Weight/size issues

At 5'4", when I got to 140's I felt and looked too thin.  I felt weak.  Too many wrinkles. I felt best at 155-160.. 

Do what you feel is seeing for your body. You need to live in it. 

Ask the doc to order detailed DeXa scan to determine body fat %.

IMO - very low bf% may not be very healthy for someone over 50.. 

You are right, you have to do what is best for you and your body type. I am closer to 60 than 50. I am afraid my face will look too drawn if I get down too far. But I think it is interesting how many people had opinions on weights and sizes. Everyone is different. But I thank everyone for their replies.

I never heard of DeXa. Did you have it done? What does it consist of? Are you in water or something like that? My doctor did suggest I might be more muscular than some women. I would love to be at a normal BMI, not obese or even overweight. Thanks for your reply.

I am 5'4 and weigh 125 lbs..  I am neither to thin nor heavy.  I wear a US size 4.  But when I was in Italy last week I bought a dress and it said it was a European size 42 which = US size 12!  The Italians do not believe in vanity sizing!  I think Grim offered you excellent advice - pick something else to base you goal on besides clothing size.  

Sizing will do your head in and it way too arbitrary.  The number on the scale doesn't lie - it is what it is.  Pick your goal weight and work towards it or staying there.  Things do redistribute over time so when I was 113 lbs I looked very skinny, at 125 lbs I look finally like I did whenI weighed 140lbs (in the face).  Get as low as you can.  Gaining back is never the problem!

I too am 5'4 and I have a large frame/build. I am currently 132 and in a size 8. I am right in the middle of a normal BMI. I am thin but definitely not "too thin." And I would be just fine at 125, which is my ultimate goal :) I would go with what your doctor says, and if you start to get "too thin" you can stop.

Ok, I know that womens clothing sizes vary a lot by manufacturer, and that body type and muscle and/or fat distribution all play a role, but I am having trouble figuring out how you can be 5'4" and wearing a size 4 at 158 pounds when I am 5'3" and wear a size 10 at my normal weight of 145 pounds (and a size 12 at my current weight of 153 (regain from knee replacement surgery)). Do you have an unusually small lower body...?

That aside, although I am the first one to stand up and say that BMI is the least valuable determinant of being at a healthy weight, but it is at least useful as a general guideline (even if it does not take bone structure, muscle mass, etc. into account). At 5'4" tall and 168 pounds, you have a BMI of 29.  A BMI of 25 is the lower bound of "overweight" and 30 is the lower bound of "obese"... So your physician is not off base in saying that you are heavier than you "should" be for someone your height.

You should keep in mind that you, and the people who know you, are used to seeing the obese version of yourself and therefore may look at yourself and see someone you think is "too thin" when you are a perfectly normal and healthy size. It takes a while for your brain to adjust. MANY people here have had people tell them that they looked too thin and needed to stop losing weight when they were technically still obese! 

If you really want to stay at the weight you're at, you don't need to tell your doctor anything! You just do what you want to do.  You know, like you (and almost every single one of us) probably did beffort you had WLS.  You didn't ask your doctor's permission to be morbidly obese did you?!? So why ask his permission to be any particular weight now?

Lora 

I have no chest or hips to speak of. I am pretty much straight up and down. One of my sisters is 1 inch taller than me, weights the same and takes a 10 or a 12 in pants.  But she is built totally different than me, she has a small waist, big hips and is a DD cup. I wear a nearly A!  In my family you either get a lot or nothing. I have another sister who is 6 inches taller and she was in a 1X before her surgery. But some of her friends/ people she worked with weighed the same, were of a similar height and took much larger sizes. She is at 220 and wears a size 14 pants. I am very muscular and everything is tight except for my lower stomach. I did Crossfit until I broke my foot. (That's how I broke my foot) I have always been this way. I used to do Weigh****chers 😜 and there were several women on the boards who weighed more than the average person but wore much smaller clothing. They were usually on the exercise boards.  I have seen the same thing in Shape magazine. When I put weight on it goes right to my waist. It is just genetic I guess. I still want to lose about 20/25 pounds, I don't think I am too thin at this weight, I still look chunky, especially with the 10 pound gain. The charts for my height are 110 to 144. I am actually 5'4 and 1/2" so I think 145 to 150 would look good. I think a lot of people reading the first post thought I disagreed with my doctor. That's not it at all, just wondering if other people weight heavy but look smaller. 

He is nuts, a size 6 is smaller than I have ever been in my life.  I hate charts and guides, it is all about how you feel.

Clothing sizes drive me crazy.  I weigh about 110 lbs and wear a size 4.  I am 5'3".  I used to wear size 2 but for some reason they don't fit as well even though my weight has stayed the same.  I figure it's the fat redistribution they talk about.

In the end you have the choice.  You can eat more or weigh less.  Rarely have I seen anyone have both.  

I weighed about 150 for a long time after my first WLS.  Well, for me it was a long time but in reality it was probably less than a year.  I was comfortable at that weight.  I found that to lose more weight I would have to eat far less then I was willing to do at that time.

Really, all that matters is how you feel and how healthy you are.  One thing to remember though is many experience bounce back and if you are already overweight that will probably bring you to the obese category.

Before I had my first WLS my surgeon explained to me that a successful WLS was a loss of 50% of excess weight.  He ran the numbers and told me that I may ultimately wind up at about 195 lbs and be considered a success.

At that time it sure seemed a lot better then 240 and I would have been happy.  My main goal then and now is just to stay the same size and stop the up and down I have lived with all my life.

We started out around the same weight. Wow, 110!  You look great! Thanks for your reply.