Goal weight?

RebSid77

Hi everyone,
I've been working on my weight loss for about 8 months, and I have lost about 25lbs. My question is how did you decide what your goal weight should be? I'm pretty short and it seems like all the calculators online for preferred weight are really low. Like what I used to weigh in high school and I was really thin then.

sherrbearr22

http://www.self.com/calculatorsprograms/calculators/happyweight

I really like this "Happy Weight" calculator.  Like you, I found that most calculators' recommendations were lower than I wanted to be as I'm pretty muscular.  This calculator is pretty darn close to what I want to hit!

RebSid77

Thank you! That one put me a good 10lbs above the other calculators and definitely seems like a more sustainable weight.

jennalynne2

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_goal-weight?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:0ed74dd4-0e9c-448e-9787-137975be7fafPost:ed60ed87-0af6-41cf-8c8c-c835678d2bc3">Re: Goal weight?</a>:
[QUOTE]<a href="http://www.self.com/calculatorsprograms/calculators/happyweight" rel='nofollow'>http://www.self.com/calculatorsprograms/calculators/happyweight</a> I really like this "Happy Weight" calculator.  Like you, I found that most calculators' recommendations were lower than I wanted to be as I'm pretty muscular.  This calculator is pretty darn close to what I want to hit!
Posted by sherrbearr22[/QUOTE]

Hmmm. . .this one's saying I'm already there. But trust me, I could stand to lose a few inches. Is it thinking I should be more muscular (which really my goal is just to be more toned)?

HillShmill

I think a lot of women get caught up in a specific number on the scale and don't realize that a girl who may be a little heavier but with muscle tone looks (and feels, IMHO) a lot better than a skinny girl with no muscle on her. You also have to remember that stressing out to stay a certain weight doesn't do much for your happiness. I have friends who stress over every little calorie they eat and are miserable. I'm much happier being a little heavier and being able to enjoy a candy bar now and then.

I'm 5'4" and according to all the BMI calculators, I should weigh about 120 pounds. Even when I was on the varsity swim team in high school at 16 years old, I didn't weigh 120 pounds! My happy weight for my body and life style is 150 pounds with good arm and leg muscle definition. You've just got to find what makes you feel good about yourself and not necessarily compare it to a number generated on your computer screen.

And on your wedding day, you're going to look and feel so good from all the love in the room it won't even matter what your scale says!  

J&K10910

As a PP said, I feel like you should focus more on how you feel, and how your clothes fit.  For most women, this is a less frustrating goal than the number on the scale, especially since that stupid number is influenced by so many things and can vary a lot throughout a single day.

Congrats on your weight lost so far!

J&K10910

And, out of curiosity, I just used that happy weight calculator and I laughed out loud when I saw what it told me my happy weight should be.  It was what I weighed my senior year in high school.  That's not ever goign to happen.

femmepink

I go by how I feel.

When I was at my lowest weight, I felt very comfortable and pretty in all of my clothes. That weight was about 15lbs less than I am now...so there's my goal weight.

Milsey32

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_goal-weight?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:0ed74dd4-0e9c-448e-9787-137975be7fafPost:1e293208-f075-4aec-8328-8829cf140d84">Re: Goal weight?</a>:
[QUOTE]I think a lot of women get caught up in a specific number on the scale and don't realize that a girl who may be a little heavier but with muscle tone looks (and feels, IMHO) a lot better than a skinny girl with no muscle on her. You also have to remember that stressing out to stay a certain weight doesn't do much for your happiness. I have friends who stress over every little calorie they eat and are miserable. I'm much happier being a little heavier and being able to enjoy a candy bar now and then. I'm 5'4" and according to all the BMI calculators, I should weigh about 120 pounds. Even when I was on the varsity swim team in high school at 16 years old, I didn't weigh 120 pounds! My happy weight for my body and life style is 150 pounds with good arm and leg muscle definition. You've just got to find what makes you feel good about yourself and not necessarily compare it to a number generated on your computer screen. And on your wedding day, you're going to look and feel so good from all the love in the room it won't even matter what your scale says!  :)
Posted by HillShmill[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>I want to hug you right now... haha</div><div>
</div><div>The "happy" weight calculator did NOT make me happy. I'm 5' 3" and it said I should be weighing 123... which is around 25 lbs less than what I weigh. If I weighed 123, I would not be a 36DD and I would lose a lot of muscle. </div><div>
</div><div>OP -- your body image should not be based off a number but how you feel about yourself! As long as you're comfortable and like what you see in the mirror... than you've reached your goal. [:

</div>

rey4613

That "Happy Weight" calculator is a joke. Told me I should weigh 117, ha. I'm in pretty good shape as is and have good muscle tone. My "happy weight" would probably be 125, but these 5-7 lbs I need to lose to get there are so stubborn!

number55

I put in that I have a medium build (and then filled in the rest too) and it told me 139lbs...ha ha ha...I mean, my 'ridiculous' goal is 140lbs but I don't think I would qualify that as my 'happy weight'...I would qualify that as my 'very hard to maintain, requiring a lot of sacrificing and not maintainable for a very long period of time'...I when I put in large build (which I don't think I am) it still put me at 148...and that is reducing my workouts to 3 times a week from at least 5 too...ridiculous.

raynes

Ditto everything HillSchmill said a thousand times.  People get too hung up on a weight.

That Happy Weight calculator is a joke.  For serious.  It says I should weigh 140 lbs which is less than I was in high school.

I think it's more important to aim for a reasonable goal.  To exercise at least 3x a week and eat healthy food.  Aim for a healthy body fat %, aim for a certain clothing size.  Be happy in your skin.

Yes, there's certainly reason to decrease your weight for health reasons, but you need to find a place to settle that you can maintain and that makes you happy.

sb9411

My happy weight is 120... which is really low for what I think I should be..... Basically everything including BMI says that I should be about 120... I don't get why my body wants to weigh more.

MandK9

Wow, the happy weight thing gave me a good number, I wonder why it's so off for a lot of you! It says I'm supposed to be about 9 pounds lighter than I am now, which seems right to me. 

But yeah, seriously ditto PPs.  It's better to not set a goal weight at all.  You're setting yourself up for disappointment in tons of ways.  Maybe you literally can't be that weight (and be healthy), maybe that weight looks different on you than you think it will, blah blah blah.  How you look/feel and other fitness goals, that's what I recommend.

jfletcher3113

Yeah... this can't be right. This says I'm at my happy weight. And, well... I'm not. I dont think I'm far but I definitely have more work to do.

I know you shouldn't focus on weight and I try really hard to remember that but sometimes, I'm just flat out a scale junkie! I just constantly have to remind myself it's not all about the numbers on the scale.

I haven't tried another "goal weight" site before though so I'm not sure how it compares to the others. And it seems to work for some on here so why not try it?

KellySpearsToBe

My "Happy Weight" was right on

nataliet02

My happy weight was exactly where I want to be. And everyone looses weight differently. I have been walking on my lunch break for almost a month and have lost more inches then actual pounds. I see my body changing but the scale doesn't seem to be changing much with it. They say muscle ways more than fat so maybe that's why I haven't lost so much weight.

OutOfTheBlue612

Yeah, my happy weight was completely off. It says I should weigh 113 pounds. When I weigh that little, you can see every single bone on my body. It's not a good look. My real happy weight is 120. I'm about 10 lbs over that right now.

Maggie0829

My happy weight said I should be 130...this is actually pretty accurate so I only have 7 pounds to go!  My true happy weight would be 125...I am not sure why I am so stuck on this number but it is always a weight I wanted to be...I feel like if I got down to 125 I would be happy and content...but 130 would be great too!

jemmini6

My happy weight was off too...it actually said I should weight 10 lbs MORE than I already do....

CassandraPotter

I use to have a goal weight. Until I was diagnosed with severe acid reflux (I also have asthma which it is irritated by the acid reflux and I will have awful asthma attacks). So now it is more about what I eat so my tummy/lungs won't be upset. It is very hard to control because the list of foods I can eat is missing all my favorite things (chocolate, wine, soda, ICE CREAM). I am actually about 10 lbs less than my goal weight, but I am only 5'3. I try not to weigh myself anymore, because sometimes the number creeps lower and lower. I just make sure I am eating healthy, feeling energized, and eating throughout the day.

whitma87

my goal is totally realistic.. I need to lose another 23 lbs, which will put me at 175 lbs. the happy weight calculator says I should be around 145-150. HA! i've always been curvy, and full figured. 150 is unrealistic for me right now, I haven't been 150 since I was 11.

175 would put me around a size 12.. which is a size i'd be totally happy with.
Even if I do reach 175, i'm still going to continue my new lifestyle.. and maybe once I reach 175, my next goal will be 150. i'm trying to do it a little at a time.