How did you pick a goal weight?

[AngieB]

This is a hard one for me. I want to pick a weight that is attainable and also one that I can maintain. I keep thinking about my pre-kid weight and wondering if it's even possible to get back to that again. Or should I give up on that dream an focus on a more realistic number. for the record I had my first child at age 22, 12 years ago. I've had four babies. I'm 5'3" and at my heaviest i was 167. I'm down to 158 right now. I would love to be 125 again which was my pre-kid weight but don't think it will ever happen. I think I would be ok with 140-135 ish. I've check the BMI for my height and age and it say healthy weight is between 113 and 135.

How did you decide what your goal weight is?

[nola79]

Well, why not set a mini-goal weight, instead of a final goal weight? As in, you weigh 158 now, and you'd like to be 145. When you hit 145, you can make a new goal of 135. When you get there, see how you feel, and 125 may not be so unattainable (or, you may be comfortable at 135). Good Luck! There are a lot of helpful threads in this forum, glad you're here.

[ambereva]

Originally I just picked the high end of the healthy weight range for my height (165). Once I got there I realized I had learned how to eat right and move enough, and I continued on to 150 pretty effortlessly. I actually got a little lower than that but felt too thin so gained a few. Pre-kid I was NEVER below 160.

[sewaneecook]

I am 5'6", I set a goal of weighing what I weighed right before starting college, around 130 (at that point I was a size 8). After baby 2 was 6 months old I weighed 150+, a large size 10, and I started running. I've been running for about 8 months and I'm now a size 4-6, but I still weigh around 140. I feel that if I lose any more I'll be too thin, so I don't have any goal to purposely lose any more weight. I feel like I look a lot thinner than what the scales say, so I feel that my pant size is a better guideline than weight (especially since I'm fairly muscular).

[ryleigh'smama]

Originally Posted by sewaneecook

I am 5'6", I set a goal of weighing what I weighed right before starting college, around 130 (at that point I was a size 8). After baby 2 was 6 months old I weighed 150+, a large size 10, and I started running. I've been running for about 8 months and I'm now a size 4-6, but I still weigh around 140. I feel that if I lose any more I'll be too thin, so I don't have any goal to purposely lose any more weight. I feel like I look a lot thinner than what the scales say, so I feel that my pant size is a better guideline than weight (especially since I'm fairly muscular).

That pretty much sums it up for me too. I actually am not weighing right now. I got too frustrated. I am muscular, and about 135lbs right now at 5'5". I was down to 128lbs about a year ago, but as I kept running and working out I kept gaining weight, but my pants fit better. So, right now I am focusing on how I look and feel.

[spughy]

I figured mine out based on my body fat percentage. In January, I weighed 170 lbs and was at 40% bf, according to my handy scale that tells me these things. (They are relatively inexpensive, and accurate within an individual - ie, they might not be objectively entirely accurate, but if it says you've lost 5% bf, it's probably right. The more evenly distributed your fat is, the more accurate they are objectively.)

So, if 40% of my body is fat, the remaining 60% is lean mass, which I want to keep. By doing lots of muscle-building exercise and eating in a way that allows me to lose mass overall, I avoid the tendency to lose muscle as well as fat (if you diet alone or just do cardio work, between 10 and 50% of your weight loss is lean mass, not fat.) So because I happen to like lifting weights, keeping that lean mass (which works out to about 98 lbs) is reasonable. My goal is 25% body fat, which is healthy but not too thin, which would put my goal weight at approximately 130 lbs.

Right now I'm at 150 lbs and 35% bf - which still works out to around 98 lbs lean mass, so I'm right on target.

In a nutshell - find out your current body fat, calculate how much lean mass you have, decide on a good body fat percentage goal (generally 20-30% is healthy, for women), factor in your weight loss style (are you likely to maintain or lose lean body mass?) and go from there. It's more complicated than just picking a number, but it's also likely to give you a more realistic goal.

Also - I found that I have much more lean mass than I did pre-baby - children make muscle! Especially if you carry them a lot. Pre-baby I weighed around 127 but my body fat was over 30% - so only 87 lbs lean body mass. And I worked out a lot then, too. So it's entirely reasonable that after 4 babies you will weigh more, but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

[KJoslyn78]

actually, the 60% wouldnt be all lean mass, you need to account for your body's % of water as well.

[spughy]

Originally Posted by KJoslyn78

actually, the 60% wouldnt be all lean mass, you need to account for your body's % of water as well.

Yeah, by "lean mass" I was sort of including water in there. Basically, "stuff that's not fat". Whatever it is, you probably want to keep it.

[treeoflife3]

I just chose to aim for 130-150. I have no idea what a healthy weight on me is as I've been over weight since I was 12ish. I know that range is about right for my height and my mom who is a tad taller is in there but her frame is different. I figure I'll get to about 150 and reassess. if I make it to 130 and still feel I need to lose more then i'll be surprised and go with that.

My main goal is just to look and feel good though. The actual number won't mean much if I get to a place where I love my body and feel I have a good muscle/fat ratio and am otherwise really healthy. Whether that ends up being 155 or 125.

[KatWrangler]

Right now my goal is 125 (I am 5 ft 4). When I was this weight before I wasn't muscular. Which is what I am trying to do this time. So ideally I am looking at 120-129 with muscle.

[northwoods1995]

My goal is 145 right now. That's at the very top part of the healthy BMI range for my height (5'4").

Ideally, I'd be around 128-135 but I'm not sure if it is realistic for me. I can't even imagine myself any lower than that. I think I weighed around 130-135 in high school and around 140 in college. I used to run a lot back then and I was more muscular.

[ParisApril]

I actually just came here to start a thread about this.

I'm on Sparkpeople and have lost 6 lbs since the spring. I am 5'4" and 128lbs right now. I was 134lbs when I started tracking. Size 6. Muscular build.
My healthy BMI range is 18.5-24.9, I'm at 22.

My problem is with BMI as well. My healthy range is 107-145lbs which seems huge to me. To be 107 I'd have to lose 21lbs. There is no way that would look good on me.

Right now my goal weight is 120lbs BMI 20.6 Which is just a number I've come up with because I think I'd look better having lost a few more pounds.

[KatWrangler]

I talked with my Doctor yesterday. She thought my goal weight range (120-129) was doable. I have weighed 125 before, but this time I want more muscle.

[treeoflife3]

Originally Posted by ParisApril

I actually just came here to start a thread about this.

I'm on Sparkpeople and have lost 6 lbs since the spring. I am 5'4" and 128lbs right now. I was 134lbs when I started tracking. Size 6. Muscular build.
My healthy BMI range is 18.5-24.9, I'm at 22.

My problem is with BMI as well. My healthy range is 107-145lbs which seems huge to me. To be 107 I'd have to lose 21lbs. There is no way that would look good on me.

Right now my goal weight is 120lbs BMI 20.6 Which is just a number I've come up with because I think I'd look better having lost a few more pounds.

Its so funny to me how bmi and healthy weight ranges can differ on people. I'm 5'5 and I can't imagine 120 looking even halfway decent on me. I'm not sure 130 would look right. I have a wider frame so I think being less than 140 will end up making me look somewhat sick. Of course, this is why I have a 20 pound range for my goal, but I can see 120 looking sickly on me... funny what an inch can make!

[sparklett]

Good conversation. I'm just 5'2 and was 130 at my smallest (in high school). I looked sickly. I have a very small frame so somewhere around 110 would be my best weight, according to my doctor. But I just can't imagine that... I'm naturally curvy and I couldn't imagine getting down that. So while my goal is 110, I'm going to see how I feel at 130 and maybe just stick with it. I'm still far from my goal, but I'm getting closer and closer!

[ambereva]

Originally Posted by KJoslyn78

actually, the 60% wouldnt be all lean mass, you need to account for your body's % of water as well.

And some would be bone, some blood, some connective tissue...lean mass = everything but fat.

[KJoslyn78]

(delete my reply - i'm not really up for an argument)

[JayGee]

For me, it hasn't been "what weight can I get to", but more "what weight can I comfortably maintain". I'm 5'2" (almost...) and am happy right now at 120ish. Sure, I could lose a few more pounds, but if that means I can't have my evening bowl of ice cream , it's just not worth it to me . Two summers ago I got down to 110, but it was SO difficult to maintain ~ I had to work out hard every single day and if I slipped just a little in my eating (restaurant meal, seconds at dinner), the weight crept on quickly. It just wasn't enjoyable at all. So, I'd look at what weight you can attain AND maintain without feeling deprived.

[GoBecGo]

I look to when i felt best (after DD, when i was running about 18-20miles/week and doing a pump class once a week) and shoot for that (175, i'm 209ish right now). If i get close to that level of fitness but weigh more or feel too thin there (i'm 5'11") then i'll reconsider. I have been 144 and i looked ill, i have a massive bone structure, so i just shoot for what i think will feel best and then reconsider as i go.

[ParisApril]

Originally Posted by treeoflife3

Its so funny to me how bmi and healthy weight ranges can differ on people. I'm 5'5 and I can't imagine 120 looking even halfway decent on me. I'm not sure 130 would look right. I have a wider frame so I think being less than 140 will end up making me look somewhat sick. Of course, this is why I have a 20 pound range for my goal, but I can see 120 looking sickly on me... funny what an inch can make!

It sure does. When I was at my thinnest pre babies I weighed 110 lbs. I was very thin and wasn't eating properly ie. skipping meals. Not healthy at all so I know I couldn't ever be that again.

Right now my focus is on portion control, making sure I get my recommended daily intake of fruits and veggies. Eating full fat products that come from real foods and eating eggs and meat. Combine that with a moderate amount of exercise and I'll just have to wait and see where that takes me weight wise.