I don’t have a goal weight in mind. My doctors and I haven’t discussed an actual number. According to the Center for Disease Control, a healthy weight for a woman of my height falls between 114-144 pounds with a body mass index between 18.5-25.
I think my right leg weighs more than 114 pounds. This is why I don’t allow myself to get hung up on defining the ultimate goal in an actual number, or at least not in actual numbers that fall within that range. If I fixate on that I will slowly drive myself insane.
So far on my journey, I was over the moon to get below 300 pounds. Right now, my eye is on the distant prize of weighing less than 200 pounds. When I hit that mark some months from now, that’s when I’ll consider choosing a goal weight. At that point, my doctors and I will transition me from a “losing” food plan to a “maintenance” plan.
Personally, I think if I can be somewhere between 170 and 185, I’ll be content. Content? Hell, I’ll metaphorically turn cartwheels and then see if I can do them physically, too!
Even without a concrete single number, I believe it’s safe and accurate to claim that I’m more than halfway to goal. I lost the 10 pounds that I wanted to in August and am on track for the goal I set when I hit the 100 pound weight loss. I said that I wanted to lose another 50 pounds by the end of the year. That could be a really ambitious number, or it could be easy. I have no way to know because there’s no telling if or how my metabolism will adjust as I progress. Perhaps it will be kinder to shoot for an 8 to 10 pound per month loss over the next few months. Given my innate ability to beat up on myself, I think the range-type goal is more likely to set me up for success.
Over on ObesityHelp.com, we can make cute little trackers for ourselves. Some of us (like me) set ours to show how many pounds we’ve lost. Others show how many pounds they have to lose to hit goal. Some people do both. Whether in my head I’m adding up the pounds lost total or counting down to a goal, I’m still going to celebrate that I’m more than half way there.
Weighty Matters 
I wasn’t sure about a goal weight either. I am now under 200 pounds which is completely AWESOME. I still want to lose more but if I never lose another pound I could be content. I look good. I’m healthy. I’m active.
According to conventional wisdom, I appear to have a medium frame and at 5′ 7″ I “should” weigh somewhere between about 133 – 147.
I don’t know about that. I don’t really trust those charts. Now that I’ve made it into the 190s, I have a better idea of where I’d like to end up. Probably somewhere in the 160s would be good.
I have a BMI somewhere around 32. 30 is where you “officially” go from obese to overweight so that’s my next goal. (I still need to figure out what the pound number for that is.)
Our surgeon told my husband that when your BMI gets to around 30 is when they start seeing the weight loss stall a lot more. So we’ll have to see how that goes; that’s where my husband is right now. He’s doing a lot of body weight resistance stuff and focusing on building and toning his muscle mass rather than just losing fat. It might be something to put in the back of your mind.
My loss slowed to about a pound a week during months 11 & 12 post op. over the last month I’ve seen anywhere from 1.2 to 2 pounds per week. Regardless, it’s been steady loss even tho it’s gotten a bit slower. But that’s to be expected.
I had to have a bit of a talk with myself over frustration at that slow down. I wanted to keep that 3 – 4 pound a week weight loss, stay on a fast track “schedule” and get to whatever my goal was TODAY.
Then I realized I needed to stop thinking about the “schedule”, about how fast I could get to 199, or whatever the next number would be. Because the reality is I don’t have total control over this. I can only control the quality & quantity of food I eat and physical activity I perform. It’s ok if the weight loss is slower or even stalls as long as I’m consciously living a strong healthy life. If it takes another year or more to get to the 160s that’s ok. It has to be. Otherwise I’ll drive myself nuts obsessing about numbers. So now I just go week by week and celebrate whatever progress I make. I don’t fret about next month or next year. I just focus on making THIS week good and NEXT week good or better. I let go of last week, good or bad, because I’m not perfect and as long as I keep trying it’ll all be fine.
Sounds like you are doing great, Mary! Keep doing what you are doing and I’m betting you’ll be just fine.
Your progress is amazing and inspiring. Wow! Good for you to accomplish so much for yourself.
Congrats, Mary! You’re doing so great!