It is hard to reach a goal if you do not know what it is. In an earlier post for this series, I suggested you start journaling and learn your BMI so you can set your weight loss goals. Today’s post shows you how to do this trick and gives you worksheets for the process.
At the bottom of this post are blank graphics. Here first, I show you how to fill them out. I am going over this with an example, and then you can do the same work with your own numbers.
In weight loss, your goal is to be a certain BMI. Your Body Mass Index is based on your height and has ranges for various levels:
My example is a person who is 5’4” and weighs 300 pounds. She is a woman and uses the American Standards for measurement. But all of this information is the same for the metric system. If you are male, these same numbers apply to you too.
I don’t have vast experience working with men, but I have directly coached three of them over the years. All three told me these numbers would not work for them. I told them to set the BMI range up to 28 or 29 if they felt that would be better for them.
Two of these men successfully lost weight down to their goal and both were under BMI 24 when they were finally happy with their weights. One started doing extreme sports and ended up even lower a couple of years after we worked together.
Here are the current numbers for my example:
Notice that I give a BMI goal that is somewhere between 24 and 27. This is the top end of “Normal” and runs a bit into the “Overweight” range.
Why do I use this range to set your goal?
- It is realistic
- It is not extreme
- It gives you some room if you end up with something called “loose skin.”
If you have been overweight or obese for many years, you are likely to have loose skin after weight loss. You also may have loose skin if your weight gain was sudden. If your loose skin is not removed by surgery, it will be added weight. You can fight with loose skin for years if you get it, or you may decide it does not bother you. But it is going to cause you to have some extra weight even though you are technically thin.
I have all kinds of information about loose skin. I was very upset by it in my first years after weight loss. I even wrote a book about loose skin on your feet. Yes, this happens, and I even improved this condition on my own body!
Now, after eight years thin, I don’t care about loose skin anymore. But we will talk more about that in another post. Right now, we just want you to know your goal for weight loss.
So how do you know what weight is going to get you to be at BMI 24 or 27?
Go to this site:
Calculate Your Body Mass Index
What follows are three screen shots from the site above, showing how this 300 pound, 5 foot 4 inch woman will find out the weights for her optimal BMI.
Here is the first step. She entered her actual weight and height. After tapping the calculate button, her current BMI appears. (If you work in the metric system, use the tab you see for that.)
Now she adjust the weight entry until the BMI number shows 24. In this case, a 5’4” person will be 24 BMI at the weight of 140.
Now she changes the weight number again to find that 157 pounds leads to a BMI of 26.9.
This is close enough to 27! You and I both know that you will be celebrating even at the weight of 158, so don’t worry about getting the exact BMI to to appear at either end of the range. Depending on your height, it may not. (You can find other calculators online to get more exact results, but this is not important.)
Let’s look at this test case poster once again. Now it is filled out:
Our mythical weight loss candidate now knows her goal. She wants to be between 140 and 157 pounds when all is said and done. When she gets there, maybe things will change and she will be happier at BMI 23 or 28, but this is not a significant difference to worry about at the start of your weight loss journey and will only be relevant when you get to the end.
NOTE: Here is a story from my weight loss journey and comments from people who had known me when I was obese.
- The very same day that I saw 199 pounds on my scale, was the first day someone told me I was too skinny and needed to gain weight! My BMI at my height and 199 pounds is 34. This is in the middle of the obese range. I was happy to be less than 200 pounds after being over that weight for 20 years, but I knew I had further to go.
- Once I got to my goal, I was at BMI 27 and stayed there for about two years. Quite a lot of people who had known me while obese asked me if I was sick with cancer.
- Once I got to BMI 24 at the end of those two years, people were used to me and told me I looked great.
This is why I advocate for using the BMI ranges. So many people are overweight and obese now, that it is hard to tell how we are really supposed to look.
The next poster gives you some idea of how long it will take to lose the weight. Our weight loss candidate is using the top weight number from the poster above. This is what she wants to lose:
300 - 157 = 143 pounds
There are 4.35 weeks in a month, so the numbers work out like this in terms of months and years:
286 weeks, 66 months, 5.5 years
145 weeks, 33 months, 2.8 years
71.5 weeks, 16 months, 1.3 years
Does this seem discouraging? Maybe, but you have to start somewhere. Knowing your goal and the time to get there is critical for success.
Now it's your turn!
Here are empty posters you can use for yourself. If you have a weight loss journal set up as I mentioned in an earlier post, just copy the details into it. Or you can save and print these posters by right clicking and using the "save image as..." command.
Your Current Height, Weight, and Goal BMI with My Range Suggestion
Your Current Height, Weight, and Goal BMI with No Range Suggestion - Choose Your Own Range
Your Current Weight, Goal Weight, and Weight to Lose
How long will it take you to lose the weight in pounds?
How long will it take you to lose the weight in kilos?
fitinfun Weight Loss Journey
Finally, let me show you how weight loss went for me 8 years ago. I lost "half my size" and have not had a problem staying here since getting to my goal weight in 2011. I have a You Tube playlist about how I tracked my weight loss and this graph is also explained on one of the videos here:
I look at my journey as having four phases. Here they are on a graph covering about 7 years.
Phase One
I was the "Fat Lady in Accounting" and had been for years. I was fat. I was always going to be fat. I did not care anymore, but one of my doctors to told me to start tracking my weight so maybe I would not be dead soon, so I did.
The rise in the graph is about 65 pounds in 4 years.
Not seen on this graph is the 5 years before this this time. I had lost 30 pounds and now it all came back and then some.
Phase Two
Another doctor told me the I was the cause of my son @bxlphabet's PSTD and why he was having nightmares even if he could sleep at all. He was so scared I would die, so afraid of ambulances and hospitals, and so frightened by all of my health emergencies, that he could not function. I decided to try to lose weight for my son, but I had no skills and floundered around on my own with no good result.
I lost about 15 pounds in two years.
Phase Three
I almost crashed my car at 60 mph. I could not make a curve on the highway when my fat stomach jammed the steering wheel. This is one of the top scariest moments in my life and I can still see the guardrail when it was inches from my car.
I found Spark People and did some of their ideas kind of, sort of, and lost some weight. It was so little that I gave up again at the end of that time.
I lost another 15 pounds in two years.
Phase Four
I found a fitness trainer who knocked some sense into me, taught me skills, and helped me lose weight naturally with healthy methods.
I lost 80 pounds in 10 months.
I got to my goal weight at the end of that 10 months, and have never had another problem with weight loss. I still do all the same skills today. Once I understood the lies we are fed, I made it my goal to help other obese people succeed like I did.
I do not want you to spend years stumbling around unnecessarily like I did. You can do this. Anyone can do this if I did.
So please, fill out the forms, do the math, face facts, and lets get this party started.
More posts in this series are here:
Let's Pretend to Lose Weight - Deciding to track your weight and face reality
Yes, You CAN Lose Weight! - Finding out your BMI and getting over excuses
Weight Loss - Let’s Get Started Today - First steps to successful weight loss
Portion Sizes and Nutrition How big is a portion of food?
Weight Loss Bad Ideas Don't try these!
Easy Exercise - Stretching and Walking If you are fitness walking, stretching before and after will help you in many ways.
Weight Loss Food Fixes Start here for some ideas about improving your food.
