How did you decide goal weight?

[Cheryl 1]

Hi,

I asked to meet with my surgeon ahead of time to answer some questions regarding his history of doing sleeves, etc. He said with his program (diet, excercise, surgery) most of his patients lost 80% of their extra weight by the end of the first year. It was pretty consistant and not many continued to lose much beyond the first year. For example....I weigh 280 and should weigh approx 165 at BMI 25. My expected outcome would then be 180-190 lbs. How did all of you decide what your goal weight should be? I know all about the BMI charts but I was wondering how other doctors and patients came up with their goal weight? At a specific BMI or what?

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I wanted to make it to healthy BMI, for sure. I'm big-boned and knew that my happy weight would be on the higher end. I weighed 145 at some point as a teenager and was a bit overweight, maybe 10 lbs, but back then I had no muscle mass to speak of. I've been lifting weights for a decade now, so I knew I'd end up with a much lower bodyfat at 145 this time around. So I figure it'll be a good maintenance weight for me. I think that'd be put me at a BMI of 24. I'm looking at the range of 140-145, not really looking to drop below 140.

[Eureka-C 20]

I haven't decided my goal weight yet, but have been considering many options. At first I just wanted to get down to my marriage weight about 220. Then as I learned more, I thought, I can get down to below 200 and I will be happy. I saw others my size getting down to a size 8, and thought. Wow, could I do that? The smallest I have ever been was a size 10 in 10th grade at 155 pounds. I looked at the BMI charts and thought I might make it to 150 or if I am lucky 140. The other day I was visiting my nutritionist and she had a scale that measures body fat. It said I am 48% body fat and 140 pounds of everything, but fat. If you take that 140 and add about 20% body fat... I think that is what she did. I come out to about 165-175, which is what I weighed in 11th grade as a size 12. I looked good. I could live with that. Now with how hard and slow it all seems to be going for me, I don't know. I did this to get healthy. So I guess, I will take tiny bites and aim for 250 right now. (thats only 8 pounds to go), and when I get there, I will see what the next step for me is. I still can't wrap my mind around a small me.

[Cheryl 1]

Hi, Eureka-C, I see that you teach psych. I'm a psych nurse and am married with 2 kids, too. What number we see in our head may or may not be realistic, albeit better than we are now. And what I was in high school is not what I would want to be today...even if I was 150. I am much more muscular and curvier now (my hubby isn't complaining about the second one.) I look at my sister who is approx 165 lbs BMI 26 and she runs 21 miles/week and has run a couple of half marathons. I think I need to scrap having a certain BMI or weight in mind and see how I feel.

[juliarh 35]

Hi -- I took a very logical approach to my goal weight -- I took the highest weight at my BMI range (165) and made it that -- I want to be a normal weight. Now, if I go lower, hooray. If I end up fighting to get to 165, oh well. It's a goal, it's not set in stone. My real goal in having the sleeve was to be healthier -- so if I get close, I'll be happy

[chilo1 62]

I did the same as Julia, I don't think I'd want to go any lower ,as my body shape changed so much since I was this same weight about 8 years ago, now my middle (tummy especially) is a problem while the rest , my face and limbs are nearly where I want them to be. My nut said that my body would stop losing at a weight that it felt comfortable, so I'll just take it as it comes really

[Dawn 16]

I too have set my goal weight to have me on the HIGH side of normal on the charts! I want to be 150 but I know at about 170 I feel pretty happy (or at least the last time I lost a lot of weight and was there I was) so we'll see!!

[M2G 1,836]

My goal weight was set by my surgeon and I'm sure it based on a healthy BMI, rather than my own history, bone structure, etc. He put it at 150. I weighed 175 when I graduated from HS, so 150 would certainly be a shock (I was probably 15 last time I weighed 150). But then every single statistic you read says something about how even WITH the aid of WLS, most people lost about 65% (not sure on the exact number so I'm paraphrasing what I've seen in literature, websites, etc.) of their excess weight. I see people here get to their goal and even go below their goal. I would love to be below my goal just so I can have some "wiggle" room, but honestly I'm not sure I will even make it to goal.

I'm like Julia, I just want to see how things feel before making hard and fast rules about how much I should weigh.

[Kris 78]

This has been a really interesting topic so far! When I created my WL ticker I had to pick a goal so I picked in the mid-high range for my height on a BMI table. I haven't been that weight for a sustained period of time since jr. high school so it is almost certainly too low ... in my 20s the lowest I ever was able to maintain was low-mid 130s. I looked and felt really good at that weight so I would be perfectly ecstatic if I never hit the goal I set but got within that range. I've seen several posters here who have gone way BELOW goal so I figured what the heck, be bold, you never know what will happen with the sleeve!

While I was searching for BMI tables online I found a site that had a different slant on BMI -- it apparently was based on surveys of what people my age and height think is the ideal weight for the height, and according to that table my "ideal" weight was over 20 lbs. heavier than my goal (but according to a BMI table it would put me in the 'overweight' category). I will try to find it again if anyone is interested.

I think having a goal to work for is important, but there is no law saying you can't change it as circumstances develop, now is there?

My goal right now is to get below 100 lbs. to lose by surgery day, and I'm pretty sure I will get there (I only need to lose 1.5 lbs., and even though 'tis the season to overeat, I am doing pretty good on a high Protein diet right now.

[klus263 9]

This is definately a interesting thread. My doctor did not set any goal with me but with my Nut we talked about 125. I had that number in my head from one I was pregnant with my first child and had 4 months of morning sickness and dropped down to that amount. I loved myself at that time but my husband thought I was too skinny but then I gained 70 lbs with that pregnancy once I quit being sick. Thus the beginning of the yo yo dieting. I think this would give me a little leway as I learn to maintain that if I get back to 130 or so, I would still be in a healthy range. I have this down to 3 major milestones to get to that goal. The first is to be down to 175 by Mardi Gras-I always travel to New Orleans and my sister and I have tickets to one of the Balls in March.:martini_shaken: The 2nd goal is 150 by the end of July for my 30th class reunion.:cheer2: If I make that-I would be almost the same size from high school and the final goal is for October for my youngest daughter's wedding. :party4: Bonus to me if I can met these goals before that but I plan to be one of the statistics that lose all the weight and not just a percentage....Yea to me... I am on my way.

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

On a side note, does anyone know how that "excess weight" is calculated? Is it just all the weight in excess of 24.9 BMI? Because then I've already lost 90+% of my excess weight, and I'm just over 4 months out. It would've sucked to only lose 65% - I lost more than that last year on my own!

[sleeve 4 me 910]

I based my goal weight on a normal BMI for me.

[Cheryl 1]

On a side note, does anyone know how that "excess weight" is calculated? Is it just all the weight in excess of 24.9 BMI? Because then I've already lost 90+% of my excess weight, and I'm just over 4 months out. It would've sucked to only lose 65% - I lost more than that last year on my own!

My surgeon told me that the excess weight was the weight over my BMI at 25. I can't imagine being at 22 BMI. I am not big boned but I don't think I would look good at that number BMI 22). Our familytends to be muscular. On the other hand,I'm not going to settle for just an 80% of excess weight loss. I want to go for BMI 25.

[chilo1 62]

On a side note, does anyone know how that "excess weight" is calculated? Is it just all the weight in excess of 24.9 BMI? Because then I've already lost 90+% of my excess weight, and I'm just over 4 months out. It would've sucked to only lose 65% - I lost more than that last year on my own!

That's fantastic BBJ! My surgeon calculates the excess weight as the weight you agree to be your goal, which is usually a healthy BMI. i'VE been to see him today, and i've lost 70% of my excess weight, but because of my bone structure he said that he'd be happy if i got to a bmi of 26, so i'll see how a feel, for now a set myself for goal a bmi round 25

[chilo1 62]

That's fantastic BBJ! My surgeon calculates the excess weight as the weight you agree to be your goal, which is usually a healthy BMI. i'VE been to see him today, and i've lost 70% of my excess weight, but because of my bone structure he said that he'd be happy if i got to a bmi of 26, so i'll see how a feel, for now a set myself for goal a bmi round 25

or rather 24.5 as you can see on my ticker