It seems like everyone has their ‘goal weight’ or ‘ultimate goal weight’ that they are trying to reach.
I can remember back when I first started University my goal weight was to hit 198 pounds.
There was no scientific reason why I picked this number. In fact, I picked it purely because it was how much professional hockey player Doug Weight was listed as weighing on a hockey card I once owned.
Now Doug Weight wasn’t my favorite hockey player (my hockey idol was his teammate Ryan Smyth), but he was the captain of the Edmonton Oilers (my team) and was around my height, so I figured this would be a good weight to aim for.
It’s not only guys who have goal weights – I know a lot of women who claim 110 pounds is their ULTIMATE goal weight.
The funny thing about goal weights is that they are actually a very poor predictor of how you will LOOK at that weight.
When I finally reached 198 pounds, I was NOT happy with what I saw..sure I hit my goal weight, but I did it by gaining the wrong TYPE of weight.
Definitely NOT what I had planned (damn you Doug Weight!)
These days, I don’t have a goal weight, but I do have a goal LOOK.
Specifically, I have a goal ratio.
I used the same mathematic formulas that were developed for the Adonis Index to create my own personal goals.
Now, I won’t give away the rational for these equations, however I will show you how I calculated my goal ratios:
So for me the ‘Look’ I am aiming for is 5’10.5″ (the half inch is important) with a 31.5 inch waist circumference and a 51 inch shoulder circumference.
Now, here is the cool thing about aiming for something like actual body measurements – You can’t POSSIBLY be overweight with a 31.5 inch waist and 51 inch shoulders.
In fact, hitting these numbers would mean I would look very lean and pretty darn jacked (I’m at 32.5 and 50.25 right now)
And that’s the beauty of goal measurements – they are a VERY GOOD predictor of how you will look once you reach them.
If you want to change the way you look, don’t worry as much about what your scale tells you, instead, work with your mirror.
And when using a mirror, try to be as honest as possible. We all have our ‘Fat Days’ and most of the time we are simply overreacting to bad lighting or bad angles..be honest with your assessment of how you look, and use your measurements to guide you.
This rule is even more important for women then it is for men, since THE SCALES LIE to women a lot more then they do to men. (Water fluctuations based on changes in hormone levels can cause a woman’s weight to go up or down by 5 pounds)
The bottom line is – if you are trying to change the way you look, stick with measurements and the mirror as your guide..you can use the scale as a rough idea of whether or not you are heading the right direction, but it is a poor estimator of how you actually look.
BP
PS – for an easy, practical way to get to your goal wight click here ==> Ultimate goal weight
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