Goal Weight Question

[gracie78 0]

When I was in High School and College, my weight hovered between 165 and 190 - I was never able to get it any lower than about 160, and I was running 5 miles a day and not eating very much. My doctor says my in order to meet the BMI standards should be about 140 (I am 5'7'') - so my question is, do you think I can get down to 140 or do you think maybe my bones are too big or something and getting that low will be impossible? I am worried about trying to get back down to the 160s....

[travelinsnorkel 0]

Although I've never been thin, I agree that I don't think my body type will meet the BMI standards. I have a friend who is my height, 5'9", and weighs 170 and is super skinny. So, I think that there can't just be one set standard.

[Mrs. Bubba 0]

I think everyone is different.... That's why I'm going for a feeling of health and vitality and not a number. And that feeling can be very relative.... If you've been nearly 400 like me, 300 is a miracle and 200 will be heaven.... The 160 they said I should be is their table and that table and those calculations don't know me like I know me:tt2:..... Just my opinion, but that is what I'm aiming for.... Best of luck to you..... Julie

[EmeraldCoastPhotog 0]

I will have to agree with Julie, I was at one point in my 20s around 160 pounds. Since I am 6' tall, I was very thin. Actually I didn't see it but I can remember seeing my pelvic bones. I also remember my now ex-husband saying I was too thin and it hurt to lay against me.

My Mother who is and has always been very critical of my weight, thought I looked fantastic at 160. My doctor thinks I should shoot for around 175. Even though I own a scale, I don't plan on weighing frequently and am sure I will know when I have lost enough weight. Like Julie, I imagine it will be a feeling of healthiness and well-being.

Maybe when you were weighing 165-190 in high school some of that had to do with your physiology and it might just be that your body can't get down to 140. You will know when you are approaching your right weight and it just might be that yours may be higher than the numbers on the charts.

Fran

[Sue Magoo 71]

Gracie:

I was having a similar dilemna concerning my weight. I originally set my goal to be a size 12 or 14. I'm there. I started at 324, so I had no idea what it would take to get to the size I remembered feeling comfortable at. So, here I am at the goal size. However, my weight is at 176 and holding..... I believe that my bmi goal is 159. I discussed this with my lap band doctor. I told him I'd like to shoot for 170. He looked at my medical stats and said that 170 would be a fine goal for me because I don't have any health issues like high blood pressure, sugar issues, etc. So, my goal is size 12 (already there) and 170 pounds (six to go!).

By the way, I have been fat for 20+ years. I don't want to be thin because my wrinkles will show too much. I feel 20 years younger, but don't look it because of the wrinkles that show now because I don't have them all filled with fat. Oh well, can't have everything! Middle age has caught up with me, but I'm gonna keep running from it.....

Best wishes to you.

Sue

[Kalipso2 25]

yeah... i'm not sure i believe in the whole BMI thing.

i'm 5'4" and my beginning weight was 213 and i'm now 172. according to Mr. BMI my weight should be around 120-140. my goal IS to get to 130 but being at 172 isn't so bad either.

people at work don't think i will look healthy if i lose another 40 pounds... but Mr. BMI says i will. i just went shopping for an entire new wardrobe because my size 16's were just swimming on me, even with a belt. i now fit in a size 12 jean, a size 10 dress pant (no elastic!) and a size 8 skirt!

i'm happy with those results. don't get me wrong... i'm still going to continue to try to lose but in my eyes and in my heart i look prett damn good right now!

[gracie78 0]

I would really like to be a size 10. I at my thinnest was a 12. I would love to be the 10. However, I don't think my thighs will ever fit in a 10. I always bought size 12 pants when I was younger and the waste was huge but my thighs were so friggin big I couldn't get the smaller waste size. I really want to have thin legs.

[Kalipso2 25]

you'll be surprised where the weight will come off! i've ALWAY had wide hips and a smaller waist. i'd have to buy my pants a size bigger just to get them past my hips and they were always too bit around the waist. that's just the way my body shape was... even when i was thin.

i still have a hard time with jeans and dress pants but at least i'm having to decide between a 10/12 instead of a 16/18!

[Jachut 487]

I've always been one to shoot for the lower number but I know that's because my body type is such that I'll always be someone who is healthier at the lower number.

I'm 5ft 10 and 154 now and not super skinny, so you can see, as mentioned above that if someone is 5ft 9 and 170 and superskinny, we must have quite different body types. Of course, it depends what we both call super skinny too.

But the point is, my healthy weight range is (I'm going in kilograms here, cant convert in my head) 63 to 79kg. That's a HUGE range. And I always always naturally sat at about 82kg. I thought I had an ENORMOUS weight problem, and I spent my entire youth desperately dieting. I've got photos of myself now, about two years ago at that weight, a year into my journey. I look pudgy, bloated and not my best.

Once or twice, I got down to about 75kg, once I got to 72 for my wedding. It never held, it would bounce right back up to 82. With the band, Im now sitting at an easy 70 to 72. No effort at all.

You probably CAN do it, but I think too your body will take you where's best for you if you allow it to. This is just where my weight loss petered out and stopped.

[mammanan 0]

Thought for today:smile2:

I think for many of us getting to a "normal BMI" may not be possible or even healthy because we can lose fat and build lean muscle but we can't wish away the extra skin and supportive tissues or the increased bone mass we have developed to carry all this extra weight...

For me..in all past weight management attempts, I have always tried for a number. a certain weight as being successful and anything short of that to be failure..... But NOT THIS TIME!!...Every right choice made/ bandster rule followed/ evening at the gym/ blood pressure pill no longer needed to be taken is a victory!!

Victory is in the journey and not just the destination!

[L12 13]

When my surgeon asked what I would like to weigh, I told him I'd be satisfied at 160 and thrilled beyond belief at 130 (I'm 5'4 and 240 right now). He thought 130 sounded too low, but I told him I used to hover around 120 between ages 18-26 (I'm 33 now). So once I'm banded we're going to see how I look and feel, and how hard it was to get there once I reach 160.

I'm not sure how he has figured that 140 exactly is your ideal weight, as there is a range but no magic number! At that weight, your BMI would be 21.9. BMI for a so-called normal weight is 18.5 to 24.9, so the correlating weight range for you according to BMI is 118 to 159. The Metropolitan Life weight chart shows a range of 123 to 163 for your height, depending on your bone structure.

My take is that if you are 160, eat well, and can (and do) run five miles a day, you're probably pretty healthy. If you can ever get back to that weight and activity level, I personally wouldn't worry too much about hitting that magic 140.

Edited October 21, 2008 by L12