How did you come up with a "goal weight" or have you?

[Laurinda 1]

How did you come up with a "goal weight" or have you?

I am asked all the time how much weight I want to lose or what my "goal" is. I have to be honest...I don't have a "goal" number. When I tell people this they look at me like I'm crazy. I put a goal in the ticker box to be able to post but <shrug> I am goal free, at least when it comes to numbers. Did you know right away what you wanted to claim as "goal" or did you kinda figure it out as you went along?

I kinda feel like I want to see the scale it 199 <laughing> once I am under 200 maybe a "goal" will seem more feasible. It's not that I don't care, I care very much, I just for one don't wanna be caught up in the head trip numbers game and two I haven't been under 200 in so long I'm not sure my brain cells can compute.

I am very happy with the way things are going and want to continue the downward slope. I was just wondering if any one else feels the way I do or am I crazy?

[Jachut 487]

No, I knew right away. I'd been about 78kg as an adult for quite long periods of time, which is at the high end of my healthy weight range. I knew I wanted to be thinner than that. I knew about 70 would be pretty good.

Also, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. There was no way I'd settle for a weight, which though healthier than what I was, was still "overweight". Nor would I settle for the higher end of my weight range.

Same as how for exercise, I dont walk, I run. Because running's harder, more challenging so it would give me more satisfaction to master it.

You're not crazy, I suspect I am. I dont make things easy on myself. There's a lot to be said for REALISTIC goals.

Edited August 6, 2008 by Jachut

[coltonwade 27]

My orginal goal wt was 140 . I was 140 when i met my husband and i was happy w/ myself , liked the way i looked.

I got down to 160 and told my doc " I think i should start thinking abotu plastic surgery . He said " UMM NO You still have 35 more pds to lose ?

HUH ? He told me ' whats the point of settling for 140 when your still considered over weight ( As Jachut said ) whats the poitn of HAVING the surgery to get healthy and STILL being over weight ? (Im only 5ft 3 )

I thought about it and he was right .

SO NOW my goal wt 125 !!! I would have SMACKED Someone if they told me 125 was even POSSIBLE a yr ago . But its VERY Possible.

My original goal wt was one i was "Settling "for too , it was "All " I thought i could do . So do not settle for your goal weight !! You had this surgery for a reason , to get healthy and not be over weight.

keep that in mind I think when looking for a goal weight.

You are doing AWESOME so far ! !!

Mindy

[RedTulips3 0]

Laurinda,

I remember at my first consultation with my doc, I asked what he thought I could get down to and he told me 190. Being 305lbs at the time that number sounded absolutely amazing to me because it meant being under 200! I couldn't even fathom such a number. That number was a great number to shoot for when starting out at 300lbs+, but that only put me at the edge of overweight/obese categories.

By the time surgery rolled around I was 250lb so we lowered it to like 160-170, which seemed more reasonable. If I would have set that goal when I was 300lbs I would have given up! When I got below 200, I reassessed and decided that I want to shoot for a normal BMI weight as my goal. 160lb will put me just above it. 155lb is my ultimate goal as I will be in normal BMI range and that will be a loss of 50% of my body weight!

You're not crazy at all! I think it's great that you're not caught up in the number on the scale. For a lot of people though (including myself), it's their motivation (either positive or negative) to keep on going. I definitely think that as you lose more weight, you can figure out a goal weight for yourself, if you want to. Being out of the 200s does wonders for your perspective on things. At least in my case, based on my height using the BMI chart, when I got into the 190s, I was like "190 is only 30lbs from 160, I can totally get to 160!"

Whatever you're doing is working since you've lost almost 80lbs since surgery so keep on doing it and congrats to you!

[heartfire 4]

I don't think you're crazy at all! Why not put 199 as your initial goal and then revise from there? I have seen people say they do that. As for myself, I fooled with the BMI calculator til I got into the healthy range and picked that as my goal (140, BMI 24.8) and then decided to drop it down to 130 since I really want to get as close to that as possible. I graduated HS in 1986 weighing around 120. At 40, I really don't expect to see that ever again but it'd be nice to get close. I may decide to change it back up to 140 but we'll see. My highest weight was, I think 260, documented is 250 but I'd lost weight before I'd gone to the Dr and saw the 250, so really, anything anywhere near a "normal BMI" is going to make me happy! And who knows maybe I will get back in to the 120's!! Wouldn't THAT be shocking!!!! :cry_smile:

[Sasha2013 0]

LOL 199 I haven't seen those numbers on a scale since 2001!!! And I thought I was sooooooooo fat, lmao

But I think my band, and getting fills can get me as far as I want to go( well eating right of course), I'm going to exercise and I'd like to be toned so I know muscle weighs a little more, my goal is just to be at a "normal weight" like I'm not settling for moving from obese to just overweight I want to take it all the way to "normal" I use the word normal cause I know saying 22-24 bmi won't be accurate if I build muscle, but what ever the category is before overweight is LOL that's where I wanna be...somewhere that I can have a healthy lifestyle I'm no longer at increased risk for disease

[coltonwade 27]

Take the weight 10 pds at a time. its more manageable that way at first.

If you want/ need to set too goals that's do able too .

[heartfire 4]

My orginal goal wt was 140 . I was 140 when i met my husband and i was happy w/ myself , liked the way i looked.

I got down to 160 and told my doc " I think i should start thinking abotu plastic surgery . He said " UMM NO You still have 35 more pds to lose ?

HUH ? He told me ' whats the point of settling for 140 when your still considered over weight ( As Jachut said ) whats the poitn of HAVING the surgery to get healthy and STILL being over weight ? (Im only 5ft 3 )

I thought about it and he was right .

SO NOW my goal wt 125 !!! I would have SMACKED Someone if they told me 125 was even POSSIBLE a yr ago . But its VERY Possible.

My original goal wt was one i was "Settling "for too , it was "All " I thought i could do . So do not settle for your goal weight !! You had this surgery for a reason , to get healthy and not be over weight.

keep that in mind I think when looking for a goal weight.

You are doing AWESOME so far ! !!

Mindy

Mindy, you make some good points. I was looking at your stats. I'm 5'3" too and 140 would barely be in the "normal" range. That's one reason I chose 130 as a new goal as I wanted to be MORE in the "normal" range. I'll have to think about what you and your Dr said. I'm wondering if just being glad to get somewhere, if we don't end up settling for it and stop working so hard. Okay, stopping now, I'm about to start rambling out loud!! Thanks for that though.

<wandering away> Hmmmm.....

[coltonwade 27]

Mindy, you make some good points. I was looking at your stats. I'm 5'3" too and 140 would barely be in the "normal" range. That's one reason I chose 130 as a new goal as I wanted to be MORE in the "normal" range. I'll have to think about what you and your Dr said. I'm wondering if just being glad to get somewhere, if we don't end up settling for it and stop working so hard. Okay, stopping now, I'm about to start rambling out loud!! Thanks for that though.

<wandering away> Hmmmm.....

Well get to 130 or 140 and see how you do/feel. i can almost bet you will get there and go " HUMM I can do another 5 or 10 pds"

At first you cant imagine being under 200 , then you get there and its under 180 or 190 then its under 175 so taking it 10 pds at a time is easier less over whelming !!

Good luck

Mindy

[Kissmygrits 0]

My two cents: I believe you really have to think back to a weight were you looked nice and were healthy. For me, I had to go all the way back to middle school to find this number! LOL. More seriously, I am not a big believer in the BMI or height/weight chart as a measure for how thin you should be. For one thing, BMI does not account for muscle mass or build (which I believe varies considerably in how people look even at the same weight), or even ethnic differences in body types. I know that the recommended healthy weight for me, according to BMI, would probably be unsightly and too thin.

A perfect weight for me would probably be about 20 lbs above my recommended BMI because I remember what that looks like on my frame.

If you need a more objective measure, I believe it makes much more sense to rely on a body fat analysis to determine my "goal" weight/size than a regular scale.

[Jodi_620 37]

I believe you really have to think back to a weight were you looked nice and were healthy.

Hmm...lets see now that would have been when I was four years old :cry_smile: (LOL)

This is a good question Laurinda. I was asked during my psych evaluation what my goal weight was and for someone like me who has always been overweight, that is not an easy question to answer. I can't imagine myself at a normal weight and had no idea what the normal weight was for me. During my adult life I had struggled with all of the diets and at one point I was able to get down to my lowest adult weight which was 170 (which didn't last very long) so I answered her with a weight of 150 and she frowned and said that I could do better than that.

The goal weight we arrived at is strange because it is not a round number. But what we did was look at the BMI chart for my height and picked a weight that is smack dab in the middle of the normal weight BMI range...137 for me.

Edited August 6, 2008 by Jodi_620

[caybachman 0]

I am also 5'3" and currently weigh just about 230. I sat down with my doctor and we had a long discussion about what is normal, healthy and most of all realistic. We both know that i should be 140 and that would put my BMI right where it should be, but he wanted me to be realistic about my body size, my muscle mass and if I wanted be stuck eating a bread crumb or two a day....forever.

We came up with 180 as a goal. That would mean that I would lose 70 pounds. We agreed that losing the size of a 1st grader would be healthier for me then what is there. If I choose then to lose more, he will totally support me, but wants me to know what would keep my quality of life good too.

I suggest that you sit down with your doctor. Don't look at the BMI scale. Look at what would be healthy for you and attainable. If you set a goal too far down and can't get there...you will always be disappointed.

I also agree with the 10 pounds at a time....I actually do five pound increments....easier to be excited then.

Good luck to all!!!

[Laurinda 1]

Thanks for the good reading ppl! I guess I do have goals...just not an ending goal :cry_smile: ( I was feeling stressed about that )

My first goal is to be minus 100 pounds before the year is out, I am close ( gotta update that ticker thang)

Then I am going for that 199 (laughing) Then I guess I will see. I like that 10 pounds at a time idea. :drool:

[It's_Christine 0]

Laurinda,

I share your enthusiasm for life under 200 lbs. If anyone asks my goal is to never weight more than 200lbs again and that's all I know for sure. Do I think I will weigh less than that, yes I do. Do I have a clue what that weight may be, absolutely NOT! Seriously, I think the 200lb thing has to to with the usual sour faces of the various health care professionals when they had to push the scale up past 200lbs to weight me. By time they had to push it up past 300bs I was already immune to their silent disapproval.

I have no healthy, happy weight to return to since I weighed 125lbs in 2nd grade and entered highschool at 200 lbs on a 5'3" frame.

My plan is to simply eat right, exercise and find the right balance for my life. I am not going to pursue a weight or a BMI. If my band continues to help me eat 1000-1200 cals a day and I exercise daily for heart health and muscle mass maintenance the weight will just happen as a product of that. I am tired of seeing a weight as a finish line. My current lifestyle is my goal and I will work to maintain it.

Congrats on your weight loss so far and I wish you continued success.

[Shamrockgirl60 1]

I am being banded tomorrow, I came up with my goal weight by what I looked good at. My lowest (you will hate me) was 105 when I was 21, I stayed between 110-115 till I was 28 and got pregnant. Then I was about 140 after my daughter was born, Went up to 160 and dieted back to 130. Well yo yoing was my problem. In my mid early 40's I went through early menopause, and some other problems, my weight went up to 175 for a few years. Then back down, by my late 40's I was about 180. Then in my early 50's my metabolism slowed down, and I have hypothyroidism undiagnosed for at least a few years and my weight shot up to 200. By the time I was on the proper medication I was maybe 220. Went back and forth for a few years between 220 and 180 or so but never lower.

I felt good at around 120-125 and my goal now is 130. If I make it to that I will be very happy. I am 5'4".

So everyone is different. What ever weight loss we get on this it's good. Set realistic goals first then when you make them.....go a bit further.

Take care

Pati