Weight 120-145: you wanna lose weight or you wanna get smaller?

I see a lot of posts from people who are in the 125-145 weight range, who may be considered a healthy weight, but who still can't fit into the size clothing they'd like to.

So, I want to know...

Do you really want to lose more weight?

Or do you just want to get smaller?

You can get smaller without losing more weight.  But you'll have to step it up with the exercise. Change your routine.  Try the high-intensity interval thing... Change your exercise routine every couple of weeks... include aerobic, strength and fliexibility workouts...

Well toned muscle is considerably smaller (even if it weighs more) than untoned flab.

Are you mentally so fixated on your weight number that it's more important to you than getting smaller, regardless of weight?

Just curious...

It really isn't the number for me, EXCEPT for the fact that it said I was slightly overweight on my BMI, which scared me to no end.

I would like a BMI of 21, that's 135lbs for me.  Will I be happy at 140? Probably.  I would really just like some form of success in this area so I can feel better about myself and, I don't know, go to the beach? lol.

I can't do a lot of things most people do because I suffer from chronic back pain.  Doing simple things like unloading the dishwasher can bring me to tears if it provokes a muscle spasm.

On a good day I can do 3 miles on my elliptical. Sometimes I can run on a tredmill, but I havn't belonged to a gym in awhile.  Biking is out of the question, it messes me up really bad.  I can't hike, and if I swim I have to keep it at a minimum, also I'm sensitive to chlorine, I get whole body rashes if it's too strong.

Even sitting and doing weight lifting can cause my back to have a muscle spasm, I have to be extremely careful.

So my only choice is to eat less and try to exercise, but I can't tone the way a lot of people are able to.  It's frustrating because I can't be consistant, which throws my motivation and planning out the window at 180mph.

If I looked like I weighed 135, I wouldn't care if the scale still said 150.  But I don't, and it does. (I'm like 3-4lbs away from being in this discussion, but I posted anyway XD sorry)

I want both; less weight and a smaller size. My body fat is within a healthy range - it's about 21% right now - but I'd like to get it down to a lower, more fit amount that's still safe, like 15%. And to do that I need to lose weight; the size will drop with that. Once I get my body fat down, by losing weight and making sure it's mostly fat that goes, then I should be my target size. I've gone from 8-occasionally-6 to 6-occasionally-8, but I want to be in a 4; I'm not tall.

You know, I'm currently at 123 and some odd ounces.  I find that for me at my current age and corresponding muscle mass, that I would be more comfortable minus a couple of more pounds of fat.  That may or may not include the gaining of more muscle... I will see as I go.

I know my body well and am confident it is the right thing for me.  I will know when I get there, that it is time to shift into maintenance... I'm looking forward to it. 

For me, this isn't about a size or a number, except that it seems to correspond to a particular feeling and appearance.  I'll know the number once I'm there.  It may be at 120, or may be at 115... will see as I go.  I think flexibility and acceptance within a certain range of health and fitness is what I'm manifesting.  The numbers will simply be a guage and check-point system.

for me... i'm pretty much fine with my size... in fact, you can already see my bones quite visibly in my back, collar, chest [i was already very flat chested] etc... so if i lost anymore i'd look like a skeleton probably...

I mean, I weigh about 113lbs, and i guess medically that is fine, considering i am 5'5"...

The numbers on the scale is what gets to me. big time.
And i love the feeling of being able to control that, by what i put in my mouth....

Jainasolo: 15% body fat is NOT HEALTHY FOR WOMEN. The healthy range is 20-25% and you're already in the low end so please be careful.

A "healthy weight" varies tremendously from person to person and it depends on the height of the person, their age and frame. If you're 4'10", 125 lbs. is probably overweight for you but if you're 5'8" and 145 lbs., you're probably underweight. So it's not good to generalize that everybody in between 125-145 has a healthy weight.

im at about 158, and honestly i think my weight is fine, maybe another 10, so my BMI is close to healthy, but mostly just want to lose weight around the stomach area and thighs, i dont mind the number on the scale though.

riahekans: That's not true.

http://www.healthchecksystems.com/bodyfat.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percent age

Most sources claim that down to 14% is safe and 10-12% is the absolute minimum for healthy functioning, so 15% is okay for a woman not trying to have a child. All I really need to do is tone up my arms a bit and lose some stubborn fat on my thighs and hips, and I should be down where I want to be with only a little bit of weight loss. My PMS is a lot milder at body fat percentages in the teens instead of low twenties, too, and since the past few years have added migraines and intestinal problems on top of the usual cramps/bloating/fatigue triad, that's a big bonus.

I want to lose weight and get smaller.  I am 5'7.5'' and 135, and want to be down to 125.  I am sorry, but I guess this is my vain side coming out but I want to be just as small as my sister in laws.  They are both 100 and 115, I don't want to be the chubby one.  I would also like to be a size 2.  I am a size 4 right now and sometimes they are tighter than I would like.  I am always happier with my body when I see that smaller number and when I fit in a smaller size. 

just want to lose weight and have a healthy bmi don't care about size just want to be healthy and for me that will be 130 so thats my goal.

I don't know...

Seems like when you get close to goal that it's time to turn your focus away from more calorie restriction and switch to changing exercise routines and / or increasing toning

To say that BMI is all that matters...  you're saying that a flabby person at 130 is healthier than a more muscular person at 140, all other things being equal.

That makes no sense to me.

BMI is just generalized tool to assess overall risk for health problems.  If you want to truly measure your actual health, you would look at these things :

• Amount of weight you can dead lift
• Amount of weight you can carry while jogging one half mile
• Your reach on a flexibility test
• Time it takes you to run a mile
• Your blood pressure
• Your fasting blood sugar
• Your resting heart rate

The first 4 items are good indicators of your ability to save yourself if you were in a dangerous situation or if you needed to save your child and the last 3 items indicate proclivity toward disease.

In all honesty, I want to get down to 128..(wierd yes..but gives me room to fluctuate and not exceed 130..and i'm at 131-134 now)..AND get smaller. Thats wy i've started incooperating weight and conditioning exersises insetad of just pure cardio. My thing is...I dont know how to maintain..without gaining weight. I'm afraid if i start mainaining i will gain weight since obvious...I will be eating more calories then usual.

I am 5'8" and just hit 146.6 lbs. My goal is 128-130. I don't think that is unhealthy. I definately am not underweight now, by all means! (someone mentioned that a person at 5'8 and 145lbs would be underweight..uhhh...no?

I am a size 8 now, down from a 12/14 but would like to be back into my size 6 like I was before I got preggers..

at 145 i know i am unhealthy, not just according to my bmi but passed on clear cut signs.  I need to loose the weight, and getting smaller would be nice.  But to answer your question, no i am not mentally so fixated on my weight number that it's more important to me than getting smaller, regardless of weight.

For me, both.  My goal is 18% body fat and it is not reasonable to expect I can get there by increasing muscle weight by the same amount I decrease adipose tissue weight.  That would be a good bit of muscle!  Not something I could do in any sort of reasonable time frame, nor am I sure I would want to add that many pounds of muscle.

But, I am getting to my goal more by exercise than by strict calorie restriction, as it's more about my size and appearance than it is the number on the scale.  It's simply a fact that the scale will have to go down for me to get to my goal.

i am 5'10'' and 135. i have always been athletic (played 3-4 sports in high school) and i still play intramurals in college and run in the summer. once i start my internship i will be getting a gym membership so i can start lifting weights and not just run. Weight wise, if i gain 10 lbs of muscle, i could care less. i just want flat abs and toned arms and shoulders. if i have to gain weight to do so.....then im gonna do it!

I feel like for alot of people though they think that getting down to a certain number on the scale will magically make them look good.

I am currently 145 and looking to lose at least 10 more pounds, if not 20.  I'm only 5'2", so I have an excuse :)  If I could be 145 and be 100% happy with what I saw in the mirror, I wouldn't care what the scale said.  But that's is not the case!

I want to lose weight and get smaller. I checked my BMI and it says I am slightly overweight. I am 5'0" and when I started this eating plan I weighed 130. I would like to get down to about 115 or less. I started walking and using a weight machine. If I end up smaller and toned I don't care what the scale says. Right now all the extra weight ends up in the area between the knees and the waist!

Hi, this is an interesting topic! Im 5"5, was 131lb, but now 136lb, i do check my weight, and would like to lose weight but im more interested in getting down to a uk6 or uk8 (or inbetween them). Im currently a uk10. Dress size i would say is more important to me than how much i actually weigh, and as i work out I try not to feel too bad when the scales go up a bit - i tell myself its muscle! Although the lb that I put on recently were def fat, been binging and not doing much exercise recently!

Haha... I want to lose weight AND get smaller! I am a 16 year old female 5'5" and currently 129.5 lbs. I am trying to get to my goal of 120 lbs, but also would LOVE to go down in clothing sizes. <3

It's super hard, though... losing weight the honest way takes a lot of time and effort!

I am 5'9" and 120 lbs and I just want to lose weight. I'm a size 6/8 now, but I don't really care about that. I just want to see small numbers on the scales. My body fat is 16.5% now, but I want to get back to 13% where I was a few months ago.