Weight goals

[forgottenit]

I am unsure of what goal to give myself to work to, at 5:11 I have always had curves but according to weight chart I should be 9stone. Lets get real here when really fit and in armed forces twety years ago I weighed 13.5. So what should I. Aim for, any advice would be appreciated

[IndigoBlue61]

Hello and welcome back forgottenit 😀

It depends upon your age, build and inches, these are all targets to aim for. I started wanting to lose 10% which significantly improves health.

Sorry to be so vague.

[Fran182716]

Hi forgottenit , are you sure 9 stone is correct? I just put your height 5ft 11" into the online NHS BMI calculator and made a guess at you being female age 45 (could be way out there but had to guess something) and 9 stone would have you as underweight. Try putting your stats in yourself and see what it says. 😀

[JiminyCricket 7lbs]

Fran182716 is spot on - the NHS BMI caluclator will give you a weight range for a healthy BMI rather than a specific target so you can see when you feel 'just right' within the range when you get there. Also it will give you a range of calories to eat between which should lead to 1-2lbs loss per week. Eating too little is very detrimental to weight loss so its good advice to to eat within the suggested range. Good luck!

[Gill08 2 stone]

Why is eating too little detrimental to weight loss, please? I know that if I get hungry I will snack on all the wrong things which is detrimental to weight loss and health but is there another reason I am missing here?

[Fran182716 in reply to Gill08]

If you eat too little you will lose weight, but some of it will be lean muscle instead of fat. I can't remember the exact percentage but there is a limit to how much stored fat the body can burn each day, and once this has been used, if you haven't eaten enough to provide what your body needs to maintain its functions, it will use muscle instead. That's not what you want because you will be weak, not look toned, and lean muscle burns more calories even while resting, so the more muscle you lose, the less calories you need, and the less you can eat. It's a vicious circle which lowers your basal metabolic rate so you might initially be pleased with the weight loss but in the long run it is quite detrimental to further weight loss and health. That's the physical reason why it's better to lose at a slow steady rate, but also psychologically it's also difficult to keep going longer term if you feel hungry and deprived.

The trick is to find the sweet spot where you cut your calories enough to steadily lose weight but not so much that you start to lose muscle and haven't got the stamina to excercise or stick to your eating plan. This is different for everyone and may take a bit of experimenting and tweaking till you find what works for you. It also may need adjusting as you progress.

If you find it's hard to avoid unhealthy food when you snack, try using up your calorie allowance with healthy food that keeps you satisfied, or plan healthy snacks in advance. Have a look at the daily diary thread for inspiration and ideas 😀

Hope this answers your question and good luck😀

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Fran182716]

Great reply Fran182716 😀

[Gill08 2 stone]

Thank you so much fran182716 for your very full reply. I can see it is a tricky balancing act. I had assumed up to now that the less you eat,the quicker you will lose weight but it's obviously a lot more complicated than that. Thanks so much for explaining so fully!

[LouTrev]

Set your (Smart) spercific measurable achievable realistc timely goals as you would have done in the military. have a overall aim of say 15kgs and then break it down as you go into weeks/months and try the 12 week plan to assist you. On week 9, nearly 10kg down. Passed my fitness test and still training. Mine says to be in middle of BMI range I should be 10.5st but the smallest I have been is 11.11st when joined up and thought that was enought for me personally. I know I have the muscle memory, just rebuilding them again. remember to look after your body this time, the MoD is not in charge, you are! Good luck, you can do it too 😉

[forgottenit 1 stone in reply to LouTrev]

thank you for the encouragement,I am 51 now disabled so have trouble with loads of exercise which is what I put most of problems down to, not enough excersise -weight gain. My original goal was 1stone did that too fast so added another nearly there so now trying to guesstimate what a "good"weight to aim for would be. Am thinking 14.8 , but not sure. Thanks again 😊

[LouTrev in reply to forgottenit]

Look at how many calories you should be eating for your current weight and aim for the higher part of the range on the bmi calculator. There are other people with physical disabilities on this forum that may assist you futher with inspiration and ideas to help your workouts. Either way keep smiling and I'm sure you will get there with focus and determination 😊

[forgottenit 1 stone]

have joined a local tai chi class, it os a lot harder than it looks but the fact there is no pressure and they are very laid back makes it seem like the right thing for me