Obesity is a significant public health issue across Australia, posing serious challenges for both individuals and healthcare systems. Many Australians are actively seeking to reduce their weight, often setting specific goals to help guide their progress and prepare for medical interventions, including surgery. Establishing a target weight can be a crucial step in a weight loss journey, providing a clear objective and aiding in the planning of potential surgical procedures.
However, there’s a lot of confusion as to how to BEST set a goal weight that is not only realistic and attainable but also appropriate for your physique. A goal weight also needs to align with your:
- Fitness goals
- Body’s natural proportions. It’s important to remember that some of this is genetic.
Why do goal weights vary so much from person to person – even if people are the same height?
Some people manage to overcome many years of living with obesity through significant changes to their lifestyles, hypo-thyroid management or Bariatric Surgeries such as gastric banding or gastric sleeve procedures.
But some people simply will never be a size 12 or 14. It’s not just height and weight that are important when it comes to looking fit or healthy. It’s also your Body Mass Index (BMI).
Can you get away with a higher BMI and Goal Weight – and still look great? Yes, you can!
Calculate your BMI and Goal Weight
If you experiment a little with the weight in kilograms on this chart below, you’ll be able to find a healthy goal weight for yourself AND a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI).
Once you find a suitable BMI and weight range for your height, check with your GP or Specialist Surgeon to assess the suitability of this GOAL WEIGHT for your body or weight change goals.
Remind yourself that persistence pays off. It may take time, but if you move towards your goals, you WILL get there. When you’re losing weight, you don’t necessarily want to get back down to your weight as a teenager for your goal weight. For many people, this weight isn’t a healthy weight. As a teen, you may have had a higher fat percentage than what was considered healthy. It’s also possible that you were in great shape and had a low fat percentage.
Supplied by BMI Calculator Australia
What’s the best BMI, Goal Weight and Muscle Mass?
When you know you want to lose weight, how do you determine your GOAL weight?
- Having an unrealistic goal weight (or unrealistic time frames for reaching it) isn’t great for your psyche and motivation levels.
- It pays to take things in steps and to keep positive.
- Motivational reminders, friends and family members are on your side.
- Set realistic time frames for reaching your Goal Weight.
- This is especially important if you’re planning to undergo body contouring, liposuction, or skin-fold reduction surgery, which requires you to be at a stable weight.
- It’s recommended to have realistic time frames as you aim for your Goal Weight body prior to any Plastic Surgery for body contouring or excess skin reduction.
- Realistic time frames are good to have. Your nutritionist or Plastic Surgeon may have some tips to help you set your goals.
To lose weight in a healthy way, however, you only want to establish a goal weight that is exactly right for you.
Muscle Mass Determines The BMI You Want
- What’s important to consider is how much muscle mass you have. Muscle mass is called lean body weight.
- Higher levels of muscle mass make your body look better.
- Your posture will also be better.
- Weight-bearing, muscle-strengthening exercises supervised by a Physio or qualified personal trainer can help you;
- Reshape your body
- Increase your metabolism
- Give you a firmer shape and better BMI.
- Strength training is also good for your bone strength, but be sure you get the following:
- Your GP’s permission
- Professional exercise advice
- Also, there is ongoing monitoring before you begin any exercise program.
- Another advantage of having greater muscle mass is that your skin will sometimes tighten up.
- Adding muscle to your frame can both reshape your body and fill in some of the areas where excess body fat was once stored.
- Not all of your skin will tighten up. Of course, a lot of what happens to your skin will depend on how stretched your skin is, and for how long.
- Furthermore, your skin’s collagen and elastin levels often vary with age.
Excess Skin Requires Surgical Excision and Body Contouring Procedures
The excess skin that occurs after great amounts of weight loss over short periods of time will often need to be surgically removed. However, if you can increase your body muscle mass, the amount of excess skin you’ll need to have removed might be less. Tighter skin is worth a lot to post-weight loss patients, and a tighter body from firmer muscles is well worth the effort.
The Best Types of Workouts Before Bariatric Surgery
When you’re on your pre-bariatric surgery diet, check with your doctor to see if lifting weights is something that would benefit you. If you get approval from your GP to begin exercising, it may help to get started right away. However, it’s important that you see a physio or a professional, well-qualified personal trainer to learn how to best shape your body and minimise the risk of exercise-related injuries.
There are many excellent workout programs available, and one of the easiest ones to do is called the Body-for-Life Program by Bill Phillips, or investigate the fat-to-muscle exercise programs of Dr Ellington Darden.
In Bill Phillips’ program example, you lift weights only three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. When you work out, your workouts are either for the upper body or the lower body, not both. Your time in the gym is 43 to 46 minutes, no more and no less.
On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, you do cardio activity – but only for 20 minutes. There’s an efficient way to do cardio activity and an inefficient way. This program uses an efficient way.
The advantage of this type of program is that your body starts burning more weight in a shorter time period. You can still get bariatric surgery to help you drop 25 to 50 kilograms, but you’ll actually be healthier and often recover faster if you can increase your muscle mass before surgery. Plus, your BMI will likely improve as well.
One more thing to consider is that when you have a greater muscle mass, you can actually weigh a little more with a higher BMI – and still look great.
Calculate your target BMI and goal weight, and then know that you now have a plan for how to get there.
Your future is not bleak in any way; it’s full of adventure, discovery and fun things to learn and find what weight actually suits you and is attainable with the right supports in place.
See Coco Ruby Plastic Surgeons for Post-Weight Loss Surgery
If you’ve had (or are having) Bariatric Surgery such as a gastric sleeve or gastric banding and want advice on reducing the excess folds of skin that often remain on the body after overcoming obesity, send an enquiry form to Coco Ruby Plastic Surgeons. By doing so, you can learn more about post-weight loss body contouring and body lift procedures, such as arm lift, thigh lift, abdominoplasty, belt lipectomy, breast lift, and back fat reduction.
