How do you maintain a BMI of 18.5 or 110 lbs, if you are a 5'4" female?
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From the picture, she could be 18 to 20% or 21% to 24%. She's slim, but has some curves. She doesn't have that "hard" look of the 15-17% category. Typically, bodybuilders and extreme athletes are in that range.0 -
I'm 5'4" and have been maintaining around 105 to 108 lbs for the last few months. Looking back on the last few months, I've been averaging anywhere from 1330 calories a day to 1500. I've been increasing my calories very slowly because I don't want to risk going back to my old unhealthy habits.
Just in the last few weeks I've also started making more of an effort with exercise. I'm trying to do 10-15 minutes on the elliptical and then a 5 minute strength work out 3 times during the week, and then on weekends I like to go for at least one longer jog outside. If I can keep this up, I'll increase my calories to 1500-1600 average a day.
Personally I love cooking and meal planning so I find it easy to prepare food for the week. Usually on Sundays I make something that will give me dinner on Sunday night and then 3 or 4 lunches for the week. I portion them out and take everything to work at once (I use a somewhat secret kitchen at work that not many people use so there's enough room for me to put 3 or 4 days worth of food in there). I also have a bunch of things frozen so I can defrost them for dinner or lunches as needed. I've also been making a batch of egg muffins on Sundays to be my breakfast during the week. I'm a snacker so I also plan ahead for those. On Sunday I log my breakfast and my morning and afternoon snacks for Monday to Friday. I also log any lunches and dinners that I've preprepared. Obviously plans can change so I never consider my pre-logged meals set in stone. It does however make it easier to know whether or not I can add an extra snack in or have a slice of birthday cake at work
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So really your goal is to lose your tummy and thighs and you are at a healthy weight. This is done through exercise and has little to do with your weight or BMI at this time. You are likely sitting more now than you were before the tummy appeared.0
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From the picture, she could be 18 to 20% or 21% to 24%. She's slim, but has some curves. She doesn't have that "hard" look of the 15-17% category. Typically, bodybuilders and extreme athletes are in that range.
You're so right. It's really hard to tell from a photograph.
Because some body builders are super dehydrated when they compete, it makes it almost impossible use body builder images to compare to someone with normal hydration levels. Somewhere I saw a set of photos of body builders with the same body fat with normal hydration levels vs their competition form--it was quite an eye-opening difference.0 -
I'm just a hair under 5'4" and weigh 116 lbs. 110 would be the absolute bottom of what I'd want to be (and I'm very small boned).
If I had to choose two of the following three (sleep, exercise, or meal planning), I would choose sleep and regular exercise. Pick an exercise that you find enjoyable and easy to motivate yourself to do. I've been doing C25k for the last nine weeks, which has been wonderful because I feel stronger, and it gets me outdoors and into nature/the parks. On non-running days, I go for a morning walk. Exercise can have great benefits for your stress levels, etc. I also have been finding that I sleep better and actually wake up sooner as I've become more active.
As for eating, I suggest that you design a simple, easily repeatable plan for two meals a day (something you can make quickly every day for breakfast and lunch), so you don't have to think about it. A few years ago, when I did need to lose a few pounds, I would have the same thing for breakfast (oatmeal with blueberries), a fruit for a morning snack, and a salad with some chicken for lunch every day. That meant I only had to work out one meal a day. My husband and I do our grocery shopping together on the weekend, then cook two or three dishes that we can have for dinner each week. It is a system that works pretty well for us, plus it helped us really cut our food budget (hubby likes to bargain shop and cook, and I do everything I can to aid in that, and we use our shopping time to go to interesting and extra-cheap ethnic marketplaces when we can, so our shopping trip becomes a leisure "activity" in addition to a chore.0 -
Watch how much sugar (all kinds especially added) and you should start losing. You are probably eating more than you think. I try to keep mine @ 45gm a day (don't always succeed), but have lost eight lbs doing it. It's not always abt calories, but the kind of calories you are eating; check your macros you may need more protein.0
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Are there any 5'4" women here, who are successfully maintaining a weight of 110? If not, are there any other females who are successfully maintaining a BMI of 18.5? If so, what are your calorie goals per day and how much weight lifting and cardio do you get in per week? I don't have time to fit in exercise WITH meal planning, or it then cuts into how much sleep I have time to get, so it's either meal planning and sleep, minus exercise, or exercise and sleep, minus meal planning. I tried the latter in the past and because I wasn't counting calories, I also did not lose. So, I have been staying in the 1200-1250 range, but am stalled out at 125 lbs after 20 days of eating like that.
Im the same height and maintain between 107 and 110pounds. I do cardio for 1hour 7 days a week and lift for 20 min 3 to 4 times a week. I eat between 1200-1500 cal a day.0 -
This sounds like an incredibly disordered and body dysmorphic goal. Only about 1% of the population are naturally this tiny, to maintain a weight below your set point (read up on set point theory) will involve obsessing about your food and body rather than using those things as tools to actually LIVE YOUR LIFE. Which is kind of the most important thing, surely? As a nearly physically recovered anorexic with a current bmi of 18, I have no intention of stopping at 18.5. Don't sacrifice your energy levels, metabolism, mental health and social life just for some arbitrary number nobody else cares about anyway.0
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is 18.5 good?0
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Here's a quick snip from the Wikipedia article on BMI - pertaining to it's usefulness as an indicator of health/body fat percentage/etc: (https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Body_mass_index)
Does not differentiate between muscle mass and fat mass
Assumptions about the distribution between muscle mass and fat mass are inexact. BMI generally overestimates adiposity on those with more lean body mass (e.g., athletes) and underestimates excess adiposity on those with less lean body mass. A study in June 2008 by Romero-Corral et al. examined 13,601 subjects from the United States' third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) and found that BMI-defined obesity (BMI > 30) was present in 21% of men and 31% of women. Using body fat percentages (BF%), however, BF%-defined obesity was found in 50% of men and 62% of women. While BMI-defined obesity showed high specificity (95% for men and 99% for women), BMI showed poor sensitivity (36% for men and 49% for women). Despite this undercounting of obesity by BMI, BMI values in the intermediate BMI range of 20–30 were found to be associated with a wide range of body fat percentages. For men with a BMI of 25, about 20% have a body fat percentage below 20% and about 10% have body fat percentage above 30%.
BMI is particularly inaccurate for people who are very fit or athletic, as their high muscle mass can classify them in the overweight category by BMI, even though their body fat percentages frequently fall in the 10–15% category, which is below that of a more sedentary person of average build who has a normal BMI number. Body composition for athletes is often better calculated using measures of body fat, as determined by such techniques as skinfold measurements or underwater weighing and the limitations of manual measurement have also led to new, alternative methods to measure obesity, such as the body volume index. However, recent studies of American football linemen who undergo intensive weight training to increase their muscle mass show that they frequently suffer many of the same problems as people ordinarily considered obese, notably sleep apnea.
So, for the OP, it may be OK, since she has described herself as having a preference for the "sedentary" lifestyle. For me, however, 18.5 would be miserable. My BMI is 25.5 today, and honestly, I don't feel all that "overweight."0 -
In my humble clinical opinion - BMI is the least accurate measure of health as the same calculation is used for someone age 18-80, man or woman. Needless to say there are a lot of variances in there.
Fat percent is the most accurate. For women a health fat percent is:
Essential fat 10-12% (must have-considered risky for health)
Athletes 14-20%
Fitness 21-24% (considered the healthiest range)
Someone who is high muscled (even with a roll of extra skin in the low abs) can have a higher BMI. Body Builders often have a BMI in the 30's - but their body fat % during competition can be as low as 4%. They don't stay there after competition - even they know it is unhealthy.
check out this link: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body_fat_categories.htm
First and formost - protect your health; Second - if the rest of your body is in GREAT shape this may just be your body composition ....
anyway ... my 2 cents... good luck
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worldofalice wrote: »This sounds like an incredibly disordered and body dysmorphic goal. Only about 1% of the population are naturally this tiny, to maintain a weight below your set point (read up on set point theory) will involve obsessing about your food and body rather than using those things as tools to actually LIVE YOUR LIFE. Which is kind of the most important thing, surely? As a nearly physically recovered anorexic with a current bmi of 18, I have no intention of stopping at 18.5. Don't sacrifice your energy levels, metabolism, mental health and social life just for some arbitrary number nobody else cares about anyway.
If this 'set point' crap were true we'd all still be fat...so uh yeah, no.
In order to maintain 110 pounds, OP, you'd have to eat 1300-1400 calories while sedentary, 1500-1600 if exercising 3 times a week, 1800-1900 if hitting the gym every day, so on and so forth.0 -
I don't. I'm 5'5", but every time I go under 133 I get very hungry.
I am currently trying to get back to my happy maintainance weight of 118-120, (currently 127) and I find that the struggle is so real. Trying to lower my weight when my weight is already in a healthy BMI range is really difficult. I dont know what Id have to do to get to 110. (cut off a limb?)
Im 5'4 fwiw0 -
God you look fat - said no mirror ever...0
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I'm 5'4 and weigh around 113-115 range.
I eat roughly 16-1700 calories per day every day. I lift heavy weights 3 times a week (followed by 20 minutes of cardio). In addition, i bike around 20k per week.0 -
This is an older picture and I'm working to get to about this size again, and yes, I know the pants are hideous.
This is me at 5'5, 135 lbs and 40 years old, wearing a pair of jeans I bought when I was 14 years old and under 110 pounds. I was eating about 2300 calories a day, strength training 3x a week (stronglifts 5x5) and running 3x a week (usually 3-5 miles at a time).
My lean mass is about 110 pounds now. I can't get to that weight again without losing precious muscle.
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melimomTARDIS wrote: »I don't. I'm 5'5", but every time I go under 133 I get very hungry.
I am currently trying to get back to my happy maintainance weight of 118-120, (currently 127) and I find that the struggle is so real. Trying to lower my weight when my weight is already in a healthy BMI range is really difficult. I dont know what Id have to do to get to 110. (cut off a limb?)
Im 5'4 fwiw
I'm 127 pounds as well and 5'4 and have been 120 in the past, but don't wanna go there again tbh (Boobs were non existant). Lol
What's your weight in your profile photo (if you don't mind me asking)?0 -
I am 5'9" but currently at 19.5 BMI, my stomach is starting to flatten. I dont do much cardio I just walk on my breaks and lunches at work. Then I do to the gym and do weight lifting or yoga. I eat at 1200 calories, I am still trying to reduce the fat on my hips and belly.0
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