How did you pick your goal weight?
 

I'm just wondering how you all have chosen your goal weight? Is it just a number that sounds good? Is it a weight you have been at before and know you look good at that weight? Is it from a chart as to what you should weigh?

I'm looking at other people's goal weight and wondering if I am being to soft on myself or just realistic. And perhaps i need to clarify my short term goal, which is what i started with, and now set a long term goal. The original goal was something i could reach by May 21, when i leave for a trip to the Cayman islands to dive. But that weight, while acceptable is not my best or most ripped form. I have been super lean through workouts before 11% body fat. But that was an unrealistic weight to maintain. So I guess i need to find a happy medium.

Please share how you set your goal weight.
Thanks
Kim

I chose mine because I have been at 175 before and it was pretty easy for me to maintain as long as I stayed active. My lowest ever weight as an adult was 159 and I looked almost TOO thin. Plus it would be almost impossible for me to maintain for the long term. I was fairly happy at 175 and think I could be again. It may sound high and on charts it may say I'm STILL overweight at that weight, but I know for me and my body structure, that's a good weight for me.

I picked mine for a variety of reasons:

1) 110-150 is my "healthy BMI range" so I wanted to pick something that fell in there.

2) 140 is a nice, round 75 lbs. lost from my starting weight. That number just sort of FELT good, you know?

3) Realistically, I know that I'm a curvy person and I felt that picking something more towards the "top" of the range might be more natural for my body shape, and would probably feel good to maintain. I don't know, however, as I haven't been 140 lbs. probably since I was about 15 years old, and I was still growing back then.

In truth, 140 may or may not be realistic for me - I'm certain I'll know more once I get there, and I've still got a ways to go :D And once I get there, I intend to take it for a "test drive" and see how I feel at that weight. I may decide to lose more or not - I may even decide to put on another 5 lbs., I don't really know. I just know I want to be healthy and happy with my body!

Hi Kimbur,

I picked a goal weight that was smack dab in the middle of my healthy range. I had been there once, briefly, and liked it, but did not maintain it.

With the help of FitDay, logging, and the FitDay peeps, I got to that goal, then set a body fat % goal. In working toward that, I very slowly lost another 10 pounds trying to figure out maintenance, reached that body fat %, and then just set fitness challenges for myself (improving running times, signing up for a race, increasing weights).

I learned in the process that being at the lowest weight I could achieve was not really possible to maintain long term, but being 2-3 pounds over that was fine. I try to look at my goal now as to maintain within a 2-3 pound range.

I chose mine based on what I had been able to maintain for a long period of time after I had kids, which was 140lbs. I was 117 before I had my children and it was horribly thin! I had absolutely NO curves, and was often confused as a boy, which is insulting lol So, I like 140 because it allows me to have curves, but it's also a healthy range. Once I hit 140 I may decide to drop to 130 to see if I can still look healthy with curves, yet not appear too thin.

It depends on you, and what you like. If you drop to that weight and don't like it or find it's too hard to maintain it, then you can adjust according to your preference. =D

I chose my weight goal because that was the size I was before I left for Berlin. I would like to go back to California the same weight that I left it originally. I don't think that's going to happen, but I'm going to try. *grumble can't believe I gained 20 pounds in europe grumble*

I haven't really chosen a goal weight. I've NEVER been thin so I wouldn't even know what feels/looks good. I chose my first goal because I think it is challenging, but doable. It would mean losing almost 3lbs a week, but I am starting out at a really high number so I think losing slightly more than 2lbs is realistic...at least I'm hoping it is. I just want to lose as much as I can before my son graduates boot camp in Oct. so that I am able to be more mobile. I am currently recovering from knee surgery so exercise is limited to stationary biking and a little bit of walking...or more like limping.

I guess I will know my ultimate goal weight when I get there but I am guessing anything under 200 would feel pretty darn good to me since I haven't been under 200 since 5th grade.

thank to all who replied. It sounds like everyone is picking what is a realistic goal for them. Not some supermodel, unachievable goal. That is nice and refreshing to hear. It also reinforces that I have chosen a good goal for myself. I choose what I thought was doable and realistic, but then started to give in to societies definition of what i should be and you all have reinforced that I am doing the right thing so thank you.

My first goal was to go from obese to over weight:eek: now just aiming for a weight I can be happy and maintain

When I started on this I had some vague notion of a New Year's resolution that involved "lose some weight, get healthy", but not a number associated with it. Although our brand new Wii Fit Plus said I should weigh 119.5, LOL as if... But that sort of got me thinking that maybe I should know what goal to make for myself, so I asked my doc and then later my knee doc and both of them looked me right in the eye and told me that my ideal weight was around 115 :eek::eek::eek: !!! I'm short, lightly framed (can't even use "large boned" as an excuse, bummer) and also have bad knees and degenerative disc disease. So I took that advice to heart, added 5 pounds for my rather generous set of jugs and set my goal weight at 120lbs. I'm still not there, but even at my current weight I can see areas that still need improvement (can you say "thunder thighs?), so onward the battle goes. While I don't think society should have any say in your goal weight, I do suggest having a discussion with your doctor before settling on one.

According to the BMI chart, I should be between 114.6 and 154.9. I'm a pretty large framed person and I was 112 pounds or so in high school. At that weight and my 5'6" height, it was too thin. I'm guessing that 140 to 150 would be a more realistic goal. My starting weight was 246. That's a loss of 90 to 116 pounds.

I decided that I would aim for a loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week so I'm not stressing too much. With that in mind, I set a 1 year loss of 52 pounds. So, that's how I came up with 194 by 3/12/12. After that year is up, I'll see how I'm doing and go from there. If I hit the goal early, I can always reevaluate.

Currently mine is set at 135. I had one doctor tell me 112 or less and the dietician tell me 170 and my other doctor waffle and never give me a number (he also refused to look me in the eye when discussing my weight) so I chose a number in the middle. I'm seeing a new doctor in a few hours so I'll have another totally random number to add to the pile.

almeeker, I wanted to ask how you deal with the body getting smaller but still having those stubborn areas. I was down to 145 last summer and still had so much extra on my thighs and back of my hips (just above the butt). It's only a problem with swimsuits really because they fit so tight that I end up with a muffin top, even though I was relatively thin (for me) and pretty in shape. It just made me feel like I needed to lose so much more weight, but looking back at pictures, my face seems so thin (almost too thin really). I've put on a few pounds and in general think I look a bit better with a few more pounds, but my hip/thigh problem hasn't exactly gone away! Just wondering how you and other people deal with that and whether I should just learn to love those parts and get over it!

Two words: swimsuit separates! You know, the ones where you can buy the top and bottom separately and in the size you need. If your local stores don't have these, there are many internet retailers who offer such products. Or if you buy a one piece, buy it to fit the bottom and have the top part taken in at the tailors. God knows we pay too much for swimwear to have it fit like crap. :rolleyes:

I have been in the same boat. I am going to be a pear shape as long as I live, no matter how much weight I lose. I agree with the separates for swimsuits (last year I ordered a bikini with a medium bottom and an extra small top, I sure did), but I know that's not the impetus behind your post in and of itself.

I was reading a book last year in which the author stated that she had always coveted the slender, willowy shape but had to come to grips with it not being realistic. I had to do the same thing. As attractive as that was, being 5'2", I was never going to be leggy and "willowy"! I had to accept it. It's hard. But now I look at my shape the same way I do my height. I can't change it, no matter what I do (but I can be a smaller version of that shape), so I have to find ways to embrace it. I've toned up the muscles in my legs, so even if my bottom half is bigger than I'd like, it's not unattractive. Also, lifting weights has broadened my shoulders a bit, so I look more balanced.

Also, keep reminding yourself that people who put on weight in their hips and thighs don't have as much health risk as those who gain around the middle. I saw an article a while back about it even being healthier to have some lower padding and figured that, with that train of thought, I would live forever! :D

I picked my goal weight based on a couple of things. All throughout high school, I was between 100- 110 pounds. I was at that time 5'4". That weight was too little on me. I always had wide hips though, or as they say child bearing hips, but that was the biggest part of me. Well, after I met my future husband around 17, I went up and stayed at 120. That was ideal because I didn't look like a bag of bones and you could see the hourglass figure. Then of course 2 kids later and several years of not eating correctly i went up to 205 and that was my heaviest. As I aged I shrank down an inch so no I am 5'3". My husband doesn't want me to be too skinny so I figure 120 would be perfect.

There is nothing special in it..
I just checked my fitness level on BMI and found that i am fat and would be normal i would lose my 28lbs weight...
SO i set a diet plan and started running in the morning.

Are we twins? I'm at 147 now, and I definitely look much better than I did at 224.6, but I don't look anything like I did the last time I weighed 147, however that was 15 years and 3 babies ago. You are so dead on with the face thing, I've always had chubby cheeks (both sets really), but now I have almost no fanny and my face is very clearly showing my Native American heritage, I have a very long face regardless but now my cheek bones are very pronounced as is my square jaw. Before I always looked more like Princess Leah, even at 118 lbs.

In answer to the thunder thigh question, right now I'm focusing a lot on lower body exercises and on lots of cardio. I'm genetically prone to large legs, and being short I never had any expectations of looking long and willowy, so my best bet is to keep losing the fat and work on toning and strengthening so ultimately I hope to replace "jiggle" with "definition". I feel like I'm working toward "a curvier version of Tinkerbell with legs like the paper boy".

When I was in college I worked as a seamstress in a bridal/formal wear salon. I did numerous fittings on formal gowns for women in various beauty pageants. Anyway to make a long story short I altered several gowns for a woman that was crowned Miss Michigan and later on Miss America. Her body was seriously perfection, and she complained about it just the same as every other woman I had ever met. And that's when I said to myself "Oh good grief, if she can't be happy, there ain't no happy to be had". From that day forward I've looked at it differently, I decided not to be miserable over what I have, it is what it is, the only thing I can do is to keep working to improve it. Also keep in mind there is a difference between "big" and "fat". Imagine if you will, two men standing side by side, they weigh exactly the same amount, one guy is Mr. Universe and the other man is Homer Simpson. Which one do you want to see naked?

I have never prescribed much to the school of mix & match swim suits, my mother bought me one and I swear every time I wore it there was plenty of concern that I was going to lose part of it. I wear my suit to swim, not lay on the beach, and ever since that horrible suit from mom, I like the top and bottom to be securely affixed to one another. It's a real pain in the behind trying to find a DD cup in a size 8 suit, so I may have to investigate this separates idea a little more. But for now I'm sticking to the one piece.