Why your goal weight is stupid

I have a question for you.  Are the last 10 pounds relative? By this I mean pertaining to your final goal.

How do you define what the last 10 pounds are? For example,I weigh 136 pounds at 5ft 3. I think I would be happy to lose another 7 to 10 pounds as I’ve been at this weight previously and was happy with it and I like to keep my curves. On the other hand there are women of the same height who may wish to lose a further 10 pounds than me but still be in the correct weight category for their height.

So when is the last 10 pounds really the last 10 pounds?

I would love to know your thoughts on this because presently I’m really confused about what my goals should be. Should I shoot for 1 pound a week loss as I’m still at the heavier end of my healthy weight range or drop to half a pound so as not to compromise my body composition I’m not aiming for skinny fat!

Hope you don’t mind me picking your brains and I thought this subject may be interesting to others to.

First, I don’t believe there’s such a thing as the “last 10 lbs.” At least not in my world. Reason being – having a “last 10 lbs” implies that a certain weight, based on BMI, is ideal regardless of body composition.  Suppose we compiled a group of women with your exact same stats in terms of height and weight.  Do you think they’d all look the same in terms of physique?  Now suppose we had them all lose 10 lbs.  Some of them would look excellent. Some of them would look terrible. Which is why goal weights are pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

When you have 50 or 100 + lbs to lose, goal weights are fine. They keep you focused on the right direction. But as you get closer, it takes a more refined, precise and deliberate approach. The goal of hitting a specific weight goes out the window and optimizing the amount of muscle mass you have relative to fat mass becomes the name of the game.

Which is why various people can “wear” the same weight so differently. Height and bone structure plays a role. Fat distribution plays a role. These variables are out of your control. But how much muscle and fat you have plays a huge role. And this is what people need to be focusing on as these variables, for the most part, are in our control.

I can tell you that I’ve worked with women who came to me saying, “I want to lose 5-10 lbs.” They don’t know why. It’s generally some silly idea they have in their head of what they weighed in high school or whatever. They’re hoping that 5-10 lbs lost will ultimately and magically give them the body they imagine themselves having. And that’s the mindset our society has created – weight loss is the answer to all of your problems regardless of how thin you are.

Of these clients, many of them left my gym heavier than when they came.  And they were happy too.  It was the optimization of their body composition rather than losing more weight that ultimately made them feel (and look) good.

I’m not sure if I answered your questions, but this should be a good start.

Thoughts?

Thanks so much for the reply.

From what I’ve been reading on this site I’m definitely changing my views on how it’s not just about a number on the scale I should ultimately be aiming for. Like a lot of other women though I find it a daunting prospect to eat more calories and add strength training instead of low cal dieting and cardio. I find it downright scary to be honest!

I’m really unsure of how to change my approach and what I should/shouldn’t be doing.

It has to start with applying logic to the situation. You agree that at any given weight, some women will look good while others will look not so good, right? Knowing this, we can deduce that weight really doesn’t matter – it’s quite arbitrary. Unless you’re trying to compete in some sport that has weight classes and you’re not telling me.

We know what goes into building an ideal physique – losing fat while maintaining (or even building) muscle.  So that’s what we need to focus on. When these variables are optimized, where your weight sits is where your weight sits.  Who cares?  If you looked exactly as you dream about looking, would your weight really matter to you?

Suppose we found out that oxygen was going to run out on Earth and they (whoever “they” are) devised a master plan to start a fresh society in outer space.  Would all of these women who are so hung up on the number on the scale suddenly be happy, even though their bodies didn’t change a lick, simply because gravity no longer “did it’s thing”?

Don’t let culture and media dictate what you do. They’re out for your money and nothing more and unfortunately, they’ve brainwashed a lot of people, especially women, into believing weight is the ultimate arbiter over appearance.  It’s just not logical.  Reminds me how cigarette companies used to frame their advertisements in a way that made people feel as if you weren’t cool unless you were puffing on their poison sticks.

Totally agree with what you say about the media. There are magazine articles with a line up of celebrities and what they weigh from light to heavy ! There is also a website that allows you to put in your stats or your desired stats and see what other women look like at that weight/height !

Its supposed to be empowering to women but it ends up with women looking at it and almost “shopping” for what their ideal weight should be. And I guess thats where the obsession for seeing the scale hit a specific number comes from. Its like “oh look! Jennifer Aniston is my height,if only I could get to her weight I would look like her!’.

I’m taking onboard what you are saying and am going to have to work on changing mentally and physically. The mental side will be hard after years (I’m 31 and first went on a diet at 16!) of thinking it was all down to that magic number and being ignorant about body composition and the major importance of that in getting the result I desire. Thanks so much for your insights and I will continue to be educated by your posts and blog
Very well put.

I think if you dive in and structure your exercise around building a better body opposed to reaching a certain weight, in short time you’ll forget about your obsession as you’ll be looking and feeling much better. And if you’re not happy, what’s the big deal? It’s not like you’re signing a contract where you can never go back to your “old ways” of doing things. Don’t apply unnecessary rigidity to this where you’re feeling overly anxious about nothing.

Inaugural Good Reads – 3/28/11

Okay.  I admit it.  This is a completely unoriginal idea.  I don’t know who started it.  I know I saw Cressey doing something like this a year or two ago.  I know Bret Contreras, who I recently interviewed, used to do it.  Ben Bruno still does it.  I’m not much for bandwagons but I think this is a worthy cause.  Spreading quality information in an industry that is chock full with B.S. has to be good, right?

What I’m talking about is blogging lists of recommended readings.  Let’s face it, it’s stuff to stay abreast of all the blogs even when you’re trying.  That’s one of the beauties of RSS feeds.  If you don’t use a feeder and you visit a number of sources on a consistent basis on the web, you’re really missing out.  They make staying up-to-date so much easier.  But even still… it can be tough.

I’ve a lot of readers who don’t spend time on the Internet reading fitness authors/trainers.  They’re clients who train with me in my gym.  They use me as their sole source of fitness information.  They don’t have the time or inclination to search beyond me.  While I’m extremely honored to have the opportunity to work with each and every one of my clients, there are plenty of other professionals who are worth paying attention to.  If they’re not going to seek out additional information, I’ll bring the information to them.

I don’t want to go nuts with a “good reads” list.  Bret and Ben have put out some massive lists.  I’ve a love/hate relationship with their lists as, on the one hand, they’re amazingly useful and diverse.  On the other hand, they’re time consuming to get through.  And that’s not a gripe.  Their readers are free to pick and choose what sounds interesting and what doesn’t.  I’ve nothing but respect for the amount of time and energy they put into their lists.

Mine will be much shorter.  And it won’t always be the author’s most recent content.  Blogs tend to promote “flavor of the day” mentalities where people either catch what you’re blogging about on the day you post it or they don’t.  And if they don’t, they’re probably not going to dig back through the archives to see what you had to say yesterday, last week, last month or whatever.  Not when you’re sure to post something new today or tomorrow. In an effort to highlight stuff that may have been missed, I’ll throw up links to older content as well.

Here’s the inaugural list in no particular order.

• Matt Perryman’s Why goals do more harm than good article.  This article was short and sweet and something I talk about quite a bit with my clients and readers.  So many folks focus on the outcomes to such a degree that the process is forgotten.  Because progress in body and performance improvements occurs slowly, anxiety eventually builds up in those folks who are intently focusing on the destination.  They want it here and they want it now.  More anxiety equals more stress and frustration, neither of which is good for consistency and progress.

• Lyle McDonald’s research review on Normal Weight Men & Women Overestimating Energy Expenditure.  In this review, Lyle highlights a recent study that had subjects expend a certain amount of energy via walking, estimate how much energy they expended, then eat back enough food to cover their expected energy expenditure.  Needless to say, just as people suck at gauging how much energy they’re consuming, they also suck at gauging how much energy they’re expending when they exercise.  Granted, there was a large variance in the estimated energy expenditures which hints that more informed people have a better idea about energy expenditure.

• You’ll have to sign up to Joel Jamieson’s www.8weeksout.com site to hear the first part of his audio series dealing with plateaus.  Signing up is free so don’t hesitate… there’s a ton of great information on the site.  In this particular series Joel explains why stress management is so vital to long-term progress.

• Back in January Tom Venuto wrote an excellent article regarding weight loss plateaus.  He thoroughly explains why plateaus are generally more about miscalculations than problems with your body.  Check it out here.

• In this article, James Krieger educates us on some of the common fears regarding fructose.

• Last but not least, here is Martin Berkhan talking about the fanaticism of some low-carb dieters.  If you have the time, I highly suggest checking out the comment section under the blog post for some very interesting conversation regarding metabolism from a lot of the big hitters in the industry.

Enjoy!