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Your weight loss goals are garbage

Old 04-21-2011, 03:07 AM
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Cool Your weight loss goals are garbage

Excuse the title, I didn't mean to offend anyone. I just want people to read this thread and post their opinions (maybe some stories too).

Pounds really don’t matter.(in the long run, it's about body composition)
Eventually you will come to a point in your weight loss journey where your weight isn’t changing as quickly as it once did. You continue to workout and continue to eat in a manner that expedited your weight loss. Now all those modifications you’ve made are losing its novelty, your body has become accustomed to the changes and your weight maybe evidence of that.

Your weight may also be evidence of muscle gain. Muscle is more dense than fat, so higher quantities of muscle equates to a higher number on the scale.
This is the point where pounds don’t matter. They are irrelevant( in my opinion). I think there’s a need to focus on what you’re doing daily to help you lower the percentage of body fat. I often hear people stressing about the last 5 to 10 pounds, meanwhile there may not be any excess fat to lose. Besides they made that goal 80 lbs ago. Is it necessary to stick with your primary weight goal? If you don’t reach it , do you consider yourself a failure ? What do you guys think?
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Old 04-21-2011, 04:27 AM
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I think it's helpful to have a goal to start with, but in my experience, where I ended up is nowhere near what I thought it would be.

I got to my goal weight, then set a body fat % goal. In working toward that, I lost an additional 8-9 pounds. After I hit the fat % goal, I set fitness goals for myself.

I still look at the scale number, but I also look at the body fat % number, my overall fitness level, and how I feel. I tweak things based on how the whole picture looks on any given day.
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Old 04-21-2011, 06:55 AM
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Interesting topic. As a first step, I DO think a weight loss goal is important. As a general guideline I think it's OK. As a "final" goal I think a percentage of body fat is probably better. That's what I intend to transition to when I get close to my weight goal.

Regards,
Michael
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Old 04-21-2011, 04:26 PM
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Originally Posted by mecompco
Interesting topic. As a first step, I DO think a weight loss goal is important. As a general guideline I think it's OK. As a "final" goal I think a percentage of body fat is probably better. That's what I intend to transition to when I get close to my weight goal.

Regards,
Michael

I agree with Michael, it really depends where you are starting from. If you are in the obese catagory... sorry... it is all about the pounds. (yeah, yeah, I am well aware the BMI measurements for true atheletes -especially musclely ones - is inacurate, but that's not what I am talking about). But as you are approaching some measure of an "ideal" weight, yup, % body fat, muscle etc is better.

As it happens we have all kinds of folks here, from 400 pounders to those just trying to pare the last 4 or 5 pounds. So tig0big0 it depends on your audience, my dear. For some it is still all about the pounds. For others, we hear ya babe.
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Old 04-21-2011, 07:32 PM
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I would tend to agree that weight loss isn't really the focus for anyone here. It's more accurate to say "fat loss goal". Lets face it, "weight" means everything - fat, muscle, bone, hair and nails. I don't really want to lose muscle or bone mass, and I certainly don't need to lose anymore hair.
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Old 04-25-2011, 10:14 AM
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My two cents- for people like me that have over 100 lbs to loose, setting weight goals is the thing to do. At this point I am not concentrating on body composition because I cannot even exercise without rendering myself useless for 3 weeks after each attempt. I literally had to use crutches to move around every time I tried. Besides, fatties like me tend to burn more fat than muscle at first anyway.

Later, when I will be able to exercise, of course I will start looking at body composition because I do not want to look like I do now just smaller. I want to have the rockiest body I can, and I will. I will be a MILF.
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Old 04-25-2011, 11:22 AM
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I think in the beginning, if you start out really heavy, pounds do matter. However, the most joy for me comes in smaller clothes size. And that brings me to the thought that as we get smaller, pounds matter less because the pounds will come off more slowly. At that point, a smaller size (muscle composition) will play a greater role.
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Old 04-29-2011, 02:27 PM
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Starting in the obese range, as I did, setting a weight loss goal has been useful, but it's not my only measure of success. Being able to move without becoming breathless, having more energy, being able to enjoy stuff I used to do before I gained all the tonnage are all very important, too. When the effort doesn't show up on the scale, it shows up in other ways: loss of fat is the most noticeable, but physical strength is another biggie. Just the ability to turn over in bed without THINKING about it is a major reward for people who are 100 lb. or more overweight. I haven't been on the scale in days, so right now I don't know whether I'm losing or gaining or on a plateau. If I got on it in the morning and discovered that I'd stalled out on weight loss, it wouldn't be a huge disappointment. But I do like to keep moving in the direction of overall weight loss. So if I'm still not losing in a couple of weeks or so, I'll assume that I'm not giving my body enough of a challenge, and I'll do something about it. Weight is only one factor. How you feel is what's important. And as you lose weight and build muscle and endurance, you just plain feel better. Reason enough to keep it up.
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Old 04-29-2011, 11:37 PM
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I feel healthy changes are more important than weight loss, but they do go hand in hand. I used to belong to a group where people had their light weight "weigh in clothes" they wore even in winter, or changed in the bathroom. I'm looking at my nutrition labels now and trying to avoid the empty calories, or reduced fat snack foods that still have nothing to offer for the reduced calories. Increase exercise, take supplements and eating the foods that are good for me.
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Old 05-22-2011, 06:48 AM
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I replied earlier to this, but just thinking. My weight goal is based on what I weighed 20 years ago when I did not think about BMI or Body fat percent. I'm 67 now. So when I weighed the right amount for me, wasn't when I was really young. That is why I picked my current goal weight wise. Maybe it is too low. I will figure that out when I get closer to it. I gained primarily because of decreased activity during a severe illness. I still need to get more active and improve my eating habits. There was a time, I could get away with eating anything. Now I can't.
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