how did you come up with your goal weight?

My doctor and I haven't determined an actual number for my goal weight.  I arbitratily picked 186 because I was 386 when I started. 

I haven't been lower than 200 pounds in so long that I have no concept of how I will look or feel.  I'm 5'5" and big boned.  According to the charts I should probably be 130-150, but I'm not wrapping my brain around that right now. 

I honestly believe that the goal weight will be easier to decide when I get to 200 pounds.  I'm okay waiting until that time.

Honestly, what happens then doesn't matter as much as what I do today and then tomorrow.

Good luck!
Mary

 thank you so much for your replies!! you've given me alot to think about. I'm not really 'attached' to what I've chosen as a goal weight which is probably good.. I just want to FEEL better! and the more I think about it I haven't been 150 since high school so that's probably actually a bit low for me. I've always been a very "curvy" woman, even when I was 16 and running 5 miles a day LOL plus now I'm 38 years old.. I think I'll choose 160 as a 'goal weight' but really my goal is to look and feel better and to be able to be an ACTIVE participant in my own life 

I also want to be able to run again, I haven't done that since high school and I used to love it. It would be a HUGE deal to me to say I ran a 5k... so maybe that will be my goal ;)

 Initially I set it at a bmi of under 25, not knowing how much that was in pounds.  A few months after surgery, I reset it to 10 pounds below that.  Now, I am about 5 pounds away from the bmi goal.  I am once again setting goal at bmi under 25 with the caveat that I will continue weight loss on a week by week basis until I find an appropriate range.  I only know I do not want to hover at the lower end of the bmi range due to health issues and needing some stored energy to help in recoveries.  

I am at a bmi of 25.8 right now and it feels great.  Arms and legs are good, but still carrying some weight in the hips and belly.  Nothing terrible, and I for sure look pretty darn normal now :0)

Self-pay here too, so my plan/goals were set somewhat by my doctor, but mostly by me and my own lifestyle needs, health needs, and life-long experiences dieting! It basically meshed right on with a lot of the folks here, so that worked well for me.

I set my goal as the lowest I ever got to with the D&E routine when I was in my early 20's (39now).. Which was 155, down from 300+. At that weight, I still had some to go, but it was just inside a normal BMI and since I've never carried a lot of muscle- I knew it was going to be an ok fit with the charts. I reset it lower after I hit it- down to 145, made that.. got sick with the flu, managed to drop into the 130's for a nano-second, and then promptly went on a three week vacation (cue slight regain here, back to what I was weighing before I got sick.)

My "maintenance range" is going to vary at this point on my body composition. I'd imagine it will be in the 140's. Finally had a real bodycomp test done, and it confirmed what my scale was telling me- I am at 27 something % BF.. close to 28%. I want to get that lower than 25% personally (dream range- 21-22%), and now my focus has shifted from pounds to percentages.. Pounds shift faster, but they really don't cue you in on health so much when you start approaching a normal amount of fat on your frame vs an excessive amount.

 Hi  
I am also a self pay because my insurance wouldnt cover it ,  but my surgeon and me picked a number we thought I could achieve and with in normal for my height.  I looked up your hieght on line and it looks like 150 is a resonable goal.   

question for you , are you buying the extra ":blis" insurance to cover any complications to surgery since your insurance wont cover it ?   Not all doctors carry it but well worth checking into.  i actually swicthed surgeons because of it .  

Hello

My goal for 5'4l" and my goal is 147, so you are about right.  I might want to switch to 135.  I am working on it still. 

Have you tried or are you available to switch to Kaiser? 

Thanks