How did you decide on goal weight?

 So I saw behavioral health and she felt my goal was a little much.  I said my goal weight was 130#.  I'm 5'5" and 130 is smack dab in the middle of the recommended weight for my height.  Originally I wanted to be 150, but I thought that I really didn't want to be 160 so if I got down to 130 then went to maintenance and gained say 10 I'd be okay.  Is it something you just have to sort of "see when you get there" maybe 130 will look horrible on me or maybe 150 will. . .  

So how did you decide?

It was a lot of discussion with my surgeon.

I'm only 5'1"-5'2"(on a really good day apparently), and my goal weight was 150lbs. I am considered large frames. I'm barrel chested(super wide rib cage), and I have huge ankle and knee joints. My surgeon and I discussed all of these factors, based on my size, frame, age, the fact I was a revision from the band, and I was comfortable with the 150lb mark. Considering my plan was to get to healthy body fat percentage and not allow the BMI chart to dictate my overall health. My surgeon also explained that over time, obese to morbidly obese patient's bones grow more dense and the BMI chart can NOT take that factor into account once we lose weight. So, I was okay with an overweight BMI number.

I hit goal in 6.5 months, and then lost another 20-25lbs over 4 months getting into maintenance where my body settled around 125-130lbs on any given day. I give myself a 5lb bounce for my mental sanity, and well-being.

Since pregnancy, I've gained 25lbs, my surgeon and ob both would like me to maintain around 140lbs after the pregnancy, and well, it's NOT going to happen. Those skinny size 2 jeans feel way too amazing, and anything over 130lbs gives me a muffin top due to the skin and remaining fat on my stomach, and I refuse to wear spanx every day to contain it. At 34(nearly 35), I'm okay with a tiny muffin top after losing 140+ pounds, but I'm not going to go over my comfortable weight. I got my body fat percentage down to around 19-21% and was elated with those numbers.

I will say I was perfectly content at 145-150lbs. I still had boobs and some shape. With that last 20-25lbs lost, I lost more inches and all my boobs, and most of my curves. I went from a junior XL/size 9/10 jean to a size 2 with just the 20-25lbs dropped over those 4 months of getting into maintenance. My lowest reoorded weight is 119lbs, and that weight was grossly too small for my body. The one thing I did notice tremendously is how my skin and fat redistributed even after I got into my maintenance weight. Things shifted, and clothes fit differently.

I think it should be a combination of what is healthy based on each individuals body type, frame, and healthy body fat percentage over the BMI chart.

I chose 175 for a few reasons.... that's 200 pounds lost for me, which is a huge amount. I also know I'll have skin - lots of it. And that has weight as well. More than that, I wanted a weight that I would be comfortable with if I never lost a pound. I think 175 is that weight. I WANT to weigh a little less than that, but I think I want to get to 175 and see how I feel/look/etc and then go from there.

For me, mentally, (and at least I'm aware of this), I know that it will be easier for me to adjust my "goal" weight down than it would be to adjust it "up" later... if that makes sense.

I also have mini goals in my head. My first was to lose 50 pounds. Done. The next was to weigh under 300. Done. Now, it's to lose 100 total... 23 pounds to go...

It helps to break them up into one month type goals for me. I need that to stay sane. LOL

I was admantly against setting a goal weight, initially - - for a large number of reasons. 

Yes, I know I am obese - and yes, I know I need to lose weight.  But, the catalyst for undergoing the surgery was an abnormal EKG from a recent physical.  That, along with my doctor telling me, "GET THAT WEIGHT OFF, NOW!" sent me running straight to the office of the WLS surgeon I had researched for two years. 

I was self-pay - so I didn't have the months of supervised weight loss programs, per se...although I was seeing my doc regularly and monitoring my weight, my PCOS, my blood pressure, etc.  I have a family history of heart disease and heart attacks - - and some insulin resistance (thanks to PCOS) and I was adamant that I would keep a close eye on all of my risk factors.  That wonky EKG was just the straw that broke the (fat) camel's back.

I never even set a weight goal before surgery.  I told my surgeon and his NP that I wanted to concentrate on my HEALTH.  I wanted to have the plantar fasciitis pain go away so that I could actually JOG instead of walk.  I wanted the right knee pain to go away and get the stress off that knee so that I wouldn't necessarily have to have knee surgery in the near future.  I wanted my blood pressure - - which was teetering on the ledge betwen normal and pre-hypertension - to go back down to a normal level.  I wanted the insulin resistance and PCOS symptoms to clear up. 

I was really afraid to tag everything with a 'number' - - and, thankfully, my surgeon understood.  When I went in for my followup - my surgeon did begin to press me.  I know he has a number in mind, but I told him that I wanted to give it more thought.  For now, I set my goal at 145....and I am going to see how I feel at that weight.  It is definitely not etched in stone.   I am prepared for a looooong journey to reach goal - - - and I really think the time will help me redefine who I am and how I see myself.....and I am sure that 'goal' number will change as I get closer to it!

my surgeon set a range of 130 to 140 and when i got to 137 he said i looked great and was done.i wanted to lose to 135 and he said fine. then i actually found it a little hard to stop losing and got down to 118. had to add peanut butter to level out. but dr. says this weight is fine and not too thin and a little regain may happen. so to some extent its an art, not a science and your body decides some of it. I feel great at the lower weight and am glad i lost it even though 135 would have been fine too. but if you get to 150 and feel like you can keep going, do so. now is the time its easiest to lose. you can adjust later if you want. get all you can off now while its the best time.  gl.  diane

My goal weight was deciding through several conversations with both my surgeon and my primary care MD.  I have been as low as 110 before and it was way too skinny for me.  I was about 145 when I met my husband and felt really good at that weight.  So I decided to shoot for 125 so that once I hit maintenence if I gained a little back(which I have heard happens) then I would be ok.  I know that I want to be considered "normal" on the BMI scale, so that is part of it too.  I told my husband that if I get to 145 and never lose another pound, but can maintain that weight I would be happy.  So right now my goal sits at 125, so we shall see!

I am 5'5 and was 137 the day I got married. I was always curvy so I did not look tiny at that weight. I set my goal for 140 because it sounds good but I think I will change it to 130 so I have wiggle room in case that bounceback happens. I don't want to go above 149 post op.

I randomly picked a number at the higher end of my normal BMI range because when I picked it, I had no clue what I would look like under 200 lbs.

Now I'm sitting at about 15 lbs over that, but I still feel pretty big in my legs. I thought a size 12 sounded pretty normal to me when I started and today I'm wearing size 12s (my first day at work in my new 12s! woo hoo!), but still feel the same size as when I was fitting into 16s or 18s. So, I think once I hit that first goal, I may end up trying to get a little lower.

For me it is very much a see-how-I-feel-when-I-get-there type of thing, but at the same time I'm hoping I don't have body dysmorphia because I sort of always feel the same size whether I'm in these 12s today or my 24s from pre-op. I know there is a difference from seeing pictures and from what stores I can shop in, but when I look down at myself...it looks pretty similar.  I see pictures on here of people my height (5'11") who are wearing 10s and they look so tiny! I'm hoping there will be a weight or a size that I will hit and think, "there! that's it!" And in the meantime, I'm just plugging away hoping that this weight loss continues for a little bit longer.

Best of luck,
Lindsey

Edited for typo.

Post Date: 9/19/11 1:28 pm

My goal is ever evolving. 

I do not have a memory of a healthy adult weight for me, so toss that.  I do not even have a weight memory of how much I weighed in high school.  I know I wore size 13 britches in 6th grade. 

Surgery goal - initially picked 133 because that was right in the middle of normal BMI for my height.  4 months into my weight loss and cardio queening, at 167 I decided it was time to switch to body composition and build muscle to drape my lovely skin, that was just getting hangier, over.  I had to stop lifting for a time because I lost my good non transcription job, and found a picture yesterday when I was 141.5 pounds. I can see my arm skin hanging and my thigh skin looked crepey.  Do not like.  But that was also in my not lifting period of time too.  Right before I started lifting again. 

I settled between 145 and 150, was at 18% body fat with 122 of lean on me, then 6 months later 16% body fat with 130 of lean.  On my scale that day I was 157, but that was after spring fling and eating serious carbs and sodium that weekend and before spring fling had been 150. But on their scale I weighed the same that day that I had the 6 months before, so *shrug*

I decided to do my experiment of one and this year put on some weight slowly so I could see if I could get some breast back.  I was 157 Saturday and have been between 155 and 157 for a few months, but was digging through old nakie photos and decided, 150 and 157 do not look that much different, my stomach skin changes how it looks, some days smoother, some days not both at 150 and 157, the bit of fuller breast is nice, but not the little jelly roll that accompanies it over my britches, so yesterday I cranked down my calories again (because I refuse to over exercise to justify eating, or to go back to liquids unless I need to for medical reasons) and today am back down to 154.

So - I do not want to buy new britches for a jelly roll, and I am not crazy fond of feeling squishier in the middle, so I will just lean out again.  I would not mind to buy new britches if I built up enough booty and hams to fill up more of my skin britches!  But not to accomdate a jelly roll. 

So that's it.  First picked a normal BMI, then just went for whatever happened when I worked out.  I am not crazy uptight about a number, I do want to look healthy and feel good in my skin and until I build up more booty and thigh, I would enjoy not having a little jelly roll to be my companion, so back down to 150 I go, but probably not back around to the mid 140s, because then I have no breast tissue, and my druther is to have some!
**here is one link from the couple of times we have had the conversation over on the other board, but may give some more/different/new/same  old insight :}

http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/VSGM/discussion/4451887/Is- it-all-about-some-arbitrary-number-on-the-scale/#36817037

 Thanks for the link and your story.