tall girl problems

tygerholt

I am 6 '2 and I hate the scale because of how high the number is. I look in the mirror and I don't look overweight at all but i am also pretty muscular. I hate that my bmi says overweight and its constantly stresses me out and i feel like I have to be a stick to fit in a healthy range being so tall. Does anyone else have this problem?

MickeyBoo

I'm 5'8, so still tall for a girl, and find that when I do reach a healthy weight I am able to maintain at the very upper limit of healthy BMI borderline overweight BMI. But I don't worry too much about the number I worry more about how I feel in my clothes and how my fitness is and at that weight it's pretty good!

Don't forget that us tall girls have the advantage of more even weight distribution, so we can carry off a higher weight and still look damn good

Maybe try to work on being happy with your height, own it! Look at it positively and forget the BMI, look at your fitness levels, eating habits and general wellbeing to gauge your physical health and be happy in your own skin, there's no law saying that you t have to measure up to society's expectations of skinny!

willrun4bagels

I'm 6'2" as well. Not @ goal weight yet but I feel your pain!

aroniwen

At 5'11" I'm not quite as tall as you... but I often find I have the same problem. I hate hearing my friends talk about how someone was so fat at 180lbs (and that's barely over my suggested BMI) I mean, realistically I know they were talking about someone over half a foot shorter than me, but it doesn't always feel good.

I don't know if this would make a difference to you, but do you know that they've adjusted BMI (not always the best indicator anyway) to give a higher range to tall people? They found that it doesn't really take into account that we have to be wider too!

Does anyone else find clothing sizing to be frustrating? I mean besides the "I can never find pants long enough and all my shirts are not 3/4s" way. I find it maddening that regardless of how much weight I lose there is now way I'd ever be anything besides a 10 or 12, my shoulders are just too wide and I'm just too tall.

karlospiklington

Funnily enough I Googled this very thing recently as I felt sure that the BMI calculation was unfair on taller people (I am 6ft tall) as we can take up more space purely by virtue of being taller, not necessarily fatter. The top few results are from studies in 2013 that suggest a new equation which has been tweaked to be fairer on taller people. Apparently a taller person's BMI could go down by 1 or 2 points with this new equation; unfortunately shorter people would gain points. You can find a calculator on Google for this new equation but I don't have the link right now. When I tried it out of curiosity my BMI went down by 2 points!

BMI is a bit unreliable for many reasons, including being muscular, so I just use it as a rough guide. Most athletes are in the obese category of the BMI scale due to muscle so I wouldn't worry about it if you're in shape! I tend to go more on how I look and feel than the actual BMI number.

aroniwen

Yeah, BMI isn't perfect by any means. I was way over mine when I was an athlete in high school and uni but because I knew I was in great shape it didn't really bother me. Still, sometimes it makes a positive mental difference just to see that you're within the healthy range instead of overweight. Or that you're closer. I know it does for me!

http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi_calc.html

Holly_Roman_Empire

BMI is an awful measurement of fitness/health.

seltzermint555

At 5'11" I'm not quite as tall as you... but I often find I have the same problem. I hate hearing my friends talk about how someone was so fat at 180lbs (and that's barely over my suggested BMI) I mean, realistically I know they were talking about someone over half a foot shorter than me, but it doesn't always feel good.

Agreed.

My mom is 5'5" and 179 lb. I am 5'8" and 209 lb. She wears a larger pant size than I do!

the_oncomingstorm

BMI is not very accurate. I'm actually kind of short, but very broad in the chest and shoulders. My BMI shows me as obese. My doctor has told me I'm overweight, but not obese. Also, Google Ronnie Coleman BMI.

mmm_drop

I feel your pain. I'm not quite at goal, and borderline with my BMI, yet my BF% is fantastic. I just ignore BMI now and go off of BF% and how I look and feel!

JBearsMom21

I used to HATE being tall but now I love it! I would actually love to be an inch or two taller hehe. BMI is baloney. Don't pay attention to it. If you're at a healthy BF% that stupid BMI chart doesn't matter.

lindsaylove07

I hate when I would tell people my starting weight 230 and they'd say "GIIIIIRL no need to lose, you do NOT look that big!!" wait, what?! Ladies don't want competition so they slut shame and treat skinny girls badly and tell fat or fluffy girls that they look good just how they are. Yes, it's good to have a positive body image, no matter what size you are, but being unhealthy is not okay.

Also, yoga pants?! Can't wear em. I am forced to have cold ankles and wear yoga capris...

subsonicbassist

Don't worry about weight, I am 6'8" and a bit muscular (still overweight) and I'm at 290 pounds!!! Tall people definitely feel like we have to hide our real weight because people tend to look at us as bigger than we are when we tell them the specific number. It must be harder being a woman... just remember, tall women are beautiful and bigger numbers look good when you are lean and muscular lol!!!

dawn_h_d

I am 5'9" and I can relate to everyone that has posted. The BMI calculator sucks, the pounds on the scale suck, the numbers on the tape measure suck, finding clothes long enough sucks, the list goes on......but I still weigh in and measure in every week just to make sure I am still going the right way.

I am not trying "to get anywhere" specific. Just trying to get healthier than I was. I don't know what I will look like as a size 14 or 10 or 8, I just take it week by week.

The numbers do not always make sense for everyone. You have to do what is healthy for you. Your doctor can tell you if your BP, heart-rate, and blood levels (cholesterol, etc) are within a good range. Put that with how you look and, BAM, you will be what is right for you

jennicap2012

what gets me is that at size 14 I'm about 180 (5'10") a little chuckier than I like but I was okay. My sister who is 5'1" is a size 14 and huge... which then makes me feel huge. I'm currently over 200 and in 16/18 and trying to loose this 3 yr old baby weight I feel best in about a size 10/12 or 160ish lbs

poohpoohpeapod

Yes my weight is higher, But I can also eat more. I LOVE having long beautiful legs. I love looking nice in clothes, not frumppy. Try to embrace yourself tallness and all. Ever wonder why models are all over 5'9? There is a reason.

_Calypso_

I'm 5'9" and always had shorter friends. So I always compared myself to them. I needed to weigh the same and fit into the same size clothes. Always hated when friends would swap clothes and I couldn't. I always had a body image issue. I even have a few friends who are also 5'8"-5'10" and weigh less than me. It is very aggravating. However, I am starting to come to the realization that I will never be 130lbs (I was actually 130 long long ago and looked sickly). I know I have a thicker more muscular frame. But this can be difficult.

As for BMI...throw that out the window. BMI does not account for muscle, genetics, and more!! Its a guideline and nothing more!!

We are all different and we all have different body styles.

ekz13

in for the tall women... and pics... and well ...because.. :bigsmile:

tyrsnbdr

Why worry about a artifical number for weight? No (respectful) man will ask you your weight. Worry about a Dress size. So what if you rock a size 6 but wiegh 50lbs more than an lady who wears a size 10.

Weight and goal weight is an antiquated notion. Stop giving it power.

/off my soapbox

KimJohnsonsmile

Hey - do you all play basketball????? JK. I'm 5'11" and just like reading all the tall girl stuff. I joke that I'd be Trumping if I had a dollar for everytime some stranger has looked me up and down and asked me if I play(ed) basketball.

tesha_chandler

I'm only 5'6" but I agree that the bmi scale is just a downer. Different people look better at different weights. When I was in high school, I weighed 180 pounds (bmi says overweight) and it looked good on me. I had very little fat. Different people just hold their weight differently. My personal opinion is that not everyone looks good as a size 0.. My head is wayy too big for that lol

willrun4bagels

Hey - do you all play basketball????? JK. I'm 5'11" and just like reading all the tall girl stuff. I joke that I'd be Trumping if I had a dollar for everytime some stranger has looked me up and down and asked me if I play(ed) basketball.

Lol! At 6'2", I'd be rich if I even had a NICKEL for every time someone's asked me that. I was a *kitten* in middle school (been this height since age 12) and used to reply with "NO... do you play miniature golf?" when asked that.

I'm from NY and went to Tennessee once with a friend's family when I was 15 and I don't know if it was a Tennessee thing, or if I just looked taller at that time, but I swear every single old lady, soccer mom, creepy guy, and small child had to make a comment how "it must sure be nice to be real nice and tall like that"..... :noway:

jwdieter

Yeah, BMI isn't perfect by any means. I was way over mine when I was an athlete in high school and uni but because I knew I was in great shape it didn't really bother me. Still, sometimes it makes a positive mental difference just to see that you're within the healthy range instead of overweight. Or that you're closer. I know it does for me!

http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi_calc.html

That revised calculator provides a range of 152-205 for OP's height of 6'2. So the height adjustment adds an extra 10 lbs on the high end.

MyChocolateDiet

I would love to answer in this thread but I can't even hear what's going on from way down here. #shortgirlproblems

Dragonwolf

Hey - do you all play basketball????? JK. I'm 5'11" and just like reading all the tall girl stuff. I joke that I'd be Trumping if I had a dollar for everytime some stranger has looked me up and down and asked me if I play(ed) basketball.

Lol! At 6'2", I'd be rich if I even had a NICKEL for every time someone's asked me that. I was a *kitten* in middle school (been this height since age 12) and used to reply with "NO... do you play miniature golf?" when asked that.

I'm from NY and went to Tennessee once with a friend's family when I was 15 and I don't know if it was a Tennessee thing, or if I just looked taller at that time, but I swear every single old lady, soccer mom, creepy guy, and small child had to make a comment how "it must sure be nice to be real nice and tall like that"..... :noway:

5'11"? 6'2"? Hell, I'm 5'9" and got asked all the time if I played basketball (to be fair, in jr/sr high school, I actually did, but that's beside the point).

OP - don't worry about the number on the scale so much, besides as a way to calculate body fat and one of many data points for progress to being healthier. Don't worry too much about clothing sizes, either. They have pretty much no basis in reality (fun fact - they tried to size women's clothes similarly to men's, but found there were far too many variables to result in any kind of sane description of the measurements).

Instead, look at other things -

Is your body fat percentage in a healthy range? (It's okay if it's not there yet, that's what many of us are working toward.)
Do you do well at your favorite physical activity, and are you improving? (ie - are your running times getting faster, or are you running farther? Is your bench press 1-rep max higher than it was last month, and is it a respectable weight for your size? Can you do a pull-up, or more than one? Can you take the stairs two at a time?)
Can you do physical things like moving furniture without requiring help because it's too heavy? (Too bulky for one person is a different matter and doesn't count.)
Can you rock a sexy outfit and be confident in it?
Do you like how you look, even in your underwear? (Or, do you at least like how you're progressing toward your goal physique, even if you're not fond of how you look currently?)

Another thing you can do is figure out what your individual ideal weight would be. You can do this by calculating your current body fat percentage, then calculating what your weight would be if you had about 20% body fat. Then, it's a matter of reprogramming your reaction to that number, and remembering that, for you, that's a good number, even if that number on your 5'3" friend would be morbidly obese. You're not 5'3". The weight of your bones alone would probably make your 5'3" friend obese. That way, you can at least work to change your relationship with then number on the scale, so that you can look at it and see it more as a data point or a path to your healthy weight, regardless of what that number is.