a couple of questions

the first one is this-how do you determine your final weight? i mean should i ask my surgeon or what? how much weight should i be losing in a year? the 2nd question is this? do others recommend going to a weight loss therapist and what have their experiences been? i actually saw one last week for the 1st time & was very impressed with her. she is very familiar with the group of surgeons that my surgeon is affiliated with and really understands what i am going through. but the sad thing is that for me these types of therapists are hard to find. i am having to travel 50miles to see her. i mean that is no problem. also when do most people post their before and after pictures here on this web site? i have lost 141 lbs and feel that it is too soon. any feedback would be helpful. thanks

I'm not sure why so many people on this site think you decide on your final weight. I can save you money and travel time with the only correct answer. You don't decide and no one knows.

Your body will gravitate to the right final weight based on your specific procedure, your internal biome, and long term eating and exercise habits. You'll find out the answer about 18 to 36 months out.

My body gravitated to 294 for more than 10 years so I'm going to go ahead and continue to have a goal and expectation for myself (and the habits and monitoring to support that goal) vs letting my body determine where it wants to be.

Your weight loss experience proves exactly what I'm saying. You set a goal and now you've changed it because you feel your wls altered body is gravitating lower. Your goal didn't really matter other than you hoping, and now you changed your goal based on a new reality - your body is gravitating to its new equilibrium.

Not at all!

I set a goal and I am (literally) working my butt off to hit it and maintain it.

When I relax my diligence and work, I see the "gravitation" upward.

What you're saying seem to essentially be the same "set point" crap I used to delude myself with. I don't do that anymore.

I gravitated to 475 pounds when I let my body decide what weight it wanted to be. I mean, literally, gravitate. Scientists at NASA warned me I was altering the moon's orbit.

Goals and targets are important.

Like is just not strong enough here!

Oh, to clarify, I picked my goal weight because it was a normal BMI and that's something i wanted; I've picked my stretch goal weight because it's 1 lb less than my sister weighs (see my answer above re: therapy YES, lol).

It seems to me that you goal weight should be based on your body fat percentage. There is a range that is considered by "normal" for your age and gender. There are ways to measure that that will give you a safe range and not a specific weight. Remember that it is equally as unhealthy to be underweight as it is overweight.

Not true that it is "EQUALLY as unhealthy to be underweight as it is to be overweight."