How did you determine your "goal weight"?

[edieparks 2]

I'm curious how everyone decided their goal weight?

I picked mine from a height chart. I will still have a 25 BMI .

A friend who is very fit and a high school gym teacher says I should of stopped at 190!!!! She says I should decide when and where I "feel" good not look good at. She is concerned I am losing too much!! I am very confused . She has never shown those jealousy signs , she just thinks everyone is too hung up on numbers. I am diabetic and want to be a healthy as possible. She is confusing me.

I am due from a yearly check up at my md who I adore. Somehow I wonder should my weight just be his decision ?

Happy to have this "problem"

edie:speechles

[Jachut 487]

The interesting thing with this is so many people who have been very obese say "oh, I should be x, but I'm going to stop at y. I know for me that x would be too thin". Of course, reality dictates that may lapbanders stop at a level that is merely overweight, something about having been very fat before makes it harder to get down to normal weight.

But to me, overweight is still overweight. Its a darn site better than morbidly obese and if its where a healthy, moderate and liveable lifestyle takes you then so be it. Its a fabulous achievement.

But to actually pick a goal there, I think is a little strange. I am certainly shooting for the mid level of my healthy weight range, I dont want to still be overweight. That comes right off a chart and also by memory, I remember how I looked and felt at that weight - and it wasnt model material, in fact I felt fat a lot of my life at a healthy weigth because I'm not built like a supermodel. But for a 40 year old with 3 children, I think it would feel and look pretty darn good. I'm almost there!

[edieparks 2]

I just checked on a chart and my healthy weight is 108 to 132 lbs. HA

edie

[mariecarmen 1]

My doctor gave me my goal weight, which had more to do with a healthy BMI than actual pounds. My personal goal weight is less than his.

[doinit4me 0]

I think my biggest problem is that people keep telling me that I am getting "too thin". I personally agree with Jacqui, in that my personal goal is to to be in the "normal" weight range with a healthy BMI and the likelyhood of having obesity related health issues is minimal. However, my husband, boss, sister, ect... are all telling me that enough is enough already. I need to update my ticker, but I am currently in a comfortable size 8-10 depending on the pants and weigh 153 lbs, but according to the charts, I need to be around 145 or less. I know it's me I need to please, but it's also important to me that my husband still finds me attractive and he doesn't like "skinny", so I feel kinda stuck between a rock and a hard spot.

[StephC 0]

Interesting question since I didn't have anyone tell me what my goal should be. All my doctor said is that I need to be realistic. I'm not quite 5'3" and at 22 I weighed 110 - UNREALISTIC - my 16 y/o daughter is 5'2" and weighs around 120 - so I look at her and think theres no way I will ever be that skinny! I have set my goal at 140 and if I get there and think that I can lose another 5 or 10 lbs then I'll take it from there.

[Jachut 487]

Perhaps when you get closer though, you may find you want to keep going? When you're at your heaviest, you just cant imagine it can you?

I'm not criticising it, but it just strikes me as interesting that 99% of people seem to say "my healthy weight is x but that's too skinny for me".

I'm all for people stopping where they feel comfortable, its just an interesting phenomenon. Perhaps it speaks about how fat really does serve a protective purpose to many people.

[rms78645 0]

My obgyn said that what the charts say that I should weight isn't realistic for me. I went to an Exercise Physiologist to get some help and I had my Body Mass checked. I have 160lb lf lean body mass. I am supposed to weight 135-140 on those charts. That would be impossible with 160lbs of lbm. I will lose some muscle as I lose weight but still... My OB is telling me that I am not 19 years old anymore, I have had 2 kids and 170-180 is more realistic. I don't want to struggle to maintain my goal weight. I will have to see when I get there I guess. How do you fell where you are right now?

[Jachut 487]

At a BMI of 25 - still a bit too chubby. I am tall, so I still am only JUST able to buy clothes in the normal stores and many boutique stores I will nevr be able to buy in - I'm still an Australian 16 which is pretty much the biggest "normal" size in many stores. But I do still definitely have too much fat on me at this weight. So the lower end of my healthy weight range will be right for me, and that will be less than I weighed at 16 years old. But I already weigh slightly less than I weighed at 16, and I'm almost 40.

That's what I mean - people just say "oh, I cant weigh less than I did at 20" but really, you can. If its hard to maintain, it may not be worth it, I totally agree with that. YOu dont want to have to struggle to stay there. And statistically, people dont tend to get down to those weights.

But I kind of see saying "oh, that's too thin, I cant do that" as not giving yourself the best chance possible.

That said, I dont know if I will make my own goal - I'm struggling to lose now, and I would be very happy and satisfied with what my band has done for me if I never lost another gram. This is a whole world different to being 113kg!

[rms78645 0]

In order for my bmi to be 25 I will have to weigh 160 lbs. I guess I will have to see when I get close but it seems awfully light.

[Jachut 487]

It does depend heavily on your build too of course - BMI in and of itself doesnt really mean much. I'm tall and am meant to be willowy, I dont have a lot of muscle despite being a regular exerciser. So a BMI of 25 for me still equals too high a percentage of body fat. But it wouldnt on somebody more muscular and of heavier build.

[rms78645 0]

I am definately not willowy! hehe. I have no idea what is under all of this anymore. Its been so long. I have become a regular exerciser. I also often wondered how I could not be building muscle carrying all this excess around. I am excited to see what it looks like, uncovered!

[juliegeraci 7]

I'm going to stop losing weight when I feel like its time. I want to get down to an 18. Right now I'm a 22 or a really tight 20. I plan on losing 40 more lbs. The doctor says I can actually stand to lose 65 more but I don't want to struggle at a lower weight. I'll have to wait and see.

[LapBandit 5]

This is an interesting topic. I've been banded for 9 months now and just recently talked to my surgeon about it. He wants me to lose another 100 lbs. I'm sure going to try to do that! It's strange about those charts we all look at. It seems like I see a little bit different goals on different charts. Who's right??!!

[warmmorningsun 1]

I'm not criticising it, but it just strikes me as interesting that 99% of people seem to say "my healthy weight is x but that's too skinny for me".

I'm all for people stopping where they feel comfortable, its just an interesting phenomenon. Perhaps it speaks about how fat really does serve a protective purpose to many people.

Actually, most weight charts have been developed for life insurance companies! Prior to this, there were no weight charts. Life insurance companies wanted ranges that were considered healthy, and I imagine would also decrease their liability.

I had set a goal that just sounded good to me - I'm 5'7 and want to be 160; I think the closer I get, I may just shoot for a % body fat goal...