How Did everyone PICK their goal weight??

OK, there is alot of talk about reaching our goal. I want to hear how everyone chose their goal??? Did you look on a magic weight chart to see what "they" say you should weigh? How did you determine what YOUR goal weight should be? So many of the Marchers have reached their goal BUT I have no idea what my goal is. When I read the weight charts I laugh at what they say I should weigh!! Behind the laughter sometimes is frustration because I know I will NEVER weigh between 135 and 155. To me that is not a reasonable weight "goal" for me. I always thought that when I reached what my drivers license said (175) that I would be happy. Well, I reached that "goal" and I was no where near being content with that. Now I have set my "goal" at 169 just so I can break 170. There is NO LOGIC to how I am picking my goal weight. When I reach 169, will I be happy? DOUBT IT. Will I ever look at myself and be happy with how I look? DOUBT IT. I just have no clue as to what a HEALTHY weight is for me because if I go by how I feel, I can easily see myself at 99 pds and still feeling like Im at my original 306 pds. Reaching my goal weight (which I have no idea what it is) really messes with my mind!! I want to get to a magic number where I will be happy. I want to reach this magic number and then work hard to stay there. I am now one of the people who I would want to strangle when I weighed 306. You know the ones who would say they need to loose 10 pounds!!!! That would always drive me crazy cuz when you are 306, TEN POUNDS IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THE 140 I needed to loose. How dare someone say they need to loose 10 pounds. Now Im there and I hate saying those words because I always hated women saying it when I was heavy. Thanks for listening!! How did you pick your goal weight??

Oh yeah I am one of those women saying I just want to loose 10 more pounds...it's insane...for me....167 was what I weighed in high school when I was a lifeguard...that was when i was in my best shape...and Iliked what i looked like then...so to me that was a good healthy weight for me...my doctor said 140 because that's what the charts said...and i told him that was way too small for me...i am at 155 so right in the middle...I know I am still fat although no one believes me...and ok so it may not be fat...and just be skin...but I know there is fat under that skin...fat i can't seem to get rid of. My legs are HUGE...my calf's still measure at 17 inches...and yes that IS big. Ok enough of my pitty party.....so i just went with that one weight in my life where I could remember actually liking my body. Mimi 315/278/167/155 HW/SW/GW/CW

JoAnne...I did not really pick a magic goal number...my doctors still say 157....right now I am at 165 and keep popping up and down between the 165 and 162...I guess my body is happy right where it is for now....my weight was 357 on the day of my consult so losing 192 lbs I think my body is adjusting...I did set mini goals for myself and not necessarily looking for a number...like one of my first goals was to be able to go to the movies and not cram myself in the seat...now my daughter can sit with me...little things like that...some of the other goals I had was to be off my blood pressure medications, I wanted to be able to play with my kids...I can understand the games that ones head plays with...there are days when I look in the mirror and still see a woman that is 357lbs...but then I remember I have only been 165lbs for less than a year and have been obese for most of my life and it will take awhile for my brain to catch up with the rest of reality..lol...I hope you have a great day...and just give you body some time to catch up and for your mind too...it is a big adjustment to go thru in such a short time.... ((((((((((HUGS)))))))))) Jannine 357/165/157

Hi JoAnn. This goal thing is confusing AND stressful, isn't it? My doctor is loathe to give me a definitive goal weight. He says that I should shoot for somewhere around 180. The BMI charts, however, say I need to weigh 159 in order to be "normal". 159 is very different from 180. I doubt I will ever reach 159 in this lifetime. Also, I'm not sure I would look healthy at 159. So I'm just taking a stab at smaller goals. For now, my goal is to be under 200. Once I've reached that goal, I'll focus on 190 by June. After that, who knows? I think that at some point, I need to stop tying goals to numbers on the scale. Otherwise, I'll always be trying to achieve some chart-defined weight that may not be realistic for me. Good luck. You're doing great!!! Hugs, Stephanie

JoAnn my thought is if your surgeon didn't give you a goal weight, then its whatever you feel comfortable at. My surgeon said you'll lose 100lbs when I was pre-op which would have been 161 lbs. When I got there I knew I wanted to lose more, I wasn't in a "normal" bmi, I still felt bigger than I should be at only 5'2" so I set my goal to 135 and continued to lose. When I reached 135 I decided another 5lbs and that would do it.. Well, when I reached 130 and the scale would flash 129 one week and 133 the next. It was frustrating seeing the scale go up so again, I made another goal of 126 so I could buffer between 126-130 and not be at the number... Some people tell me I've lost too much, but I feel great, clothes look and feel comfortable and I'm happy, thats all that matters to me!

JoAnn, Stephanie and Jannine have given great advice. I wish I had a magic wand and could tell you that you are at goal. Mostly it really is a state of mind. Try to find a way to be happy with where you are. You have come so far and I am proud of you. To answer your question, my nutritionist set my goal at %80 loss of excess body fat. That put my goal at 196 pounds from 339. My body had another idea. I am between 175 and 180 pounds. While this is still a BMI in the overweight catagory, I am happy with that. I weigh less then I did in 7th grade (more then 35 years ago). My personal goal was to be able to ride a rollercoaster, sit in an airplane seat comfortably and play with my grandchildren. I HAVE reached those goals and I am HAPPY. I hope you can put your mind in the same place soon. Good luck, Rick P.S. my drivers license says I weigh 225. I lied about that for lots of years.

my doctor set my goal at 190. i am weighibg between 160-165. I want to lose another 10 pounds so i can be at a normal bmi.

My surgeon also did NOT want to give me a # to focus on. I asked him if I should weigh in the 150's (since I had checked a chart that showed this was a "normal" weight for a woman my age and height) and he agreed that would be a good weight for me... I've been between 157-161 since last Dec. It seems like the "lightweights" reach "normal" more easily than the larger patients. I never considered myself a "lightweight" EVER but I guess since I started around 260 (at surgery time) then I was a "lightweight", and -100 pounds puts me in "normal" range... I agree with the others, goal shouldn't be a number, but should be more focused on life goals, and a comfort zone...?