Hi everybody,

I'm a newbie and started researching lap-band about a month ago. I have three seminars and appointments scheduled for the next couple of weeks, but I'm hoping you guys can help with some of my silly questions.

How do you and/or your doctor determine your goal weight? I thought it might be a BMI of 24.9 (top of the "normal" range), but I see others on here who have slightly higher goal weights. Is this just a personal choice?

I only ask because I'm a little nervous about a doctor telling me my goal should be really low. I once stopped going to an endocrinologist because he never seemed satisfied with my "normal" goal, saying, "Hey, why not get down to 110 lbs?!" ('m 5'2", by the way.) I had already lost a lot of weight using Meridia, and his attitude just made me feel so defeated. I found out my tiny, frail grandma (same height as me) weighs 120. I can't even fathom being lighter than her - it would be unhealthy!

I'd love your input and support.

Well this has been a past topic of a very hot discussion in the past. Whether your selling yourself short by not trying to get to a smaller weight or size? And all I have to tell you is that You and only you should decide where you want your goal to be. I am 5'3" and I had set an original goal of 130 or 135 somewhere in there. When I got to about 137, I looked really nice, (after my tt, and body liposculpture). So I decided that is where I wanted to be. I wear a size 8, sometimes 6 and I feel great and healthy. There was a point where I was at 133-135 and I was really starting to sag in my face and look old and I certainly didn't need or want that. And let me tell you something else, I am married to a man that never ever gives compliments and when I was at the 137, he told me I looked great and sexy and he didn't want me to lose anymore. So taking his comment into consideration and feeling and looking great myself, I decided that is where I wanted to be. That weight is on the higher end of what the supposed norm is for my height, but screw that. I feel great at this weight and this is where I'm at. Take it one day at a time, don't let others impose what they think you should weigh.

Once you get to where you think you want to be, evaluate yourself if your happy then stay there, if you think you need a little more, well then shoot for that. But do what is best for you, not what anyone's chart or opinion says. That is all I have to say. Good luck to you.

Well this has been a past topic of a very hot discussion in the past. Whether your selling yourself short by not trying to get to a smaller weight or size? And all I have to tell you is that You and only you should decide where you want your goal to be. I am 5'3" and I had set an original goal of 130 or 135 somewhere in there. When I got to about 137, I looked really nice, (after my tt, and body liposculpture). So I decided that is where I wanted to be. I wear a size 8, sometimes 6 and I feel great and healthy. There was a point where I was at 133-135 and I was really starting to sag in my face and look old and I certainly didn't need or want that. And let me tell you something else, I am married to a man that never ever gives compliments and when I was at the 137, he told me I looked great and sexy and he didn't want me to lose anymore. So taking his comment into consideration and feeling and looking great myself, I decided that is where I wanted to be. That weight is on the higher end of what the supposed norm is for my height, but screw that. I feel great at this weight and this is where I'm at. Take it one day at a time, don't let others impose what they think you should weigh.

Once you get to where you think you want to be, evaluate yourself if your happy then stay there, if you think you need a little more, well then shoot for that. But do what is best for you, not what anyone's chart or opinion says. That is all I have to say. Good luck to you.

Oh Yes, I remember that thread well. It was like a train wreck in slow motion. The subject of goal weights is very interesting. We can only hope now that the joyous holiday spirit has passed that this thread doesn't end up down the same path.

I agree 100% one's goal weight is their OWN INDIVIDUAL DECISION and shouldn't be judged by or reflected on by anyone else (Even if they are the same height). There is no reason under the sun that one person can't look great and be healthy at their goal weight and another person of the same height may end up as satisfied and healthy at a higher or lower goal. There are many factors besides height that come into play when choosing a goal weight. I strongly believe that what looks good on a 20 year old rarely looks as good on a 40 or 50+ year old.

You know I heard something interesting on TV the other night. (Don't you know everything you hear on TV is true?) They were talking about how the human intestinal tract can hold as much as 30 pounds of partly digested foods in its system. It claimed that younger non-obese people generally only carry 5-10 pounds in their intestines on average but the older or more obese you get the longer your digestive tract takes to push it through. So presuming this has any merit then why should an older person carrying around an extra 10-20 pounds of "poo" feel the need to work their tails off to get to the same weight as that 20 year old?

Hey there Sades - I'm 5'2" as well.

My doc was one that tried to set goals at around half of your beginning excess weight according to some studies that showed that to be the average loss. Using my docs method from my starting weight my goal would have been 89 kg (196 lbs).

I never bought into that instead I was originally shooting for the top end of the healthy BMI range or 63kg (139 lbs). Only now that I've made it down to 74 kg (163 lbs) I am starting to wonder if I really want to lose much more. I keep waivering back and forth between wanting to strive to lose those last 11kg and reach my original goal or just shooting for another 2kg and being satisfied with a goal of 72 kg (159 lbs) for now my ticker has split the difference between the two though the more I think about it the more I'm leaning towards changing it to the higher goal of 72 kg then modifying it back lower after I reach that goal if I decide I still want to lose more.

I was in my early 30s the last time I was 73kgs and I looked pretty good... was going to the gym 5-6 times a week and playing tennis a couple of times a week (oh to be 30+ again). I certainly could have lost another 10kgs but of course as always, I started going the other way. I am 52 yo and I know that if I lose too fast or go too low I will age really quickly. At the moment, people think I am easily 10 years less than my age (always have). I think if I get down to 65 kgs (143 lbs), I will be one very happy girl.

I agree with what everyone has said. My doctor didn't really say how much he thinks I should way. But, of course we both know it needs to be at least 100lbs of my then 297lb. That would put me at 197lb, but I want 175lb no less than 155lb. He didn't object to what I want to weigh. The chart says 130lb - 155lbs. I can't see myself at 130.bs. In looking at my daughter who is 155lbs - 160lbs, I might be able to handle that.

But, what ever the size of my WhitePants, that's where I want to be. The tag is out, so I have no idea what size they are. I know I can let my daughter get into them. But, that'll put more pressure on me to get to that size before I get to my goal weight.

Have a great day and stay the course.

I have to admit I have been inching my goal weight down as I have success with weight loss. I set goal at 150 originally, but then lowered it to 145 when I started losing. Now I keep asking myself," Wouldn't 135 be nice?" That was my goal weight when i dieted in my 20s.

At this point I'm not worrying about it, since it's not going to happen real soon. Whatever works; if I plateau at 150 I may just figure that's what my body thinks is good.

I have found that I am doing the same thing I am 5'10 first my goal was 200 than 195 now I am thinking 185 , If I keep losing the way I have been I will be at a half way point in 2 months

At 19, I weighed 132 (ht. 5'5") and was nice and firm--and I wore size 11/12 jeans!!!! Wide hips and big butt thanks to genetics. My daughter at 5'2" and around 145 wears a size 8--10. Go figure. Mysurgeon has never discussed a goal weight with me, so I picked what I weighed when I was married and figured I'd adjust it, depending on how I feel and look.

After 4 kids, including a set of twins, who knows what will end up where?

Carol

At 19, I weighed 132 (ht. 5'5") and was nice and firm--and I wore size 11/12 jeans!!!! Wide hips and big butt thanks to genetics. My daughter at 5'2" and around 145 wears a size 8--10. Go figure. Mysurgeon has never discussed a goal weight with me, so I picked what I weighed when I was married and figured I'd adjust it, depending on how I feel and look.

After 4 kids, including a set of twins, who knows what will end up where?

Carol

You know you really can't judge by sizes. Even today sizes will vary drastically from store to store, not to mention year to year.

I have been dieting since I was 8 years old. The lowest weight I ever reached was in college. Though, I have no recollection what it was. What I do remember sadly is that even then I still thought of myself as overweight with only one person besides my mother ever telling me I was wrong to want to lose more weight. And that was a boyfriend from overseas so I figured he either was saying it to score points or the standards in his country weren't the same. Either way I didn't believe him or my mother.

Well even though I don't know what I weighed then I do still have an outfit that I fit into for a brief time back then. Some 1980's Stonewashed mini-dress with lots of zippers and a Janet Jackson styled military look to it. I have this dream someday of knowing I finally made it back down to my college weight by being able to fit into it again. My husband has been trying to get me to throw it out for years and wants me to burn it once I finally squeeze into it.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, currently I've made it down to a size 10 (or a really tight 8) and I'm still no where near fitting into it even though it is labeled as a size 11. I've wanted to take it to a store just to hold it up to some levi's and see if I couldn't figure out what size it would be. I haven't done that but I did manage to compare it to a friends size 6 jeans and they were still a good 4 inches smaller. It makes me think they may have been closer to a size 2!

It just makes me sick to think that I was still beating myself up back then for being fat. I wonder sometimes how different my life would have been if I could have only been happy with my size back then.

Hi Gingerbug, I just wanted to say that my beginning weight before starting my pre-op diet was 286. I am almost 2 weeks post-op and I'm 266 and finally my goal is 190 too. Let me know how you progress.

I figured that I haven't been 200 lbs since I was in 9th grade, I graduated weighing 294 lbs. I brought this up to my doctor and he thought 200 would be a very reasonable goal, he didn't think I should shoot for the bmi chart "what I should be" weight range of 160ish. He seemed to think that with my level of muscle mass and bone structure I would have to literally starve myself to reach those objectives. At my last check up I clocked in with 175ish lbs of lean mass by their measuring device, so if I get enough protein to keep lean muscle there isn't any way I'm going to hit 160. That confirmed my thinking of hitting 200 with more lean mass and ditching mostly fat.

I'm 5 ft and if I weighed what those BMI charts said to weigh, I'd look really unhealthy. I want to be a size 12. Whatever weight that is. :biggrin:

wow, that website is awesome. However, my goal was 180 or so, and that website says 167. I'll just have to wait and see where this road takes me. I am having fun though. You know, my dr didn't even discuss my goal weight with me. hummm going to have to ask him about that one. See ya all on the web.

I personally think goals are not something we should set. Feeling good about myself is MY GOAL. Stop hiding behind my friends when walking into a restaurant, bar, store, walk in with my head held high. I dont want to live by anyone's standards. My body will tell me when I've hit my goal. Everyone is shaped different, you cant put a number down on a piece of paper and try to live by that number, it will drive you crazy. And what if you go below that number? how will you feel then? Its too much emotionally, physically, and mentally. Be who you are.

I've been told that my goal of 135lb is ambitious and I've also been told (by an asshole trying to get a rise out of me) that I am still aiming to be FAT with that goal. I'm 5'3" and the BMI range says it should be anywhere from 107 to 141, so my goal is in the top end of the "normal" range. As a teenager, I was around 115 and wearing Aus size 10 pants (US size 6) and size 14 tops (US size 10) because of the boobage. In dresses, I would compromise on a size 12 (US 8) and have them too tight across the chest (hehe - and who minds that as a precocious teen?) and a little loose in the hips.

After I had my daughter, I went up a little to about 125 and stayed there for several years. I can still remember crying my eyes out when I hit 60kg (135lb) and that's when I started the whole yoyo dieting that got me up to my biggest of 275lb on the day before I started the pre-op diet. I figure that at my age (45), 125 would make me look gaunt - I think I'll need a little fat left on the bones to soften the wrinkles hehehe, so 135 it is... For the first time in 15 years, I'm really starting to believe I can get there too!

My goal weight was determined by taking my current weight (280 pounds) and subtracting my "ideal weight", which by some standards is 120 pounds. That equals 160 pounds to lose. Most people receiving Lap-Band surgery end up losing about 50% of their excess weight, which for me would be 80 pounds. Works for me! I actually intend on losing more than 80 pounds - hopefully closer to 110 or 120. I'm beginning my liquid diet today - my surgery is June 19. Wish me luck! If anyone has any helpful hints, let me know. Visit my blog at Sarah's Squarespace Blog. I will be posting a blog there to chronicle my life as a Lap-Band surgery patient. I'm really excited, and I hope that I can help future patients with my experiences. Yipee! (We'll see how chipper I am after I've been on this liquid diet for longer than 20 minutes :thumbup:).