Tall Women: How did you choose your maintenance weight.

IsabeausRose
IsabeausRose Posts: 129 Member
edited November 21 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I'm 5'11 and I've been losing weight since last February. My doctor wants me no lower than 160 pounds which is 14 pounds less than what I am right now. I've never been happy at that weight. I feel the best at 150. For you tall women like me, how did you decide on what weight to maintain? Did you go by your doctor's advice or what felt the best? I'm just wondering if I set an unrealistic goal for myself in the beginning. I'm also in my 40s so I don't know if that means I should weigh more than when I was in my 20s and the doctor is factoring that in as part of it. I'm just looking for people who are at a healthy weight like I will be.
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Replies

  • elizabethhilbert
    elizabethhilbert Posts: 13 Member
    I'm 5'8". I chose 138-140 as I feel good here and don't feel it's too low to reasonably maintain.
  • KetoZombies
    KetoZombies Posts: 63 Member
    I am 5'11 and I plan to maintain right around 155
  • glassofroses
    glassofroses Posts: 653 Member
    I'm 5'11.5 with a small frame and I weigh 140lbs on a good day. I was happy at 145 but I had an emergency appendectomy at the end of June and I'm still trying to gain back those 5lbs. You'll know what's right for you because I look in the mirror and I can see my ribs if I breathe too deeply so I know I want to weigh more. Also, no doctor has expressed concern about my weight loss (I've been to three) post surgery, so this is all my personal preference.
  • Legs_McGee23
    Legs_McGee23 Posts: 116 Member
    I'm 5'10 1/2. My goal weight is 136 because that's where I was 4 years ago and I like how I looked.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited September 2017
    Unless your doctor has some reason for saying 160, I wouldn't listen. Like, do you have some underlying medical issues? If you have some illness that could flare up, it's good to have a little buffer of fat in case of an acute period of medical issues. Do you have a history of eating disorders? Are you trying to get pregnant? Probably none of my business...:lol:

    Other than that, 150 is a good weight. Dunno why the doc thinks otherwise. There is some literature about a little extra fat being good for hormones during menopause..but I don't know anything more than that...

    150 = 20.9 BMI
    160 = 22.3

  • MossiO
    MossiO Posts: 164 Member
    I'm 5'8" and shooting for 170 to start, because I'm a size 12 at that weight and feel fairly good. I may try to go a little lower afterwards, as that's still just outside normal BMI. But I'm also 47 and want to make sure I get a handle on maintaining at 170 for a bit before I go lower.
  • Hamsibian
    Hamsibian Posts: 1,388 Member
    I am 5'11", and I have been all over the place with weight due to health issues. I know that I look my best at about ~140ish pounds, so that's what I am shooting for.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Get down to 160 and see how you feel. You might like it. There's no reason to second guess at this point.
  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
    I guess I'm on the short end of tall. ;) (I often feel tall since my husband is only 2cm taller than me and most of my friends are petite!) I'm 171cm and I'm happiest with a BMI in the 20-21 range. It looks like 150 would put your BMI at 20.9 so I don't see anything wrong with that unless your dr has a specific reason. (Granted, I have a smallish bone structure and not a lot of muscle; I know there are people my height who are leaner than me at higher weights!)
  • _BlahBlah_BlackSheep_
    _BlahBlah_BlackSheep_ Posts: 2,148 Member
    I'm 5' 9.5" with a borderline large frame. I typically feel and look my best around 130 (I'm 44, if that matters).
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I'm 5'10", curvy, and 58. I weighed 150-155 when I graduated from college and went down to that after both my children were born. I look very good at that goal weight and I used to get grumpy when I was thinner than that, so that's what I chose. It's easy for me to maintain there - my body seems to like it.

    I actually went down lower than that (142) the first year of maintenance but am back in the 150-155 range again 5 years out. I feel fine here but would be happy to be a bit thinner. That would take seriously more exercise - just eating is not going to do it for me.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    _piaffe wrote: »
    5'11 and maintaining 155 after recomp. I fit into clothes that had fit me at my GW of 145, but am much stronger and happier with my results.

    Psychologically, however... a part of me still wants to be 145.

    The scale number I'm at (155) doesn't really reflect what's going on. I eat a ton, I'm super fit. Yet... not 145.

    I guess the point is, choosing your number depends on goals. I have big fitness and some physique goals driving me. I've had to relax on the scale #.

    I needed to hear that!

    I'm 176 cm (5 ft 9 and a half). I've gained about 1 kg since January and am now 64 kg, 141 lbs.

    I've just run my first marathon (42.2 km / 26.2 miles) without stopping at the age of 50. I run several times a week, do an average of 18,000 steps a day, and swim and do Body Balance most weeks. Feeling awesome, but the scale number that's crept up 1 kg since January has been doing my head in! Stupid brain needs to shape up!!
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    IsabeausRose wrote: »
    Well I went to another doctor and she thought there was something wrong with my original doctor's opinion. She said my goal weight was just as healthy as his and it's about not looking to thin, bony, and sickly. She said I should be able to see my hip bones but not extremely sticking out. She said his opinion would have been valid if I had had a history of an eating disorder but I don't.

    In your doctor's defense, the bmi he recommended is considered optimal for women over 40 because the relationship of bmi with morbidity and mortality is a J-shaped curve that goes up dramatically at low weights and high weights. Statistics show that your best shot at longevity is about 22-23 BMI. So the doctor was probably considering that. You also haven't mentioned your frame size.
  • IsabeausRose
    IsabeausRose Posts: 129 Member
    tomteboda wrote: »
    IsabeausRose wrote: »
    Well I went to another doctor and she thought there was something wrong with my original doctor's opinion. She said my goal weight was just as healthy as his and it's about not looking to thin, bony, and sickly. She said I should be able to see my hip bones but not extremely sticking out. She said his opinion would have been valid if I had had a history of an eating disorder but I don't.

    In your doctor's defense, the bmi he recommended is considered optimal for women over 40 because the relationship of bmi with morbidity and mortality is a J-shaped curve that goes up dramatically at low weights and high weights. Statistics show that your best shot at longevity is about 22-23 BMI. So the doctor was probably considering that. You also haven't mentioned your frame size.

    Well for my height what I read was that a medium frame size is a wrist that measures between 6.25-6.5 inches. I'm right at 6.5 inches. Some people think I have a medium frame, some people think I have a large frame. But even with a large frame that would put me at the lowest 155 pounds which is only 5 pounds more.
  • JessicaMcB
    JessicaMcB Posts: 1,503 Member
    I have maintained at 5'10" and 130 for a year now and honestly I came to that decision through a combination of athletic reasoning (competitive long distance running and extra weight do not necessarily marry well) and aesthetic preference (I have no TNA even at obese BMIs so lean it is lol). My doctor has however agreed this is a good weight for me given my lifestyle and all my health markers are excellent.

    You've gotten a second opinion that agrees your goal is reasonable OP so I would forge ahead and see how you feel about things once you get to 160- you don't have to decide everything now :)
  • acmorris77
    acmorris77 Posts: 80 Member
    I understand your doctor may follow the standard height/weight/BMI charts, but that's really not the way to decide what your weight should be. Does he want you 160 and all muscle? Or, 160 with no muscle...I agree with whomever said to get your body fat/muscle ratio measured and see what they say. I was once 153 with no muscle and I looked like the walking dead even though my weight was considered "healthy".
  • rianneonamission
    rianneonamission Posts: 854 Member
    I am 5'10" and once weighed 154lbs without muscle and I was unfit and unhealthy. At 166lbs with muscle I am more fit and healthy. However, a BMI chart will tell you I am on the heavy side of healthy and I really should lose some weight, yet before it would have told me I was perfect for my height when I wasn't.

    I would focus on what makes you feel happy and healthy. 150lbs would put you at a BMI of 21, which is perfectly healthy.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,447 Member
    Why not get to 160 and then stop and assess and determine then of you like it or not. You are 174 you have a while before 160.
  • healthhappiness2014
    healthhappiness2014 Posts: 13 Member
    This is a great question. I am just over 6 feet so it is nice to see a post concerning tall women and weight loss. For those of you who lost weight in your 40s or later, how were you able to get the weight off and keep it off?
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
    healthhappiness2014 wrote: »
    This is a great question. I am just over 6 feet so it is nice to see a post concerning tall women and weight loss. For those of you who lost weight in your 40s or later, how were you able to get the weight off and keep it off?

    I'm in my 40's and maintaining very nicely. I do workouts and activities that I enjoy everyday and I figured out a way of eating that leaves satisfied and I don't deprive myself. If I want to bake a small cake from scratch just because I will make it work and I will work for it.

    During my weight loss mode there were a lot of trial and errors, but I eventually figured out what worked for me.

    I just continue with that and keep going, but I eat more so I don't keep losing weight.
  • maggibailey
    maggibailey Posts: 289 Member
    I'm 5'10 at 143 I liked how I looked but not what it would take to maintain it. At 150 I like how I look at it's easy to be there (or was for a long time before I found a man who loves to cook and likes to feed me). So I'm going back to 150.
  • angmarie28
    angmarie28 Posts: 2,883 Member
    5'11 and 150lbs is perfectly healthy. that is a healthy BMI. Im 5'7 and was happy at 136
  • All_The_Bacon
    All_The_Bacon Posts: 26 Member
    KetoZombies wrote: »
    I am 5'11 and I plan to maintain right around 155

    Ditto. Any lower than 150-155 and I start to get issues with my feminine health, no matter what BMI says my healthy range should be.
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