Goal Weight vs Current Weight

[ShooterInTheSix 112]

Having only found this site yesterday, I've spent a couple of hours over the past two days wandering around and have noticed that there are many folks here who have a listed Current Weight that's anywhere from 10 to 30 lbs or more below their Goal Weight. Is overshooting your GW something that typically happens, or are some of those folks just not updating their listed numbers or am I completely missing the boat on this?

I'm scheduled for my surgery on Aug 28 and know where I'd like to end up on the scale and am more curious than I am concerned about going below that.

[CarmenG 151]

1 hour ago, ShooterInTheSix said:

Having only found this site yesterday, I've spent a couple of hours over the past two days wandering around and have noticed that there are many folks here who have a listed Current Weight that's anywhere from 10 to 30 lbs or more below their Goal Weight. Is overshooting your GW something that typically happens, or are some of those folks just not updating their listed numbers or am I completely missing the boat on this?

I'm scheduled for my surgery on Aug 28 and know where I'd like to end up on the scale and am more curious than I am concerned about going below that.

I think it just means they surpassed their initial goal weight. They didn't just reach their goal loss, they lost even more!

[Arabesque 7,240]

Actually it’s not that common. It could just be others have not remained active on the forum or as you wondered they haven’t updated their stats. Their profile weight might be their lowest weight & not the weight at which they settled & maintain - there is a difference.

The average weight loss is about 65% of the weight you have to lose to put you in a healthy weight range for either bypass & sleeve surgeries which is usually informed by BMI (love it or hate it) at the three year point. But with all stats there there are those who exceed that stat & those who don’t for many reasons. Some we have control over (dietary & activity choices) & many we don’t (medication, gender, age, genetics, health issues, mobility, set point, etc.) But statistically the number who reach their goal will be less & the number who exceed it even lower than those who lose the 65% average.

Your goal weight is a weight you picked. It may be based upon BMI. It may be based on a weight you’d been before. Or a weight that seems okay to you. Some even adjust their goal weight as they progress. I call it my head weight or emotional weight. It often is not the weight you end up at. Some find they prefer to be at a higher weight - easier to maintain without limiting or restricting their lifestyle or they feel they look better or are more comfortable at a higher weight. There is also a bounce back regain weight many experience.

You can’t really tell what your finally weight will be before your surgery. Some surgeons say they can predict approximately how much weight you may lose at specific points in your weight loss post surgery. I think it may be double the weight you’ve lost at 3 months but I’m sure some one will confirm the actual formula. Though again this is based upon stats & some exceed this & some don’t. And I don’t know if it takes into consideration bounce back regain or settling weight or is just the lowest weight you reach. Would be worth asking your surgeon about it though.

The trick is not to get tied to your goal weight. It’s not your body’s new set point weight (the weight your body is happiest at). It can really mess with your head if you don’t reach it or you don’t maintain it. Even when maintaining, allow yourself some realistic fluctuation & wriggle room with your weight. Try & remember it’s just a number on a scale & there are many more important wins to Celebrate like your health & well being.

I am someone who exceeded my goal (based on the lowest weight I always cycled around in the past) & exceeded the stats (132% lost). Not by anything I did. It’s my body’s new set point & where it happily stabilised. My lowest weight was 48.2kg & then I settled at 48.5-49.5. I gained a couple of kilos because of a medication issue but resettled & stabilised at 49.5-50kg after sorting the issue. I find it pretty easy to maintain & not limiting or restrictive.

[Jeanniebug 473]

I have 2 goal weights - my surgeon's and my own. My surgeon's goal for me was 163 lbs, by the 1-year mark. My own goal is 150 lbs. So far, I haven't hit 165. I've been bouncing between 166 and 170. I'm 9-months post op.

It's worth noting that I haven't been able to exercise much, due to an issue with my diaphragm (surgeon thinks that perhaps my xiphoid process may have been injured during my bypass) and a rotator cuff injury. I'm currently taking a short course of Celebrex to see if that knocks out the pain. I know that once I can start lifting weights, my body will change. Walking doesn't seem to be enough.

That said, I'm pretty happy where I am. I'm an easy keeper at this point. I'm not struggling with my diet. I'm maintaining well. I know that regain may happen and I'm hoping to prevent that with activity.

I'm just super happy that I have other health wins. I'm no longer diabetic. My cholesterol is normal again. My blood pressure is back down to where it should be. I'm wearing a size XL - and while that's still fairly large, it's an off-the-rack size and I can shop in pretty much any store.

So, goal weight... It's something to think about... But, I'm really more focused on my health and my size.

[The Greater Fool 2,024]

@Arabesque and @Jeanniebug made a lot of good points. I'm going to make one or twelve more:

Since the statistics say the average weight loss is about 70% of one's overweight amount many patients choose a goal weight, or their surgeons choose a goal weight, that assumes the 70% excess weight loss. 70% being an average that means slightly more than half of people will lose more. Of course most people that go with the 70% excess weight loss often have another number for which they are hoping;

As I said in another thread I had so much excess weight to lose that choosing a goal weight was ridiculous. I figured I could worry about a goal weight when I got into the nationhood. As I said in the other thread, I also didn't want to choose the wrong goal number that could make a 500+ pound loss a failure.

Good luck,

Tek