggested 200 lbs (because I don't know if I can get to 150, being I haven't been at that weight since gradee school). My doctor suggested a higher weight (he thought my expectations could possibly be unrealistic with my health and mobility issues). He recommended 250 lbs.

So in a sense, I have 4 goal weights. I can stop at any of them temporarily, or permanently. I don't really plan on staying at 299. But 250, I might try on for a while before deciding to go for more. Or maybe 200 will be the point at which I want to "try on" for a while.

I think we put too much into goal weight, and not enough on the journey. It's why so many people give up when they believe they can't reach their goal. It would make more sense to change the goal than to give up, but that's not how we're taught to do weight loss. We're taught (by seeing everyone else do it) to give up if we believe we can't make it all the way.

As long as you're not going into a weight that is unhealthfully low (and there are a lot of weight charts to guide you), your goal weight doesn't matter nearly as much as heading towards it.

Kaplods THat's my take on goal weights too. I had to choose a goal weight for the ticker and I know 175 is a doable goal. But in reality, I don't have a set goal. My journey to a healthier lifestyle is the real goal.

So, I plan to exercise 6 days a week for an hour each day - some weight training, some cardio. If, instead on that day, I clean house all day, that's my exercise for the day. Or, if I garden all day, that's it for the day. And, I want to be able to eat about how I am now so between 1200-1400 calories a day. And I'll see where it takes me. If I get stuck forever at 185 with this activity level and consistent diet, then 185 it will be. If I get to 155 doing what I'm doing before I stall out, then that's what I'll do.

I WILL NOT do crazy amounts of exercise and crazy diet just to get to a number on the scale. If I have to do that, then it was not meant to be.

Now, what is very likely, is that I will slow down and it will drop very slowly until I stabilize and reach my true end weight. Like I might go from 165 to 155 over a year to take off those 10 pounds. That seems like a normal/natural way to deal with weight loss to me.

Of course, that's if I keep being strict with my eating - which I really need to with my blood sugar issues and tendency to get high blood pressure and high cholesterol if I stray from my low carb eating.

Dimples - Wow... wow wow. Very interesting and eye opening... the article tells me everything I already know and yet I turn my back on. I think I'm going to take measurements and re-think my goals... I'll still keep a numbers goal, but only as a guideline.

Ren - I agree, very interesting site, everyone is different. Did you check out a few of the 5'6 - 90lb people? Wowzers, I know how I don't want to look as much as how I do!

kaplods & April - You're both absolutely right, I was afraid the correct answer would be something vague like that!

Mkroyer - I don't think I like that fed regain! I like your personal best times, I think my new goals will have to be to improve my 5k time to 30 minutes or less and to run 10k in an hour or less. My ultimate goal (which I'm scared to share with people) is to run a half marathon next summer. Have you ever heard of the Fueled by Fine Wines half marathon? They just ran it, it looks like so much fun! I'd love to do it but it's a long way from Canada, I'll probably have to do a local one. (Oh, and btw... hope you don't mind, but I stole the little saying at the bottom of your sig, changed it a bit, printed it and now carry it in my wallet)

Aunty, of course i dont mind... which one are you referring to? Keep in mind, the more fat you lose, the faster you will automatically become not HUGE changes, but something like 5 secs per mile for every pound of fat, or something like that
RE: fed regain...... like it or dont like it...just know it will happen you cant stay in a deficit for the rest of your life..... but its ok remember the weight you lost quickly in the first week or two? Thats the weight that will come back once you start maintaining in a fed state...... its ok, just if you kow about it, you can be prepared for it, kwim?

I second takeing measurments and that scale weight means NOTHING. Im an inch shorter than you... hovering between 137 and 140 and i wear a size 2. Mucles/frame size, Body fat levels, they mean everything. You could essentially do a full body recomp, and not drop a pound on the scale, but shed mad inches and drop sizes... you do this by building muscle and burning fat (simple enough) And believe me, those last 5 pounds, they make a HUGE DIFFERENCE....the closer you are to goal, the more every single pound shows.... when im at 140, i SEE it. i FEEL it... .my clothers are tighter, my muscles are more swollen. when im at 137, i look amazing (no bloast, etc), when im even lower.... well..... you get the drift

I second all of the above comments! Also, I'd like to add that I do the "pinch test". If you can pinch more than an inch...it's time to scale back and blast some fat!

I'm really struggling with this too... I am still 30lbs off my 'healthy' weight, but I'm currently finding that I'm wearing the smallest clothes I've ever bought, half the stuff in my wardrobe doesn't fit me any more and my grandparents are telling me to stop going to the gym as they can't adjust to seeing me at my thinnest (which, at 185lbs really isn't thin).

I want to get down to my target 'healthy' weight, although my initial target has me only losing around another 23-25lbs. I'm now concerned that if I lose another 15lbs and feel happy with where I'm at, I'm always going to have in the back of my mind that I 'failed' - because psychologically I work in that way.

decide when you hit 135

I have been around quite awhile and have never heard of fed regain. This is the first I have heard of it and I don't believe it to be true in my case.

Thanks for everyone's help I took my measurments quickly last night but I'm going to take them again today to be sure I got it right. Ug... my waist is like 39", of course that's smaller then what it was when I started. I think I'm going to post my measurements here even... that's something I've never done before. I'm insanely self concious, which is why there are no pictures of me here.

I'm doing well... I've managed to do something active every day. Monday I ran for the first time in over a month, tuesday I took my dogs for a long walk and yesterday I went to dog agility so we were setting up and taking down equipment and running courses with our dogs. Unfortunately I'm also eating a lot, it's my TOM soon and I always want to eat just before it comes.

mkroyer - my little wallet note says "I don not work out. I train. I do not eat. I fuel. I do not sleep. I recharge. I run. You can't exercise away bad eating habits!" The last part is another one I've seen on here that I really like and need to remind myself of. I didn't know you got faster as you got smaller but that makes sense. I'm stoked now, any little bit will help! LoL