Adjusting Your Goals and Expectations

[elliekay 189]

Hi everyone!

My goal going into surgery was to get to 170lbs. As of this morning I weighed 180.6 (FINALLY losing again after 2.5 months of sitting at 185...) and I got to thinking, I've got way more than 10lbs left to lose!! It's weird how different my body is at this weight than I thought it was going to be--from looking at pictures of girls my height (5'11) at 170/180 to my conversations with my doctor and those close to me about what my expectations and goals should be, I really thought at this point I'd just be a bit chubby, not able to grab handfuls of tummy like I can now! I'm incredibly proud of how far I've come and that I'm this close to hitting goal... hopefully I'll hit it by my 1 yr surgiversary on 8/1... but I guess I'm just surprised that this weight I never thought I'd ever be able to get to now seems too heavy. This is my first time ever being this weight apart from being a child so I really don't know what to expect anymore or what to adjust my goal to.

Has anyone else had to adjust their goal as they've gotten close to it? Or been surprised by their body's changes in relation to what their expectations were?

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

I set my goal weight based on my HS weight. I'm physically smaller now than I was in HS at this same weight (a lot more muscle mass).

The smaller I get, the smaller I see that I can get, 10 or 20 more pounds wouldn't hurt. I have a lot of loose skin on my stomach, so yeah I can grab a lot of tummy, but it is mainly loose skin that I can't lose, its playdough. I'm almost 1/2 the size I used to be skin is to be expected.

I have a goal for myself and a stretch goal, that are just for me to know not anyone else. If I do not lose anymore I am happy where I am. I feel like I will lose more just because of how I eat. It will just be at a snails pace. I'm pretty sure my body is as shocked as I am to be at this weight.

[Introversion 1,876]

I'm vertically challenged at 5'1 so my original goal weight was 110 pounds, which would have placed me at a very normal BMI of 20 and into single-digit clothing sizes.

At three months post-op I adjusted my goal upward to 130. The weight was coming off at a painfully slow rate of about 5 to 6 pounds monthly, so I thought I'd never make it to my original goal.

I reached my revised goal of 130 pounds at 14 months out. My surgery day weight was 218, so I decided to lose a nicely even 100 pounds by getting to a body weight of 118. 118 pounds was my new goal.

It took another 4 months to lose the additional 12 pounds to get to 118. I've been maintaining this body weight without a great deal of effort while eating in the ballpark of 2000 calories daily. This is the first time in my adult life I've been weight-stable. I wear a size 4 and enjoy life as a normal-weight person.

[catwoman7 10,986]

your BMI is a 25, so you're fine. It's probably just loose skin. Of course, you can always try to lose more weight if you want to, but 25 is in the normal BMI range.

if you really want to know where you stand, get one of those commercial DEXA scans where they do the body composition analysis. It's one of the more accurate ways of measuring body fat. If your body fat percentage is normal, then it's definitely just loose skin. I had one of those scans and my body fat was 22%. The technician said that was fine, but not to let it get much lower or I'd just be consuming muscle. Between that and my PCP telling me it was time to stop, I decided to stop, even though I felt "chubby", too, with all the loose skin.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

@elliekay

Like @catwoman7 said DEXA scans are a great way to know what your body fat is and that is a better gauge of where you should be.

You are in Illinois, almost every public university offers DEXA scans in their Sports depts, at a fraction of the commercial costs. They need the money so support your local university!

[elliekay 189]

@catwoman7 and @OutsideMatchInside - I've never considered that! I'll look into it. Honestly I hope it is a decent amount of actual fat because I'd like to be a size 8--sitting around a 12 right now. At my height I don't think I'll get much smaller than that regardless. I can tell I have a bit of loose skin but it's hard to really tell how much of it is skin and how much is fat. Thanks for the tip!

[Berry78 4,259]

I'm going to hazard a guess that 10-15lbs will get you down to a size 10, which for your height, will be perfect! Loose skin can really play tricks on your perceptions.

Love the idea of the dexa scan!

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Well once you get to 8 or 10s everything is always sold out. I miss being a 12 sometimes.

[Introversion 1,876]

In addition to the DEXA scans that have been mentioned by previous respondents, I also wanted to mention hydrostatic body fat testing.

I paid $49 for the hydrostatic body fat test. It's considered the gold standard for body fat testing as far as accuracy is concerned. I donned a swimsuit and sat in a tub of warm Water for a few minutes as the technician conducted her analysis.

The results indicated my body fat level is just under 18% and that I have more pounds of muscle mass than the average female in my age range.

They also conducted a RMR/TDE test. My TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) was estimated to be approximately 2090 calories a day. This means I can eat up to 2100 calories daily without weight regain. I am over the moon about these results.

[Apple1 2,572]

18 hours ago, elliekay said:

@catwoman7 and @OutsideMatchInside - I've never considered that! I'll look into it. Honestly I hope it is a decent amount of actual fat because I'd like to be a size 8--sitting around a 12 right now. At my height I don't think I'll get much smaller than that regardless. I can tell I have a bit of loose skin but it's hard to really tell how much of it is skin and how much is fat. Thanks for the tip!

It is interesting that at your height and weight you are a size 12. I am 5'8" and weigh 193 and I am in a size 12 also. I am hoping to get down to a 6-8 before I start thinking about maintenance. At this rate I may not need to get down to 150 to be the size I am wanting.

[dashofsunshine 875]

I am 5'8" and a size 4/6 at 153 lbs. I have excellent overall musculature, though (long distance running and weight lifting), and essentially no excess skin after my 170 lb loss (lots of prayer and good genes is the only answer I have, lol).

I'm about 10 lbs below my intended goal weight (I went by what my doctor said, and by a "normal" BMI) and have been maintaining there for about a year. I had a difficult time stopping the weight loss, ironically - I couldn't lose a single pound at 323 lbs

[IveGotThePower 395]

I hear you and feel the same way. My weight loss basically stopped at 10 months. I don't count anything, but I do focus on Protein and low carb veggies. I feel like it's a mind game at this point. How to strike a balance between being happy and comfortable with my diet and weight. Where will these two meet? And I agree that at this weight, although I am very grateful to have lost so much weight, I still feel like there is more I would like to loose. And my body composition is a little different than I thought it would be. Basically more abdominal fat that I thought I would have and bony in other areas. So, I'm not sure where I will go from here. Been struggling with that for a few months. Whatever I do, it has to be comfortably sustainable. The best to you in your journey.

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[catwoman7 10,986]

I still wear a 12 in some things and I'm 5'6" and 138. Sizes aren't very consistent - and a lot depends on your shape and (bone) frame size, too (I have a fairly large frame)

[JupiterinVirgo 846]

Hi everyone!

My goal going into surgery was to get to 170lbs. As of this morning I weighed 180.6 (FINALLY losing again after 2.5 months of sitting at 185...) and I got to thinking, I've got way more than 10lbs left to lose!! It's weird how different my body is at this weight than I thought it was going to be--from looking at pictures of girls my height (5'11) at 170/180 to my conversations with my doctor and those close to me about what my expectations and goals should be, I really thought at this point I'd just be a bit chubby, not able to grab handfuls of tummy like I can now! I'm incredibly proud of how far I've come and that I'm this close to hitting goal... hopefully I'll hit it by my 1 yr surgiversary on 8/1... but I guess I'm just surprised that this weight I never thought I'd ever be able to get to now seems too heavy. This is my first time ever being this weight apart from being a child so I really don't know what to expect anymore or what to adjust my goal to.

Has anyone else had to adjust their goal as they've gotten close to it? Or been surprised by their body's changes in relation to what their expectations were?

My initial goal was anything under 200 pounds, and then I solidified it at 180 because that is the lowest weight I have ever been as an adult. As of today I'm down to 165, but I feel like I would like to get down to around 155, and I also feel that restorative plastic surgery it's necessary. Like you, imagined that if I ever got below a certain weight that I would feel great about my body, but I feel like I can't tell what my body would really look like if I didn't have all this extra skin. I think that's part of it. Not so much the actual number on the scale, but all the left over evidence of the journey that makes it feel so incomplete. After all is said and done, including skin removal, I hope to settle around 145.