Thursday, February 23, 2012

Moving Target

Does anyone else seem to have the problem of constantly moving their target weight?

Since I embarked on my weight loss journey a little over a year ago, my goal has shifted several times. At first, I just wanted to be able to get under 300lbs and didn't really think I'd make it much further than that. At that time, I thought I'd be content in a size 18, but would really like to get back into a size 12 like I was senior year of HS.

Once I got under 300 and realized losing the weight wasn't nearly as hard as I had made myself believe for all the years that I put it off, I figured I could get down to at least 200.

Then the weight kept coming off and I moved my target again - this time I KNEW I'd be able to get back into a size 12 (around 170/180 for me) and made my goal 175.

At some point, I got this crazy idea that maybe I could even do better than a size 12. That's the smallest I've ever been since I was a child. At age 12, I was wearing a size 12 and only got bigger from there. I kept gaining and got taller as I got older and throughout most of high school I was between a size 13 and 15 depending on the brand. Then I lost weight my senior year and got back to a 12...very briefly. After that it was all upward movement.

Some time back in the Fall, I decided that one of my life goals is the see a single digit size because I have never seen that for myself. I moved my target weight to around 160 and that's where it has been since the Fall.

Of course now I've hit the 100lb mark and it's all down hill from here. If I can lose 100lbs, I can do anything, right? At least that's my logic. I think at this point 145/150lbs is a reasonable goal for someone my height. I've been looking at lots of Health and Fitness stuff online and I think I can do it. My ultimate goal is to be really fit and healthy, so I'm not going to be terribly upset if the scale never shows one of those numbers as long as I know that I'm in the best shape I can be in. I realize that muscle weighs more than fat, so it's possible that if I'm in really good shape, I may not see that number.

If I got to 160lbs, I would still be at the top of the "normal" range for my height. Being so close to "overweight" I feel would be a slippery slope for me. Around 145/150, I would be in the middle of the "normal" range for BMI and I'd be much more comfortable with slight fluctuations.

Part of me would like to get down to 135lbs just to say that I lost 200lbs, but that is on the lower end of the "normal" range. I've never been in the normal range in my life, so setting that kind of extreme goal seems destined for failure. My whole family are built pretty big (not just because of weightwise - we're just built big), so don't really know that 135 is attainable. You never know though...the closer I get, the more overzealous I get about what I can achieve, so we will see!

3 comments:

  1. You're success so far is fantastically inspirational, and it's completely normal to change your goals as you go along. Your body will find a happy place where it's comfortable and you'll be happy there too. For my height, I'm supposed to weigh between 100-120 pounds, but anything over 120 is considered "overweight." What the government isn't taking into consideration is that I a) have a very large bone structure, and b) put on muscle like a professional weight-lifter. I've resolved myself to the fact that I will never be 100-120, and that an 135, size-8 is completely alright with me. :) (side note, I was that size/weight when I got married, which was also the smallest I had ever been in my life as well)

    You can do it, and I think your 145/150 goal is completely reasonable and definitely attainable.

    <>< Beth (Dando) Sharkey ><>

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  2. After I mentioned this on the message board, I came to your blog to find it. I thought you were saying you'd already wrote this post. This is exactly how I feel. I am glad to know I'm not alone. Can't wait to talk more with you about this topic.

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  3. Glad to see I'm not alone, either. :) For my height, "healthy" is anywhere between 126 and 167 - that's a HUGE range! I know that only time will tell what my ultimate "happy" weight is. I've always been a "goals" person. Even if I don't meet the goals or the goal changes, I like to have somewhere that I'm headed. This is another one of those situations, I guess.

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