I have never been a "Normal" weight in my life, and I have had a lot of people asking me what I want to get down to after my surgery. I honestly don't know. When I search average I see things anywhere from 135 to 162. I told one person I was thinking 150 and she said there would be nothing left of me,,, really???? I think she was a nay sayer because she went on to say why are you doing things, you have lost so much already and look great. I am like, look great at 225 pounds???

I am 5 foot three, I started this journey at 271, I am down to 220 and my surgery is tomorrow, any any ideas of what "normal" is?

I just go by my BMI range for my height and gender. I remember being 135 before I started gaining a lot. I also remember being excessively thin. I just think I look better on the heavier side, so I went for the safe 24.9 BMI. Once I get there, I'll see how I feel - whether or not I will lose a few more or try to gain a little back.

I also need to remember that some of that weight will be loose skin, even though it doesn't seem it will be THAT bad... I do intend to get it resolved, so who knows how I'll feel?

By the (very skewed) BMI charts, I should weight 118-127lbs. BUT, the national average for a woman my height and age is 137lbs. I literally bounce between 123-130lbs any given time so I guess I fall on the higher side of the "ideal" weight. My surgeon explained that when we are heavy for so many years our bones grow more dense to accommodate the weight. That was his reasoning for setting my goal weight at 150lbs instead of the lower end. I'm only 5'2" and today I weigh 126lbs, so that puts me at the high end of the BMI chart, but I'm in a size 2 jean, and an Xsmall to small top. I have huge knee, elbow and ankle joints assuming they're huge because I was morbidly obese for 10+years. We share the similar stats as I started off at 270 with the band, lost 23lbs initially, gained back 16lbs waiting on my revision, so that gave me a 7lb loss with the band, and a 138lb loss with the sleeve alone for a total of 145lbs lost.

I used this "chart" to chart my loss, and my success, plus it gives a really great report at the end. I think it gave me a good idea of where I "needed" to be at goal, and life after.

http://www.thinnerself.com/files/Expect_Chart.htm

Your 5'3 I'm 5'2 and a little. My surgeon set his goal @ 150. I said 150-140 he said not any lower than 140. I'm at 135 now, ... BMI charts say based on a small frame like mine I should be 108-121!! No way! I'd be skeleton at anything less than 120! So a I would think something in the range of 125-150 would be a good range. That's just me though!

I'mm 5'3". My doc wanted me to get down to 130#. I'm currently around 137 and feel fine at this weight. In fact, all my family (who are all "naturally" small) say I shouldn't lose any more weight or my face will look too thin and my skin too loose. My booty's flat as a pancake as it is - I agree and don't want to get below 135.

My healthy range is from 110 lbs to 155 lbs. I'm pretty big-boned and have lots of muscle mass, so I knew my ideal weight would be closer to the upper end of that range. I weighed 145 like a decade ago, before I started lifting weights, and was about size 8-10, so I think I'd end up in the 6-8 range if I weighed that now. I don't find excessive thinness attractive, so I definitely don't want to ever drop below the 130s. You just kind of play it by ear and take your bodytype and esthetic preference into consideration. I'm 160 now and let me tell you, there's definitely going to be more than enough left of me at 150...haha.

I used this "chart" to chart my loss, and my success, plus it gives a really great report at the end. I think it gave me a good idea of where I "needed" to be at goal, and life after.

http://www.thinnerself.com/files/Expect_Chart.htm

Tiff -- this is a great website -- he's got lots of good stuff on here -- thanks so much for sharing

I'm 5'4", I have always been a little overweight, but I was okay with my curves until they became lumps, bumps and rolls. I do not think I will be cute at a size 6-8, it may be too thin for me. I am setting my initial goal at 165, size 10-12. I will see how I look and feel when I get there. If I think I need to go further, I will adjust my goal...for now, I would be thrilled to get in a size 12!

We are similar height and starting weight. I am 5'3" to 5'4". HW was 243, Surgery weight was 230 and now I am between 136-140. I wear a 6/8/10 depending on brand, mostly small shirts. I am not sickly looking at all, and have some extra skin. I am not working on losing anymore, but I am still losing, so I am not sure where I will end up. I can't imagine being below 130 though.

For me, being overweight for so long really skewed my thoughts of "healthy" weight.

Pictures of People at different heights and weights.

I like looking at this site. I too can only guess at what my goal should be. At 53, my goal is probably different than a 23 y/o of the same height.

I went to that table thing that Tiff mentioned and it depressed the heck out of me! According to it my ideal weight is 116! My doc wants me at 150, my personal goal is 130 I mean yeah, 116 would secretly be really groovy but, his model didn't encourage me in my ability to achieve goal, any of them. =(

I have never been a "Normal" weight in my life, and I have had a lot of people asking me what I want to get down to after my surgery. I honestly don't know. When I search average I see things anywhere from 135 to 162. I told one person I was thinking 150 and she said there would be nothing left of me,,, really???? I think she was a nay sayer because she went on to say why are you doing things, you have lost so much already and look great. I am like, look great at 225 pounds???

I am 5 foot three, I started this journey at 271, I am down to 220 and my surgery is tomorrow, any any ideas of what "normal" is?

Well "normal" is how you see it. . . there is no wrong or right when it comes to "normal" However, if you want statistics then your doctor will be the right one to ask this question to as to what weight he/she would like to see you at. . .I feel good at this weight right now and don't have any problems with it either, however, the doctor would like to see me at 180. . . ok then am i going to get there? maybe, maybe not. . . i feel great now but i'm not stopping the process but i'm not killing myself to get there either. . . does this make sense?

Pictures of People at different heights and weights.

I like looking at this site. I too can only guess at what my goal should be. At 53, my goal is probably different than a 23 y/o of the same height.

Wow that is a great website!!! Thanks for sharing!

When you lose the weight fast like we do you will get the "don't lose anymore weight" alot. Sometimes they can't imagine you being smaller or sometimes they are jealous or sometimes they are just trying to say you look great and that is how they express it. Either way keep going girl!! You are going to love it!

I went to that table thing that Tiff mentioned and it depressed the heck out of me! According to it my ideal weight is 116! My doc wants me at 150, my personal goal is 130 I mean yeah, 116 would secretly be really groovy but, his model didn't encourage me in my ability to achieve goal, any of them. =(

Hey Globe -- don't know if you noticed, but he explains that "ideal" is the standard dr's chart -- not what people normally weigh. For example, my "ideal" is 145. Ha. I'm never going to weigh that. What people normally weigh who are my age and height is 188. I don't want to weigh that either (it's outside of normal BMI). But I think my goal of 165 is good (it's just a little under my normal BMI) and maybe if I'm lucky, I can get to 155. But in the 140s, ha. I was 140 when I was 18 which was almost 30 years ago.

I think he gives the 2 extremes so you know where you lie, so to speak.

I had a nice talk with my surgeon yesterday. He will not give a weight goal, and encourages his patients to not set a weight goal. He said that numbers are a trap... people set themselves up for feeling like they are a failure if they land 5 or more pounds from the number they made up. He said look at your health goals first. Did you succeed in reaching them? Your body will find its weight, if you follow the Drs orders, you will get where your body wants to be. He said with the inability of many people to see how they look after they lose weight, its even more crazy, others many see you as slim and just fine...as we see ourselves as still fat.

That is very sensible, and really, that is what he is doing the surgery for and insurance is paying for....but he is SO not vain!