Trying to figure out my weight goal - advice please!

[rozy]

I need HONEST advice - I am 5'6" and a small frame and currently at 143lbs. I am trying to figure out a good weight for my goal. It was 130 but I am leaning towards 128lbs. When I was a teenager and in my early 20s I was 125 which was a good weight I thought.

I like to do strength training and so like muscles and want to look lean. I am 36.

What are your thoughts? 130 too high? 128 a good weight? Should I go higher than 130?

 

[MidgetDogg]

I would say, go for 130 and see how you feel and look when you hit it. You can adjust from there. I don't use my young years as a guide... I was 94 lbs then. Now I like to be around 106. I'm 5'0" and small framed.

 

[kathryn]

I wouldn't necessarily worry about a specific weight. Your post-HS weight of 125 might be fine, but if you have more muscle (even with less fat) than at that time, you might weigh more. Just keep with your exercise and diet, and go by how you look and feel to determine what that good weight is for you now.

 

[RapidBreath]

Try 130 and see if you like how your body looks. We won't know until you get there.

 

[coradora]

Hi Rozy

I am 5' 3.5" and weigh 147.5 lbs - I have a small frame also. My goal weight is 127lbs, however this goal is not arbitrary, it is based on maintaining all the muscle I have right now and losing fat.

I use a hand-held fat monitor, which, although not terribly accurate, allows me to measure changes in my body composition so that I can make sure that the weight that I am losing is mostly fat.

So, at 147.5 lbs and 26.4% BF I have 108.6 lbs of lean body mass and 38.9 lbs of fat (yuck!).

If I reach my goal of 127lbs AND 15% BF I will have 108 lbs of lean body mass and 19 lbs of fat.

Before I calculated it out this way, I always thought that I would be happiest at 120 lbs - but this would take me down to 10% BF (very difficult to maintain) unless I wanted to give up some muscle. And I have worked too darn hard to give up any of my muscle!!!

I also use a tape measure and how my clothing fits to judge my progress. I may find that I am really happy at a different weight.

You might want to look at your body fat% to see what would be a reasonable goal weight instead of just picking a number from your past. I bet you have a lot more muscle now just like I do!

Corrie

 

[pepnchar]

I am 5'6" and a small frame as well. If you work out, you will have more muscle on your body than you probably did in high school, so a healthy weight might be considerably more than 125-130 pounds. You will know when you are at the perfect weight when your clothes fit well, you look toned and trim without looking too thin and you'll have energy for all your workouts. I am at 130 now, but I'm actually looking to put on about 10 pounds now that my running season is over and I am not training as much.

 

[rozy]

Thanks for the advice! I probably need to measure my bodyfat and see. I am thinking now 130 -135 after trying on some clothes I haven't worn in years and they almost fit Some already fit (size 8) - yay !