Hello all, I'm wondering how you went about setting your goal weight. Starting out my goal was to lose 101 pounds since my surgeon was a jerk and told me I could only hope to lose 100 pounds at most. I was motivated to prove him wrong and I did! Now I've lost 198 pounds, I'm 5 years out, and I'm still losing. My "ideal weight" according to the BMI chart is 108 - 145 pounds. I do, however, have a lot of excess skin. If I were to get down to the bottom end of weight range and weighed 108 pounds but 20 of that is skin isn't that the same as weighing a very unhealthy 88 pounds? Did you take excess skin into account when setting your goal? If you had a pennilectomy how much skin were they able to remove? Perhaps I'm over estimating how much skin is really there? Any thought are welcome. Thanks in advance!

Hi Tanya. I exceeded my 'goal' as well. My PCP told me if I got down to 150 lbs. gone, she would be thrilled so that's the number I plugged in. Two years out and I'm down to around 115-117 lbs. That's not underweight for me as I'm small in stature but I also think as you do that at least ten pounds is loose skin so I'm likely 105-107 lbs. which is still in the normal range for me.

I have gotten some remarks from friends and family about not losing any more weight but I know that's just because I've lost so much that they are concerned. My doctor is not and neither am I. Besides...I love food way too much to become anorexic.

If I have plastic surgery, it won't be for a couple of years yet so I don't know the answer to your question but since I need my tummy done, and much of the lower body as everything is saggy from the waist down, I have to think there's a good ten or more pounds of loose skin. I just need a break from surgery as I've gone through several these last couple of years.

Hope this response helped some.

The end goal is a weight YOU are most happy with. Of course pending that your weight is not still causing high blood pressure, diabetes, or other comorbidities. My doc's patients are all being tracked and he told me from the beginning that the bell curve results show that the majority of his banded patients will lose 80% of their excess weight. For me, that would put me at about 188lbs.

I kind of aimed for this and when I was about 195-200lbs (65lbs gone) my skin was so bothersome that I decided to have a body lift and brachioplasty (first stage of a head-to-toe skin tightening process). My plastic surgeon removed 15lbs of skin and flab. I weighed 185 post op and stayed there for the past year.

Last week I had the second and final big plastic surgery of a thighplasty and breast reduction (36DD to hopefully a C-cup) and he also removed big flappy mess in my underarms.

I weigh the same as the surgery day, granted I am very swollen all over my body so I will probably weigh about 5-7lbs less in a few months.

The 15-lbs taken off me for the bodylift and brachioplasty allowed me to drop a full size in pants and shirts. I went from a regular 16 to a 14. My waist could actually fit a 12, but my thighs had not been done yet and now that they are, I'm hoping that my legs will eventually fit that 12.

I'm happy with a 12. I was a 22W moving into a 24W on the day of my LapBand in 2009.

I am 5'6" tall and I think I look good this size. I get complimented A LOT on my figure now and love it. My tummy is super flat. No more ass-shelf. And now I have no more old lady boobs.

I know I'll never have super thin model-like thighs. I've come to accept that. I look really nice in clothes and when I go shopping, my only restriction is price, not style. I look really good in belts that show off my skinny waist.

You gotta find a place in your journey where the image in the mirror pleases you. No doctor can tell you what that is.

Jennifer

If you don't mind my asking, Jennifer, how much did all the plastics cost? I really need my thighs, stomach, and arms done. I'd also like to get some lipo in my calves, ankles, and knees. Seems silly but I've lost almost 200 pounds and it makes me mad that I still can't wear cute knee high boots in the winter. I don't need the beast reduction (even at my highest weight I topped out at a C cup) but a lift may be in order. Haha

I feel your body sort of selects a set point where it is comfortable. May be higher than charts and docs want. But what do YOU want? A size 12 was great for me. I am so healthy a few extra lbs come and go. But I basically hover around the same weight for 7 years that is how I figured my end zone. Good luck