What if my goal is still "overweight"?

Oh yuck--I hate to hear you've had knee issues! I have injured my ACL and MCL and they are no fun! It is amazing how much yo yo dieting impacts us for life. I wi**** was like smoking (which I have never done) in that the minute you stop, the positive changes begin. But metabolically they are for life it seems!

Excellent work on maintaining where you are...that is something to celebrate to be sure! :)

My surgeons goal was 178 I felt fat and kept lowering it until I hit 138 because that was my ultimate goal, I got down to 128 but if I stepped on a scale today I am sure I am back at 130 something but I am happy.  I am 5'5 and 49 ys old.

I think it probably is possible for you to get lower than 150, and maybe even significantly lower.  It depends somewhat on your metabolism and on your natural body type.  It also depends a little on how strict you are willing to be for the rest of your life with what you eat.

First, I think it is far more important to be healthy than to be skinny.  Second, sometimes our body has a certain weight that it is comfortable with that may be higher or lower than what we would like it to be.  (I can maintain at just under 145 at 5'3.5" tall with still allowing myself a small daily treat and not having to be ultra strict about what I eat.  If my weight creeps up, I can fairly easily drop it back down to that weight just by eliminating my snacks and any non-protein carbs... but continuing to eat that way doesn't get me any lower than that!  I might be able to force my body lower if I was willing to eat only 800 calories or so per day -- or, maybe not -- but I couldn't maintain that way of eating to maintain that weight.)

i agree with the others who have said that you just need to continue to be diligent about following the plan and then see what happens.  You DO have a certain amount of control (but not ultimate control) over how low you can go.  You may find that you really like both how you look and feel at a certain point and don't want to go any lower.

Lora

Are you older? I know some doctors give us older people a higher goal weight than younger people thinking we will look older if we lose too much weight. One doctor did that with me about 3 years ago. Although, it is irrelevant at this time since I never lost any weight, but I will tell you this much. I am just now at 168 and I am 5'3" and I am just getting into a size 14 and it is tight! I will need to lose about 5 more pounds to be in them comfortably. I set my goal at 115. I know that is on the lean side, but I figure if I gain back 15 to 20 pounds I should be a comfortable weight and size.

A doctor was advising you about a goal weight, not based on health, but on whether or not he thought you would look old?  Wow. That seems so unprofessional and irresponsible to me.  I don't see a doctor for advice on how to prevent looking old and if I am older, then I don't see anything wrong with looking my age.  And my health is my priority, not looking young.  I would expect my health to be my doctor's priority, as well.

I'm only 31 - which feels old a lot of times, but I guess really isn't. I am in 12s and 14s now, though, at 180 and 5'2". I find it REALLY depends on the brand and style. And it helps that my waist is one place I seem to have lost a little more (above my belly button and around my bra have some catching up to do!)

I am also 5'2 and I got down to the 150's years ago. I was very comfortable and I looked healthy and strong. 

I'm 5'10 and my goal was 160. I'm at 149 now and 9 months out. 

I am 5'4", I never set a goal, I just decided to follow the plan and see where I ended up, everyone's body is really different.  I have been maintaining at around 150, I am up a few pounds from the summer, I am less active in winter and my eating has been a little sloppy lately, but I am working on it.  According to bmi I am still overweight.  But I wear a size 6 petite in most stores.  I am really comfortable with that.  i don't want to be a weight that requires intense effort to maintain.  I want a healthy weight.  I can do all sorts of amazing things now, like mountain climb and run.  I could get a lot skinnier probably but I would be crazy.  No point in that.  It wouldn't have been helpful for me to shoot for a goal weight, it would have just driven me nuts.  If I had picked some goal weight that was in the normal bmi range i think I would have been totally set up for failure.  My body is quite healthy and strong at 150, and I wear a smaller size than lots of people who weigh less than me.  bmi isn't everything. 

I am 29 and my surgeon gave me a goal weight of 160, I also am 5.2 so it still puts me as overweight as well, but I can eeasily maintain this weight I have been trying to get lower as my lowest was 149 but my body doesnt seem to want to. I think the important thing is that we are healthier and feel better. I dont like the BMI charts and I was very obsessed with reaching a "normal" weight but I am happy with the 80lbs I have lost and am doing things I never thought possible, and I think that is the bigger picture. I wouldnt mind being a little smaller 10-15lbs, but if i never get there I am still ok.