How do you figure out your goal weight?

Is your goal weight what your height says you should weigh? or a percentage of the weight you need to loose to get to the weight you should weigh for your height?

It took me nearly 5 years to figure out my goal weight.

Basically I just let my body go where it was going, at least until it got to the bottom of the BMI range.

In the past, both before WLS and after my first WLS, I didn't worry about it.  It was pretty much decided for me.  I just continued eating the way I was and when my intake of calories reached my output of energy I stopped, usually right where I wanted to be.

This time it didn't work out that way so I started adding about 100 calories a day to stop losing and reach a healthy weight.

In the last 4 years I have put on about 20 lbs, which is what I wanted to do, very slowly and deliberately.  

When I hit about 120 I knew that was where I wanted to be.  Ironically it was also where I usually wound up before when my weight loss stopped.

I made the decision on the fact that I look and feel healthy and I am comfortable with the way I am eating.  I am right smack dab in the middle of the BMI chart, which wasn't my plan, but I've decided that if I start to gain around 5 lbs it will be time to cut back.

It is important that no matter what you make your goal that you have a plan on how to stay there.  The best thing is to continue to monitor your eating and your weight and juggle the numbers until you have figured out what works for you.

Maintenance is the most challenging, and longest, part of this journey.  For me I continue to weigh myself daily and record the weight.  That way I can see trends and I can stay out of denial.  In the past all my regains were when I decided to stay off the scale because I didn't want to see the numbers and I didn't want to do anything about it.

Don't go by what others may say.  For many you may seem too thin if all they have known is you heavy.

Also, a lot of people who lose a lot of weight tend to look gaunt in the face.  

I don't know about you but I lost weight from the top up.  My ass was the last to go and by the time my ass shrunk my face really shrunk.  Fortunately most of us experience a redistribution of weight over time and it seems to spread out more evenly.

Keep your goal realistic and reachable.

Good luck to you.

Usually your surgeon sets a goal weight, then there is a goal weight you have always dreamed of and lastly the BMI weight chart.  I used my surgeons goal weight first 165, then I hit my personal goal weight 115 and finally settled for the weight my body felt happy with 125-135.

My doctor and dietician asked me what my goal weight was and I said I don't really have one, I just want to feel good and be able to do things better than I do now. They said that was great and never really gave me a goal but told me what I was likely to lose.

My surgeon doesn't tend to set numeric goals, but my main personal goal in that vein was to get to around a normal BMI (you can find that here). That's 150 for me (at 5'5"), but as I lost I figured I'd be happy at 160, which put me in a size 6-ish. I hit that, then decided to shoot for 150, and lost a few more to give myself some wiggle room.

My BIGGER goals were to get off my CPAP, drop my blood pressure meds, and to ride in the big city bike race about a year post-op, 40 miles without stopping. And those were far more important to me than anything the scale said!

My surgeon or his dietitian never gave me a goal number.  They asked me what MY goal was, and I told them 180.  At 5'-6", this would put me into the "overweight" category.  Based on the number of years I've been obese, my body structure and age, I thought it was realistic.  They did too.

Unfortunately plastic surgery won't take off that much weight (despite what you might see on "My 600 Lb Life") so I think it's a matter of what your body will feel comfortable at.  Since I'm not there, I still can't say with certainty.  My true goal was to feel better, be more active and enjoy things that I could not because I was SMO.  I have accomplished these goals, and more.  The weight loss has slowed but I'm still knocking the pounds off.  

I picked my gw based on where I last remember feeling my best. But I'm not sure, I'm keeping it flexible.

I went by the BMI chart. 

I would like to be at least at the top of the bmi for me, going below that some would be great for wiggle room. My family doctor actually set me 11 lbs above the high normal bmi when I did ww. That was even hard to reach. I felt and looked good at that weight, but with WLS I am hoping to go below that.

I think it is very hard to know until you are closer. For my ticker I picked a weight a little below the top of the BMI for my height. Doc didn't give me one. I remember the thinnest I was as an adult, and I remember not feeling thin at that weight. My goal is 25 below that. I set mini goals for myself. next is getting to 150lbs lost. Then shooting for 10lbs the next 2 months before my surgiversary ... eventually below 200 and then on to goal.