Weight range for goal

There's also the fact that once you start mataining, your weight will
"distribute itself" better.. when I got to goal, I thought some parts were
too thin.. some too big... and after a while it kind evened out..

does that make sense ?

of course now the whole me is getting too big O-O

--
Will~

The Old Tabby sits, in peace, watching... waiting patiently for our day to
come.
His purr will always warm my heart.
Belkira 1997 - 2004

"Miss Violette" wrote in message
...
I sometimes feel that parts of my body are too thin but others aren't thin
enough. I have all three rules because it has been so long since I have
been this small it is really new territory for me, and frankly quite
scary,
Lee
Lesanne wrote in message
...
Certainly makes sense to me. I already feel dangerously "thin". Go
figure,
like reverse anorexia or something.
--
Les

"Miss Violette" wrote in message
...
I am not there yet but my plans are, get to the WW max goal, do their
six
weeks of maintenance, then work on getting in better shape, after six
months
or so I will reevaluate and see if I want to lose five more pounds, if
so
I
will work on that, do six more weeks of maintenance, and if I can keep
the
weight there for six months I will lower it with WW to help keep me in
check. I plan to follow this pattern until either I feel thin enough,
or
DH
thinks I am too thin, or I have difficulty in maintaining a weight.
These
3
criteria will be the guiding factors in my final goal weight. I DO
NOT
intend to walk around hungry for the rest of my life, DH is not
attracted
to
bone thin women, and I think but am not sure I will reach a point
where
I
"feel" the right weight. I hope this makes sense, Lee
Katherine wrote in message
m...
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. They have given me some things
to
think about. I like the idea of having to not pay sooner (ie
setting
my goal at 169). This raises the question of do you lower your goal
weight with WW, or do you lower it just to yourself (ie stay with
the
169 at WW, but you really want the goal weight of 150) and if so, do
you tend to let yourself to go back up to 169 lbs (or whatever the
weight is)?

See I don't agree.. I think that choosing a goal weight depends entirely on
how you feel at any given weight..

I feel happy and healthy and energetic at 125 lbs.. I'm 5'5 30 years old..
some women my age and height would be happy and healthy at 120.. I'm not..
can't maintain it.. some others are happy and healthy at 135.. I'm not.. I
feel flabby and unhealthy at that weight..

My best friend is my height.. and her weight maintains around 155 lbs (which
is over WW range).. and it's great for her ! she feels great and she looks
great.. and all is well in the world (she's 1 years younger than me) I have
another friend who's trying to maintain at 115... she ain't gonna.. but
hey..

I don't think you wanna go on statistics and measures and averages etc..
doesn't mean a thing.. it can give you a starting point.. but won't tell you
what really matters... what matters is how you feel... so pick a number..
see how you feel there.. if it's too hard to maintain.. choose a higher
number.. if it doesn't feel like you lost enough.. keep loosing (within
reason of course.. )you'll find your place..

I think Lee got it right.. not the easiest way.. but the most sane one I
would think..

This all being my opinion of course..

--
Will~

The Old Tabby sits, in peace, watching... waiting patiently for our day to
come.
His purr will always warm my heart.
Belkira 1997 - 2004

"GaryG" wrote in message
...
"Katherine" wrote in message
...
I'm 5'9" female, and WW says I can weigh as much as 169 lbs. This
seems a bit overboard for a 5'9" female, although I realize some women
would be comfortable at this weight. I am currently 190.5 (which is a
size 16 at this height), only about 20 lbs from a potential goal
weight. Does anyone else here feel WW should split male/female
weights? 169 for a 5'9" male seems appropriate to me. I'm not trying
to talk negatively about anyones goal weight (including my own!
but I am curious what others think of this.

Thanks in advance,
Shaynelle

Setting an appropriate target weight is not particularly easy, and you've
gotten some good advice from the previous posters.

The appropriate weight for you depends on your goals, and how motivated
you
are to achieve them. It also depends somewhat on your age. One way of
looking at weight is by comparing your weight percentile to others of your
height and gender. You don't state how old you are, so here are some
representative numbers, based on a 5' 9" American woman who weighs 169
lbs:

If you are 50, you would be in the 35th weight percentile (in other words,
at 169 lbs, 65% of 5' 9", 50 year old American women would weigh more than
you).

If you are 40, you would be in the 42nd weight percentile.

If you are 30, you would be in the 52nd weight percentile.

If you are 20, you would be in the 64th weight percentile.

I find that comparing weight, height, age and gender can help in
identifying
reasonable weight loss goals (in addition to the more commonly used Body
Mass Index approach).

--
GG
http://www.WeightWare.com
Your Weight and Health Diary

"Willow" wrote in message
om...
See I don't agree.. I think that choosing a goal weight depends entirely
on
how you feel at any given weight..

I feel happy and healthy and energetic at 125 lbs.. I'm 5'5 30 years
old..
some women my age and height would be happy and healthy at 120.. I'm not..
can't maintain it.. some others are happy and healthy at 135.. I'm not..
I
feel flabby and unhealthy at that weight..

My best friend is my height.. and her weight maintains around 155 lbs
(which
is over WW range).. and it's great for her ! she feels great and she looks
great.. and all is well in the world (she's 1 years younger than me) I
have
another friend who's trying to maintain at 115... she ain't gonna.. but
hey..

I don't think you wanna go on statistics and measures and averages etc..
doesn't mean a thing.. it can give you a starting point.. but won't tell
you
what really matters... what matters is how you feel... so pick a number..
see how you feel there.. if it's too hard to maintain.. choose a higher
number.. if it doesn't feel like you lost enough.. keep loosing (within
reason of course.. )you'll find your place..

I think Lee got it right.. not the easiest way.. but the most sane one I
would think..

This all being my opinion of course..

I don't disagree with anything you've said. But, the original question was
about choosing a goal weight - in advance of achieving the goal.

You're most comfortable at 125, and that's good. But, what if you hadn't
weighed 125 in 15+ years? How would you know whether 125, or 115, or 135
was a reasonable and healthy goal? The original poster is currently 20 lbs
above her presumptive goal, so she is unlikely to know how she's going to
feel at that goal weight, or how hard (or easy) it may be to maintain at
that weight.

Many people (WW'ers excluded, presumably) choose weight goals based on
misinformation (e.g., choosing a weight goal that is achievable, but is
still overweight), or that is unrealistic (e.g., choosing a weight goal
based on fashion model sizing). With just a small bit of analysis, I think
folks can be assisted in making reasonable choices for healthy weight
goals - goals that are a reasonable target to aim for, at least.

As you say, each of us needs to re-evaluate our goals once we achieve them,
based on how we feel, how much energy we have, and how we like (or dislike)
the way we look. On this we most definitely agree.

--
GG
http://www.WeightWare.com
Your Weight and Health Diary


--
Will~

The Old Tabby sits, in peace, watching... waiting patiently for our day to
come.
His purr will always warm my heart.
Belkira 1997 - 2004

"GaryG" wrote in message
...
"Katherine" wrote in message
...
I'm 5'9" female, and WW says I can weigh as much as 169 lbs. This
seems a bit overboard for a 5'9" female, although I realize some women
would be comfortable at this weight. I am currently 190.5 (which is a
size 16 at this height), only about 20 lbs from a potential goal
weight. Does anyone else here feel WW should split male/female
weights? 169 for a 5'9" male seems appropriate to me. I'm not trying
to talk negatively about anyones goal weight (including my own!
but I am curious what others think of this.

Thanks in advance,
Shaynelle

Setting an appropriate target weight is not particularly easy, and
you've
gotten some good advice from the previous posters.

The appropriate weight for you depends on your goals, and how motivated
you
are to achieve them. It also depends somewhat on your age. One way of
looking at weight is by comparing your weight percentile to others of
your
height and gender. You don't state how old you are, so here are some
representative numbers, based on a 5' 9" American woman who weighs 169
lbs:

If you are 50, you would be in the 35th weight percentile (in other
words,
at 169 lbs, 65% of 5' 9", 50 year old American women would weigh more
than
you).

If you are 40, you would be in the 42nd weight percentile.

If you are 30, you would be in the 52nd weight percentile.

If you are 20, you would be in the 64th weight percentile.

I find that comparing weight, height, age and gender can help in
identifying
reasonable weight loss goals (in addition to the more commonly used Body
Mass Index approach).

--
GG
http://www.WeightWare.com
Your Weight and Health Diary

I hadn't weighted 125 lbs since I was about 12 years old.. which is about 18
years ago now O-O I'm old !!!!! *grin*

My original goal weight was 140 lbs.. when I got there I still felt fat.. so
kept loosing.. down to 118.. at which weight I was too thin.. and couldn't
eat a pea without seeing it on the scale.. so I adjusted.. back and forth to
125 lbs..

I agree that we tend to put down unrealistic goals.. but I think it's part
of the process to realize they ARE unrealistic and to adjust yourself..
118lbs wasn't healthy (or good looking) for me.. I learned it..

Where I agree with you is that sometimes some members will put down
unrealistic goals, and instead of re-evaluating the goal they set down..
they put themselves down.. as if they are a failure because they can't look
like Britney Spears.. or something.. ( that's very frustrating..

But where I kind get stuck is the idea that an "overweight goal" is a bad
goal..

NUH HUH ! I have a member who started at 485 lbs.. she made it down to 180..
wanted that to be her goal.. and a receptionist was like "you can't, it's
out of the range"... ARG YES YOU CAN ! learn to live with the new you.. and
when you're ready get back to loosing.. one day... you're much healthier at
180 than at 485 ! or at 200 than at 600.. or...

see what I mean ? This is a life journey.. not a race.. and it's a journey
one makes for oneself.. not to please the media/conventions/statistics..

I'm french Canadian, so I tend to be blunt, hope I haven't offended you.. be
assured that I'm debating ideas.. not personalities or people worth or
whatever ;o)
--
Will~

The Old Tabby sits, in peace, watching... waiting patiently for our day to
come.
His purr will always warm my heart.
Belkira 1997 - 2004

"GaryG" wrote in message
...
"Willow" wrote in message
om...
See I don't agree.. I think that choosing a goal weight depends entirely
on
how you feel at any given weight..

I feel happy and healthy and energetic at 125 lbs.. I'm 5'5 30 years
old..
some women my age and height would be happy and healthy at 120.. I'm
not..
can't maintain it.. some others are happy and healthy at 135.. I'm
not..
I
feel flabby and unhealthy at that weight..

My best friend is my height.. and her weight maintains around 155 lbs
(which
is over WW range).. and it's great for her ! she feels great and she
looks
great.. and all is well in the world (she's 1 years younger than me) I
have
another friend who's trying to maintain at 115... she ain't gonna.. but
hey..

I don't think you wanna go on statistics and measures and averages etc..
doesn't mean a thing.. it can give you a starting point.. but won't tell
you
what really matters... what matters is how you feel... so pick a
number..
see how you feel there.. if it's too hard to maintain.. choose a higher
number.. if it doesn't feel like you lost enough.. keep loosing (within
reason of course.. )you'll find your place..

I think Lee got it right.. not the easiest way.. but the most sane one I
would think..

This all being my opinion of course..

I don't disagree with anything you've said. But, the original question
was
about choosing a goal weight - in advance of achieving the goal.

You're most comfortable at 125, and that's good. But, what if you hadn't
weighed 125 in 15+ years? How would you know whether 125, or 115, or 135
was a reasonable and healthy goal? The original poster is currently 20
lbs
above her presumptive goal, so she is unlikely to know how she's going to
feel at that goal weight, or how hard (or easy) it may be to maintain at
that weight.

Many people (WW'ers excluded, presumably) choose weight goals based on
misinformation (e.g., choosing a weight goal that is achievable, but is
still overweight), or that is unrealistic (e.g., choosing a weight goal
based on fashion model sizing). With just a small bit of analysis, I
think
folks can be assisted in making reasonable choices for healthy weight
goals - goals that are a reasonable target to aim for, at least.

As you say, each of us needs to re-evaluate our goals once we achieve
them,
based on how we feel, how much energy we have, and how we like (or
dislike)
the way we look. On this we most definitely agree.

--
GG
http://www.WeightWare.com
Your Weight and Health Diary


--
Will~

The Old Tabby sits, in peace, watching... waiting patiently for our day
to
come.
His purr will always warm my heart.
Belkira 1997 - 2004

"GaryG" wrote in message
...
"Katherine" wrote in message
...
I'm 5'9" female, and WW says I can weigh as much as 169 lbs. This
seems a bit overboard for a 5'9" female, although I realize some
women
would be comfortable at this weight. I am currently 190.5 (which is
a
size 16 at this height), only about 20 lbs from a potential goal
weight. Does anyone else here feel WW should split male/female
weights? 169 for a 5'9" male seems appropriate to me. I'm not
trying
to talk negatively about anyones goal weight (including my own!
but I am curious what others think of this.

Thanks in advance,
Shaynelle

Setting an appropriate target weight is not particularly easy, and
you've
gotten some good advice from the previous posters.

The appropriate weight for you depends on your goals, and how
motivated
you
are to achieve them. It also depends somewhat on your age. One way
of
looking at weight is by comparing your weight percentile to others of
your
height and gender. You don't state how old you are, so here are some
representative numbers, based on a 5' 9" American woman who weighs 169
lbs:

If you are 50, you would be in the 35th weight percentile (in other
words,
at 169 lbs, 65% of 5' 9", 50 year old American women would weigh more
than
you).

If you are 40, you would be in the 42nd weight percentile.

If you are 30, you would be in the 52nd weight percentile.

If you are 20, you would be in the 64th weight percentile.

I find that comparing weight, height, age and gender can help in
identifying
reasonable weight loss goals (in addition to the more commonly used
Body
Mass Index approach).

--
GG
http://www.WeightWare.com
Your Weight and Health Diary

"Willow" wrote in message
. com...
I hadn't weighted 125 lbs since I was about 12 years old.. which is about
18
years ago now O-O I'm old !!!!! *grin*

My original goal weight was 140 lbs.. when I got there I still felt fat..
so
kept loosing.. down to 118.. at which weight I was too thin.. and couldn't
eat a pea without seeing it on the scale.. so I adjusted.. back and forth
to
125 lbs..

I agree that we tend to put down unrealistic goals.. but I think it's part
of the process to realize they ARE unrealistic and to adjust yourself..
118lbs wasn't healthy (or good looking) for me.. I learned it..

Where I agree with you is that sometimes some members will put down
unrealistic goals, and instead of re-evaluating the goal they set down..
they put themselves down.. as if they are a failure because they can't
look
like Britney Spears.. or something.. ( that's very frustrating..

But where I kind get stuck is the idea that an "overweight goal" is a bad
goal..

NUH HUH ! I have a member who started at 485 lbs.. she made it down to
180..
wanted that to be her goal.. and a receptionist was like "you can't, it's
out of the range"... ARG YES YOU CAN ! learn to live with the new you..
and
when you're ready get back to loosing.. one day... you're much healthier
at
180 than at 485 ! or at 200 than at 600.. or...

see what I mean ? This is a life journey.. not a race.. and it's a journey
one makes for oneself.. not to please the media/conventions/statistics..

That's a really good point.

I'm of the opinion that medium-term interim goals are much easier to stay
focused on than long-term "ultimate" goals, and the Goal Wizard in my
WeightWare program was designed with this in mind. It won't recommend a
weight loss goal of more than 30 lbs, no matter your starting weight. This
allows for setting goals that are achievable in 3-6 months, which I think
helps with motivation.


I'm french Canadian, so I tend to be blunt, hope I haven't offended you..
be
assured that I'm debating ideas.. not personalities or people worth or
whatever ;o)
--
Will~

No worries, and again you make some good points.

--
GG
http://www.WeightWare.com
Your Weight and Health Diary

--
Will~

The Old Tabby sits, in peace, watching... waiting patiently for our day to
come.
His purr will always warm my heart.
Belkira 1997 - 2004

"GaryG" wrote in message
...
"Willow" wrote in message
. com...
*snip*

That's a really good point.

I'm of the opinion that medium-term interim goals are much easier to stay
focused on than long-term "ultimate" goals, and the Goal Wizard in my
WeightWare program was designed with this in mind. It won't recommend a
weight loss goal of more than 30 lbs, no matter your starting weight.
This
allows for setting goals that are achievable in 3-6 months, which I think
helps with motivation.


I'm french Canadian, so I tend to be blunt, hope I haven't offended
you..
be
assured that I'm debating ideas.. not personalities or people worth or
whatever ;o)
--
Will~

No worries, and again you make some good points.

--
GG
http://www.WeightWare.com
Your Weight and Health Diary



I agree.. I try to go "step by step" in all things.. of course right now I
kinda stumbled a way down the stair.. ;op

This has been an interesting thread for me to follow. I'm 50 yo,
female, 5'4", and reached my WW goal of 145 on July 24, 2004. 145 far
exceeded my expectations for weight loss. When I started WW back in
February 2003, I stretched my imagination to set my personal goal at
157.

Some part of me thinks I should weigh less. But since reaching the
high end of the weight goal for my age and height, I've been
hard-pressed to find the motivation to maintain the diligence and
focus required to continue weight loss. Instead, I've turned my
efforts and energy to becoming more fit. It seems that when it comes
to health and fitness, I can only concentrate on doing one thing at a
time. Bicycling has taken up the space in my mind where
points-counting used to reside.

There are lots of days when I think I'm a failure for not being able
to stick with the weight loss effort until I weigh 126, which is the
number I've got stuck in my mind as my ideal weight. But my daughters,
who are my height or a little shorter and are 26 y.o., each weigh in
the 130s. My mother, who is 2" shorter than I am, weighs 139 today and
before her heart surgery weighed 140-something. If heredity plays any
part in determining weight, then I can look at the other women in my
family and say I'm right where I belong.

There are also lots of days when I acknowledge that it's downright
amazing that I weigh 87 lbs less than I did a year and a half ago,
that I weigh 12 lbs less than the impossible goal I'd originally set,
and that I weigh the same now as I did in high school, which is the
last time I saw 145. It's equally amazing that I've put close to 400
miles on a bike when I didn't even own a bike till March.

For me, feeling like a failure is a recipe for weight loss disaster.
So too, is feeling overly confident and invincible. So while I'm
slowly accepting 145 as my goal weight, I'm also working hard at the
mindset necessary to maintain that weight. If I ever get around again
to a losing frame of mind, I'll see if I can go lower. But until that
day comes, I'm going to do my best to stay right where I am.
--
Linda P
232/144.6/WW goal 145/next mini goal 143

You are such an inspiration !

Failure... NUH HUH ! no such thing ! be darned proud that's quite a feat !

I think being fit and healthy is much more important than the number on the
scale.. so there !

--
Will~

196.2 / 133.4 / 137 lbs
89 / 60.5 / 62.1 Kg

Personal goal 125 lbs / 56.7 Kg
"Prairie Roots" wrote in message
...
This has been an interesting thread for me to follow. I'm 50 yo,
female, 5'4", and reached my WW goal of 145 on July 24, 2004. 145 far
exceeded my expectations for weight loss. When I started WW back in
February 2003, I stretched my imagination to set my personal goal at
157.

Some part of me thinks I should weigh less. But since reaching the
high end of the weight goal for my age and height, I've been
hard-pressed to find the motivation to maintain the diligence and
focus required to continue weight loss. Instead, I've turned my
efforts and energy to becoming more fit. It seems that when it comes
to health and fitness, I can only concentrate on doing one thing at a
time. Bicycling has taken up the space in my mind where
points-counting used to reside.

There are lots of days when I think I'm a failure for not being able
to stick with the weight loss effort until I weigh 126, which is the
number I've got stuck in my mind as my ideal weight. But my daughters,
who are my height or a little shorter and are 26 y.o., each weigh in
the 130s. My mother, who is 2" shorter than I am, weighs 139 today and
before her heart surgery weighed 140-something. If heredity plays any
part in determining weight, then I can look at the other women in my
family and say I'm right where I belong.

There are also lots of days when I acknowledge that it's downright
amazing that I weigh 87 lbs less than I did a year and a half ago,
that I weigh 12 lbs less than the impossible goal I'd originally set,
and that I weigh the same now as I did in high school, which is the
last time I saw 145. It's equally amazing that I've put close to 400
miles on a bike when I didn't even own a bike till March.

For me, feeling like a failure is a recipe for weight loss disaster.
So too, is feeling overly confident and invincible. So while I'm
slowly accepting 145 as my goal weight, I'm also working hard at the
mindset necessary to maintain that weight. If I ever get around again
to a losing frame of mind, I'll see if I can go lower. But until that
day comes, I'm going to do my best to stay right where I am.
--
Linda P
232/144.6/WW goal 145/next mini goal 143

Thanks. I spent so many years feeling self-disgusted with my weight
that sometimes that ol' habit sneaks back in when I'm not looking or
I'm tired. My head still hasn't caught up with the reality.

Just about everyone in this ng is an inspiration. Reporting in every
week takes such courage!

Thanks for the "fit and healthy" endorsement. Lesanne posted some
research about this a week or two back and it really made me think
about the relative merits of fitness and thinness. I think I can live
just as long and feel more contented/less stressed by being fit
(well-toned, normal blood sugar, normal blood pressure, normal
cholesterol, lower heart rate) and normal weight to slightly
overweight. I should follow your lead and get back to strength
training.

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 01:48:23 GMT, "Willow"
wrote:

You are such an inspiration !

Failure... NUH HUH ! no such thing ! be darned proud that's quite a feat !

I think being fit and healthy is much more important than the number on the
scale.. so there !

I agree, this has been an interesting thread to follow. It's even
brought me out of lurkerdom, so I might as well introduce myself now.
My name is Sharon and I'm 41 years old. I (re)joined WW last March (of
2003) at 180 pounds (I'm 5'3"). I reached my WW goal of 140 this past
February. I didn't feel that that was enough weight for me to lose -
all I had done to settle on my goal weight was to pick the highest
number for my height and weight. But as soon as I reached 140, I knew
that that was still high for me. I'm now down to 127 - 128 and still
can't really decide if that's enough for me. I keep playing a number
game in my head - first, all I really wanted to do was see be in the
120s - I don't think I had seen that number since high school. Now, I'm
thinking the low 120s might be better for me, but I think that that's
because, again, it's still just a numbers game. There are times that I
look in the mirror and am extremely happy (more like ecstatic) with what
I see, but there are also times where I still see myself as being too
heavy. I went from a size 16 (tight) to a size 6 (loose), but yet now,
there are times when I think that I still need to lose more. I
scrutinize my image in the mirror - I think that my neck and hands look
too thin (veiny) but my stomach is still there, sticking out. So I
don't really know when enough's enough.

I still go to WW meetings once or twice a month, but I'm not happy there
anymore as they are not geared at all to those on maintenance - I got so
much more out of them when I was losing weight and that's what they were
geared for. I've even called WW and asked them why they don't have
meetings for those on maintenance and they said that there wasn't a
demand for that. I'm thinking that the real answer is because they
wouldn't make money off of them.

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello. I've been
reading this newsgroup for a few months now and have really enjoyed it -
hopefully I'll have the chance and opportunity to post more often now.

Sharon