BMI Goal Unrealistic? How long will weight loss continue?

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone out there has a BMI goal and if it is realistic to have one?  I had my 9-month follow-up (a little early) yesterday.  My NUT told me that I have already met her goal for me.  It was to have a BMI in the 25-30 range.  My current BMI is 28 which still puts me in the overweight category.  I am hoping to reach the "healthy weight" category which is a 24 BMI and require me to lose another 24 pounds or so.  Is this unrealistic for me?  I haven't reached my 1-year mark yet and my understanding was that I should continue to lose at least until that point with the sleeve. My surgery date was 5/4/16 and I am 5'7'.

From my experience, the surgeons and NUTS work off the published averages.  You don't have to be average!

Based on those averages, my surgeon thought I would get down to around 200lbs, maybe a little over.  I am currently at 145ish lbs.  You set the goals that make you happy and work towards them.  There is no reason you can not be at a "normal" BMI if that's where you want to be.

I also look at it this way.  If I had set a goal of 200lbs and hit it, is that better than setting a goal of 150 and coming up short at 175?  I think not!

what is your current body fat%? muscles? bones? do yu have enough fat to lose the extra 24 lbs? 

You can have a very accurate measurement of your body composition - DEXA scans. they are popping all over the country. for $100-$170 (depends on city, location) you can have a very accurate measurement of how much of what yu weigh now is fat , bones, muscles., etc.. and where are the fat deposits... 

I had test like that done a few months ago... My BMI at that time was just at 25.5.. but my body fat % was at 21%. total... with most of my fat in legs, hips.. 

Since then I lost 10 lbs (got sick, and had surgery) and now I am trying to gain that back...the healthy way...

The BMI is really not a good number... your size - body fat% are more of real goal for us - post op WLS. 

I totally agree about the DEXA scans.  I've had two of them myself.  Once I got to my original goal of 185, I got one and realized I was still at 26.5% body fat (as a male!), that's when I knew for sure I wanted to lose more, so I set my target at 165 and started lifting weights to build up my lean mass (which was 126lbs of my 185lbs at the time).

Well, I've actually had a bit of a hard time shifting into maintenance and stopping losing weight, so I am down around 145-148 (depending on the day) now.  I just had another DEXA scan done, and even though I lost close to 40 lbs since the last one, I gained 7lbs of lean mass, which was awesome to learn!

I also learned that I am down to 6.4% body fat, which is still considered healthy, but just barely.  I now know I need to make absolutely certain I do not lose any more weight!

So, yes, DEXA scans are really, really useful in my opinion and give you a TON of information.  If you do decide to do one I suggest you try calling around to local universities.  We have one near my area (Eastern Michigan University) that does them for like $40 or $60 - much cheaper than anywhere else.  Private places in metro Detroit tend to charge $100-$120, which is still on the lower end nation wide from what I can tell.

As others have said the expected weight loss "goal" is based on the average weight for a person your gender, age and weight. An average includes people who lose little or no weight post surgery. 

I am 64 years old, the "average" weight after a VS was only 40 pounds! I was not going to have major surgery to lose 40 pounds and decided NOT to be "average". I am a little past 3 months post op and have already lost 45 pounds and intend to be under 200 pounds by May 1st. And at my goal weight by my 65th birthday.

The weight loss will continue as long as you eat fewer calories than your body needs. Many of us have a goal to get under a BMI of 25 and many of us reach it. The last 20 pounds are the hardest.

I agree with others about getting a dexascan to measure your bodyfat. That should help you decide your final goal weight.

I haven't been on the site for awhile now but got on today. I read your post and could relate to it. I agree with the others about the Dexiscan but also wanted to relay a conversation I had at a post op follow up with the nurse practitioner. The doc had set a goal weight of 160 which was way too much for me at 5'2". She explained when he set a goal weight it was what the medical field considered a successful surgical result. We talked about a realistic number and she at that time suggested not to go below 130 for my frame size. 136 on the BMI chart is the high end of "normal". I do tend to bounce between 129-133. I am still very careful about what I am eating and continue to measure, measure and measure and if I see the 133 I make sure everything is exactly according to plan (like for dinner 3 oz. means that, not 3.1!)

Our bodies don't decide or figure out anything. They are machines. They react to the conditions at hand.

Our minds do figure things and make decisions. If our minds eat a certain amount and type of food, we'll weigh a certain weight.

My mind made decisions that resulted in my body weighing 475 pounds. My mind, with the help of WLS, got my body down to 182 pounds, for about a hot minute. If my mind was strong enough, it could have forced my body to weigh 150 pounds, or 140.

I don't like when people blame their bodies. Bodies are dumb machines. Incredibly complex, but they don't decide anything. That's all in our heads.

I think normal BMI is a good goal, I also agree with others about the Dexa scan.

WHO standards for healthy body fat for a woman my age is between 23% and 35%. At 149 I was still overweight from a BMI stand point but had 31% body fat so in the normal/healthy range.

Also clothing size goals sometimes can be a good gauge. I'm consistently a size 4 now and I'm good with this. I don't need to be smaller. I know there are others at my height/weight who wear size 8/10. every body is different and really, not everyone's goals need to be the same.