How did you set your goal?

Did you start with your surgeon's recommendation and then adjust as you got closer? I'm 5'7" tall and my surgeon's goal for me is 160. I feel like it's feasible to go lower but the last time I can remember being in the 160's I was 5'1" tall and 13 years old 

I feel totally unqualified to choose my new weight! Obviously there's the BMI chart, but I'm not sure that means much to me or maybe it should? 

Interesting. My surgeon asked if I had a goal and I told him 180 because that is the lowest I remember and I liked how I felt.  I am 5'9" and he thinks I can get to 160.  Like you, I don't think I weighed that for most of my life. I haven't mentally gotten my head around that number yet. So I am striving towards my goal and when I get there, I will reevaluate his goal. 

I think my surgeons goal is 80% of my excess weight. But, yes like you said it's hard to mentally wrap your head around something you've never known! I've had a couple of folks on boards/groups make off-handed comments about how "high" my goal is. But, how can you choose a goal of 130 when you have no idea what 160 is like?! 

Your goal is your goal. Not anyone elses. Do what works for you and then reevaluate. I have been told by many that our bodies will stop when they get to where they want to be.  Guess we will find out. And, my surgeons goal is 100% of my excess weight. I am 59 so maybe he takes that into account. But, he absolutely assured me I can get there.

BMI says 121-158 is my "normal" weight range, so maybe they are just squeaking me to normal range? 

Do you know how he calculated your ideal weight to decide what 100% EWL should be?  

I don't know how he calculated it. He said I could lose it all by getting to 160.  We had a lengthy discussion about my history so maybe that and my age influenced it. I do know he doesn't go strictly by bmi.  

Interesting.  When I played around with ideal weight calculators, I determined my ideal weight to be 120 (at 5'4".)  So 100% excess weight loss would be around 200 pounds of loss for me.  But my surgeon considered my ideal weight to be 180.  So 100% excess weight loss is considerably different using his scale!  

Hmmm. I am 5 inches taller than you and when I was 180, I remember wearing size 14, sometimes a 12. I definitely think you will get to much less than that.

Oh, I agree.  It was more to show that everyone seems to have a different method for figuring out success and percents of excess weight and ideal weight.  In the end, it seems the best we can do is play it by ear :)