Everyone has considered their weight. Am I too thin? Am I too heavy? Someone has made a comment one way or the other. Some media influence has stuck in their head. Someone may have convinced you your current weight is unacceptable. YOU may have decided your weight is unacceptable. You may have tried the latest trend diets. You may have cut out everything you can think of to shed pounds. You may have started consuming mass quantities in an attempt to bring your weight up.
Maybe it’s time to consider what’s RIGHT for you.
Have you calculated the amount of calories your body requires to maintain (no tricks or gimmicks) your weight? We start by finding out how much we should consume, even if we do absolutely nothing all day. An important note before I link … NONE of the calculators and recommendations for ideal weight or calorie burn are 100% accurate. NONE. We are all beautiful and unique snow flakes (despite opinions stating otherwise). Everyone is different. These are just recommendations for a good starting point!
You can start with a calculator like this one or this one. You’re looking for the amount of calories your body needs to function without ANY actual fitness. I am NOT saying to be inactive, just to find out what amount you can consume when you do nothing to gain no weight and lose no weight.
How do you FEEL about that number?
Does it make you wince? Does it seem impossible? Can you comfortably do enough exercise to bring that number up to one that is acceptable to you on a daily basis? I don’t mean while you’re committed to weight loss and dieting. I mean forever. Diets are temporary. Lifestyle changes are permanent.
My Suggestion for Choosing Your Goal Weight.
You may have already decided (with the help of your doctor) to lose weight or gain. Your reasons may be absolutely worthwhile. Keep aiming for what you’ve found to be ideal for you. What I’m suggesting is, consider the end result in your calculation of goal weight. If the weight you’re aiming for means you have to eat so much or so little that it bothers you, reconsider. Find the goal you can make permanent without continued discomfort. Remember you can reevaluate it later, if it’s right for you.
Why?
A woman (my height and age) who consumes 1,800 or 2,000 calories per day (with no physical activity) may weigh over two hundred pounds. If she chose a goal weight of 110 pounds, she’d be expected to consume around 1,250 calories per day (to maintain her weight). The only wiggle room there would depend on how much she burned through activity and exercise. If she reached that goal weight of 110, would she be comfortable/happy/content to only consume 1,250 calories per day? If the answer is no, why choose that weight as the goal?
Does that make sense? Any pro’s or con’s you’d like to share in this regard?
On a related, but somewhat unrelated, note:
Age is no excuse. Fat increase and activity decrease is why metabolism slows down. Not age.
Click THIS and have a great Saturday!
~ M