GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAL and a question

I did it I did it I did it !!!

I finally reached goal. Did y'all feel the earth move under your feet? Because that was me jumping up and down and screaming with joy!

AMAW always works. I needed a kick for the last 2 lbs and AMAW delivered the miracle!

So now my question for those of you who are maintaining UNDER goal. My goal was set by my surgeon after asking me how much I weighed as an adult and was comfortable. I am 5'5" and 20 yrs ago I was comfortable at 140, solid size 8, with no diet or anything, but I also didn't have any food issues - somehow with pregnancy a switch went off in my brain and food became comfort. So he added 10 lbs for age and set my goal at 150. But at 5'5" and 150 my BMI is 25, on the cusp of overweight. 149.8 makes my BMI 24.9.

What would you do? I'm honestly very comfortable continuing the way I am and losing very SLOWLY another 10 lbs in maybe 5-6 months. Because the last 30 lbs took me 32 weeks to lose.

I'm worried about the rebound/regain in year 2-3. I'd rather my rebound be between 140-150 than 150-160.

I discussed this with the NUT and she said not to focus on a number, because she is worried if I don't get to 140 I might get frustrated and think "well, this isn't working" and go back to my old ways of bingeing and dieting. She also said for bariatric patients the goal is the BMI of 25.

What would you do, oh wise ones??

So very happy for you!! You are awesomely rocking this!! I think take it slow and see how it goes. You can just continue what you're doing and drop some more weight and if you don't like how you look/feel you can slowly add calories to your diet.

Thanks Kelly.

Congratulations, you look absolutely amazing! I am not at my goal weight yet, but I just wanted to tell you how great you loo****ep up the great work! These posts really inspire me. I am 30 pounds away from my goal weight.

Thanks! Slow and steady wins the game, keep at it.

I had the same dilemma.

I am the same height, too.

I started out much heavier at 347 pounds. Therefore, my center's goal weight for me was 211 pounds(!!) -- to be considered successful. I knew I'd never be happy having surgery and still being in the obese category. Therefore, I set my personal goal at 180. Then when I reached that, set to 160. Then, when I reached that, I decided my goal was a "normal" BMI -- 138. I have gone as low as 126, but I maintain between 132 and 142.

Here's my advice: It's NEVER EVER going to be as easy as it is now. Get as low as you can. Trust me, none of us doesn't know how to gain weight -- so if you find yourself "too low" -- there's no risk. However, as you go further out, no matter how much you don't think it will happen, it gets far more difficult to both lose and to maintain your loss.

Additionally, there's bounce back. That's not "regain" - it's normal bounce back. Normal bounce back is between 5 to 10 pounds even when doing everything right. Getting lower than you expect gives you some cushion.

I maintain between 21 and 23 BMI with vigilance and determination. To lose just 5 pounds now is so much more effort than losing 15 pounds was in the 18 months following surgery. The first two years, maintaining and losing was pretty easy.

I am going on my 5th year, and I am ever so grateful that I did just what I am recommending to you.

Thank you Kat.

I'll shoot for 140 to have that cushion with rebound. Appreciate your experience and sound advice.

Thank you for responding with such clear reasoning. You've helped me to figure out how to proceed when i, too, reach my goal.

I thought I'd never experience regain because I was so disciplined, but I did. I got down to 138 but now maintain at 147-150. But that's still within my normal BMI range and I probably look better at this weight anyway, although I miss seeing those 130s on my scale! And as Kat says, it's super hard to lose weight as you get further out. I'm only about 3.5 years out, but it's really difficult to lose even 5 lbs (at 373 lbs, I could have practically lost that overnight!). I think you look fantastic at your current weight, but as others have said, you might want to shoot for another 5-10 lbs to use as a cushion - then you'll most likely end up where you are right now.

Thank you!! Will do!