How To Set Your Goal Weight

[SKCUNNINGHAM 298]

Here is a link that can help you set your target goal weight.

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

This site also has a link about the Metropolitan Life Insurance weight tables, and why that reference may not be the appropriate weight target for individuals. I had never seen the study / charts it references. Interesting stuff - but I happen to like statistics.

I am 11 pounds away from my original target, and am trying to decide where I want to stop - so I am revisiting this whole topic again.

[RosieSweetie 40]

Thanks for the link. I just got sleeved so I have a long way to go, but this website was helpful.

[emily_0192010 168]

You know I never really considered what my goal weight should be. I am three months out and only about halfway, so I'm definitely not pressed for time. When I made my ticker I looked at the BMI charts and it said a healthy weight was between 98 and 130... so I went in the middle with 115. But honestly I have no burning desire to hit that number. I have no clue where I want to end up because I have never been there before. I am hoping I am one of those people who just "know" when they've reached their ideal weight, but of course nothing is that easy right??

Thanks for posting this! Hopefully when I am at that point I'll be able to look back and use this to help me.

[coops 1,790]

This is interesting... my recommended weight on the above link is 134lb (approx 9 1/2stone), now, I haven't been that weight since I was 15 and that was 25 years ago. My surgeon's goal is 154lb (11stone) so that is a 20lb difference... to me, that is a big difference! My ultimate goal of 140-138 is the approx weight I carried in my late teens and early twenties... now I really don't think I will get there... I will try, but I won't beat myself up if I don't. To weight anything under 11 stone would be amazing for me!!

Time will tell my sleeve friends...

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,280]

I love this topic... LOL Ok most of you know that's a lie.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I think the REAL answer is as individual as all the snowflakes that fall from the sky in the Winter. I think the real answer to how much each of us should weight would be for each individual have their body fat % checked. Depending on how much body fat you want to have, you would have your lean body mass weighed. Then you would multiply 1.## to get your answer.

It's still not THAT simple either. If you are anything like me, being super obese for decades, you have to consider other factors... such as how much does my extra skin weigh? How much residual fat will I have left over? Being obese our fat cells do multiply, yet they never fully disappear. Thus me needing to have my procedure to have it removed.

Good luck to all finding the true answer - which for me has just been accepting me as I am. I'm healthy, fit and feel good in my clothing size. That's where I've chosen to end up anyhow.

[Lisa821 29]

I also did not know what to choose as a goal weight. I have been overweight for long, all I remember is my lowest weight while dieting. That was 182#. I remember feeling really good about the way I looked then and that was only 53# from my preop weight and only 22# from my weight right now. Wow! That thought just blew my mind! On my surgery day my surgeon asked me how much I would like to lose. I told him at least 55#. His eyes nearly popped out of his head and said I will likely lose 80-90#. So I decided to set my goal at a 90# loss. However, if I don't get there I know I will be happy because I've only lost 31# so far and I already feel great relief of my back and joints. Overall, this proves to me that my goal should be based on how I feel at the time. I will know it when I get there.

Big hugs!

Lisa

[MegInNOLA 531]

I also have no real idea of a "goal" weight--my surgeon didn't set one, and my nutritionist set my goal at 212 pounds (which was almost 10 pounds ago). I'm 6'2" and have been overweight for around 25 years. I feel both a little bit lost and a little loathe to actually set a goal that may or may not be attainable--does that make sense? I know I want to reach a "normal" BMI of 25, which means that for my height, I need to hit 194 pounds, but that's the top range of "normal" for my height. I don't think I have a particularly large frame--I mean, I have a LONG frame, but it's not like I have thick bones or am what someone would consider "big boned."

So those charts say that the "people's choice" weight for my height is 178. Wow. I have a LONG way to go to hit that weight. It's frustrating that there's a 30- to 40-pound range in "normal" weight (from 155-195 for my height!) on some weight charts, which makes those charts sort of useless.

I know that finding an ideal weight is very individualized, and I agree that aiming just for a number isn't really a useful thing--some bodies are just more muscular and will be heavier for height and yet still really healthy and in shape (and as Irene proves, smaller in size than one might expect at a particular weight). I don't really have a "muscular" build, either...

So I'm joining the "I have no idea where I'm heading" club, and I feel kind of okay about that, as long as I make it into "normal" BMI land (which is, right now, my "goal"). I'm looking forward to onederland some time soon (only have 4 pounds to go!) and then to 194 (normal BMI) and to 190 (my original "goal"). After that, I am clueless. :-)

[RickM 1,747]

My goal have been based upon body composition, aiming for a nominal 15% body fat (which is low/mid range of the normal or "fitness" range, depending upon whose charts one is using) for men; realistically, given the flakiness of body fat measurements, and the effect of the residual excess skin, anything in the mid-teens is a healthy range. My personal trainer thinks that the upper teens where I am now is low enough; anything in this range is plenty healthy, but still a few points "overweight" on BMI and still above the various averages noted on the site linked by the OP, but that shows the difference between what's healthy and appropriate for an individual versus the averages.

At two pounds above my nominal weight goal and upper teens on body fat, I'm now into maintenance transition mode and will see how things settle out as I arrest the weight loss and let my body comp adjust and stabilize - maybe allow a bit more loss and/or work to build back a bit of muscle mass, but we're talking about a couple pounds here or there at this point.

[Roseib 13]

Someone asked my doctor about ideal weights at support group a while back. He said be careful using ideal weights. Many people who have been overweight for many years have developed sturdy bones and targeting for example a weight from the actuarial charts could be too low. Like way too low 20-30 pounds. Depends on the individual I guess. I will have a lot of loose skin plus I have swelling in one of my legs from lymphedema so I tacked on some pounds to my ideal weight. He said a lot of people will recognize it when they get there not before. Unfortunately I'm not close enough yet to test thst assertion.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,280]

Someone asked my doctor about ideal weights at support group a while back. He said be careful using ideal weights. Many people who have been overweight for many years have developed sturdy bones and targeting for example a weight from the actuarial charts could be too low. Like way too low 20-30 pounds. Depends on the individual I guess. I will have a lot of loose skin plus I have swelling in one of my legs from lymphedema so I tacked on some pounds to my ideal weight. He said a lot of people will recognize it when they get there not before. Unfortunately I'm not close enough yet to test thst assertion.

ITA Rose, it's absolutely true. IMO, anyone who was carrying well over 100+ Lbs over their ideal weight for a long time will end up with the "sturdy bones", lots of heavy excess skin, extra fat cells, etc... etc... I think we need to be fair with ourselves on not beat ourselves up if we don't hit our "weight" goals based on normal persons standards. For me, I'm not normal when it comes to that. And I'm okay with that.

[Eyemallrt 16]

When I hit 140 and size 8's, I thought if I didn't lose any more, I was happy and my surgery successful. Now I am at 130 and size 6's, I'm ecstatic! And the weight is still coming off. My lowest adult weight was 122-125. I guess I'll aim for there now? I am 4 months out, and still have significant restriction, so should I go as low as I can while I can? ( still staying in BMI range for my height of course, I'm 5' 4") or at 44, should I have a little fat to plump out the wrinkles? Lol. Never, never did I think I would be worried about losing too much for my frame!!