From371to184 's dagbok, 05 aug 18

Set a goal for health and a good life...under weight hinders almost as much as over...you’ve been taking care of business..keep it up my friend 

Better to overshoot than undershoot IMHO. When fat, I routinely overestimated my target weight. At 235 I thought I would be ripped at 195. I cut all the way to 178. Still carrying fat at 178. Lifted my way back into the 190s, where I finally looked OK in the mirror.  

How tall are you? 

FYI... I'm 50 years old and 73" tall 

185 will be an easy weight to carry @ your height. I am 72” & 175, and in my 50’s. Pace your weight loss & the body adjusts.  

Your doing great, We all have those imperfections..just keep working on them and in time you'll work it out. 

Yeah, I've been "pacing" my weight loss for the better part of these last 14 months. When it starts slowing down, I try to change things up a little, to test the body's desire to stay at a certain weight... running out of things to try and (about) resigned to the fact that - given my size/shape versus what the scale shows... I'm probably where I'm going to be at (minus any plastic surgery for excess skin) for the next 50 years. 

Try setting a body mass index goal instead of a weight goal. I think its much more realistic and fulfilling.  

Sorry, but ummm 171 for me to hit my BMI, nope, not going for it. I will say it again. Waist to height ratio is a better measurement of health (waist measurement should be less than your height). Keep mixing it up. 

BMI is a load of crap! at my athletic peak I was in the mid to high 160s and had a 28 inch vertical and could do a 6:30 mile. I think a lot of it has to do with how strong you are. I will never be in the 140s without dying.  

I think people need to make a distinction between a BMI that is obtained off a chart or a consumer scale and the more sophisticated body fat analysis BMI you get at the doctor’s office. As a short but always athletic woman, the standard charts just don’t work for me. Never have, never will. That’s why the scale is just a number, BMI is guidance, and true body fat vs muscle mass/lean tissue is my real indicator of healthy. I remember as a teen, one doctor’s assistant telling me I needed to weigh 97 lbs and that I was obese. I was way too skinny at 110 a few years later, bony butt and all, but that comment always stuck with me. My reply back to them all these years later would rhyme with stuck, but I won’t say it here.  

As long as your true to yourself, i'd agree. The best shape I was ever in (H.S. Football) is was 205-210. Charts say I'm supposed to e 189. Went to 190 once and friends asked if I heard about the new AIDS medicine. 215-220 is my best weight range, all the way around. 

I would go by how I felt. Am I tired? Always hungry? If I am energized or exhausted after I work out? how do I look in my cloths? Do I like the way I look in my cloths? Does my face look gaunt? Is the body weight easy to maintain with healthy food choices? These are the things that I go by. I don't go by what friends say, I do go by what my trusted general practitioner says and what my numbers say with my blood work up. Hope this helps. 

you're in charge. set and reset your goals as needed. I see 150 as my goal although my best fighting weight has been 155. That was however 35 years ago. Since then I've slowed down, shrunk a half inch, and have been coming down from my all time high of 199 back in 2011. I guess I'm saying things change and we can change our goals too.  

20 yrs ago I got down to 160 and I was very unhealthy. Since then I have added a lot of muscle mass so that weight would be unrealistic. Don't go by the numbers. If you or anyone else uses those "ideal weight" charts they will never reach their goals. Just go by feel and how YOU think you look. I'm 5'6" and my "ideal weight" is 145lb. There is NO POSSIBLE WAY I could get to that weight and still be alive, short of amputating my legs. Go by how you feel.  

184 is achievable.....once you convince yourself. Any chance you can place a bet with someone , such as $100 dollars? Give it a try, that’s what convinced me.  

Appreciate the encouragement, friends - sometimes we need to challenge our preconceptions (financial and physiological)!