How to determine goal weight?

[DragonflyMoon]

Hi Everyone ~

How are you determining your goal weights? It's been so long since i've been able to consider myself slender that i have no idea what i would even be most comfortable with now. I know that there are formulas out there and such... do you go by height? Or by frame size? I picked 150 because the last time i remember being happy in clothes was size 10. And for me that was around 150/160. Although now that i am in my 30s, that might have changed. I wanted to pick something on the higher end of my healthy weight spectrum, but did i pick something too high? I figure i would re-evaluate when i got into onederland, but of course i am obsessed with all of these little questions in the mean time!

I am 5'5", medium frame.

Any advice?

Happy Saturday to everyone!

~Jenna

[Sweet_Sadie]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

Hey, I'm 5'5" too and I just picked losing 100 pounds for now... ha ha ha! I guess I can figure out when to stop when I get there. I am big boned and wear Size 10 and Size 11 Shoes for example.

Oh someone said if you take what you lost on a totally clean induction only that, that is 10% of what you need to lose. So using that formula, my goal weight should be 152 which is about what you picked.

[Dolphin]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

130-150 lbs. Because you're medium frame.

[2big4mysize]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

actually what was said was that you can expect to lose 5-10 percent of the weight you need to lose doing a clean induction assuming you aren't metabolically resistant.

determine your goal weight based on a healthy body fat %. you are going to be amazed eating Atkins and doing the mandatory exercise part of our Atkins how much smaller you actually are at as heavier scale weight on the way back down. don't obsess over a number on a scale cause you may not be able to attain it healthily. My BMI and height weight say I need to be smaller and am still over weight, but my dunk tank measured body fat % said I was underweight.

[ValidRouge]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

I set my goal weight by how much I weighed when I felt my best. I'm currently reassessing that...and I think I'm going to lower it by 10 lbs...and that would put me on the high end of the 'normal' range. RIGHT NOW, weighing 198 lbs I'm SMALLER than I was when I weighed 185. Soooooooooooooooooo, you may end up weighing more than what you LOOK like you weigh, which is way cool.

[DragonflyMoon]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

That's all pretty cool advice ~ thanks everyone!

I know it is probably silly of me to even be thinking about these things when i have so very far to go... but i am just curious.

You really DO have to do this one day at a time, don't you? It doesn't make much sense for me to be too focused on the end result. Instead, i need to remember to live each day as best as i can, stick to the plan each day, and get my exercise in. Then, before you know it, i'll be where i need to be!

Former unsuccessful times on this weight loss journey failed, in part, i believe, because i was placing too many mini goals on myself. Too many time restrictions ~ "I need to lose this many pounds by this day" and so on and so forth. I know now that for me personally, this doesn't work. It may work great for other individuals, but for me it is just too much pressure on myself. At least i am learning from my past set-backs. So that is pretty good...

~ Jenna

[ValidRouge]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

I'm at a conference this weekend where we are challenging ourselves to dream big, set goals...BIG goals. Don't cheat yourself by not setting the goals. You just might surpass them...how cool would that be?

[DragonflyMoon]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

Thanks, Joy ~ you are right! I guess i should rephrase myself to say that i do believe setting goals works for me, but it is the unrealistic time limits that i have placed on myself in the past that doesn't. Then when i can't meet the goals... i get really depressed. I have lots of little goals in mind, (like getting to onederland, for one example!!!) just removing the time constraints...

~ Jenna

[ValidRouge]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

Ahhh, I got ya! I don't set time goals. I only set the pounds or the measurements or the sizes and then however long it takes for me to get there is what it is. I really think though that if you commit yourself to this, read read read...and BELIEVE in it, practice it, visualize yourself at your goal...you WILL achieve the results.

Plus, I simply have to see this as a lifelong commitment....and if it's lifelong, then however long it takes...is what it takes. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't get frustrated at times, I'm as guilty as the next person about that. And the longer I go, I can look back and say "WOW, that was quick"...it might not have felt that way from the beginning, but it does now. To think that I'd put on over 50 lbs in 2 1/2 years...but it ONLY took a little over 6 months to take it off...that's a BARGAIN!

I set mini goals. My first was to be 218. Then the next was 199. My next will be 185 and then I'll decide on the 175. In the beginning, my ticker was for the mini goals. It just broke it up in smaller pieces and didn't seem so insurmountable.

[DragonflyMoon]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

You hit the nail on the head ~ it IS a lifetime commitment. Maybe i am analyzing things more this time... but i feel like i am really starting to understand more about the addiction of carbohydrates & sugar than i ever have before. Maybe this is the first time i am truly grasping the concept of carb addiction to begin with! Looking at it like that... well, than i know now that it isn't a "quick fix" ~ it is a way of life.

It's funny how we set our goals... i currently have a goal of 230, where i was this past March, and then gained back 17 pounds. I was at 50 lost! And i will get back there again...

I have a goal of 215, where i was when i found out i was pregnant in 2003 and then went food bonkers for the duration of my pregnancy.

I have a goal of 199 ~ clearly!

175 ~ where i was when i graduated college.

160 ~ the last time i remember feeling good in clothes...

So it's funny how we probably all have these different "size" goals in our heads! I love that you would break up your goals into mini goals and use the ticker to track it... i just might have to steal your idea!

~ Jenna

[Dolphin]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

This is a good thread and Joy who's reputation will run off of this page!!! I will have to start my ticker in small goals too. This sounds like fun Jenna with remembering my weight at different stages.
240: Current
175: Pregnant w/twins full term.
160: Normal Weight.
150: Skinny looking and felt good.
140: Slim and Trim.

[RachelnLa]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

That's what my ticker is set for - my first goal. While it may seem that's a lot of weight to lose for a goal... it's my own personal goal. There will be celebrations at each pound gone... but that ticker is counting down to my first goal... I"ll move it down and start another one on top and keep going

I'm doing a lot of thinking this time around, too. The first time I lost 50 pounds it did seem to fly by and I would tell myself, "You lost 50 pounds in no time!" It was 6 months time. Heck, even the past 2.5 weeks have flown by!

Best of luck!

[Dolphin]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

I like the way you put it Rachel.

[DragonflyMoon]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

Cool ~ thanks guys! I'm going to have to change my ticker today to my first goal then. Because 90+ pounds seems like quite a lot to look at everyday. Thanks again, Joy, for the advice!

Another thing i want to do is when i get to the 50 pound mark (again) ~ post my progress pictures. THAT seems like a difficult thing for me to do, really putting it out there, but i think it will help me keep myself accountable.

[Dolphin]

Re: How to determine goal weight?

...~ post my progress pictures. THAT seems like a difficult thing for me to do, really putting it out there, but i think it will help me keep myself accountable.

Exactly, I'm with you on this one. Yeah its hard to post the first one, but its so worth it to track progress. If I done that before I would've been at goal.
Great Idea Jenna!