Last year, my goal was chosen without a lot of thought. My surgeon recommended I try for a goal of 135-145 pounds. I'm 5'7.

I had weighed 145 my senior year of high school, and 140 was between my surgeon's recommendation, so I put down 140 as my ultimate goal.

It also made my ultimate goal match my youngest daughter's weight: 115 pounds.

Since then, I have done more research about my ultimate weight goal. I learned that I will be at a normal weight according to BMI charts when I am about 161 pounds.

This really surprised me. Why was my goal 21 pounds below "normal"? Although 140 is still within that normal range, I didn't realize the normal range for BMI was so big!

I have considered changing my goal weight numerous times, and I know I've talked about it here as well.

Today, I decided to do it. I adjusted my ultimate goal by 15 pounds. My new goal is 155.

I'm not giving up on losing weight. I am not changing anything that I am doing. I just feel like this ultimate goal is a good place for me to be. It makes me have a normal BMI and gives me wiggle room as well.

When I get to 155, I might change my mind and my ultimate goal again. But for now, I think this is a more realistic goal for where I want to be.

My goal is set at 150, which will be a 22 BMI, but I would be "normal" at 169. I'm thinking I will reevaluate when I get to 169 and then see. I have a feeling I will be just fine at that point.

Funny you mention this. I went to my 3 month appointment and I brought up goal weight. I thought he told me 110, but he said it's more like 105 for someone who is 5'1". What he gave me was the lowest end of the height/weight chart. My original goal was 130 and around a size 6 pant which is normal BMI. Now I know 105 is too small for me even with a small frame. I would be wearing size 0. I'm thinking about adjusting my goal to 125 or 120. I just don't know anymore.

At 105 my BMI would be just under 20. At 120 it would be 22.7. At 130 it would be 24.6. I thought 18.5 - 24.9 was normal.

Why do these surgeons set the goal SO LOW?

I am 5'7" too and my surgeon set my goal weight at 170 lbs!!! My personal goal is 155 as well...I was once 155 and was able to maintain that weight for about 5 years, that's why I chose it!

Linda, your post makes a lot of sense... sometimes the numbers just don't make sense. Remember, when you get to that first goal, see how you feel! I should imagine you'll be jumping for joy! I know I would at 150-155... and I am only 5'2 ...lol!

You're over 2/3s of the way there... let us know how you get on! =]

Catracks ...110lbs-105lbs! OMG! I just can't imagine an adult at that weight- well actually my mother is probablt in that range and she is, at 78, all skin and bones; she is weak and frail and looks bloody awful! (In general good health but doesn't eat... of should I say eats very little!)

I am nearly 5'2', so not much difference in our height and I honestly can't see myself at such a low weight... my surgeon said I should shoot for 154lb, which I felt was too heavy ... still not there mind, but that is another story! I am really not interested in being anywhere near the bottom end of the BMI, at BMI of between 27-24 would make me happy!

This just goes to show how very subjective the weight loss goal actually is!

Thanks Coops. I think I will stick that that 130 goal. Like Renee, this is a weight that my body seems to settle at. What's really odd is that my family was used to seeing me weigh 100 pounds as an underweight teenager. When I got a little older and put on some weight they thought I was overweight and really got on my case. In reality, I was just fine.

@ Linda - I like your new goal.

One of the key reasons for me to decide that I didn't really want 140 as a goal is my 16 and 17 year old daughters.

They are about 5'5 and 5'4, so they are a bit shorter than I am, but they both are in the 23 to 24 BMI range and weigh more than 140 pounds.

I think my girls are healthy weights and look great. One of the things I really want to change is to make sure my girls have a healthy attitude about food and exercise and understand portions, etc. I feel like my having a goal that is below their actual weight wouldn't accomplish that especially since there is nothing wrong with their weight/bmi.

My youngest daughter is 5'2, and as I said, she weighs 115 pounds. I think she it tiny at this size. I couldn't imagine her (or you, Catracks) at 105. As I said, I already think she is tiny. She wears size 0, and it can be hard to find clothes that fit her.

I want to be at a weight that is healthy and maintainable.

@renee, you and I were very close in beginning weights. Congratulations on your loss to date! I am actually 5'7.5". My original goal was to be under 200, and I felt amazing reaching that. I think I'd be very comfortable between 170 and 180, but I keep thinking of my daughters and being a healthy example, so 155 it is.

My doc didn't even give me a goal. I am 5'9". I set mine at 180 because that is the smallest I can ever remember being. I was 16 years old and wore a 14/16. To me, I looked thin then. You could see bones. I would be pleased to get back there. I KNOW my hubby will like it 

Sent from my iPad using VST

Like the joke goes, I want my goal to be weight I was at when I first went on a diet 140-145. I'm 5'5 and for me less than that is to skinny.

I am 5'9" and doctor set my goal at 160 but not sure about that, I was 125 when I got married and was happy with it, but now I'm thinking more like 130-140. I think I will just wait and see how I feel when I get to 160.

I set my goal at 135 (BMI of about 21). My Doctor did not set a goal for me. Goal weight is really personal and has many factors:

• How much did you weigh to start with and how long?: It's going to affect how much extra skin you have and how heavy your bones are.
  
• How much muscle have you retained/added/lost during the process? 10 lbs. of muscle is a different volume than 10 lbs of fat.
  
• How old are you? As we age, our face looks better with a little more weight (one reason I didn't shoot for my youthful weight of around 120).
  
• What kind of build do you have/prefer? Are your bones large, are your hips wide, is your chest large, do you prefer a more rounded look? If so, that's a few pounds there.
  

I feel great at my goal.

Lynda

I think you are spot on to reevaluate your goal. I'll share my "goal story". You are a teensie bit taller than I am (I'm just barely 5'7) and when I first was trying to set a goal I wasn't sure what to make it. I remember just before my surgery, I came on here and asked how people were setting their goals because my doctor never gave me one. As a small boned person, using the BMI chart, I ended up with 3 goals:

First - 150 - I knew I'd be happy at this weight and figured it was a good point at which I could evaluate how I felt and then decide if I wanted to take any more off.

Second - 140 - this was a weight I had been before and knew I was really happy with this size and I thought it might be a good second goal depending on how I felt at 150.

Third - 130 - this was a dream goal weight and not one I ever really thought I'd shoot for but thought maybe with the surgery I might someday reach this.

When I finally got to 150, I knew my body was not done losing. I was not able to take in enough calories to maintain 150 and knew it would be easy to keep losing so I decided to shoot for my second goal. Today, I reached 140 and I definitely feel like I could maintain this weight without trouble. My body seems to have leveled off and I'm very happy with how I look. I'm wearing a size 4-6 in bottoms and smalls in tops. I don't feel the need to lose any more so I will ignore my third goal of 130. I can see myself losing a few more pounds and giving myself a little buffer but I'm not "trying" to lose at this point. I think it's nice that my body naturally leveled off at this weight because it means I don't have to fight to stay here. I've dieted my entire teenage/adult life and I don't want to feel like I have to diet any more in order to stay a certain weight.

Funny, because when I came in for my first doctor's / NUT's appointment pre-op, I was told to write down my goal weight (which is higher than my current goal weight - let's see if I can make it there) and was told by the NUT that that was unrealistic because statistically, VSG patients only lose around 75% of their overweight. Well - who cares about statistics??? I care about my body and will do whatever I can to reach MY personal goal - at the goal my NUT mentioned based on statistics (!), I would be around a size 12, and I'd like to hope that I can do better than that (obviously not right away but eventually). Of course, if I do end up a size 12 I won't be too upset - it's still way better than a 24, but the bottom line is that it's my body and I have to feel comfortable with it, not my NUT. So same goes for you in the opposite direction - you do what feels right for you, not what your NUT or surgeon thinks...

It just seems like my surgeon wants to hang on to those silly statistics. On my first appointment he told me: You can only expect to lose 50% of your excess weight so you will probably end up at around 180. When I told him I would be into child's sizes at 105, he told me 130 was okay since that would be about 50% of my excess weight lost.

Is there some kind of new math that I'm not aware of? It kind of pissed me off a little because I just about hit his 50% mark at 3 months out and it wasn't acknowledges.

Oh well. It doesn't really matter. It's not a competition, but it does help me to get results when people tell me I can't do something. I have an authority figure problem huh?

Don't get me wrong. I like my surgeon. He's a great guy, but he drives me nuts!

Catracks - it sure seems to me like the people on this forum do a lot better than the, as you appropriately put it, "silly statistics" would have you think.