Hi, I'm loving reading the success stories, recent entries, just about everything. One thing I realized is that I picked a goal weight out of "thin" air. I picked 165 because I can't remember when I was that small. I guess I was looking forward to lowering my blood pressure and not becoming diabetic as much as setting a goal weight.

I hope I haven't short changed mysel and I know I can change the goal. Did anybody else do this? It may be my way of trying not to fail...again. If I don't set my standards too high....same old way of thinking.

I am 1.5 weeks post banding and feeling good. Down about 23 pounds and looking forward!

I researched an online chart that shows how much a person should weigh according to height. That is also the same amount I weighed 11 years ago and looked great.

Your goal weight is usually discussed with your doctor. The BMI chart is important to consider also. Some doctors will also make adjustments to the "number" based on frame size and age.

As was explained to me by the PAC, my doctor has a "target" weight for me (he uses a formula not disclosed to me), there is an "ideal" weight, which you will usually find online and is adjusted for height, and usually the patient will loose weight to a number between the target and the ideal.

My ideal weight is listed at 134, but I believe that a good compromise of 140 is more realistic for me, which is well below my target weight. I think the doctor's usually give you a wide margin for your weight goal.

You know your body best, so you also know at what weight you feel and look your best. I would let that be a guide...good luck! Any loss is progress!

I originally set my weight goal just barely within normal BMI limits. When I reached that goal, I lowered my goal another ten pounds. When I reach that, I'll rethink the matter and decide if I want to stick with that or set a goal five pounds lighter to reach my college weight which is the lowest I aspire to.

Mine was pretty random actually. I am the same height as my sister (5'8") and she weighs around 145 lbs. To me, she looks too thin for our build. Last year I got down to 180 and felt great...so 165 seemed like a happy medium as well as a realistic goal. When I met with my surgeon he said that was the ballpark range he thought would be best for me, between 155-165. I am so bad at buying the right size (even at 180, I was a 12 in some stuff and would still shop in plus size) so I can't shoot for a particular size. I think I'll just lose until I'm comfortable in my skin...or at least until my stash of Victoria Secret underwear fit!!

Jen, love your comment re: your Victoria Secret stash! I just found mine, well I knew where they were, shall I say, I'm now able to fit in some of them comfortably and looking forward to the day when I can get back into all of those sexy undies!

I didn't even set a goal at the beginning, because I felt like any weight loss was going to be a success. I am almost one year out from surgery now (June 16) and have lost about 56 lbs. I could have lost more by now if I had tried harder, but I still battle with eating too many sweets and I wasn't tracking my food. When I was looking into surgery, I read that with lap band it was reasonable to expect to lose half of your excess weight. For me, that would be 66.5 lbs. (Calculated by using my current weight, minus the higher end of the "chart weight" for my height, and dividing it by 2.) Currently that is my goal...11 more pounds and I'm there!

Beyond that, I think I will attempt to hit 75% of my excess weight lost, which would be 100 lbs from surgery weight. I've recently started using the My Fitness Pal app to track my food and I'm making a really strong effort to exercise a minimum of 3x/week. I know that by tracking my food and working out I will continue to have weight loss success.