Is it the weight you were last comfortable at?

Is it something you pulled from a medical chart?

Is it something your doc told you?

Is it a guess?

Is it a number you have in your head because that's where you think you want to be?

Are you not going by weight, but instead going by size, or "when I feel good", or something a little more arbitrary?

Just wondering.

i just wanna be as i used to be this how i determined my goal target

I have been asked this several times...and I still don't know. My first goal is to get below 200. From there we will see...I would like to wear a size 12 so what ever my weight is then that might be goal. Boy is that sad or what....but that is how I am looking at it right now.

How do you really figure your lean muscle mass? I've got alot of muscle, and hopefully it won't all melt away in the next few weeks when I'm on liquids and can't lift weights. But how do you actually figure it. I know before I was feeling pretty good at just over 200, but I was still on the fat side. I would like to weight I guess in the 150's. But according to the fitness chart for women thing I downloaded my lean body mass is 185 lbs when it told me that when I put my intial info in I kinda just ignored it thinking...whatever..its wrong. That would mean I have quite a bit of muscle under the all this fat And while I'm sure I have more than average due to my agressive weight trainging over the last two years, I doubt I have that much.

Melissa

My goal is a size 12, well at least for now.

I chose 70kgs/155lbs, as that will put me in a healthy/normal BMI range. I'm not sure if that's where it will stay - I'll decide when I get there, but for now, it sounds like a good place to start.

Here's an interesting height/weight chart page. http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

Doc says I should weigh about 175 - 180 (in a pigs ass).

I feel more comfortable at 160 - 165. Thats where I'm hoping to go, but if I'm 175 - 180, I don't think I'll bitch

I've determined this from the past and how I felt.

How do you really figure your lean muscle mass? I've got alot of muscle, and hopefully it won't all melt away in the next few weeks when I'm on liquids and can't lift weights. But how do you actually figure it. I know before I was feeling pretty good at just over 200, but I was still on the fat side. I would like to weight I guess in the 150's. But according to the fitness chart for women thing I downloaded my lean body mass is 185 lbs when it told me that when I put my intial info in I kinda just ignored it thinking...whatever..its wrong. That would mean I have quite a bit of muscle under the all this fat And while I'm sure I have more than average due to my agressive weight trainging over the last two years, I doubt I have that much.

There area couple different ways it can be measured. I think the most common way now to measure lean body mass (FFM) is through electrial impedence, generally with the scales or a hand-held model.

If you are complaining that you cannot lift weights right now, you very likely could have a FFM or fat free mass of 185 pounds. Some of us are Amazons Dragonwillow.

I don't think picking a goal size over a goal weight is sad, I think it is more realistic. Just from reading the threads here I know that two women could weight the same, say... 180. The first woman is going to still be very fat because her ideal weight, is 113 with a tiny frame and little lean muscle mass. The second woman is an Amazon with a large frame and FFM of 160 pounds. The second woman is actually at her personal ideal weight because she is well within the 25-35% recommended body fat (women my age).

Eileen, you'll be happy to know I'm almost at YOUR goal, LOL.

Thanks vinesqueen. Yeah I am itching to get back to the gym. I'm up walking alot, my recovery has been pretty easy, haven't taken many of the pain pill prescribed. I really contribute most of that to the fact that I was exercising regularlly before surgery. I think I'd be happy in the 175 range actually. Could also explain why it was so hard for me to loose under 200 isn't the last bit of pounds suppouse to be the hardest.

Melissa

well, if you are currently at 180 lean muscle mass, you would be perfect at 225. This gives you 25% body fat, which is right where you should be as a young woman. Going below 20% could cause disruptions in your hormone levels .

25% of 180 is 45, which is how I arrived at 180.

If you want to be in the 170s range, you would need to lose 40 pounds of muscle mass. This would put you at 140 FFM, with 35 pounds of body fat.

The scales lie. They lie lie lie.

VQ, that is way too heavy for me, what are you a scientis, LOL? I couldn't even understand what I was reading, much less figure it out. All I know is 5'2 and 160 is still too heavy for me, but I also know, due to my age, 125 is not a goal I'm shooting for either.

Oh yeah, I get that muscle thing done everytime I go for a fill. Otherwise, the scales would have driven me crazy and sent me into a deep depression.

Hmmm. My "acceptable" goal SIZE would be 12-14. My Fantasy - beyond my wildest dreams - goal size would be an 8.

I like the concept of a Goal Size. It makes so much more sense than numbers on the scale. That number can fluctuate daily up to 5 lbs... Geesh. How is anybody supposed to tell anything from THAT? Besides, it should be about how we look and feel - and that isn't generated by Weight - it's about size.

Good question! The high end of the "range" for my height, 5'7", is 150. I have been there twice. Once, in college, and again about 15 years ago when I used Tenuate for weight loss. The truth of the matter is that I would be satisfied with 180, but thought, why not go for it! I won't ever get there if I don't state it as a goal. Cindy

Easy. I just looked at what it says on my Driver's License!