For females 5'7-5'8

Fugeela

Do any of you happen to weigh less than what is minimum for the height bracket? For example, do any of you weight 110-120? 120-128? I'd just like to hear about your overall health and if you are comfortable/happy with your size/body?

Pictures are welcome!

FromHereOnOut

I am 5'8.5" and at my lightest (many years ago) I was low to mid 120s skinnyfat and it was totally unmaintainable. I am older & wiser now, and my current goal is to fit into the same size jeans as I wore then, but with an extra 20 pounds of muscle, in order to be fit & healthy and to be able to maintain the size on a normal caloric intake. I don't know how realistic my goal is, but I suspect I will find out before the year is out. :bigsmile:

Oh yeah, also, I was sick all the time back then too, and I was never once happy with the look of my body, because although my size was small, I still had fat squishing out everywhere. I know now that I wanted to be FIT, not skinny (aka, skinnyfat). And the good news is that by being fit, I can achieve the same size at a higher body weight and thus eat more daily, making it totally sustainable for life.

YMMV.
Good luck.

AKbluedragonfly

I'm 5'8" and my body tends to prefer to be right around 140. I've gotten down to 124, but only temporarily on a crash diet back in high school. No one even noticed I had lost weight. It was all just water weight and came right back. Plus I was an emotional mess.

I have gotten down to 130 through healthy diet and exercise about 2 years ago, but I started to get comments from coworkers like "When are you going to stop? Maybe you should just be happy where you're at." You could see my ribs when you looked at my back. You could see my ribs when I wore shirts with low necks. Even so, I still had fat on my stomach (where I tend to store it as you can see in my picture) and thighs. I realized I had reached a point where I was looking worse with every pound lost rather than better.

I think the important things to remember are that we all store fat differently and we can't control where we lose it from. I'd advise to stop worrying about the numbers and just see how you feel. I feel my best around 135-140, but what makes me most confident in my body is when I lift weights regularly. It's empowering to feel strong.

mtnstar

I am 5'8" and 125. I am working on toning up, I had 2 babies in the past 3 years and still a little flabby, but it's getting better! Some seem to think this is a low weight for the height, but it's where I have always felt my best, and I have a small frame.

I haven't posted a picture before, so it might take a few tries to work.

phaml05

I'm 5'7" and 118. I'm trying to maintain at 120, but I'm happy where I'm at. I am Asian with a typical Asian build though so my frame is small and my bones are less dense. My mom and sisters think i should gain a little weight but my coworkers and friends think I'm fine. My BMI is actually right on the border between healthy and underweight. Right now Im thinking 'if I gain a couple of pounds, that's fine, but if I don't then that's fine too!'

Allyvegan

This is an older topic, but relevant to me now. I'm 5'8" and currently weigh 116 (BMI 17.6). I've honestly never felt better, and have healthfully and easily lost about 25 lbs in about 8 months. For the majority of that time I simply ate less food (portion-wise, not cutting anything out). I'm vegan and eat a well balanced diet, but don't count calories. I'm now working on getting back into running, gaining a bit of muscle mass and toning. I haven't felt this good while running since college! I believe I'm currently on the track to lose more (naturally), and am now learning how to maintain where I am.

iorahkwano

I'm 5'7" and I looked disgusting & too skinny at 110 & 120lbs. I had no muscle & looked like a scarecrow.

Right now I float around 133-136lbs and I'm happy at that.

I wouldn't go below 125 and wouldn't go above 140.

postrockandcats

BMI is such a limited scale. There are plenty of people who are perfectly healthy at an underweight BMI.

fitandfortyish

I'm 5'7, tend to weight around 128lbs--I have a tiny frame (wrist is 5.5 inches). My calorie intake is around 1570 give or take depending on my exercise--rarely sick, tones of energy.

JennetteMac

I am 5'6.5" and my fav weight of all was 110. I felt fit and loved being easily the slimmest person at work/friends etc. I tried maintainance and have done my best to accept that I should give it time, not be too skinny etc. But I hate my current weight of 118, and am now having to go back to losing. Hey ho. We live and learn.

lizziesaint

I am 5'7" with a small frame and normally hover between 115-120. I feel much better at 115 and try to keep my weight above 110. I think it depends on the person and the size of your frame, really. I feel uncomfortable and sluggish at anything over 120 despite that being a "normal" BMI and 115 being "underweight." I'm much more energetic 115 and look quite healthy.

DUCKIEGYRL

I am 5'8 I was 261lbs. It's been 14 months I am down to 174 lbs. my goal weight is 150 that is for my body type. I have posted a pic below.

09/2012


4/6/2014

ishapeme

Wow! you look great. I’m 5’8 and I’m at 150 although I’m very muscular. I would like to lose 10 pounds and maintain an atheltic body type.

lsuz

I'm 5'7" and I looked disgusting & too skinny at 110 & 120lbs. I had no muscle & looked like a scarecrow.

Right now I float around 133-136lbs and I'm happy at that.

I wouldn't go below 125 and wouldn't go above 140.

I totally agree. At that height, I've been 110 (crazy underweight looking, not healthy AT ALL, which surprised me) and 149 (a bit too much extra for me).

Aiming for 135.

Amandawith3kids

i was 110 pounds soaking wet in high school, and i did NOT look healthy at all. i was happiest with my shape at about 130. (i didnt own a scale)

SezxyStef

I am 5'6.5" and my fav weight of all was 110. I felt fit and loved being easily the slimmest person at work/friends etc. I tried maintainance and have done my best to accept that I should give it time, not be too skinny etc. But I hate my current weight of 118, and am now having to go back to losing. Hey ho. We live and learn.

I find the bolded part funny...sorry....but really???? feeling fit and being fit are two different things...

Anyway I am 5 ft 7 and I have weighed sub 130 and hated it...

I currently am 158 and wear a size 5/6 - may even get to a size 4 at some point...I am happy with my weight (looking to get down a few more pounds) but I prefer to have 20-22% BF...

janetteluparia

I am 5'7 1/2 (and not shrinking at 50)! I am 152 now but my goal is 143. Right in the middle of the BMI scale. The last time I was 135 it was not sustainable. My mom is 5'7 and 135 pounds and she doesnt look good. I have more muscle mass and DD cup so I am built a little different.

a_stronger_me13

The "normal" or "healthy" weight brackets are based on averages of the female population to some extent I believe.

That being said, I will probably never cut down to anything lower than 145lbs at 5'8. Much lower than that and it just doesn't jive with the body composition and appearance that I am striving for. As far as "healthy", body fat is a better indicator than your weight.

belladilorenzo

I was 122lbs at one point (5'7") and probably as low as 118 due to stress and other personal factors. I didn't want to be that thin (I'm most comfortable at 135-155), but it just happened.

I was so sick and upset because I dropped a good 10-15lbs in two weeks.

http://imgur.com/BiAojfw

http://imgur.com/o7mXNrb (In the gray top)

I am naturally very curvy, so I was carrying it all in my chest.

a_stronger_me13

I am 5'6.5" and my fav weight of all was 110. I felt fit and loved being easily the slimmest person at work/friends etc. I tried maintainance and have done my best to accept that I should give it time, not be too skinny etc. But I hate my current weight of 118, and am now having to go back to losing. Hey ho. We live and learn.

8lbs is pretty much negligible when it comes to appearance on someone that is your height.

hitsnooze

i'm 5'7 and at my lowest i was 106. i liked it but nobody else did. i'm aiming for 120 this time as a start, but i might go down to 115. i refuse to go over 130ish, i have a small frame and hate the way it makes my hips look.

kuolo

Wow, my lbm is around 120! I'm 5'7". Aiming for about 147.

I have been that low but only when I was anorexic.

ExcelWithMel

When I was in H.S. I was @145 at 5'8" with a very slender, athletic swimmers build. At 21 I was 163 and remember feeling huge. But over 30 the lowest weight I achieved was 164 and I felt with another 5# gone, I would be happy with that. I fit easily into size 8 everything and was nicely toned and in it's place.

For me, I don't think I'd ever get below 159-160, but I do know some people's frames are smaller and I have seen some (not all) people at 5'8" and in the 120s and the are certainly slim, but not grossly so.

juliafromrf

I am 5'8'' and now at roughly 138 lbs (62,5 kg). I'd love to go down to 125 lbs but I'm not sure if this is maintainable for me. Even at my current weight people I talk to doubt that I'm above 130, I've got quite a thigh gap and my ribs and hip bones are sticking out. It all comes down to frame size in my opinion. I am really large framed so my bones are showing even at a higher weight.
I like the skinny look though and would like to go lower and just see how it looks.
The skinniest I've ever been was when I was 13 (5'6.5'' at that time), and at 103 lbs after losing 25 lbs in a very short time due to a very restrictive diet. Don't want to go back to that weight, that's for sure.

telepneff

I am 5'7" and before I had my baby I was naturally between 115-120. I was happy with that. I ate what I wanted and didn't exercise, it was just my natural size
I assume that age had something to do with this because this was when I was 17-21. I started putting on weight at 22 so started eating right and exercising, got my weight back down then fell pregnant.
My boy is now a year old, I'm 144 lbs and aiming to get to 126 lbs. Would love to get back to 115-120 but I just don't know how easy that would be to reach or maintain as I'm getting older.

CoderGal

Do any of you happen to weigh less than what is minimum for the height bracket? For example, do any of you weight 110-120? 120-128? I'd just like to hear about your overall health and if you are comfortable/happy with your size/body?

Pictures are welcome!

I've been in all those brackets. I've felt fine in all of them. I think how you feel really depends more on your health and fitness then it does your weight. For example if you're active and 130 vs a sedentary 120, you're going to feel better at 130. Here are some examples of my weight:
120, sedentary:

starting to get active, 120:

Then I took up weight lifting, active, 130:


Before when I was running to lose weight before I started lifting (still at 130):

notice my flabby *kitten*

vs the lifting *kitten* at the same weight

130lb not lifting vs 130lb lifting:


For face comparison:
140 sedentary:

130 now:

Cookie0914

Wow!!!! You look awesome!!

zoeysasha37

I'm currently 135 and just under 5"8 tall.

allisonjforsyth

Happy to see this topic being talked about! I am 5'7" and currently weigh about 133, which was my original goal, down from 200 after my fifth daughter was born. I weighed 133 in college and felt great about it, so I thought I would again. Instead, this time at this weight (maybe since having five babies) my body has changed and I feel "skinny fat." So as a result, I have since lowered my new goal down to 122, which is based off of the bottom of the "normal" or "healthy" weight range chart for my height and my small frame. However, since joining MFP, I have been inspired by the females who lift, and CoderGal's pics are a perfect example. SO, I'll let you know as I get closer, but I want to change my body more than I want to change the number I'm seeing on the scale...but like everything it's a process. Haven't started lifting yet, and still trying to drop down to my new goal weight in order to lose some more of the excess fat.

CoderGal

Happy to see this topic being talked about! I am 5'7" and currently weigh about 133, which was my original goal, down from 200 after my fifth daughter was born. I weighed 133 in college and felt great about it, so I thought I would again. Instead, this time at this weight (maybe since having five babies) my body has changed and I feel "skinny fat." So as a result, I have since lowered my new goal down to 122, which is based off of the bottom of the "normal" or "healthy" weight range chart for my height and my small frame. However, since joining MFP, I have been inspired by the females who lift, and CoderGal's pics are a perfect example. SO, I'll let you know as I get closer, but I want to change my body more than I want to change the number I'm seeing on the scale...but like everything it's a process. Haven't started lifting yet, and still trying to drop down to my new goal weight in order to lose some more of the excess fat.

Thanks for your kind words guys.

I don't lift nearly as much as the people who inspire me, who have had dramatic dramatic changes. The bolded part above is exactly how I felt before. Except for instead of babies I told people I must be 'old'. I thought it was a valid excuse before. I'm softer because I'm older. I'm saggier because I"m older. 'Butt' now I probably have a better shaped butt then I did as a teen. I also have a flatter stomach. And looking at some of the females in their 40s-50s here that have better bodies then I do (who use to be obese), I know exactly why I didn't feel the same. Particularly thinking about the past. I use to move a lot more in the past (ie dancing 9 times a week), hence I had a better body then compared to when I was older and lost weight to be the same weight...because I didn't move as much, so things weren't as firm. Yes, metabolisms slow. But not as much as many of us think. We can have better bodies then in our teens if we try. The problem is, finding the time to do so! And there's places to 'squat' some of it in without much effort, even if we can't do as much as we'd optimally like. Always time to do a pull up before I leave the house since I have a bar in the entrance lol. And for a few pushups before I pee for example. Unless public washroom...then ew.

Also I'd mention there is such thing as loose skin and the like. Particularly after babies. But what a lot of people do not realize is weight does not come off the same way it is put on. And after training a lot of that 'loose' looking skin turns out to be fat and diminishes after training. My butt use to droop over itself. Now it doesn't (and you can tell by multiple angles in the other pics as well).



Another thing that often happens is your pant size goes up...not because you're getting bigger...but because fat is easily squished into jeans. Perky muscular bums, not so much. Even though inches went down. It confuses many.

DuckDynastyMakesMeLaugh

I'm 5'8" and currently weigh 136ish pounds. I am going to reassess when I reach 134.

I have not weighed in the 130's since my late 20's and I credit MFP's tools and the wisdom of so many in this community for my success!