How did you set your goal?

How tall are you? It looks like our starting places are very similar. It looks like you're doing great! 

I am just barely 5'3".  I am so thankful for this gift of a VSG.

You look like you are doing great! Keep up the good work!

My surgeon asked me if I had a weight in mind.  The last time as an adult I really looked and felt great, I was about 175#.  Even as a young adult when I got lower than that, I couldn't maintain it without being a crazy person watching every bite I ate and running 2 miles a day.  Some charts say I should weigh 145# which is NUTS, I'd look like a skeleton that low.  So I initially said 185# because I honestly didn't believe I could get to 175#, and I'd be happy with 185#.  

Surgeon said that sounded reasonable, that statistics say I'll end up around 200#, but statistics aren't people.  I'm sitting at 225# now and while my loss is slowing, I still think I can make it below 200#.  How much further, we'll see.  At this point I'm thinking that if I can at all manage it, I'd be best off getting to 175# because everyone seems to take a 10# or so bounce after maintenance.  If my weight after the "bounce" was 185# I'd still be beyond thrilled.

I never had one set by my surgeon, but I chose the lowest I ever dieted myself down to- 310 to 155 at 5'7, just within a normal BMI. I figured I'd go lower, but at least hit that.. I did, and got down to too low for a few weeks (high 130's.) Mind you, I'd been up to 310, down to 155, back up to 280.. pre-op was 264.. I had lots of skin, prob 10lbs total if you count it all, so in the 130's I did NOT look good or feel good. I hit goal within a year, under by another 6mo.

I look best in the high 140's to 155.. being in my mid 40's in age, less than 150, I look kinda droopy.. no plastics. Several years out, I'd be happy to just maintain under 155. Right now, I'm maintaining about 25 above goal, with no effort for several years, seriously, and I've not been paying much attention to myself to be honest. Not as healthy as I'd like by far, but far better than I was ever able to maintain prior.. so goals shift and change the further out you get. I had my surgery April 2011. I feel "normal" and I like it. I still have fantastic restriction and if I wanted to adjust my eating I could get down to the low 160's without a lot of effort, lower if I walked everyday and put protein and whole foods first without question.

I firmly believe you should shoot for the lowest possible, in a healthy way. Learn what works best for you and keeps you happy, and re-examine in a year or two after you hit your lowest. I thought chasing a lower and lower weight was a good idea, until it wasn't. Now my focus has been, what weight can I realistically maintain? Plan for a 10-15lb bounce, at the least, and take advantage of the immediate benefits of surgery. You will forever have a helping hand, and IMO, shooting to within a normal BMI is a realistic goal even if you end up maintaining "overweight" it's still better than where you started from!

My surgeon never set a goal for me.  They asked me at the first meeting what my goal was, and I said 199 (I just wanted to be under 200 lbs!).  They said that was reasonable.  When I got there, I told them I wanted to get down to 170.  They told me that was reasonable, too.  When I got to 170, I told them I wanted to revise to 150  (I am 5'6", so that is near the top of my normal BMI range).  They told me that was unrealistic, because very few of their formerly SMO patients make it to a normal BMI.  They said 170 was good for me.  BUT....I made it to 150 (actually, 145).  (I know you are not SMO, so it may be easier for you to get there than it would be for someone who started out at over 300 lbs)

I think those surgeons who set goals for people probably set it at around 70% of excess weight, as that's the average weight loss.  Plus they want to set goals that are realistic for most people.  That said, there are a lot of people on OH who have made it all the way, so it can be done.  It does take a lot of work and dedication, though.  I could have probably stayed at 170 without a *ton* of effort.  Staying at 145 is going to be a real challenge, though.  But I'm determined to do it...

Go you!! That's seriously awesome :) 

When I started my original weight loss I was a 44.3 BMI. I lost 90lbs from 2011-2014 and then slowly put on about 30lbs before I decided on surgery (because I knew I'd just end up back where I was). So I was close to SMO. For me 159lbs is the top of normal BMI for me, I'd love to get there! :) 

My surgeon used an interesting 'formula' to show me about what to expect for weight loss, and asked me to pick a goal based on that and what I thought I'd look best at (but not based on BMI).

He told me that whatever I lose in the first 3 months, I could expect to lose half of that in the following 3 months, then half of the 2nd number for every 3 months following until I reached a weight I felt good at.

It's been pretty dead on so far:  I lost 50 lbs the first 3 months post-op, then 25 the next 3 months.  I'm coming up on 8 months post-op and I'm at 83 total, with a 6 week stall that just isn't budging other than a random 2 lbs.  I should be able to get to 88 lbs gone by 9 mos, which would fit his estimate perfectly, and it puts me on track to lose 100 lbs in 12 months.

The goal I set for myself is 150, and I need to lose 29 more pounds to get there, so I'm guessing I'll hit 150 in probably August if all goes as it has previously.  I had always thought that I'd need a year to get the excess weight off, and at 5'7", my excess weight by BMI was roughly 100 lbs, and my goal has me losing 112.