Is there a such thing as big boned?

MyChocolateDiet

Yes. Yes there is.


















:smokin:

watcheronthewall

Yes of course there is. Some people have larger frames than others.

QuietBloom

No, there isn't. Not for most people. Check out this page to see for your self.

http://thinklean.net/blog/?p=393

There was no information on the site that backed up the claim that there is no such thing as 'big boned'.?

Small boned person (look at how slim her wrists are.



Here is the adorable and very fit Mary Lou Retton. I would characterize her has having 'big bones' even though she is quite petite, by looking at her wrists in comparison to the above photo.



Edited because derp1

Ideabaker

I do think I have thicker bones and a slightly winder frame than average women. I always appear thinner than what my weight suggests. Also, as a small child I was very very skinny, yet I always had thick wrists and ankles. I also have large feet.

^^
This! I was also very skinny as a child, but have always had big wrists and feet. I have also had bone density scans and have been told that I have "heavy bones". "Big Boned" is not a scientific term, and I think some people think of it as physically larger bones while others think of it as heavier bones. Either way, 'big bones' would have to impact how one measures up to standard bodyweight and measurement charts.

I just enjoy the bones I was born with .

HerbertNenenger

not sure about the bones, but I've always naturally had more muscle mass than slight girls. Even when I was normal weight, I can't wear knee high boots - they won't fit over my Arnold Swarzanegger calves.

SugarBaby71

I've been told I'm 'big boned' for years. And I always thought it was true. I knew I had a lot of fat on top of the big bones, but once I lost weight I'd still be a rather big girl.
BUT, I had my BF measured... and doing a bit of research I found this out... I'm actually pretty small boned. I am 5'6 and my wrist is only 5.1/4 inches around... When I lose all this fluff... I will actually be tiny. Weird.

lithezebra

I think that what is called big boned is a combination of factors, such as frame size, bone mass, and muscle mass. There are people who are healthiest at the higher end, or even somewhat above the so-called healthy weight range for their height. In a perfect world, we'd all measure our lean mass, and aim for a healthy body fat percentage. Using body weight and BMI are estimates of healthy body composition.

DawnieB1977

I think you can have a bigger frame, things like wider hips and shoulders for example, which is nothing to do with body fat. Even at my thinnest I have an hourglass figure with wide hips, and I guess a wider pelvis which is why I've been able to give birth twice pretty easily. I know some women are narrower and struggle giving birth because of this.

Possibly bones can be denser too? Which would explain why you can have 2 people of the same height and clothes size yet one weighs more. People have always been surprised by my weight as I always look like I weigh less. Not sure if I have denser bones, or maybe I've just built more muscle.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

The only quibble I have with your post, is that finger wrapping your own wrist is not very accurate, because people have different lengths of fingers, and you can also carry a good layer of fat around your wrist, which can skew the measurements. I have seen people post that once they lost the weight, they could wrap their fingers all the way around.

This. My fingers are very long, index and thumb overlap around my wrist but I have a "large frame".

padams2359

I have never heard a thin person use the term "big boned", nor have I ever heard from one of the many people I know that have gone through medical school talk about the cadavour they worked on having big bones, unless only small boned people donate their bodies to science.

neandermagnon

I think you can have a bigger frame, things like wider hips and shoulders for example, which is nothing to do with body fat. Even at my thinnest I have an hourglass figure with wide hips, and I guess a wider pelvis which is why I've been able to give birth twice pretty easily. I know some women are narrower and struggle giving birth because of this.

Possibly bones can be denser too? Which would explain why you can have 2 people of the same height and clothes size yet one weighs more. People have always been surprised by my weight as I always look like I weigh less. Not sure if I have denser bones, or maybe I've just built more muscle.

yes bones can definitely be denser. Also your bone density isn't fixed, it's something that increases if you do weight bearing exercise, and decreases if you're sedentary and also can decrease if you don't get enough vitamin D or calcium. Healthier bones are denser and osteoporosis is the result of severe loss of bone density. Diet alone can't increase bone density enough, you need both the weight bearing exercise (i.e. any exercise that puts weight on your bones, including bodyweight exercises, including stuff like running and all sorts) and sufficient calcium and vitamin D. Unfortunately it's a very neglected part of health and fitness. Everyone focuses on body fat, or even just scale weight, to the exclusion of everything else.

one of the best pieces of advice I've heard in terms of fitness goals is to try to be as heavy as you can for an ideal dress size and/or body fat percentage. This is because healthier bones and muscles are denser than unhealthy ones.

neandermagnon

I have never heard a thin person use the term "big boned", nor have I ever heard from one of the many people I know that have gone through medical school talk about the cadavour they worked on having big bones, unless only small boned people donate their bodies to science.

you've obviously never studied anthropology or any field in biology that deals with variation in human populations then....

BTW the scientific term used by anthropologists for what people describe as a large frame is "robust"(or "postcranial robusticity" to be more precise), of couse they don't say "big boned". For small framed, the term is "gracile" or you can talk about "postcranial gracility"

MyChocolateDiet

I'm big boned.

Inorite, and just to add more confusion to this insanely all over the place thread, big bones small bones, wrists pears, and ectomorphs on the horizon. riddle me this. I chose a hubby that is both slim boned and big boned at the same time. :bigsmile:

99clmsntgr

Big boned. uh...heh heh.....boned...hmmmm heh...

MyChocolateDiet

I have never heard a thin person use the term "big boned", nor have I ever heard from one of the many people I know that have gone through medical school talk about the cadavour they worked on having big bones, unless only small boned people donate their bodies to science.

you've obviously never studied anthropology or any field in biology that deals with variation in human populations then....

BTW the scientific term used by anthropologists for what people describe as a large frame is "robust"(or "postcranial robusticity" to be more precise), of couse they don't say "big boned". For small framed, the term is "gracile" or you can talk about "postcranial gracility"

both of your posts seem so smart but have thouroughly confused me. i would like to ask for the purposes of this site, why questions like OP's are even an issue and come up so frequently. isn't bone something we cannot change and shouldn't we therefore focus our attention on that which we can, like cal counting and weight loss?

arghbowl

Totally a real thing.


If you wanna find out, just PM me your KIK name.


You better watch out,
you better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm comin in dry!

DawnieB1977

I think you can have a bigger frame, things like wider hips and shoulders for example, which is nothing to do with body fat. Even at my thinnest I have an hourglass figure with wide hips, and I guess a wider pelvis which is why I've been able to give birth twice pretty easily. I know some women are narrower and struggle giving birth because of this.

Possibly bones can be denser too? Which would explain why you can have 2 people of the same height and clothes size yet one weighs more. People have always been surprised by my weight as I always look like I weigh less. Not sure if I have denser bones, or maybe I've just built more muscle.

yes bones can definitely be denser. Also your bone density isn't fixed, it's something that increases if you do weight bearing exercise, and decreases if you're sedentary and also can decrease if you don't get enough vitamin D or calcium. Healthier bones are denser and osteoporosis is the result of severe loss of bone density. Diet alone can't increase bone density enough, you need both the weight bearing exercise (i.e. any exercise that puts weight on your bones, including bodyweight exercises, including stuff like running and all sorts) and sufficient calcium and vitamin D. Unfortunately it's a very neglected part of health and fitness. Everyone focuses on body fat, or even just scale weight, to the exclusion of everything else.

one of the best pieces of advice I've heard in terms of fitness goals is to try to be as heavy as you can for an ideal dress size and/or body fat percentage. This is because healthier bones and muscles are denser than unhealthy ones.

That's interesting. I got myself back down to a UK12 (US 8) and I weighed more than I did last time I was that size, probably due to the fact that I do a lot of strength training and weights now, which I didn't do at all when I was this size 11 years ago. I was 154lbs recently (pregnant now) so at the top end of a healthy BMI, yet when you look at threads on here, women the same size and height often see to weigh about 140lbs.

MyChocolateDiet

Totally a real thing.


If you wanna find out, just PM me your KIK name.


You better watch out,
you better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm comin in dry!

:laugh: that's what you think. i happen to love poetry :blushing:

arghbowl

Totally a real thing.


If you wanna find out, just PM me your KIK name.


You better watch out,
you better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm comin in dry!

:laugh: that's what you think. i happen to love poetry :blushing:

Perfect. My big bone loves chocolate.

fitandworking

I would think there has to be such a thing as big boned. Big boned and fat are not the same thing. I am fat but not big boned, in fact I have never seen my bones lol. I think for example plus sized models generally are more big boned. They often times are still too small to actually wear the clothes they help sell, but are still larger built than an average person. 5'11'' and 175 pounds is far different looking than the 5'3'' 200+ pound women that actually wear the clothes, that's why the models look the way they do like relatively flat stomachs and no double chin. They probably couldn't get down below a size 10 or 12 due to their build and height. Also BMI, and I know a lot of people hate BMI, but they give people about a 35 pound range of what is considered healthy even on the same height. At 5'7'', I should weigh anywhere from 119 to 156 and be considered healthy. I can only guess I'm about medium build so 119 is a pipe dream and 156 would probably be fine but I may look or feel better being somewhere under that. I don't believe in the wrist measurement thing when it comes to overweight people because you also lose weight in your wrists. I have a watch I wore when I was in the 180's that I can't even fasten and the watch I wear now was getting really tight when I was about 290, now is crazy loose now that I'm in the 220's.