Originally Posted by Magalo:
It is sure hard to believe your weight could be so "low" because your idea of what "low" and "healthy" is screwed once you've been so heavy. If you are a 5"0 woman and have been 350lbs all your life, it is sure hard to believe that a healthy range for you is 100-120lbs. But it is! If I was you, I would aim for a high-bmi range (like 23-24 BMI) and see once there. I don't think it's healthy to aim for a goal weight still in the overweight category and plan to stay there without reevaluating at all.

Disagree. And of course she will reevaluate, but what is unhealthy is deciding that an arbitrary number is NECESSARY.

I say this from watching my mom. She got down to 150 and was able to maintain it EASILY. But doctor and Weight Watchers both told her she HAD to be below 140 to be healthy. The amount of effort it took her to even get to 148 sent her on a tailspin back up to 200 within months.

I've had similar struggles. I can maintain about 5-10 lbs above healthy BMI quite easily but the struggle to get into normal weight often results in me waking up 6 months later 30 lbs heavier again.

NOBODY who succeeds at dropping from morbidly obese to overweight needs to be labeled a failure for not hitting a BMI of 24.9, much less the BMI of 23.5 the doctor prescribed. NOBODY who succeeds at that needs to feel that it is a waste of effort. The difference between morbidly obese and obese in terms of health is HUGE. The difference between obese and overweight is significant. The difference between overweight and normal weight? Moderate to insignificant depending on your other risk factors.

Originally Posted by Magalo:
It is sure hard to believe your weight could be so "low" because your idea of what "low" and "healthy" is screwed once you've been so heavy. If you are a 5"0 woman and have been 350lbs all your life, it is sure hard to believe that a healthy range for you is 100-120lbs. But it is! If I was you, I would aim for a high-bmi range (like 23-24 BMI) and see once there. I don't think it's healthy to aim for a goal weight still in the overweight category and plan to stay there without reevaluating at all.

I have to agree with Ennay on this. Another factor to consider is that obese and morbidly obese individuals often start out with significant muscle, particularly in the legs, because we are lifting ourselves all the time for daily activities. If we're lucky enough to keep it (work hard enough to keep it), we can end up being heavier than most, but looking smaller.

It's so important to keep the weight off once it's lost and to deem each pound off as a pound worth keeping off. This mental part of the weight loss journey can't be down played.