Strange subject line, but this IS a success story. I'll be 3 weeks out in 2 days (thurs 11/21/13). My sleeve and I are getting along famously. I am on purees and being a little experimental and he's hanging in there like a champ! I was sleeved at 322 and today I weighed in at 293! I havent seen the 2's in a while. And I feel great. I'm getting around much better, my back doesnt hurt, I can tie my shoes without a big circus production, etc. Loving the sleeve!

My question for you all is this: Now that I'm getting excited by my weight loss, and really buying into the momentum of losing in my new lifestyle, I looked up my target/goal weight on the BMI chart. I'll still be a 29 - on the edge of overweight and obese! I'm like 6' 2.5" and my goal is 235. I didn't go through all this to still have some labcoat nerds call me obese! Yes I know the BMI chart is a load of crap, and athletic people have no chance of ever being 'normal' on it. But for some reason, having the label "obese" at the end of this journey is buggin the crap out of me. I'm very much a goal oriented and competitive person, so knowing where the finish line is matters in my mental approach.

I based my goal on a weight I remembered being when I was a college athlete. I competed at 235. And I'm going to be in the gym and also on the ice so expect my physique to be in line with those days. What would you do? Would you change your goal to a lower weight or proudly wear the label obese as you strut around with your new body?

If you are planning on ending up very muscular, I would scrap weight or BMI as a (primary) goal and shoot for a certain body fat percentage instead.

Muscle most certainly weigh more so I would rather look at the muscle weight and fat weight rather than just a number. I also feel great after losing about 55lb but still am in the obese range and folks are already starting the too thin conversation.

I will certainly aim for the normal BMI range and then re-evaluate closer to goal. It is a journey and I think we should just enjoy it. After 3 months out, food no longer controls me.

I don't have anywhere near your stats but my goal weight is definitely overweight for the BMI chart, and it is 10 pounds lower than the weight discussed with the surgeon. I am so early in the process that I'm just going to see how it all goes. But I am not (so far) hung up on that dumb chart. :-)

I started with an initial goal which I revised after losing 100#. I currently am under my revised goal... undecided if This is truely my new goal.

I started with an initial goal which I revised after losing 100#. I currently am under my revised goal... undecided if This is truely my new goal.

One of the things I have been flirting with is to set my goal at a body fat percentage. I have a nifty formula I can use to calculate what my ideal weight should be based on my desired body fat percentage and my current lean mass.

If you plan to bulk up, I'd go with BF% rather than BMI.

Case in point, I'm 5'6, so "normal" for me would be in the 140-150 range. But if I want to be at 25% body fat which is healthy for women, based on my existing lean mass, I would actually be at 162. That's a huge difference.

If you know your current body fat percentage, give me your current weight, your BF% and your desired BF% and I can tell you what your goal weight should be--coz yes, I'm nerdy like that.

I think I'm going to have some gym shirts printed up that says "The government says I'm obese"

That'll be my motivation!

We have almost exactly the same stats. I'm unsure of what my goal weight should be so I'm going to set my goal for 215 and adjust as needed when I approach that weight. If I'm happy with myself at 225 when I get there, I'll stay. If not, I'll lose some more. I figure I'll be considered pretty much a god in the ladies eyes anywhere in the vicinity of my goal so I'm not worried. lol