Ideal Weight

[Katies 0]

I went to see the surgeon last week and in our discussion he told me he calculated my ideal weight to be 129lbs. I can't even remember the last time I was 129, I was probably 10. I'm 5' 7" and definately do not have a small frame. Has anyone else's surgeon told you that you should be much lighter than you wanted to be. I was thinking 160/170 would be great!

[lenore1890 0]

Tell me about it my doctor and weight watcher have both told me I should weigh between 98 and 105...because Im only 4'11". I think my boobs weigh that much now! LMAO

[bwohlgemuth 2]

I @#*^#^ing hate that "magic wheel" BMI crap. According to the doc, I should weigh around 190.

Back when I was in college, working every day and riding my bike seven miles a day, I was 290. I had a registered dietician do a real BMI calculation and it came in around 43. My lean body mass was around 240. Ideally I should weigh around 290.

Now, I know I'll lose some muscle mass (in HS I would leg press 1200, today I can do 800-1k) by not carrying around a big load all the time. But I highly doubt my ideal weight is 190.

If I get down to a 2x shirt and buy clothes at Target, I'm a happy guy.

[Jachut 487]

Ah, its impossible to reach consensus on this, lol.

At the end of the day, you can weight what YOU want to weigh and its nobody's business but your own. But you have to also face the fact that in scientific terms, overweight is overweight is overweight so even if you feel you look your very best at say 180lb, if that's overweight for your height, then you have to wear that. YOu have to accept the fact that you ARE at higher risk for various diseases, its harder on your body than being lighter. But health is more than just physical and to have perfect physical weight at the cost of living on a horrid diet, exercising ridiculously, obsessing over food or becoming bulimic is hardly a healthy "all round" lifestyle. I think a weight you maintain easily that is less than obese is probably a reasonable goal. But I do find it a shame that people dont challenge themselves to do better - but that's my nature. I push myself pretty hard and wonder why others dont.

Its also how you view it and what you think is attractive.Some people call normal weight too thin, skinny, bony, anorexic, I call it elegant, graceful or athletic. People call slightly overweight curvy, feminine and cute, I call it thick and chunky. If you're tall (like I am) I think its hard to carry weight because you tend to look big and boofy if not fat. If you're shorter, you can carry a bit of weight and look cute and curvy. But there's a million people around who would swear its the oppostite - that tall people carry weight well and short dont. You can only ever please yourself, and you're the only one that matters.

[She Smiles 2]

Here, here Jacqui. Couldn't have put it better myself.

People keep telling me if I lose another 15-20 pounds I'll be too skinny. I'll actually still be at the top of the range for a normal BMI for my height and will still have curves. The bottom line for me is that I didn't get cut open, have surgery and endure all of this (which to be honest, hasn't been bad at all, I've had no major/serious complications, but still, its been a lifestyle change) to still be overweight (which *still* I am now).

I want to be slim, fit and healthy, damnit. lol.

[MerryHearted 20]

The normal weight range on the BMI chart for 5'7" is ~125-165. So your doc wants you at the bottom of that range and you want yourself at the top. I think you have the more realistic goal if you've been significantly overweight for any length of time. And once you are there, you can determine whether you want to lose more or maintain there. You can also lose down to 129 and then go back up if it's too much to maintain. It's your body!

I know my doc wants me to get to 150, which is near the top of my normal weight range based on the BMI chart. I would love to be a bit lower than that. Last time I weighed 150 as an adult I was in a size 12. I'd rather be a size 8/10. But I'm not going to complain if all I can manage to maintain is 150. Even size 12 is wayyyyyy better than the snug 26/28's I was wearing at my top weight. I'll be partying when I hit size 12 and can't shop at fat stores anymore. :mad2:

[MacMadame 81]

I think that if you eat healthy food and maintain an active lifestyle and aren't overeating, that whatever weight you are at is the right weight for you. Those charts and the medical pronouncements about what your risk factors are if you are in certain ranges are based on statistics. Statistics describe groups. They are not predicative for an individual.

For example, if you are someone who lifts weights and has a lot of muscle, your BMI might say you are overweight. If your BMI says you are overweight, but your cholesterol is low, your resting pulse is low, your blood pressure is low, you have good levels on your sugars, minerals and hormones and your body fat % is under 20, then you are a healthy person and you are not at greater risk of bad health than someone whose BMI says they are normal weight, but their body fat % is over 25 and they have one or more of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low Calcium values, etc.

I have a relative who is thin. But she eats horribly and never exercises. She eats mostly refined sugar, in fact, and is only thin because she eats two meals a day. Back when I was 145 -- overweight on the charts, but had a cholesterol level of 155, blood pressure of 90 over 55 and Iron levels of 14.7, etc. there was no way she was healthier than I was.

[Jachut 487]

Yes, you're right, thin doesnt automatically equal healthy by a long shot.

[bwohlgemuth 2]

If your BMI says you are overweight, but your cholesterol is low, your resting pulse is low, your blood pressure is low, you have good levels on your sugars, minerals and hormones and your body fat % is under 20, then you are a healthy person and you are not at greater risk of bad health than someone whose BMI says they are normal weight, but their body fat % is over 25 and they have one or more of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low Calcium values, etc.

That's me right now. :biggrin2:

But I know I won't be this way forever.

[Angie4b1g 1]

I'm 5'7" also, and at 145 I look like a dinosaur. Head too big for body, bones sticking out everywhere. People were telling me I was too thin (of course I still saw fat fat fat). I can't imagine what they'd have said in the 120s.

My goal is 156 for now. I was a size 8 at that weight, and that's all I can really ask for.

Not all 5'7"s are alike, you have to pick your own number. You may get to 170 and decide you'd like to lose another 30, or you might be happy there. It's really your call!

[Pnw_Red 2]

My doc's office told me that at 5'7.5" my "ideal weight" would be 140, and then they kind of laughed and said they believe the insurance charts (that the "healthy ranges" are based on) are very conservative. They also talked about the fact that when you've carried around a lot of extra weight, your body compensates by increasing bone density and muscle mass in the lower body. So somebody at a given weight who has been significantly overweight for a decade is going to be thinner and leaner than somebody at the same weight who has never had a weight problem. The nurse and nutritionist mentioned that, the psychologist mentioned that AND the surgeon talked about it.

They asked ME to set a goal and when I picked 175, they told me they thought that was a very reasonable goal for my height, frame size, and the fact that I've carried a lot of extra weight for a long time. I figure that losing a lot of weight, even if it doesn't get you into your "healthy weight range" will STILL do a ton of good for your health. For me, losing 145 pounds will do a lot more for me than losing the last ten to put me into my "healthy" range. And I'm more than ok with that.

JMHO.

[shortgal 5]

I'm only five feet tall and my surgeon said I'd probably get to 150. Now he did not say that was my ideal weight, but I guess that might be where a lot of his patients end up at.

I'm aiming for 140. In my entire adult life I was never under 128 pounds, with age, menopause, lower activity level, I don't think I'll ever see 128 again.

No problem for me. I'll be fine If I end up at 150. I had no co-morbids before banding and would consider myself healthy, if still overweight by some random chart.

If a taller person can be healthy at 150, why wouldn't I be. As long as my BP is good, my cholesterol is good etc.

I know much thinner people that have much worse eating habits and have HBP or high cholesterol, does that make them healthier because they weigh less?

I know one woman that is very thin but she wasn't eating, her calories came from alcohol, is that healthy?

You can decide what you are comfortable with.

[MaidMarion 1]

My problem isn't so much what the doctor thinks but what my insurance is going to think. I am self pay because my insurance sucks....ie it is fat woman's insurance of last resort. I am hoping when I get my weight down I can get insurance that would pay anything but even though I am 4'11" and weight almost 300 lbs I wear a 20. At 200 I wear a 12. I am not sure what I would wear at 98 lbs.......because the last time I was there I wore a 7 and if I wear a 12 at 200 how can I wear a 6 or 7 at 98?? either I am a big hunk of muscle or sizes are really getting bigger but weight charts haven't changed since when? I work out I am very very strong doesn't that count for something? I have no co morbidities at all. I just could see 400 over the next hill and that freaked me out.

[luluc 6]

My surgeon suggested I shoot for 135. I'm short, 5'1 - but pretty muscular, as I played sports my whole life, college soccer & lacrosse.

My goal is 125, that's what I weighed when I got married, and looked / felt the best. I might be happy at 135, and want to stop....I much rather be a few lbs heavier and "look" healthier, than to set a "fix" number and look gaunt and ill. That was never my objective w/WLS.

[LiseSeattle 0]

wow - i'm 5'5'' with a medium frame and my doc told me i should be about 145-150! i told him i wanted to be 135 and he said that was too thin!