Goal Weight

 Hi All,

Thanks to inspiration from the great folks on the board, and some determination I have hit my goal weight of 195 lbs. However, I now feel like my goal wasn't enough. I feel great and look great. my exercise is awesome. Should I keep it going and drop another 20 lbs.

I am thinking that at this point let nature take its course. I am working on an Olympic/ 1/2 Ironman training for next year so I am thinking the exercise, my eating habits, and my nutrition will take care of whatever happens next.

Let me know your thoughts. All in all I am a happy camper.

Thanks,
Jay

I think you are right about feeling good and being healthy as a great goal.

The only thing to worry about with increased workouts, is they do thend to increase your appetite as well.  So you need to watch out for that, especially if you have to back off on your workouts, you want to make sure you aren't still eating to fuel the workouts that you don't do.

My only question would be what determined your initial goal of 195?

For me I set my original goal at 188 which finally put me into that "normal" weight range.
However when I got there I felt terrible.  I was too thin, and always tired.  I think I had really starved myself to get there.  If I had been able to get rid of the extra skin then, I probably would have been 10-15 pounds lighter.

Right now I hover around 200-205 and feel much better.  I'd love to get back down to that 188 range, but I want it to be more gradual and not be a starvation induced diet.

 Great question on what set my goal weight originally. Well, the number was derived when I was in my mosth athletic shape. I was 28 years old, owned a martial arts studio, and had been training for my second degree black belt test. I think I am coming close to the athletic abilities I had then, but I had more muscle 20 years ago. 

So, I was thinking that if I dropped another "X" amount of pounds and gained some more muscle through my workouts I would be back at the 195 range with similar muscle structure.

I guess that is what I was thinking. As for the eating not so much a problem, with over eating. The problem I have is not taking in enough proper nutrition before, during, and after training. I think my problem currently is allowing myself enough to eat so I can train harder. I keep my calroies around 1200-1400 a day, and I know based on reading that those calories are not going to be enough to sustain me during intense worjouts I know will be coming in the future with my goals.

Jay

My only number goal for weight was to get to a normal BMI. Once I did that, it was clear I still had too much fat so I kept losing. But I had no particular number in mind. I did it based on appearance and health.

So... are you thinking about dropping another 20 pounds because you look in the mirror and see 20 pounds of fat? If so, I say GO FOR IT! But you may find that you need more muscle and so you can lose that fat but not drop 20 pounds on the scale. And that's okay too.

At some point it stops being about a number on the scale and it's about body composition and how you look in the mirror and how you feel. You'll know when you get there, IMO.