"If I can just get back down to my college weight, I'll be happy."

"As soon as I lose these last five pounds, I'll be satisfied."

Sound familiar? Sure, we all have an idea of what we think our "healthy" bodyweight should be, but sometimes, the weight we have in mind isn't exactly a weight that's healthy. In fact, most of the expectations we have about that silly number on the scale are downright unrealistic.

I have news for you... there is nomagic number. Your body doesn't have some special number in mind that it thinks the scale should read.

The first step towards your goal is to step off the scale.

In your mind, you might think that weighing 125 pounds when you're 5'10" is healthy and attainable, but you're only going to torture yourself trying to reach that goal, and you'll become increasingly frustrated that you aren't able to get to that number. Even if you do reach it, it'll be difficult, if not impossible, to maintain long-term.

A Reality Check to Get Your Mind Right

The first thing you need to do is look in the mirror, and I mean really look at yourself. Check out every angle and inspect every curve. You're beautiful and your beauty is not limited to your outward appearance, your bodyfat percentage, or the number on that stupid scale.

Get those thoughts out of your head right now.

We have to realize that every woman is built differently and has different genetic predispositions to holding weight in certain areas. Me, you, and your cousin's friend's roommate all gain muscle at different rates. I'm sure we all know someone (the lucky s.o.b.) that can eat whatever they want and still show their rib bones through their chest.

Another thing you need to understand is that muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. One pound is one pound whether you're talking muscles, fat, apples, elephants, feathers, or gold.

However, one pound of muscle willtake up less space and look different on your body than one pound of fat will. This is why you might have a lot of muscle on you and look lean and compact while weighing more than someone who has a lot of bodyfat and less muscle.

Muscle is more compact and looks much better on a body.

The number on the scale really is just a number. Your day shouldn't be ruined just because you stepped onto some device that yielded a number higher than what you "thought" it should be.

Take That Target Weight Out of Your Sights

In fact, how did you determine your magic goal number, anyway? Is it because your friend weighs that much? Did an article in a magazine said it's more "healthy" to weigh that much (or that little)? Maybe the heroine in your favorite book weighs that magical number?

Ladies, stop this craziness now!

Did you think about what happens when you reach this target weight? Will you instantly be happy and everything that used to bring you down will no longer matter? Will your body be perfect in every way and you won't want to change another single thing about it?

What I bet what will happen, because it hashappened time and time again, is that you'll find a new target weight to aim for — because the old one's no longer good enough for your standards.

It's worth repeating, in case it hasn't sunk in yet... there is no magic number. There's a weight range that's healthy for your body, but even that's just a guideline. The only ideal weight that matters is the one you're realistically happy with keeping.

You don't have to be 110 pounds to be happy with your physique.

When you put your clothes, and when you take them off, you should be happy with what you see in the mirror and you should reach a bodyweight you can maintain using a good diet and exercise plan.

So, if you weigh 115 pounds at 5'7" but you're taking diet pills like they're breath mints, running for two hours in the morning and at night, and you're lifting weights seven days a week, that mightnot be the most realistic weight for you to maintain long-term. It's actually going to make you unhealthy and unhappy. Life is about balance.

Use Your Mind to Take Control

You must take control of your mind because it's the most powerful tool you have to maintain yourself at a healthy weight and to keep your sanity. As women, we're bombarded with images of skinny, young, practically-flawless models on TV, in movies, in magazines, and on the Internet.

We can't judge ourselves based on those images because they aren't real. They've had their make-up expertly applied, they've been Photoshopped and airbrushed, the set has been painstakingly lit, and the picture itself was shot with high-tech cameras and lenses that are designed to create an image of perfection.

It's just like when you see a commercial for the newest burger at Burger King (unless you flip the channel to avoid that Whopper temptation). On TV, the burger looks flawless and all the fixings are vibrant, fresh, and stay just where they're supposed to. But when you go to the restaurant to order it, the burger is smooshed together, the buns are soggy, and the fixings are oozing out of every side.

The commercial is there to make you want the burger (or the pop star, celebrity, whoever), and the reality is neveras good as the image they're trying to sell you. Media images of excessively thin and allegedly-perfect women are designed to sell a product.

Whether it's a magazine or a TV show, the clothes she's wearing, her make-up, or her latest diet plan, remember that it's just an advertisement. As long as you can take a step back and recognize these dolled up models for what they are — sales tools — then you'll have a better grasp on what's realistic for your own body.

Believe me, they don't look like that when they're out of make-up and away from the high-tech tools of the trade! They're beautiful, but they're real women just like you and me.

Heidi Klum the person, Heidi Klum the supermodel.

Another example we might be more familiar with is the physique competition athlete. Figure competitors tend to feel pressure to maintain an extremely low bodyfat percentage in our offseason, because we know what we look like as we enter our shows.

Our perception becomes distorted and we think we can maintain those low numbers year-round, and then we're frustrated, depressed, and sometimes develop eating disorders when we can't do it.

Ladies, our bodies aren't designed to maintain a ready-for-the-stage condition year round. We need to get that thinking out of our head. Forget the idea of a magical offseason number being anywhere near the same as when we walk on stage.

It's a Fact: With Time, Bodies Can Change

Another reason why there's no such thing as a magic number is because our body composition changes depending on our lifestyle, age, and genetics. While you might've weighed 140 pounds as a college freshman, you also might've had a higher bodyfat percentage back then.

So, if you're now 150 pounds, but you've added more muscle burned some of that bodyfat, the scale will read a higher number but you won't look anything like you did at 140.

You'll look leaner, stronger, and healthier! So why on Earth would you say to yourself, "Ugh, I weigh 150 but I wish I was back at 140 like in college." Let your current body composition determine what your weight range should be.

Leading by Example

I'm 5'8" and at my heaviest, I weighed a very, very soft 164 pounds. I was young and had no concept of lifting weights at the time. I thought that anytime I went to the gym and did my cardio, it was a free pass to eat whatever I wanted.

I thought that eating fat was bad for you, so I filled myself with bread and pastas, and slowly gained weight. Over the next few years, I experimented with several diet plans and training programs, and I eventually lost about 30 pounds by reducing my calories and sticking with to a low carb, high protein plan.

However, I still wasn't lifting weights, so even though my weight was down to 135, I didn't have any visible muscle cuts and I still looked pretty soft. I was still unhappy with my body because my magic number at that time was 125 pounds. If I could just reach that, I'd be happy... or so I thought.

I started to diet very aggressively and lifted light weights. I got down to 120, but I looked gaunt, bony, and weak. After discussing my goals with a trainer, I decided that I wanted to have more muscle on me, even if it meant that the stupid scale had to go up. This was in the summer of 2007, when I began training for my first Figure competition.

At the end of my first bulking cycle, I weighed 145. After my cut and water depletion, I entered my show weighing 125. When I compare pictures of the125 pound-me in contest condition to the 125 pound-me from earlier in life, they don't look anything alike. My body composition was completely different and my body now had so much more muscle than ever before.

125 pounds of smart training.

Fast forward to my current diet and training regimen, I'm entering the sixth week of my cut and I weigh 142. However, even at 142, I now look completely different than the 145 I weighed at the end of my first bulk cycle in 2007.

I am much more muscular now, with vascularity and visible cuts. This is because my body composition has gone through another change during the past year of training and I've added even more muscle.

And you know what? I can look at my 142-pound body today and be completely happy. This is a huge accomplishment for me because, for the longest time, my magic number was 125-130 because that's what I was always told would "look best" on me.

For me, 142 pounds is a something I can be comfortable maintaining, and even though I'll train down to single digit bodyfat in over the next few weeks, I'll remember that being 8% bodyfat is not a healthy long term goal.

I won't allow my perception to become distorted into thinking that there's something wrong with coming out of my contest-condition and returning to where I am right now. When I look in the mirror today, I like what I see — and that has absolutely nothing to do with the number I "think" I should weigh.

Summing It All Up

There is no such thing as a magic number, only a healthy number. We each need to find a weight that's healthy, can be maintained long term, and isn't linked to what we weighed in the past, what we think we should weigh, what our friends weigh, what our favorite actress weighs, or any other arbitrary criteria.

Look in the mirror and if you like what you see, then to hell with numbers!

Featured Images

Blue bikini: Katina Maistrellis

Purple two-piece: FA contributor Nicole Snell