How did you decide on your target weight

[Gerrysmum]

Hi all,

I started Wegovy in February and have lost 4 stone so far have lost 4 stone (starting weight 17 stone 7lbs). Whilst I still have a way to go to have a 'healthy BMI, I have started to think about what my target weight should be. I'm 5ft 7inches and the NHS says around 10 stone puts me in the middle of the healthy BMI range. Friends and family think that's too low and that I 'won't look like myself anymore'. The lowest I've weighed as an adult is 11 stone so it would be a big change for me. How have others decided on a target weight? I haven't really thought about it till now because I have so much to lose.

I just go on where I've looked good in the past. I think it depends on how you carry your weight. How did you look at 11 stone? I am 5'5 and I looked amazing last time I was 10 1/2 stone. Slim, tiny waist, size 10. My lowest weight ever was about 9 stone 10 and I looked too thin and bobble-headed. I think you just need to try and keep a realistic eye on how you're looking and feeling and then decide when you want to stop. Sometimes I "overshoot" slightly.

We’re the same height and start weight, but I started in November and so I’m marginally ahead of you. Currently 11.5 stone. What’s surprising me is, I had thought I’d stop at the top end of normal, but now I’m almost there, it’s still quite fat for my frame. So I think closer to 10 stone is probably a better place. I’ll see as I get closer to it. I’m only 5kg off “normal” at the moment, and still have plenty of fat on belly, thighs and upper arms. I do want to be careful of my face though, as the fine lines show up much more with less fat there.

I'm currently trying to lose weight and I'm the same height as you. I have set a target of 11 stone however last time (many moons ago) that I had to lose weight I set the same target and changed it to 11 and a half stone due to how I was looking very thin in the face. I think if I'd carried on then I'd have looked unwell. Most of my weight then was on my bum and boobs so everywhere else looked really thin. I was a size 12 for tops and dresses but a 12/14 for trousers and skirts due to my hips/bum. You can change you target if you feel you need to later.

I choose where I feel my best. To have a BMI of 25 I would have to be 10st5 but I feel great at 10st9 so probably won't push myself beyond that. I've only been 10st9 once in over 12 years and that was when I was very poorly and didn't eat much for several months. It wasn't a healthy way to achieve weight loss! If I can get to that stage and do it properly then that would be great!

I would look at the NHS guidelines and talk to your Dr if you see one regularly.

I’m 5ft5.5 and at 10.5 stone I didn’t look a healthy weight and my Dr wasn’t happy- felt I had too much abdominal fat than ideal. I have a tiny build and not much muscle so he wanted me at around a BMI of 22. I try to stay within 5lb of it. We are all different and what’s right for one person isn’t for another.

I should add in I have a serious illness affecting my joints so the more weight I carry the more stress I put on them so my Dr is keen to reduce the strain on my joints as much as possible.

I would say around 9 stone? Just as I'm the same height and that weight looks good on me and is what I've been most of my adult life. I don't know, though!

Sorry, have just seen other posters have suggested a bit heavier is better. Mine wasn't meant to be a stealth boast or whatever it's called!

I am a different height to you but have lost 4.5 stones and now have a Bmi of 21.5 - right in the middle of the normal range.
I also found everyone has an unsolicited opinion and tells me I'm too thin/they are worried/don't loose any more...
Honestly, I just ignore them now.
Especially those telling me not to loose any more when I had a bmi of 24.5!! Of course, there is nothing wrong with that bmi, but I still felt podgy and wanted to reach a weight I felt good about after all my hard work. Personally I am happy with my current weight (although I'm definitely not skinny). Unfortunately others still think I need their opinion... 🤷‍♀️

Thankyou everyone for your replies 😊
I'm going to aim for 10 stone and see how I feel. If I think I need to lose more after that then I can do.

It's interesting how the people around us have opinions on our weight. I got opinions about me being obese, then some negative perspectives on me taking Wegovy and now it's opinions on how much I want to lose... you really can't win!! I'm going to try and ignore others and go with what feels best for me and my body.

I would get to target one and maintain it for awhile and then decide if you are happy or would like to lose more.

Sometimes you need to get used to the new normal as it can be such a big change.

In my country of origin, the 'ideal' or target weight for women is roughly believed to be height in cm subtract 110 = ideal weight in kg, so if you're 5'6" tall (167 cm) you subtract 110 from 167 and get 57, suggesting 57 kg, or just under 9st, is your target weight. It definitely seems on the light side to me but think this is probably indicative of how much people used to weigh. It feels way off now, and I definitely struggle to get anywhere near it these days, although it would probably do me good.

Men get to subtract 100 from their height in cm to get their target weight in kg.

Depends entirely on your frame. Why not aim for 11 stone and see how you feel when you get there?

Sorry, my post is meant to illustrate that perceptions of what a target weight should be really vary. It goes without saying that the right target weight for each of us is one we feel good about and can sort of maintain sustainably without going around the bend.

I would aim for a BMI of 20 if it's easy to achieve. My BMI is currently 18.5 and that's my goal too (and where I look best).

I think if you are somewhere in the middle of your BMI and you feel happy then that's a good place to stop.
I'm 5'5 and the last time I successfully lost weight I got down to 9st. However now im older and currently 9st10 and i think 9 and a half would be better. My middle is bigger but i know if i lose much more its just going to make my chest and legs bony, it won't come off where i want it to!).
I'm now a size 10, fit and healthy so I think that's good enough.

It varies so much OP. I am the sort who seems to always weigh more than I look. I'm also 5ft 7, and 11st 7 looks good on me. I'm very slim at 10st 7. I'm quite, or should I say was quite athletic and muscly. My friend is the same height but has a TINY frame. She would have to be carrying quite a bit of fat to be 11st 7.

At my height, there’s easily a 3 stone range for “healthy” per BMI. It took me a while to realise that, if you’re not carrying a lot of muscle, it’s 3 stone of unnecessary fat to be carrying around.

I pay more attention to body fat % now, and try to keep it 20-25%.

It depends on your shape. I do not have a petite build. I am 5’5 and 10st 7 and I stopped as everyone including my DC and DP told me to stop. I think they are kind of right, I have built muscle over 18 months so in actual fact I will start to look odd if I go any lower because I am a size 8 on top and 10 on bottom now and I don’t think a size 8 will suit my frame or shape all over. I might plan to go for another 2lbs or so which will get my BMI nearer to 23

I am an athletic build shape I am probably heavier than I look because I work out with weights a lot now. You might develop a kind of weight blindness where you can’t really see yourself objectively. I don’t want to get the bobble head look. You can’t choose where you lose it so for me I will just keep losing it on my top half from boobs and arms so at this point I am working on toning and muscles to fill out any looser skin areas. The bottom half for me is not my favourite area but I’m at the point where more weight loss is not going to help 😂

I am the same height, and over my adult life my weight has range from 10st 4lb (for about 5 minutes at age 22, having lost over 6 stone, and trying to reach 9st 7lb) to over 22 stone. For the vast majority of that time I have been morbidly obese. It’s been 30 years since I was last even merely overweight.

So you can imagine that “the weight which looks good on me” is a bit of an unknown quantity.

When I started this incarnation of my journey in January at 18st 10lb, I didn’t dare set a goal weight. I said I would get below 18st, then below 17…. Then at some point in April, when I had begun to gain confidence in my approach (low carb real food with intermittent fasting), I set my goal at 11 stone. That will give me a BMI of 24.2.

But once I get within a stone or so, my plan is to switch my attention to body composition rather than weight per se, and also how I look and feel. And the other factor is how much effort it is to maintain. I am resolved that lower carb real food with time restricted eating (2 meals a day, no snacks) will be my norm going forward. Not to say I will never eat outside those parameters, because I will. But that will be the exception, not the norm. At the moment I am typically fasting 3 days a week on top - that bit will eventually need to be scaled back.

I need to find a balance which I can live with for ever. And if that still leaves me with a bit of spare flab, so be it - my life is radically better already, and I gave up long ago the idea that I would ever have a perfect body. At 60, with a lifetime of obesity behind me, the aesthetic perfection is not going to happen. But I can be healthy, fit and active. That’s my goal - whatever the scale says.

PS I’m 14st 7lb at the moment.