Goal weight? How did you decide your goal?

Hi all! I've had several people ask me what my goal weight is. I really don't know what to answer. How did you decide what your goal weight was?

When I think about it, I don't want to set myself up for disappointment. So, I came up with a number that I think is realistic but I just don't know. I weigh 280 now, I think a realistic goal would be 160. I haven't seen that size in over 15 years! I would like to get down even smaller than that... but I just can't see myself losing more than 120 lbs. (who am I kidding, I can't see myself losing that much)  Anyone else struggle with this?

thanks
Shea

Hey Shea!

Some surgeons select your goal weight for you and some don't.  I set my own.  I started at 307 and have been obese since age 8.  So I have no clue what "normal" is for my body.  So I figured out what "normal" is on the BMI scale (you can do this on your My OH page here).  So I set my goal for 150 - that's the high end of normal for my height (5'5") according to BMI.  I figure once I reach that goal, I'll figure it out from there.  I talked to my surgeon about it and he said I could go as low as 125.  I kinda think that would be too thin.  But I'll see when I get there.

And btw... you sure as hell can lose 120 lbs & then some!  Believe it and you will achieve it... especially with this awesome tool!

~M

I did sort of like Maryn. I looked up for my height and age and picked toward the higher end of the range (145 lbs).  Hell, I'll be thrilled to just be under 200lbs, but the goal is like a reference point for me. My surgeon said that he thinks I'll go under at least for a while and then rebound closer to the original goal, but who knows?

I think my "ideal" weight is like 138 or something like that...according to the BMI chart. So I chose 160 as my goal weight. I did not want to be TOO skinny since I knew I'd have a lot of excess skin ...I need SOMETHING to fill the skin in, make sense?

 Well I've been overweight since I was a kid, except for a year after basic training (in the Army). After basic training i weighed 150 and felt wonderful at then, but it didn't last long. So i took that and looked up what was normal for my age and height.  150 is the high end actually for my height but it was a good weight for me so thats my goal. If i lose more cool but 150 is good for me.  I'm 5'6" btw.