Yep, it never ceases to amaze me. At 200, I was a tight 16.

For me, it says people my weight want to be 136 and I should be between 104 - 137 lb and people at 130 want to be 116. haha

Since hitting my goal almost 2 weeks ago, my timeline goal is to be at this same weight or a few lbs. lower the same time next year.

Thanks Glory! I played around with it a bit and found that at my starting weight and height, people at that weight chose 191 (not far from where I am now!).

People who weigh 198 chose 153 pounds, and people who are 153 chose 135, and the people who weighed 135 chose 127. The people who weighed 127 chose 124 ... and then it seemed to be that finally there people were "satisfied" with their weight.

I find the psychological implications really interesting. And it shows how so many women feel they need to lose weight, even those within "normal" ranges. Lots of us are unsatisfied with our weight, huh?

Thanks Glory for the link. When I put in my starting weight of 234, it said people think I should weigh 173. But, when I put in 143 lbs. it said people think I should weigh 136. That is interesting. I set my goal according to what would be in the middle of a "normal" BMI range for my height. I still feel like I could use to lose a few more lbs. from my tummy area but I am not going to push myself. If it happens slowly , I will be happy. Mainly I will just be thrilled to learn how to eat healthy, exercise regularly and maintain what I have lost.

ditto!

My timeline goals:

On my 1st year anniversary for joining 3FC I want to be able to write a goal thread that states

1. I am eating well.
2. I am exercising regularly.
3. I have continuosly posted at 3FC all year.
4. I am at the weight I am now... or less. NOT more.

I absolutely cannot set a timeline for pounds gone. And though I have a goal of 170 I don't want to say when. This is because I know I will sabatoge myself. If I say 170 by ? date my mind will start playing tricks...."You've got plenty of time.. have some more cheesecake!"

I know that if I stick to the first three goals all year the 4th goal will happen.. and probably with better results than I expected.

I'd always thought of setting timelines sabotaging at the deadline or the time when you realize you can't make the goal. But I think you're absolutely right, for some people, the psychological impact of a deadline may make you think, "don't worry, plenty of time," whether that's true or not...

My timeline goals:

150 by November 2nd, 2006 (My 42nd birthday, hmm funny I said this last year and the year before, etc.......this year I will make it thanks to 3FC!!!)
135 or so by April 28, 2007.....my one year anniversary of this new lifestyle.

As for fitting in clothes, thats always interesting. I'd like to say I was wearing a tight 18 at 200 pounds but I don't think that was the case, I only wore these stretchy jeans in the last few years that just said XL!!! At around 185 I was shoe horning myself into a 14, LOL and now at 168 I can comfortably wear all my 14's and some 12's. Hopefully at 150 I will be close to wearing a 10 but it will be a tight fit I'm sure.

One thing I have noticed is my figure isn't what it used to be. I now have more fat around the middle and less around the thighs. It used to be my jeans were always lose in the middle and tough to fit in the hips and thighs, now its the opposite so moving down a size takes longer. Unfortunately I haven't been able to lose anything around my breasts. They just stick out even more and make me self consious. My 23 year old daughter thinks I should wear more form fitting shirts to show off my improving figure but I just can't part with the big Tshirts yet (and she is an F cup size at 135 pounds and 5'1"). Hopefully I'll be able to become a bit less modest soon!!!

Here's another: The average (American) football linebacker weighs 250. I'd like to weigh less than that once football season starts. That's just six pounds away.

I'd like to state that most of my goals are easily obtainable (drop seven pounds by fall, drop one clothing size by Christmas), so even if I do "oops" I can still get back on track. I've been losing more slowly lately and I'd like to kick it up a notch, so I hope this timeline helps me.

Phantastica.. I absolutely agree that you should be able to drop seven pounds of FAT by fall.. but the scale alone might not show that.

I haven't lost a tremendous amount of mass since joining 3FC.. the scale shows 197 today. That's only 16 pounds.. yet my jeans are looser and my bra used to be hooked on the last hook.. now it is on the first. Looking in the mirror and comparing with pics taken only a few months ago.. there is tremendous change. I wonder about the beautiful changes inside too.. that I can't see.

It really depends upon your body composition if the scale will cooperate and show you what you want. I know you already know this.. I just want to throw it out there.

I did it! I now officially weigh less than the average (American) football linebacker! I weighed in at 248.5 last night.

That is so awesome!!! Congrats on meeting your goal Time for a pedicure or something to splurge on! New sandals? Should be some good sales right now!

Sotypical...just came across this thread and I noticed we were the same height and judging from your pictures very similar builds (and same age range-I'm 26).I was at your same weight this time last year and I got to 151 by Christmas (including three big off weekends-labor day in NYC, my B-day in September, and a weekend in Kansas City for the OU/Kansas football game and a whole week off for Thanksgiving) so I definitely think you can make it!

I got to about 135 at the end of May and it's taken me 2 months to lose the last 4 pounds (although I moved during this time and took a couple vacations so I haven't been super clean but I'm thinking of the last 10-15 pounds as a learning experience for maintenance).

My original goal was 140 but once I hit that I revised to what I really wanted but seemed too overwhelming when I was at 198. Good luck.

Congrats, phantastica!