How do they pick your goal weight?

[Laurie C. 47]

I am 5'6". I put my goal weight at 180. It says BMI would still be 29.1 and overweight. Normal should be 18.5 to 24.9. I don't want to be thin-thin. Just normal. This scale is almost fat-shaming. I'm not going by the BMI. I'll go by when I feel good about myself.

[ShoppGirl 4,807]

1 minute ago, Laurie C. said:

I am 5'6". I put my goal weight at 180. It says BMI would still be 29.1 and overweight. Normal should be 18.5 to 24.9. I don't want to be thin-thin. Just normal. This scale is almost fat-shaming. I'm not going by the BMI. I'll go by when I feel good about myself.

Absolutely. If your healthy and happy with the way you look that’s all that matters. Many WLS patients do not ever get down to a “normal” BMI. Some by choice (not sure how many try and can’t).

[Tony B - NJ 642]

17 hours ago, Laurie C. said:

How tall?

almost 5'10

[Tony B - NJ 642]

17 hours ago, Laurie C. said:

I am 5'6". I put my goal weight at 180. It says BMI would still be 29.1 and overweight. Normal should be 18.5 to 24.9. I don't want to be thin-thin. Just normal. This scale is almost fat-shaming. I'm not going by the BMI. I'll go by when I feel good about myself.

Funny how you call the scale fat shaming....it really is as well as the BMI system itself. I remember when I was a teenager weighing 180 pounds or so. I was by no means overweight, played sports addictively, could run 10 miles no problem, biked 30 miles. But...given today's BMI I would be overweight. The BMI doesn't really work for some people in my view. I have muscular calves and thighs, even with my heavier weight I stay pretty normal in the legs because I walk and bike so much. I do not see me ever getting into the "normal" BMI area given the charts and my body type.

[ShoppGirl 4,807]

6 minutes ago, Tony B - NJ said:

Funny how you call the scale fat shaming....it really is as well as the BMI system itself. I remember when I was a teenager weighing 180 pounds or so. I was by no means overweight, played sports addictively, could run 10 miles no problem, biked 30 miles. But...given today's BMI I would be overweight. The BMI doesn't really work for some people in my view. I have muscular calves and thighs, even with my heavier weight I stay pretty normal in the legs because I walk and bike so much. I do not see me ever getting into the "normal" BMI area given the charts and my body type.

I think BMI is even less accurate for men at times.

[Tony B - NJ 642]

I agree 100%.

[Laurie C. 47]

18 minutes ago, Tony B - NJ said:

Funny how you call the scale fat shaming....it really is as well as the BMI system itself. I remember when I was a teenager weighing 180 pounds or so. I was by no means overweight, played sports addictively, could run 10 miles no problem, biked 30 miles. But...given today's BMI I would be overweight. The BMI doesn't really work for some people in my view. I have muscular calves and thighs, even with my heavier weight I stay pretty normal in the legs because I walk and bike so much. I do not see me ever getting into the "normal" BMI area given the charts and my body type.

I didn't mean the weight scale. I meant the BMI scale/chart. Nice to know it's not just me that feels that way.

[Tony B - NJ 642]

1 minute ago, Laurie C. said:

I didn't mean the weight scale. I meant the BMI scale/chart. Nice to know it's not just me that feels that way.

Definitely not just you!!! It does get frustrating and demotivating but I guess you just have to deal with the reality of it. I think it is an insurance company scam to charge more in health insurance for "overweight" and "obese" people. Just my cynicism but whatever. I will just get to where I am comfortable and happy with my health/appearance and move on.

[vikingbeast 987]

I'm never going to be in the correct BMI band and, to borrow from my other mother tongue, j'm'en câlisse. I just want to be healthy. I just didn't know if there was some number the doctor or insurance chose out of thin air. If I had to pick my number, I'd say 240-250, though that could change if I lose a bunch of muscle mass during the dreaded six weeks I'm disallowed from touching a barbell (argh!). That would give me a BMI of 32.5, so still obese by that useless measuring stick. I'll be the obese guy with abs (obscured by loose skin, LOL).

I got my date today—September 14—and got a heaping helping of my anxious questions answered by my super-awesome scheduler. I'll meet with the surgeon F2F once, and have a few things to do (blood work, etc.) before the date. I'll have to have a Covid test even though I'm fully vaccinated, due to the spread of the Delta variant.

[Laurie C. 47]

5 hours ago, vikingbeast said:

I'm never going to be in the correct BMI band and, to borrow from my other mother tongue, j'm'en câlisse. I just want to be healthy. I just didn't know if there was some number the doctor or insurance chose out of thin air. If I had to pick my number, I'd say 240-250, though that could change if I lose a bunch of muscle mass during the dreaded six weeks I'm disallowed from touching a barbell (argh!). That would give me a BMI of 32.5, so still obese by that useless measuring stick. I'll be the obese guy with abs (obscured by loose skin, LOL).

I got my date today—September 14—and got a heaping helping of my anxious questions answered by my super-awesome scheduler. I'll meet with the surgeon F2F once, and have a few things to do (blood work, etc.) before the date. I'll have to have a Covid test even though I'm fully vaccinated, due to the spread of the Delta variant.

How funny! That's my one year anniversary date! I agree, screw that BMI scale! I was shocked when my family doctor told me I was okay to get my knee replacement now. I said, don't I have to wait until I lose all the weight first? He said I was ready now. He kept telling me how good I was doing. Made me feel great! Best of luck with your surgery!

[JessLess 1,163]

I picked a weight that was “healthy” aka not obese, that I had maintained before.

[WanderingHeart 141]

My surgeon said the average was 60% of excess weight and did a calculation to tell me what that was - but never set a goal weight. I had an idea of where I want to be but I also acknowledge that I’m not sure what my happiest weight will be. I just kind of picked 150 pounds but if I’m happy and comfortable and active at a higher weight, I’m good with that too.

I also heard that wherever you are around three months is likely half of what you’ll lose altogether.

[Laurie C. 47]

32 minutes ago, WanderingHeart said:

My surgeon said the average was 60% of excess weight and did a calculation to tell me what that was - but never set a goal weight. I had an idea of where I want to be but I also acknowledge that I’m not sure what my happiest weight will be. I just kind of picked 150 pounds but if I’m happy and comfortable and active at a higher weight, I’m good with that too.

I also heard that wherever you are around three months is likely half of what you’ll lose altogether.

Never heard that. Interesting. Thx.

[blackcatsandbaddecisions 851]

They asked me what my goal weight was and I picked a weight I’d been at once and had felt I looked good at. In a healthy weight range, etc. I’ve lost 158 lbs so far and I have 16 lbs left to go to get to that weight. I think my actual goal may end up being lower than that, just based on seeing myself at this weight.

So I wouldn’t get too caught up on it- hard for most of us to know what we want when we are so far off from it.

[NovaLuna 710]

On 8/19/2021 at 4:28 AM, WanderingHeart said:

I also heard that wherever you are around three months is likely half of what you’ll lose altogether.

Well, that's nothing more than a myth. On my surgery day I was 321 and three months out I was 266 (that's 55 pounds lost in three months). I'm almost 19 months out and still not into maintenance yet and am at 178 pounds which is 143 pounds lost since surgery (I lost 68 prior to surgery) and half of that is 71.5 pounds which is more than I lost at three months out (by 16.5 pounds). If I would have only lost twice as much as I lost at three months out then I would be 211 pounds, but I'm 33 pounds less than that since I'm 178. And still losing, I might add.

Edited August 20, 2021 by NovaLuna
math error omg