Goal Weight?

[bellinghamgirl]

well I must be really middle-aged because I think WW input about my goal weight is too high. I'm 5'4" and they recommend 140. (I'm actually only 5 pounds from that now). My leader said I should really consider a weight between 134 and 140, but I remember feeling best at 125-128.

Of course I'm 47 now and I was in my early thirties then, but the weight is stll coming off pretty easily. Anyway, I'm wondering how you ladies set a goal and if it was hard to stick to. My understanding was that you could go 5 pounds below goal but not more. Is that correct? Thanks for any input, Christie

[Tina]

Some people recommend setting your goal weight high so you can reach lifetime (and stop paying) sooner. It also gives you a bit of a cushion so you are less likely to go 2lbs or more over your goal (and have to pay for the meeting).

My goal was set by my leader at 10lbs less than my starting weight (at the time 10lbs was the minimum loss requirement). I've been more than 20lbs under that weight and my leader told me to eat a little more but didn't ban me from meetings or anything. I think it depends on the leader and your weight in relation to the minimum healthy weight for your height.

WW Healthy Weight Chart
www.weightwatchers.com/health/asm/calc_healthyweight.aspx

If I were you, I'd set my goal between 134 and 140, but continue losing as long as you're comfortable. If you go too low, it will be difficult to maintain and you may end up frustrated and miserable. You don't want to set unrealistic expectations and then feel deprived as you try to maintain that weight.

[bellinghamgirl]

Thanks, Tina. I'd be happy to set my goal high, and then see how I feel, frankly. I remember looking at a picture of myself when my son was two or so, and I was in the low 140s. Still, I was breastfeeding, and I think that that keeps a little weight on. Anyway I seem to obsess about everything, and here's another example. Christie

[katelight]

Setting my goal weight was one of the most difficult things for me to do. I am 5'6" and have always weighed more than I looked. The top of my range was 155. That is a number I know I am unable to reach and comfortably maintain, so I talked to my Dr. and she wrote a script for 175. So my official goal weight is 175 and I have reached lifetime at that weight, however I opted to lose 10 more for a 165 weight. I am very comfortable and have been successful at maintaining that weight since September. There is not a problem with losing after reaching goal. You can lose til you are at the bottom of the weight range reccomendation for your height. As long as you don't go 2lbs over your goal weight you are able to attend meetings for free even if you continue to lose. Hope this helps

[bellinghamgirl]

. You can lose til you are at the bottom of the weight range reccomendation for your height. As long as you don't go 2lbs over your goal weight you are able to attend meetings for free even if you continue to lose. Hope this helps

Thanks, Kate, that does help. My mom has a goal weight probably higher than WW would recommend too, but she feels and looks good at that weight, and she was much heavier when I was growing up. I understand why they have ranges, but it's so individual. Christie

[katelight]

The biggest revelation I had concerning my goal weight was that the WW goal range is just a recomendation. That was a big relief for me because I knew I would never be able (willing) to be within their recommendation.
I don't know how close you are to your goal range, but you have to search your soul and pick a number that you are comfortable with. I did pick that higher number, quite frankly, so that I could attend meetings for free. Now I'm paying for my daughter to attend and not paying for 2 is wonderful. Good luck on your decision.
Katie

[mikkid24]

Christie--I, too, am 47 and I'm 5'8" with a medium-to-largish frame. When I first went to WW in 2000, my goal weight was 145, which I picked arbitrarily because that was what I weighed when I got married at age 20. It was certainly within the WW guidelines, and I got there a year and 100 lbs. later. However maintaining that weight was another thing all together (of course, if I had kept going to meetings it might have been easier). When I returned to WW (50 lbs. heavier) in 2003, I thought harder about my goal this time, and recognized that I wasn't 20 anymore (unfortunately!). My goal weight now is 155, which is still within WW guidelines but more realistic for me to be able to maintain for life. If, once I get there, I find I want to lose more, then I will but for now I'm sticking with a goal that I know I can live with and makes sense for where I'm at in 2006.

[vita77]

Wow, Mikki...I'm impressed with your 155 goal weight. I'm also 5'8", with a small frame, and I'm 46.

When I was on WW in high school, my goal was 140. Now it's 164, and my doc says 175 (BMI = 27) is just fine for me. It's getting so hard to lose more that I can't imagine getting all the way down to the 150s. But I've been morbidly obese for so long that I don't have a sense of what "feels" right for me!

So time will tell where I end up. I may stop at 175, but then again, I'd like to apply to work for WW, and that means 164 or less. Unfortunately, there are lots of days when it feels like I'll never get there..... .

[mikkid24]

Well, Kathy, I feel like I'll never get there some days, too. I've been stuck vascillating between 160 and 165 for months, after a nasty little binge last September when I was 1.2 lbs away from goal shot my weight back up (I'm a self-sabotager too, but that's a whole other issue!). I just have to believe that if I do the program (and it is so much easier to live on Core, don't you think?), and I mean REALLY do the program, I WILL get there. You will too, I know it!!!

[kally]

what goal weight do they recommend for a woman about 5 foot nine?