I think part of why I'm going for 130 is because I'm trying to focus on fitness and because... I honestly have a different problem from most folks in that I don't think I look that different between my heaviest weight and my lowest.
Here is the picture from last month I'm using as my "before":
This is me in college (8 years ago?) at 130-135 but never touched a treadmill or a barbell:
And this is me summer 2011 at 135ish and having worked out with a personal trainer for 3 months, fittest I've ever been:
I just don't think there's much difference in those besides my hair. That's why I figure a) fitness is the real key and b) might as well go whole hog on goals.
When I first started out this time I had no idea what my goal weight should be. I eventually put it as 150 lbs, since I could at least remember weighing that much at some point (still didn't think I had much hope of ever being that again). I'm currently ~148 lbs, so I have hit that original goal. I'm smaller now than I was at 12 years old, about a size 6/7, and look pretty good. However, I don't quite FEEL like I'm at goal - I think I would really like to get down to 135-140 lbs. At this point, pretty much just vanity weight, but I would still like to, even if it takes me a while.
Last edited by Chronostasis; 01-20-2014 at 12:43 PM.
I looked up height/weight charts online from several recognized and respected sources. I took into account my height , age and gender. I found quite a lot of variance on the different sites so I averaged them and I then selected the high end of the healthy weight range. This is only a starting point for me. I intend to refine it as I get closer to my goal. I may raise, lower or leave it as is in the future. It all depends upon how I feel about myself.
This is what I did! I felt like it was an intelligent start to setting a goal. Emphasis on START! LOL! I never want to be defined by a number so when setting my goal I have kept in mind that along the way I can lower or raise this number based on how I look and feel. Ultimately I hope to get to 175 which is the high end of my height/weight ratio and also a size I felt very comfortable in when I got down to it almost 2 years ago.
It has been an ongoing battle with what I think I should weigh and what I want to weigh. At first I wanted to get to 199. That was the only goal I could see. Then I pushed that to 165 just because 165 seems like a normal, stable weight to maintain. But mostly I'm going by sizes. At first I wanted to be a size 13 but then I realized I didn't want to be a teen size anything so I pushed that down to 10. If I'm happy at a size 10 without weighing 165 I'll just stay where I'm at.
I'm really into hiking and exercise and am pretty active all around so for me measurements are what I aim for. I picked 125 because based on how I've been losing inches from different places that weight should put me at my goal measurements. Also, my sister and me have very similar body shapes and are close in height. She weighs between 115-120 and I really like her at that weight, but she isn't very fit so I added some lbs to make up for the fact that I'm more muscular I agree that fitness really makes a difference!
I was wondering: how did you choose your GW?[/QUOTE]
Vanity. I could be just as healthy at 10 or 20 pounds heavier, but I want to be the 57-year-old with washboard abs and legs that look decent in skinny jeans. Right now I can maintain on 2,000 cals/day. If that ever changes (still haven't hit menopause), I may revise my maintenance weight upward.
I picked 150 because it seemed like a goal that wasn't too heavy and wasn't too skinny....I can't imagine myself at 150 and right now in the 180s i'm smaller than I ever remember being since high school....I would guess based on pictures that i'm right where I was at in my senior year of high school....i'm pretty happy with my body shape right now and enjoy pushing my fitness level higher...I don't feel horrible and fat and hate my body, which is where I was originally....which is good BUT makes it harder to have the motivation to push for an even lower weight...
EDIT: Hate is too strong of a word...I've never hated any part of my body, personality, etc....But I reallyyyyyy didn't like the weight I was at before I started losing....
Last edited by alaskanlaughter; 01-20-2014 at 01:52 PM.
20 years ago I would have chosen 115 as my goal weight, because that's what I weighed in my 20's. I'm 5'3". But now, I'm more about feeling healthy and strong, so I've chosen 125 pounds. I'm 46 and I know as I age, my metabolism slows, so I figure if I can stick close to the mid 120's, it'll be a healthy weight for me. I'm 137 now, and feel pretty good, but I do want to lose all the extra ab flab.
That would put me at dropping 100 pounds, so it was a nice round number. Right now I am just working on making it to 199 by Valentine's day. Then I would like to be 180 by my birthday in the very end of July. I didn't gain it over night and I am not setting myself up for disappointment by trying to lose it super fast.
I chose mine based on where I used to be. I was 132lbs and while I wasn't SUPER skinny it was good and healthy weight for my body type--rather muscular, rather thick bones, big facial features.
This was me back in the day (it was "only" 8 years and two babies ago, haha!). That's where I want to go back--weight wise, and geography wise. I want to go back to my country and visit but I want to look my best when I do too.
I've always been about 160lbs, even though I show a high weight over 200, that was only during my pregnancies. My goal after bb#2 was 145-140 ish and I got there and realized I definitely still needed to lose some more. I am not big boned, actually I'm very small framed. (My ring size is a 4 .5) So even toned, 145 is still lots of rolls an lumps for me. So i pick 130. but my first goal right now is 160, my comfort weight were i feel like "me", then lose from there.
Don't be afraid to go for what you want, you know your body best.
Over the short term I just really, really wanted to get under 150, based on where I'd been pretty comfortable in the past.
Over the long term I'm shooting for the lower end of normal on the BMI scale for my height. I have the advantage of having a mom who is as tall as I am and with the same bone structure, and she was 135 for most of her adult life. So I'm not afraid of shooting for the same thing.
My first goal weight is 180lbs because that was about the weight I was when I met my husband.
The second is 175 because that is the lowest I have been since about 17.
The third is probably 165 and I will see if I continue on from there based on how I think I look. It is uncharted waters for me because was an obese child/teen.
Last edited by CrabNebula; 01-21-2014 at 10:06 AM.
I just decided what was a healthy weight for my height and figured that if I still feel pudgy after, maybe I'll go down another 10 pounds or so.
I've been told that you usually gain 5 pounds if you come off a diet so you should always work to be five pounds under your goal weight, and then come off.
That's why I figure a) fitness is the real key and b) might as well go whole hog on goals.
I agree that fitness really makes a difference!
