What's the point of setting a target weight?

[Jonniboy]

Woah, let me finish!
What's the point of me setting a target weight when my excercise program includes a lot of strength training / muscle building workouts?
I reckon that the scales may discourage me seeing as my overall weigt loss would be lessened.
What do you think?

[liv]

I think you are right that muscle building will probably lesson the actual pound loss. But it is good to have something to work for. This could be a size for pants or inches you want to lose if you are not sure about the weight.

[Diver Down]

Originally Posted by Jonniboy

What's the point of me setting a target weight when my excercise program includes a lot of strength training / muscle building workouts? I reckon that the scales may discourage me seeing as my overall weigt loss would be lessened. What do you think?

If you're ultimate goal is simply to lose fat, not necessarily weight, then your target number switches from overall weight to Body Fat Percentage.

[J.R.]

I think the muscle gain is in the noise, neglect it.

You say you want to lose 33 pounds, right? I'll make the assumption that you haven't previously built up massive amounts of muscle that have since atrophied. Thus you would be attempting to build up new muscle tissue. If you took on a body-building program with the express purpose on building up as much new muscle tissue as possible, you might be able to build 10 pounds of pure muscle over the course of a year (this is above average). So assuming that it takes you 3 months to lose 33 pounds of fat and you're hitting the weights like a champ, you're talking about a 2.5 lb muscle gain + 1lb of associated new glycogen mass.
Your final new weight would be 153.5lbs, which includes the 3.5lbs of combined muscle growth.

Don't worry about muscle gain "masking" your fat losses. You should be losing fat much faster than you can truly gain muscle.

[Slapshot]

For me, it's simple... "At what weight was I in the best shape of my life and the happiest with my appearance?" Answer: "165."

Muscle/fat is noise, as indicated above. Of course, if I'm 180 and have more muscle mass than I had when was I was the happy-165, then fine...

[SunnySmile501]

If your total goal is to see a certain number on a scale, which only you see in private, or you doctor sees once in a while, then go after what will achieve that goal. A soft body looks larger at a lower weight.

If, on the other hand, your goal is to look like you weigh "X" amount of pounds less, due to a tight muscle mass and bulky fat loss, then forget the scale and measure your body and use clothing to judge success.

Back when I joined a gym for the first time (not over weight), I gained 5 pounds, but everyone was asking how much weight I had lost. They wanted to know what diet I was following to lose weight so fast. When I said I had gained, they just thought I wanted to keep my diet a secret.

[Simona]

Originally Posted by Jonniboy

Woah, let me finish!
What's the point of me setting a target weight when my excercise program includes a lot of strength training / muscle building workouts?
I reckon that the scales may discourage me seeing as my overall weigt loss would be lessened.
What do you think?

I set my goal weight at 200 because I know the % of BF I'll have at that weight. I too lift a lot of weight and for years actually wanted to compete in female bodybuilding - still do.

The 200 is a "body fat loss weight", not necessarily an "ultimate goal weight". It'll change as my muscles change and grow. I may think 200 is too much, or too little as my body changes.

Goal weights arent set in stone. The scales may shift, they may not - the measuring tape is also a good tool to use to determine how much you've lost, as is a fat caliper - that to me is a far more superior invaluable tool.

[Kathi22]

Weight is weight, whether it is muscle or fat. If you are struggling with this, I would say pick a clothing size or body fat % and forget the scale!

[Jonniboy]

Thanks for clearing that up
I appreciate the schooling lol

Originally Posted by J.R.

I think the muscle gain is in the noise, neglect it.

You say you want to lose 33 pounds, right? I'll make the assumption that you haven't previously built up massive amounts of muscle that have since atrophied. Thus you would be attempting to build up new muscle tissue. If you took on a body-building program with the express purpose on building up as much new muscle tissue as possible, you might be able to build 10 pounds of pure muscle over the course of a year (this is above average). So assuming that it takes you 3 months to lose 33 pounds of fat and you're hitting the weights like a champ, you're talking about a 2.5 lb muscle gain + 1lb of associated new glycogen mass.
Your final new weight would be 153.5lbs, which includes the 3.5lbs of combined muscle growth.

Don't worry about muscle gain "masking" your fat losses. You should be losing fat much faster than you can truly gain muscle.