Picking a goal weight

[nurse535 30]

I have not had a goal set for me by my primary care doc or my surgeon. Weight charts show 174 as the highest for my height which is 5'10" but I don't see that as a realistic goal for myself at this point. (Weight on surgery day last Thursday was 300.2.)

Any advice on setting goals? I know WW starts babystepping you towards your goal weight at 5% so I was thinking maybe I'd try that route. Small goals that won't take so long to attain will encourage me for sure. But how do I establish a long term goal?

[bellarn09 1]

I have a lot of weight to lose. So, to make it seem more obtainable I'm taking on 50 lbs at a time. If I think of the total amount I need to lose to get at a "goal weight"I get very overwhelmed.

Good luck on your journey!

[vlp1968 83]

I think you want to get yourself into a healthy BMI (body mass index). You can find a calculater online- just google it. You put in your height and weight and it gives a BMI. I would put in the 174 and see what it comes up with. I think loosing about 125 with the band is doable- I lost 107. It takes work (good food choices, excersise) but it can be done.

[vlp1968 83]

Hi again,

I just did a BMI calculater with your height and doc's goal weight. It puts you at 25- healthy weight is between 18-24.9. Of course you need to do what's best for you, BMI is just a guideline. You want to reach a weight you can maintain. You are right, set small goals along the way. Reward yourself (not with food of course) for hitting those goals. Good luck!

[roziecakes 20]

Hi there! You and I are similar in height, but I weigh a little more; I'm 6ft tall. I weighed 352 on surgery day (June 8th), and I weigh 329 as of this morning. Anyhoo, my goal weight is 194, which I figured was decent for my height. I've had weight problems my whole life, and as an adult at my smallest I weighed 215; then had a back injury and couldn't exercise, and got up to over 400 pounds at my heaviest.

Anyhoo, I'll be happy if I can get back to 215, but I'll keep striving towards 194. Hope that gives you some perspective.

[Debora Anne 3]

I just had my surgery June 8th - I set my goal's to what I think are attainable For example my first goal is to lose 25lbs from Surgery date to July 4th-- I go on vacation Aug 4th so will set another small goal for then (of course I will wait to see where I am at July 4tgh before I set the Aug 1 goal--

I have not had a goal set for me by my primary care doc or my surgeon. Weight charts show 174 as the highest for my height which is 5'10" but I don't see that as a realistic goal for myself at this point. (Weight on surgery day last Thursday was 300.2.)

Any advice on setting goals? I know WW starts babystepping you towards your goal weight at 5% so I was thinking maybe I'd try that route. Small goals that won't take so long to attain will encourage me for sure. But how do I establish a long term goal?

[reverie 49]

I just set a goal that was a good weight for my height. However, my original goal was 120lbs; my "new" goal is 125lbs..and I'm sitting between 130-134 and in size 2s; reconsidering if losing more is the way to go.

Definitely set small attainable goals that don't seem so far away. Take part in the weight-loss challenges we have on here (I think there's one for 4th of July) as they really keep you motivated.

[Jess55 97]

My goal weight is at the high end of the bmi chart. I'm 5'2", so I chose 135lb. That may change along the way. Maybe lower, not sure.

[Jachut 487]

I kept my goal weight to myself as I find people are negative about it - Oh, that's not realistic, or you wont get that low or you wont be able to maintain that, yada yada yada.

Its individual though but I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I'm also not a small goal setter, I had the end point in sight and wasnt focusing on 20lb or whatever along the way. At 5ft 10, I held 160 to 180lb quite often throughout my teens and 20s and I thought that was still pretty fat, I always felt big and never was happy with my body. So I wanted to be 140. Did it easily, in fact I'm 130lb.

It depends on so many things - what you think looks attractive, what feels best, what you're prepared to do to maintain it.

[stateofzen 46]

I set my ultimate goal as the very top of a "healthy" BMI range, and then forgot about it for a while. Instead, I set smaller goals that were definitely attainable to keep up my morale and make me Celebrate when I reached them.

One thing I did in the beginning was join "weight loss challenges" on this site and with other bloggers. So, I might commit to losing 15 lbs by the end of the challenge and work toward that goal. Then I had a trip coming up and set another "10 lb goal by the trip", etc. I did this throughout, making sure to set realistic goals. In other words, I never expected myself to lose more than 2 lbs a week, so in the beginning when I was losing quickly, I always met my goal earlier than expected which felt great! When I got within 20 lbs of onederland, that became my goal. Then, weighing less than my husband became my goal. Then, being overweight and not obese became my goal. All of these involved less than 20lb losses to reach. Now I'm in the homestretch-- so I'm just doing 10 lbs at a time and still ignoring that final number. I'll worry about it when I'm within 10 lbs of it

[Cocoabean 430]

I guess I am a bit of an odd-ball. I never set mini-goals. I didn't really set a big goal weight. When I had surgery, I chose not to journal my food. It was important to me to have a "normal" life if at all possible for me to lose weight and not track foods. So, I make good choices and eat until I am satisfied. My weight stabilized at a normal BMI and I decided that this would be an easy weight for me to maintain.

I've been here for about a year and a half now and have been maintaining very easily. I found what works for me.

[LapNYC 3]

I wouldn't focus too much on your goal weight. My initial goal was a BMI in the "normal" range, but once I got close I realized that I could pretty easily go and maintain lower. I started at 286 and now hover around 147. It's not that this was my goal. but rather that it seemed to be a natural place for me to stay. I maintain it with normal effort, as in I make good choices, but I make bad ones too. Like a normal person. Finally! GL to you.

[nurse535 30]

Thank you for all of the great replies! Some good info and ideas for me to think about. I know that I will do better with smaller goals along the way. I think I will set 171 as my long-term goal and then use percentages to set smaller goals along the way. Which makes my current goal 274, which is 15% less than my all time highest weight.

[melzie_99 22]

My dr had a little tool for helping me set a goal weight: starting at 5' and 100lbs, add 10lbs for every inch of your height for a reasonable weight. It puts me just outside of the healthy BMI range, but it gives me something to work towards...

[vickyd 24]

I set my goal to be on the high side of a normal BMI but I don't consider that goal to be set in stone. As I get closer, I will re-evaluate it and possibly change it depending on how I am feeling about my body. In the meantime, I do set short term goals - 10 lbs at a time - and I bought myself a Pandora Bracelet. I started myself off with a really nice bead to represent my surgery day and now I add a bead to it everytime I reach another 10 lb goal. I also make sure I pick special beads when I hit what I considered milestones - 25 lbs, 50lbs, 75lbs etc. I wear my bracelet everyday and it is a constant reminder of how far I have come...