How Do You Know When You Are Done?

Congratulations on your success and exceeding your goal. I think the difference between your goal and mine was that yours sounds a little more realistic and mine was to give me a safety net for the bounce back I hear so much about.
My face thinned out in the first couple of months and really all i have left is belly fat though I think some of it may just be loose skin and no amount of anything but PS will fix that. Dropping more pounds will not make my tummy any flatter either, that's going to come down to muscle building and seeing if I've had a 6-pack under that protective layer of fat for the past 13 years. So I am working on that now, and you can see why I don't want my brain obsessed with pounds right now.
I think YOU are in a great place mentally and want to get there too.
Best of luck to you and yoru continued success

My doctor never set a goal for me.  When I had my 6 month checkup he said I was probably done at about 145 and the NUT said I probably would not lose any more unless I really ramp up my exercise.  After that appointment, I decided that I would like to lose an even 100lbs, putting me at 112.  I hit 120 a couple of weeks ago and have revised my goals....I feel like I am there!  I am having trouble finding clothes that fit and at 49, my face looks really drawn with the extra weight gone.  If I lose more without trying so be it...other wise I am finished.  I think you will know when you are where you want to be!  

Yes, that's where I want my brain to be. I don't look sickly yet, I think my face looks great (personally), and I don't want to look anorexic or worse become anorexic for some unreachable goal. It's not you gave up, but that you became happy and healthy, and that's what I want to do and be :) I already exceeded my doctors goal for me by almost 10 pounds. Anything else seems like it should just be the cherries on top :)

My personal experience with this Jenna is the following : at first I felt skinny at a 4 -2 . Sometimes even now I feel skinny at that weight .... but that now my " fat weight "

honestly , thats the weight I want to be to have a rounded face bundled up in a cute parka .... not uncovering in a bikini .

Im about 18 months out now . Its well-nigh impossible to lose . I like U was diabetic , had a gargantuan appetite ( wonder if theyre related ?- and am THOROUGHLY SICK OF DIETING after a lifetime of it LOL !!

I also understand the loving hubby wanting his eating buddy back thing .... and the million temptations with the constant fatty carbs around lol ( men ! ) ...

My PERSONAL choice is to run ... to remove myself and to choose to work in front of the camera which means I need to maintain a 00 or 000 weight , twenty or more lbs below this new post RNY setpoint .

Being young I think U can get away with relaxing Ur diet a little bit . BUT U HAVE the extra empty fat cells still an U are STILL a diabetic .... even though Uve been given the amazing once in a lifetime gift of remission.

My hubby ha an RNY 10 years ago , hes a diabetic, he made excuses for eating the sugary/ fatty things he craved and his diabetes came roaring back a few years post op worse than before .

I'm sure Uve heard this story repeated many times .

I think Its Ur choice whether U want to be a size 6-8 ( what it sounds like ) or a size 2-4 ( where U may end up if U continue downward , rebound and finally " land " ) .

Ur " landing " weight in ten years may WELL be TWENTY lbs More than Ur lowest weight post RNY - at least thats MY experience as a diabetic . I would say our " metabolically challenged " component is higher than the average bariatric bear's ....unless we take STRONG steps every day to counteract it ( I do with red yeast rice , ashwagaranda and exercise )

if U dont want to spend the rest of Ur life dieting futilely I would go as low now as I possibly could .. thats the advice i'd give MYSELF . ( and try to follow )

I"ve been feeling thin/healthy since I hit an 8, something about single digits, but now at a 6 I'm HAPPY with my body which is something I have never experienced even as a teenager at this weight (had a mom who projected her weight issues on me from an early age). And I am fully confident I can wear a bikini this summer. I haven't run out to buy one, cuz of course I will lose more weight once I do, or at least more inches. One step at a time. But the important part to me, is that I could, and I will, and I look forward to it.
My face will always be round, depending on the angle could look more heart shaped, but I am Hungarian and we have round face (much to my mother's dismay, her side is Spanish and they (in my family)  all have oval faces). Trying to lose more and more weight to change my face shape is self-defeating (something I wish I'd been told as child).

They may well be related. I was also on insulin and that is a growth hormone and makes you put on weight. People who take insulin also eat too much because they feel a need to compensate for the insulin they inject. I know that feeling low was much worse to feel than high, so I prefer higher daily levels, though I hated myself when I saw them and how high they really were.

I'm done dieting. I love the eating lifestyle I've adopted, I eat enough and I am satisied, I don't overeat and I eat low carb, that will not change.

Whoa! Who said anything about my husband wanting his eating buddy back?! My husband, amazing supportive guy he is has always supported my eating decisions and embraced them as his own. When we first moved in together he gave up red meat because I didn't eat it and it seemed stupid to cook two meals every night. He still eats it every now and then when he's at a friends house or if we go out to eat which I have no problem with. The point is he made that change. During my pre-op diet we upped our veggie intake and dropped carbs. That was eight months ago and he doesn't ask for carbs with meals now, he feels better without a starch with dinner and loves the cauliflower replacement recipes we've found. He is so compliant with MY eating habits/dietary changes that he lost 75 pounds doing nothing but eating only what I eat only in larger portions. Who else has that? Hopefully quite a few people, but I don't think it's very common. When he wants bad food he keeps it at his desk or asks what variation will not tempt me, like he wanted chips, I told him to get the really hot ones I couldn't stand or buy combos since i loathe them with a passion, and he does. We are very conscious of each others trigger foods and do not bring them home. He loves our noew lifestyle and our new bodies. He wants me happy and healthy and thin, and is doing everything in his power to help me stay there.

I have no intention of relaxing my diet or slacking on my exercise. I simply asked if I should shift my focus from "Oh god I gave.0125 pounds this week" to weighing once a week, being active, enjoying life and not worrying so much about what the scale has to say, which may or may not help me get the last of it off. I don't crave sugar anymore, and my carbs/fat are in check, they will continue to be. I don't plan to revert my eating habits. I found a great place and I just want to stay there dietarily speaking. I'm jus trying to stave off obsession with the nubmers on a scale and a potential for anorexia due to unrealistic expectations.

Jenna,
Congrats on your weight loss, your dedication to your tool, and your ability to evaluate your own decisions.  Wow.

As an aside, even Nat'l Institutes of Health says that the BMI tables can be flawed, particularly if you are very large or very small boned, or have a high muscle mass.  For example, my wrist bones are 6.5 inches in circumference, my sisters in law's measures 4.25.  We'd never have the same goal weight even though we're the same height.   And muscle mass can skew BMI/weight too.  Are you particularly muscular? 

Here's a suggestion that no one has made yet:  maybe you could begin working toward a "healthier" self in ALL aspects-- moving your body, stretching your mind, exploring your spirituality, working on stable emotions, beginning to achieve ALL the personal life goals you've outlined so far.   Not that you would NOT focus on your body, but expand your focus a bit to include mental, emotional, spiritual, AND physical.

My guess is that the attitude of your mind and spirit will have much effect on your body and emotional self-satisfaction. That's been my life experience, and I'm over the hill.

Congrats again on evaluating your thought process.  That's the sign of a VERY intelligent person!

tracey

Thank you for getting it :) and for your suggestions. I think that in NOT focusing on teh weight itself and focusing more on all those other great aspects of my life. You mean the measurement across the top of your wrist? Mine is 2.25" x 1" thick
I am a solid kind of girl, I have very strong, well developed arm and leg muscles. I'm working with my priestess more (mostly cuz she's a great friend) and learning more about how I can grow in that path. We're also doing much more religious observance together, which makes both of us and our families happier. So my spiritual is on track.
I exercise daily and enjoy it. I spent yesterday with friends and while a year ago we'd have been sitting around talking the whole time, we not only did that but also each put in almost an hour a piece on Wii Fit and then all went to yet another friends house and spent another hour trying out the Just Dance for Wii. It was great :) Check on the physical.
My emotions which 5 years ago where in such a sad state that I had a mental break down, are right now stable. I have stress like everyone else, but I realize that it doesn't last forever and work my way through it. For the most part I consider my life to be darn near perfect.
I have a list of top 10 ten year goals that i think i will start focusing on. One of them was to find and acheive ideal weight for my body (i will add maintain) and to be safely on minimal or no medication which I have acheived. Or like the one to let go of unhealthy attachments and form healthy new ones/rebuild ones I've let drift that I shouldn't have. I'm doing more and more of that these days. Making more time for family and friends in real life instead of just online or being too "busy".
Perhaps now I should focus more on the finish my book one, or finding our dream home or getting my teeth straightened.

I think you're absoultely right and I thank you for adding yoru two cents.
Over the hill just means that'll all be so much easier from here on out because you aren't fighting as hard. Like weight, age is only a number and one I don't beleive should be the focal point of your life when you have so much else going for you :P I don't know how old you actually are, just rolling with your comment. I DO very much appreciate your advice and your life experience.
That said, I'll be 30 in August and I can't wait!! I love 3's, this will be a great decade.

I'll be a young 52 this year. Luckily, I agree with you that age is just a number.  

Jenna, you sound very centered.  As a few of my friends always say, "Just keep trudging the road of happy destiny."  

Deep inside you know the answer to your question, doncha?  
Turn it over to your higher power, but continue to do the footwork.  

Thanks for being an inspiration to those of us behind you on the loser's bench.  

Keep posting, willya, I enjoy your viewpoints and comments.
tracey