Choosing a healthy goal weight

[EverLosing]

I remembered looking hot at 170 lbs and thought I'd subtract 10 lbs from that. I don't know....figuring I'd have wiggle room for "hotness" if I went up a few!!! I did choose the number 160 though knowing it's all up to me and I can change it at any time. By the way, at 170, in high school I remember wearing size 14's. Now, I'm 197 and wearing size 14's and they're getting loose. I don't know what I'll do. I don't have a size 12 anything and haven't for at least 15 years!! I'm thinking about going to thrift stores and consignment shops to get a cheap size 12 goal collection. I went from size 18 at the end of 2008 to a loose 14 in less than 3 months. It's getting costly!! and I LOVE it!!

[liv]

I guess there are a couple of things to think about such as healthy, hot, comfortable and realistic. When I chose my weight I did not want to set myself up for failure by going way back, knowing that I was getting older and things had changed. So I also just looked at the BMR and picked a number there that was healthy and that I could remember being not too long ago. The interesting thing to me too is that now that I am there (or almost there) I find that I am so much smaller than I was last time I weighted 58 kilos. I used to wear size 12 - now I can get into some size 6s (and that is super cool) So I am very happy at this point.

[Kathi22]

I went middle of the road. I am 5'7" with a medium frame. I chose 160. I was more then this in HS, so I think I will look and be fine. But as I get closer, that may change.

[carlae]

The only thing I know is that I can't go back down to the size I was in my 20's. I weighed 124, and now when I am down to 177, I look too skinny in my face. I hope that I don't lose anymore there. I picked 145 because when I got down to 150, I looked and felt wonderful. Wonder why when you are older, that you can weigh more and still look good?

carlae
SW/206
CW/177
GW/145
Restarted Atkins 01/01/09
Female/53 Yrs/5'4"

[SunnySmile501]

Originally Posted by carlae

The only thing I know is that I can't go back down to the size I was in my 20's. I weighed 124, and now when I am down to 177, I look too skinny in my face. I hope that I don't lose anymore there. I picked 145 because when I got down to 150, I looked and felt wonderful. Wonder why when you are older, that you can weigh more and still look good?

carlae
SW/206
CW/177
GW/145
Restarted Atkins 01/01/09
Female/53 Yrs/5'4"

I just read a study done with identical twins over 50, with picture proof, of how much better and younger the heavier twin looked. The twin that did low fat, low calorie for health benefits looked way older and physical exams showed that they were not as healthy as the heavier twin. The most astounding set of identical twin women no longer looked like twins--one looked like mother and one daughter. The one that weighed 70 pounds more than the other was much younger looking. The skinny sister had done low fat/low calorie all her life and exercised several days a week. She was very wrinkled and puckered looking. If I had not already found Atkins and stopped low fat/low calorie, I would have after seeing the difference in those twins.

[8675309]

I've struggled as well on what is a good goal weight so I've decided to first chase getting out of "obese" on a body mass index chart. The weight happens to be 209. At that point I will probably set the next bar to get out of overweight category.

Long term the main goal is to be able to run 3 miles every day and spend energetic time with my kids watching/mentoring them while they grow up. I just didn't see it happening with the weight I was carrying.

[not2late]

Just commenting on what Sunny's twin thing.....From personal experience.

I have a cousin-in-law, who was always slender and very pretty (how my cousin married her I don't know....) Anyhow, when she reached 40, she had a mid-life crisis of sorts. Went low fat, lost weight, etc. It wasn't even that she needed to lose weight but she did anyway. She's so thin now that she can wear Junior sized clothing (and does......by the way, the stuff Miley Cyrus wears doesn't look quite right on a 47 year old woman!) She's totally happy that she can wear the same sized clothing a 13 year old can. BUT, she looks way older than 47. She looks like she's in her mid-50s. Not only does she have wrinkles on her face, the skin on her arm, neck and upper chest look wrinkled and loose too. She also has a perpetually tired look (no other way I can describe it), so that she looks worn and weared out. I met her sister at a family function last year. The sister is 2 years younger and she looks her age---no extreme wrinkles, doesn't look worn out.

So I think that when you get older, it's probably better to keep your weight in the mid-upper "healthy" BMI range. All the wrinkle and aging tv shows say that the wrinkles are due to the lack of collagen. But maybe it's a combo of the lack of collagen and fat?

[ikilledrafe]

Originally Posted by EverLosing

I remembered looking hot at 170 lbs and thought I'd subtract 10 lbs from that. I don't know....figuring I'd have wiggle room for "hotness" if I went up a few!!! I did choose the number 160 though knowing it's all up to me and I can change it at any time. By the way, at 170, in high school I remember wearing size 14's. Now, I'm 197 and wearing size 14's and they're getting loose. I don't know what I'll do. I don't have a size 12 anything and haven't for at least 15 years!! I'm thinking about going to thrift stores and consignment shops to get a cheap size 12 goal collection. I went from size 18 at the end of 2008 to a loose 14 in less than 3 months. It's getting costly!! and I LOVE it!!

It's funny you say that, I've been going to the thrift store once a month buying my next size down. And i was 18, and thought hey why not, I got a size 14 pair of pants. Well i just goggled at them last weekend and thought, well may as well try it. AND THEY FREAKIN FIT! I just remember thinking. How the heck are these people in 14's and they weigh more than me, I've never fit in those really. But i agree, your body changes on this diet, and you do fit in clothes you shouldn't at certain weights. I'm drooling over my size 12's...which are LITERALLY from when i was 14!!~!!