Am I at Goal or Not?

[Jennifer M]

Today, I weighed in at a different meeting than my regular weekly meeting. At 134.6 lbs, I was just under the upper limit of my WW weight range - for the very first time. The person weighing me asked me what my age was and then said, "You made goal!" I told her the goal I had set with my regular leader is 132 lbs. The weigher asked why I wouldn't want to just declare my goal at 135 and start maintenance nexty week, since it would be cheaper, and I could continue to work to lose the extra 2 lbs. Makes sense to me.

So, do I have to stick with the initial goal I set with my regular leader, or can I go with the 135 for now? If I do, can I adjust my permanent goal weight down to 132 (or lower) at some later date?

Thanks for your help,

Jennifer
Starting Weight: 171 (Jan 2003)
Current Weight: 134.6 (today)

[girlinmotion]

First of all and most importantly, congratulations on making it into the healthy weight range! That is a fantastic acheivement.

Now, to the nitty gritty details of the WW program. When you decide on a goal with your leader, she may or may not have submitted your goal via paperwork to the corporation. If she has, I'm not sure what the procedure would be to change it. I assume she would have to resubmit a new form. However, many leaders don't submit the paperwork right away as lots of members need to adjust their goal. Either way, you should talk to your leader to find out if it is reasonably easy to change. That said, it really is only 3 pounds...so it might not be worth it. You'll be at your personal goal in no time.

Congrats! I hope that helps!

[FeelGR8]

I would ask why you chose 132 originally? There are some people who go ahead & set their goal at the top range just to quit paying asap. But there are some people, I'm one, who need the WW goal & the personal goal closer together than that - if I have too much of a gap between my WW goal & my personal goal, the weight will start creeping up closer to the WW goal. Although it already sounds like the 135 & your 132 might be close enough - did you want to stay at 132 or did you hope to have 132 as your goal but actually lose more than that??? The most important thing I would say at this point tho is that person who was weighing you should NOT have said what she said - setting your goal is suppose to be a well thought out decision - not just something based on what the range says. But getting to your question - you should be able to reset your goal at any time before you actually hit goal - paper work generally doesn't go in unti you hit goal. Once that goes thru then (might be different in different parts of the country) you can reset your goal once w/out charge; if you need to reset it more than that, there will be a charge (maybe $5).

[Jennifer M]

Thanks for the replies, gang. I'm going to stick with my initial goal of 132 for now. I have no idea if that is what I should be at for the long term, simply because it has been so long since I've been that weight that I truly don't know how difficult it will be to maintain. Frankly, when my leader and I set that goal, I was about 10 lbs heavier, and at the time thought 132 was impossible. Now look at me! It's hard not to want to push even lower, to say, 127, where I could wear many of my old, pre-baby clothes.

I think you're right - it's better to choose something a little lower than the top of the range, and how much money would I really save by choosing 135? I mean, I've only got a couple more weeks, at most, to get to my original goal.
And, if I want, I can try to lose a few more and get to that 127, and it won't cost me anything, right?

The important thing for me, right now, is to find what weight I can comfortably maintain, without herculean efforts to stay there. I've already done far more than I had thought myself capable of, so it's hard to know where it will stop. I'm sort of hoping my body will let me know, simply by slowing down and then plateauing where I should be. Has this happened for you all? How did YOU know where to stop?

[imported_Kelly_S]

The important thing is to find a weight that you won't feel like you have diet to maintain. But you asked a question about how much could you really save by choosing 135 vice 132. Well a friend of mine choose about 3 pounds below the high end for her range and even though she tried and tried it took her over 6 months to get those last 3 pounds off. At $12 a week that would have been $288 more or less. But then I know friends who have set the high end for the W/W goal and dropped those last 3 within 2 weeks. It will depend on your body!

[JalepenoAnn]

One thing you might consider is you will probably continue to lose weight for some time even though you are adding back points. I took 135 for my goal, with is the high end of the healthy range for me. After the maintenance phase, I had lost 6 more pounds. Most everyone that I know who've gone through maintenance, have had this happen to them. Congrats on your loss.

Ann