How to know what goal weight should be?

I am 5'6 and always thought my goal should be 150. I went for my 1 year post op appt to my surgeons office. I asked the PA what my goal weight should be...she said 170-175ish...I asked her how they come up with that number? she said based on what I weighed going in that is what I need to get to become a success?? so that's like less than 20 pounds to go. I am not trying to be hateful but her guess at my GOAL weight kinda upset me...I was like ...um can I get some science or basis on how you came up with that number?
She also said I am not eating enough calories...I am eating 900 a day. I thought we were supposed to be eating 800-900 in the losing phase? She said not to worry about carbs as much....but I know my body and when I eat carbs, I get fat...so who knows where that came from. 

I guess I am just asking those of you in the maintenance phase...how did you know when you were DONE? Done losing I mean.

:) Thanks! 

I get conflicting answers from the 2 PA's.  I was told to eat 500-800 calories in the losing phase by the other PA. 
I was wondering about the goal weights too.  I set mine at 150 and am 5'4.  I notice a lot of gals here are 105 -120.  So am I setting my goal to high?
I know I should not compare to past "dieting" but I was crazy trying to maintain 130 in the past and 150 was much easier.  I would also like to hear from the vets.
Kathy

my surgeon didnt give me a goal, but the nutritionist gave me a goal, what she told me is "your body will decide when its done losing" so to just continue what i was doing til my body stopped.

if you want to go to 150 there is no reason for you not to try, my understanding is that they take your starting weight and calulate 70-80 percent excess as that is average loss, and then my surgeon has a "ideal" weight which is 100 percent excess loss...


i stopped losing when i got to a size 4 jeans i didnt want to drop any lower than that.

I am 5'7 and weigh 160.  My NP said I should shoot to loose 20 more but to get down at least 10 more.  My personal goal is 145.  If I get there that would be great.  If not I am comfortable where I am at now. 

I have always heard that our bodies know when to stop.

Some days I still eat 600 calories and sometimes I get closer to 1000.  I try to steer clear of the carbs on most days too.

 
A lot of weight loss programs base your goal weight on % of excess weight loss.

If they think the average weight loss they get is 60% or they go off of a published study cause they don't have enough of there own data.

They give you that number because that is the "average".

My surgeon has a higher EXWL percentage than the national average. That gave me a goal weight. After reaching my goal weight.... we creeped it down 5lbs. at a time till I reached my current weight which is 100% EXWL right at the top end of a normal BMI
He said magical words to my ears when I weighed in at 148lbs. He said Great your at 100% that's Perfect...... Stop losing now and hold your weight for a year.
I've heard lose weight from the doctors oh....for ever.....

frisco

When I first started this process I picked a goal weight based on what I thought I could maintain based on passed dieting experiences. What I figured out as I went along is that this isn't like past dieting experiences. I'm not going to become ravenously hungry as soon as I stop "dieting". So then I set my goal weight to a BMI of 24.9 figuring that when I got there I'd still be overweight but I'd have a better idea of how far down I wanted to go than I did at 225.

When I got to 125, I said "I could live with this" but I kept losing. When I got to 120, I said "okay, this is better, I don't ever want to go above this" but I kept losing. When I got down to 109, I said "EEK" and I started actively eating more until I stopped losing and stayed in the 112-113 range most of the time.

Then, over time, everything redistributed and I filled out a bit more and I looked a lot better at 115-117. I decided to stay there.

Then I decided I needed to be stronger and started a heavy-duty strength and conditioning program. And put on 5 pounds! But I'm the same size as I was when I was 115-117 and, now that I'm picking up my training to get ready for my next Ironman, I'm leaning out some more even though the weight isn't going down.

So I think at this point, I still don't know where I'll "land" because my body is always changing. Sometimes those changes get reflected on the scale and sometimes they don't. My actual volume in space hasn't changed all that much though, not nearly as much as the scale numbers.

This can be a tough question but I think if you want to weigh 150 you should go for it and i don't think 900 calories is too little. I stayed between 600 and 900 during loss phase and it worked well.

I am 5'4. Doctor originally gave me a goal range of 130 to 140. After 9 months we had an appointment and i weighed 140 so I thought he would tell me to lose 10 more pounds. But he said i looked great and I was done. So I was surprised that weight continued to come off and even got a little worried as I was eating more though not tons more. Now things have stablized at about 122 lbs. Thats a bmi 21 which is just fine. Some people think I am a little thin but I keep reading about people who have a 10 lb rebound after a couple years so I am expecting that and am not pushing to regain right now. I like this weight. And I asked my surgeon if he thought I was too thin and he said no. I think they pick a target that they think is achieveable as well as within healthy bmi range.

Sleeve genie has posted links to several of the major university and leading surgeon vsg weight loss plans. You might want to look at them if you feel like you are getting conflicting information. There will never be an easier time than right now to get rid of as much excess weight as you choose to, so let your own feelings be your guide plus a bmi of 21 to 24.

Diane

I stayed between 600 to 800 until I called goal too.  For me, goal was a size. Dr. Alvarez (thankfully, quite honestly) does not give you a goal weight and I never asked, I also never asked my doctor, because I figured *****ally knew what a lean and healthy me looked like, weight wise or size wise?  Not me.  I initially picked a number right outta my bottom!  :}  It was based on the BMI, right in the middle of normal.

My *weight* has changed, but I am the same size, I think having a size is less crazy making for me, because I know I have a bounce of 5 pounds just in regular body flux. 

When I got weighed in the dunk tank, I realized that the BMI goal I had chosen (133) was a little on the low side for me.  I am 5 foot 6 also, but my lean body mass is 122 pounds (well it was last October), so honestly, to only have 10 pounds of fat and skin on me? I am not sure my body would let me get there for long and I might need to fight it all the time. 

Size 6 long pants are also a pain in the bootay to find locally and I do not even almost care to find size 4 long pants locally, nor have to special order my clothing, its just honestly not a hoop I care enough to jump through.  So for me - I called done at a size, the weight has bounced around between 145 and 150ish at the same size, but too, since I am not concerned about pounds alone, it makes it easier on me, ego wise, to not be afraid of putting on muscle because of pounds.

And muscle is only going to be helpful in the long run, ya know? 

I would really suggest looking into getting yourself bodpoded (finding a local bodpod) or hydrostatically weighed (dunk tank) so you can see what your body composition is.  Some of us who were heavy are just naturally more dense, bonewise and setch, and so someone else of the same size frame might weigh less, because they have not been carrying around as much weight for as long too, ya know?  But you cannot measure that with a caliper or a tape measure.  

Weightwise though?  I figure like everything else, the best place to be is the place you do not have to STRUGGLE the whole time to *stay.*

Good luck girlie!

Thanks to everyone for their comments...super helpful! :) I am going to look into the bod pod thing and just keep on keeping on to see where my body ends up. :)

Thanks goodness for OH, this is the only place I get support and helpful answers! :)
~Crystal