Wife is nagging...

 Thanks Tim for the wisdom, your posts alway**** the spot. Isn't it funny what alcohol does to some people? I am sorry you had to put up with that in your home... we know you are not an asshole! Don't you just love the quiet in the morning before the rest of the world is up?

Keep on keepin' on brother!

Brian

I'm not religious, but I will say " AMEN" to that!!

A few thoughts...Thinking back to when I was near my lowest.  Telling my wife "I've lost another pound!!" really got old with her after awhile.  I found I had to keep it to myself or post on this forum.  While she would be up a pound or two I was loosing.  It came to a head when I asked her if those where her pants or mine she was pulling from the dryer...Went over like a lead balloon.  When I got below 190...I'm 5"11', people would come up and tell me how gaunt I looked.  I looked like I came from a WWII concentration camp.  I was very healthy (good labs and heart)...But the loose skin makes you look sickly.  I have heard that if you have not gone below 2% body fat (excluding skin) you should be fine.  That is what your goal could/should be...and maintaining at that weight.  Yeah, I know each person is different and never reaching goal is not failing...The idea is we are all trying to get healthy...The looks are just a bonus.  Just saying if you can get down to that percent you are still healthy.  Mention that to the nut and see what she says...

Want to add my nutritionist said I was a medium frame...I laughed!  I was a football lineman in high school...What was he talking about.  But as I dropped the weight, I could see what he meant.  You may be a medium to small frame so the goal of 160 may not be out of place...

All good points.  My experience was that I lost weight much faster from above my mid-section than below (except for the man boobs).   Three years out and my face and shoulders are very lean.  But, my thighs and calves are still pretty big.

Also, the excess skin can account for 15-35 lbs.  I haven't had plastic surgery and don't plan to, but a guy from my support group that I lead had his excess abdominal skin removed in "around the world" procedure.  He is my height (5'11"), my frame size (medium), and was about my pre-op weight (378 lbs).  He lost about 25 lbs with his plastic surgery.  I'm still working to reach my goal of 190.

Your mileage may vary...

 I recently bought a new scale that measures weight PLUS body fat % and a few other measurements, etc.

BMI is pretty much useless from all the reading I am seeing so I tend to ignore it.

Body FAT % on the other hand is a pretty good indicator of good "weight" for you!

The only TRULY accurate test is where they dunk you in a big tank, $$ and PITA to find, schedule, etc.  But the bio-ompendence stuff is the second highest rated test for accuracy.

The home versions are "ok" (compared to what my local hospital has) but at least gives you a good starting point.

This has the most interesting chart I can find!!  My measurement on my home scale/device has been 26.3-27.2% (201 to 203ish pounds)

http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentag e-chart/ 

So that puts me at approx 148 pounds of "Lean Weight" (Muscle, Bones, etc, everything but fat)

BMI scale btw is like 29-30 for me (normal 18.5 to 24.5 which translates to 128lbs to 169lbs)
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/bmi_tbl.htm  

If we start with 148 lbs of lean, 169lbs (the top end of normal in BMI) would only be 12.4% of body fat!!  According to the BODY FAT charts the top end of BMI would put me in the same range as Athletes (2 steps BELOW normal!!)

So I guess what I am trying to say here is this... do a bit of research on Body Fat % and come up with what is truly "healthy" for you and your body!!

What is cool is that for my age group, 41, I am now NORMAL!!! (Top end of normal...) at 201 lbs, 26-27% body fat %.

Dittos on all the above stuff, but get some TOOLS for your arguments about still losing weight.  I also would "consider" the fact that we are likely carrying around 10-20lbs of extra skin that throws off these ratios further.  (See the post about the plastic surgery guy that lost 25lbs!!!?)

Ok, last link.. the scale I bought because I really did want to know and start measuring this stuff so I would have the tools/knowledge!!


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IV61J4/ref=oh_details_o 01_s01_i00 

 A few more notes... 

At 330lbs ( a few years ago) I had a similar scale that put my lean weight at approx 165lbs!!!

So I lost about 17lbs of muscle and "lean" weight from surgery..?

http://ebooks.cambridge.org/chapter.jsf?bid=CBO9780511770586 &cid=CBO9780511770586A016 

5'9"  65kg = 143lbs for small frame

1kg = 2.20462 lbs

Sam