The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[jene115]

How did you set your weight goals? I've had 115 stuck in my head for so long, but I don't know if I'm being realistic. I don't even know if it makes sense to set a goal when I'm almost 300 pounds. I don't know where my body will decide to stop losing and say no more. The last time a doctor told me what I should weigh was years ago (My MediFast doctor in fact) and she said 120. My doctor in Colorado and now my current doctor asked me if I ever considered gastic bypass surgery. I did at one point, but decided I didn't think it was right to mess with the stomach and disecting it and rerouting.

I'm 47 years young and I'm a squosh under 5'1"(technically 5' 3/4") Charts say I should probably weigh around 105-121 at my height, but I would be too thin at 105. I have really good muscle tone and can carry more weight. My last thin weight as an adult was 127, but I can't remember what size I was wearing, but I remember laying out by the pool in November in Houston and wearing a bikini so I guess I was tiny enough! lol I would like to be less than 120. My doctor told me I have lipodema also and my lower body will never be tiny. Most of my weight is based in my hips, butt and thighs so I have that to contend with also. Once I can hit the gym again, watch out!

I'm not too hung up on this but how do you pick your weight. A weight you were before, or just a weight you would really like to be?

[raederle]

Hi Jen,

I've seen a few different answers to this question, because people seem to approach it in a number of different ways, which makes me think there's no one "right" answer. I've heard on this board that one way to find a good goal weight is to remember what you weighed when you were last at a "good" weight, and then add 5 pounds for every 5 years since you were at that weight. I suppose this accounts for the fact that 16-year-olds are just gonna weigh less than 46-year-olds even if they're the same height... They give us old folks some slack for things like gravity and child-bearing!

Anywho, other people (like me, who never really was at a "good weight") take a look at height/weight charts and pick a number in the range based on factors like frame size, age, muscle tone, etc. Some of the height/weight charts I've found on the internet will account for your age, frame size, etc., by asking you to input some data like wrist and calf measurements in addition to height... So I used one of those and found that 125 was on the low end of the range for me, but I knew that I'd been at 140 for a while and could definitely stand to lose 15 pounds without looking emaciated. So, I think it's a lot of guesswork, really, and I think you're exactly right that at some point your body may simply tell you in no uncertain terms that it has found a weight it likes. It certainly makes sense to set a goal that sounds realistic, and then as you near it, you can assess and adjust. This certainly isn't "cheating" or "giving up," because you need to find a weight that you can maintain when you're done losing. So if your bod ends up loving itself at 120, I'd think it'd be better to listen to it than to force another 5 pounds off and have to constantly battle to keep them off.

Just some thoughts! Why not set your goal at 127, when you knew you looked darn good, and then see how that feels? You certainly will have completely turned back the clock, which will feel awesome in itself, and then you can assess, and ask yourself: Are the pounds still coming off easily, or has your loss really slowed? Do you feel satisfied with how you look now? Would you feel disappointed if you went off MF now? Etc....

Maybe goal weight is like Justice Stewart's famous definition of pornography in Jacobellis v Ohio: "You know it when you see it!"

[bk]

Jen - as I mentioned last night, my # (125) that I picked is the top of my BMI range, regardless of age. I also plan to rely on body fat measurements and clothing sizes. I'm really not thinking too much about it until I get to about 150, because it's just a number way down at the end of the line. I have never ever had a normal weight so there is no way to know what I will be happy with and what I can maintain. I know for sure that around that point I will be healthy, after that it's just a matter of what will make my vanity happy. Also the waist-to-hip ratio is another factor for me (especially since I am an apple all the way!). .80 is low risk, .81-.85 is moderate, and greater than .85 is high risk.

Rae - love your definition! definitely gave me a good giggle. But I think you are right - that you'll know it when you see it. If you're at a good weight, and decide to lose another 5 and completely lose your chest, that's 5 pounds too many.

I also expect that when I reach my goal weight (for program purposes) is not going to be the end of trying to improve my body. So don't get too hung up on it I think, especially this early in the game!

bk

[scrabbler7]

Jen - I understand your concern about the goal weight. I'm even shorter than you (by two inches -- but don't tell anyone )

I know that I have been at 135 in my adult life, I liked that weight -- was wearing a size 10 petite. For me that's good, I know it's do-able; I know I can live at that weight not starve; and "SKINNY" has never been an option for me anyway -- God kinda (BOYS COVER YOUR EYES) "blessed" me in the chest and butt area - so i'll always be curvy. But hey, I like curvy! It's who I am. My goal is to be able to walk into any store, pick up a 10P, and know it will fit.

I think you just have to find the weight where you think you'll FEEL good. Since it's been so long for you - why don't you do like some others in here and set "mini" goals -- then reassess them as you go along. Makes it better for celebrating --- you get to cheer everytime you hit a mini-goal! Practicing up for the Big Goal at the end of it all!

[24KaratGold]

Jen, if you haven't yet done it, go over to the Web Room and download the MMT daily journal (or whatever it's called) that Unca Tim posted a link to. Besides being a fabulous tool to track your weight and measurement changes, there is a tab to determine your BMI, and a discussion of what the various BMI numbers mean health and appearance-wise. From that chart you can start to get some idea of what your goal weight range might be. You want to be in the green zone. Check it out!

[jene115]

Thanks for the good insight ladies. Jodi, at this point, I think I will just think about 125 as my goal, then tweak it down the road. I like the idea of "I'll know it when I see it."

bk - 125 is the top of my BMI range also. 105-125 pounds, 20-24 BMI. 125 sounds too much for 5'1" but I have very muscular calves (thanks Dad) and I have to think about that. I can weigh 125 and look 110. I had a guy at a carnival guess my weight one time when I was around 160 and he guessed 125. Muscle helps!

Scrabbler - someone is shorter than me? WOW! My birth mother was 4'11 and I couldn't wait to pass her up and I did finally, but not by much. I too am very curvy and I'm glad I am too.

24KaratGold - I already had the MMT calculator downloaded and I just went there to calculate my "stats." Thanks for reminding me.

I'm going to redo my signature into mini goals like Scrabbler suggested. It seems so far away right now. I just want to see the 1 on the scale rather than the 3 or 2, you know?

[bk]

oh, i actually rounded up 124 to 125 using a 25 bmi. if ya wanna be technical, 123.5 is my number. i'm a whopping 4'10 3/4"! are scrabbler and i the exact same height?! anyways, i don't personally think 125 is too much for 5'1", because that's what i'm picking for 4'11"! i mean really, any way i slice it, whether i'm 10 pounds above it or whatever, it sure as s--- beats being 100 pounds overweight! also, for someone who is 5'1", 132 is the top of your range. (when i say the top, i mean 24.9 bmi). you have a bigger range than you think you do. that being said, when we're at *normal* weight, a difference of only a few pounds can make a big difference for the short girls. BMI is an average and doesn't mean crap if it doesn't reflect your bodyfat percentages right. i have a girlfriend that went into army jag - she was waaaaaaay off the army's ht/wt charts, but they have an alternative procedure for bodyfat % and she passed with flying colors. and she is in NO way what i would call extraordinarily muscular or an athlete or anything (honestly she's kind of chubby). the girl can't lose weight to save her life, but her bodyfat was just fine.

life is tough on us shorties. my fam has always said that if i ever get to 5'0" they'd throw me a big party. it's the running joke!

one of my cousins calls my butt "the juicy booty!" no pancakes here!

anyways, stop stressing about that goal weight, concentrate on working the program (a factor that YOU can control right now) and work on those mini-goals! And be compliant!

oh yeah scrabbly, 10p is my goal too (at least right now!). i figure most stores have 12, some have 14, but all of em (except the teeny bopper ones) have 10s! gotta hate when you get new clothes and your skinny friends ask where you bought it! (ummm, at a mall store? filenes? heh)
do ya think that j.crew makes pants that will fit our butts?!

[scrabbler7]

oooooooooh bk - i can soooo relate. My entire life I've always said all I wanted for christmas was to be 5 foot. I've know my husband since I was 13 and he has always (even back then in my thinner days) called my backside a bubblebutt! HA ...

but no more am I going to say I'm the right weight for a 5'7" person or i'm not overweight I'm underheight ... those are just more of the endless "excuses" I've used over the years to justify my bad eating habits!

This time I'm just gonna get it done! and I'm doing it with MF!