Goal BMI still overweight?

My goal weight, I don't want to be too skinny, is 175# and funny thing, that means that according to my (soon to be) BMI I'll still be in the overweight category! Go Figure! I think I'll probabally end up somewhere around 150 which I guess will be o.k. I've never been that weight at this height so I don't know if I'll look like a bean pole or not, guess I'll just hafta wait and see! Anyone else have an 'ideal' in mind that puts you in the same boat?

my goal weight is 168 - that will put me 200 lbs down - that puts me in the over weight category. ha - what a joke. Oh well - after losing 121 lbs I am officially obese - who ever would have thought obese was a good thing, unless its one of us that has been morbidly obese or, like me, super morbidly obese. so overweight is good - its all a matter of perspective, I guess. I mean, when you can celebrate being obese, certainly over weight is a good thing!! -Sherrie

Well said, and way to go! L&H Gayle

Hi Gayle, The first doctor I consulted with said that his patients lose on average 70% of their excess weight. That I would still be 'overweight' but I wouldn't be obese. Somehow that didn't quite set right with me. (of course it was still preferable to being super mobidly obese). The doctor I ultimately chose has a practice where his patients lose on average 90 to 95% of their excess weight. He's a tough task master and he is very involved with his patients, but I can see it working. I've had a series of issues with a fistula and esophageal strictures, so my loss hasn't been as rapid as some, but I have faith that by following his 'rules' I will get there. Dr Mike also doesn't put a goal weight on people. His goal for us has to do with muscle mass to fat mass %. My goal is 27% body fat. He about fell on the floor when I told him I wanted to weight 130 pounds. BUT knowing him the way I do, I am thinking that he is challenging me to get there, not telling me I WON'T get there. I remember years ago going to a primary care physician who specialized in bariatric patients. She worked with me for over a year and I did lose a fair amount of weight. Her goal for me at that time was to stabilize at about 185 or so pounds. Her feeling about it was that I would still be overweight, but that it was better for my body to remain at a weight it was comfortable with and I could maintain than to keep yo yo-ing up and down. Unfortunately, I didn't stabilize and the yo yo seemed to yo way up there and get stuck!!! Hugs, Mo

The goal for me is my own. My doc never said what he thought that I should get to but that as long as I made good choices I should be fine. So far I think my choices have been more good than bad so I KNOW I'll be fine!

At my 6 months post op my Dr and I talked about a good attainable healthy goal for me and we agreed that given my height (5'8") 180 lbs was a good one for me. He said the loss would get much slower, and at that time I was 50 pounds from that goal and to expect it to take the next 6 months to get to the goal, well now at 9 months I am 12 pounds from that goal and I truly think I can get lower than the 180. I can afford to and actually think it would be a little healthier for me as well. I havent done anything magic and I am just sticking to the rules 99% of the time, on the occassion I cheat, as we all will!!!! I feel good about my loss, how it is going, and where I am at right now. I think it is important to have goals, but not to obsess on them, and right now I am just taking it one day at a time, and not looking at it as obese or over weight, I am looking at it as healthier than last year at this time!!!!! Keep plugging along and enjoy whatever weight you are at today! Janelle

Couple of things to consider; --rule of them is that for every 100 lbs of fat lost you're left with 8-12 lbs of skin, which you can't get rid of without plastic surgery. --if you've been overweight your entire life, you are more likely to have denser bones than the averages upon which the BMI tables are based. What does that mean? - Check out this hypothetical case: Start at, say, 5'7" and 300# = BMI 47. Lose 85% of excess weight = 0.85(300-153) = 125# loss Final: 5'7" and 175# = Chart BMI 27.5 -- still "overweight", not "normal" Adjusted for skin and bones: 5'7" and 160-165 = "Effective" BMI 25.0-25.5 = "normal" Remember that the BMI charts are based on average people, not on bariatric patients. I think the true health benefits are there even if we do not technically fit into the 25 & under category, and even if we do not have the opportunity to have the excess skin removed to make us "perfect". My doctor doesn't set goals for people either. My health is dramatically improved, as well as my appearance, and I think I'd be happy even if my loss stopped now (although I acknowledge that it's easier to say that when I know it's not going to stop yet.) I went from 3X, 26/28 tops to XL,16 tops and from 22 pants to 8/10s. I'd *like* to get my upper body down to a consistent size Large so I don't have to have any more Xs in my closet. I've lost enough weight so that I can excercise now. My goal is to be able to complete a 1.5 mile run test that measures your cardiovascular fitness fast enough to score in the "average" category. Right now I'm still in the "very poor" category. Prior to surgery I couldn't run for more than 2 minutes straight, now I'm over 5 minutes straight, and I know I will continue to work on it. So it's not really about the final number on the scale for me, for me it's about being able to do physical activity at the average performance level of a woman my age. Best of luck to everybody! Jen 266/160.5/145? BMI: 40.5/25.5/22.5?

These charts should not be for WLS population. When you gain weight, your bones get bigger so they can handle carrying that weight. But when you lose weight, your bones don't get any smaller. That's where the extra weight comes into play to consider you overweight or obese. I'm not paying much attention to that. I'm paying attention to how I look and my clothes. I'm wearing a smaller size than when I was in high school! and if I lose any more weight, I will look anorexic. So take all things into consideration. I've learned to not accept what the norm says about all cases because it doesn't take into consideration all situations. All cases are individual.

Hi Gayle! I'm 5'3" and my goal is 150 lb., which will leave me in the 'overweight' category, too. If I lose more, fine. If not, I'm not going to beat myself up over it after working to hard to lose what will be a total of 131 lb. And in looking at the other posts in this thread, we are definitely not alone! Have a good day! -Marcie