Moving the Goalpost

For most of 2007 I have set a goal for weightloss that I confessed here and ‘in the real world’ was wildly random. I came up with the 196 lb. goal by simply starting with my weight last December (392 lbs.) and cutting it in half. When I would tell people that I know; family, my doctor, the Weight Watchers staff, etc. this number they would voice some skepticism. I felt that this was the typical family response of, ‘yeah right’ and dismissed it with an ‘I’ll show them’ attitude.

With 70+ lbs gone, I rewarded myself with the purchase of a fancy digital scale that also reads my bodyfat% using bioelectrical impedance. You don’t know how big of a deal this is. I avoided scales like the plague for 20 years. Generally the only place I would encounter scales were at the doctor’s office or at the various diet groups I would committ myself to, but to buy one? Never!

Since I purchased this scale, my weight has fluctuated a bit, but my bodyfat% has steadily gone down (thats a good thing), from 39% to 37%. Using that number, I have 118 lbs of FAT on my body! According to this site, that is the size of an average 20 year-old male! I seriously doubt that. What did they do, measure 5′5″ pipsqueaks? Most 20 year-olds I know are 180-200 lbs.

Anyway, (present weight) 320 lbs (minus) 118 lbs of fat, brings me to a lean body weight of 202 lbs! Since I KNOW that no one can get to 0% bodyfat, how can I get to 196 lbs? I would MUCH rather be a beefy Eastern Oregonian.

So let it be known (and reflected on my weightloss goals page) that my NEW GOAL is … 230 lbs!

That number is only 90 lbs away and I am hitting the iron 3x/week (on average), so it may get tweaked. Let’s assume that my lean body mass stays around 200 lbs. Weighing 230lbs would give me a 15% bodyfat reading.

Not bad.

But the funny thing, according to the government, I would still be obese with a BMI of 30.3!