Why am I so heavy?

devil_in_a_blue_dress

I am extremely athletic and have a very physical job, I still have 30% body fat.

The OP doesn't look bad in ANY way, but it's not muscle. Knowing her height and my own weight, I would have guessed she weighed 165 pounds. In fact, I think she had a thread where she wanted people to guess her weight. If it didn't get nuked, you can see that is my response.

ctenan1205

Hey, I am the same way!! I am 5'7" and even when I weighed 200lbs. NO ONE guessed that - they all said 170 max. I have always carried my weight very well and looked lighter than I am. I naturally am dense, have bigger bones, and more muscle. When I was 150-160 even people were telling me I was looking pretty shapely and lean. When I got down to 125 I looked sickly thin and was anorexic - yet 125 for many people is a very normal and healthy weight. Just accept that you carry your weight well and pay attention to the measurements! I have people tell me I'm very thin and lean now (Measurements 33"-27"-36", size 4-6 or small) and I'm usually a little over 140. Weight is just a number! You're lucky!

DamePiglet

In.
I see a party starting.

usmcmp

Several others stated that she was probably around 30% body fat as well. She does carry it well, but that's why she's heavy. Around 120 pounds of lean mass and 50 pounds of fat mass. I'm 5'9" and after almost 3 years of lifting my lean mass is around 135 pounds (I weigh 170 pounds right now in the off season, putting my current body fat at about 21%).

nikkihk

So, you can see my pictures, I'm not overweight in looks or health, only technically like as in BMI, but anyways, i'm 5'7" and weigh 170 lbs, and I've been looking at other people with similar stats as me, and people same height as me, but much lighter (even as low as 145 lbs) are measuring bigger than I am. Now I have big boobs (DD) and broad shoulders and broad back, and I lift, but like it seems quite heavy and it's odd to me that people same height and 25 lbs lighter (that's a LOT of weight) are physically larger than me....is it really muscle? am i just a...dense person?

Honey you are built the same as me.. 5'7 at 170. I tell people I need to workout and lose weight and they laugh and sneer at me like I'm crazy. But I know where the rolls are and I know this is not my ideal pants size. We carry our weight "well" what ever that means. I definitely have bigger bones then a typical female and I could NEVER wear a size 0 or weight less then 135 because I'd look like skeletor (I know this because I was a size 5 at 119 and it wasn't pretty). We all have vastly different body masses and densities... the standard weight allowances aren't made for everyone. Like others have said? Pay attention to your fat percentages not the scale.. trust the measuring tape and your muscle definition. Scales only mess with your head.

knra_grl

Insurance companies also inclue "frame" in their BMI charts maybe take a peek here:

http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm

usmcmp

30% is "acceptable" amount of body fat. :huh:

determinedbutlazy

30% is "acceptable" amount of body fat. :huh:

/thread

chrisdavey

the people that are your height and weigh less have different measurements.

Seems pretty obvious to me.

Is this a trick question?

devil_in_a_blue_dress

I mean. I'm barely overweight by bmi(might be under by one pound at this point) and I'm still 28-30% body fat. That's just life.

This. I am 10-13 pounds "overweight". My body fat is around 30%, There is nothing wrong with being over your BMI and with a higher BF% -- it doesn't mean you look bad or don't carry yourself well or whatever. But it also doesn't mean people should pretend that OP looks like she has more muscle definition than she actually appears to have.

devil_in_a_blue_dress

She's BARELY in the overweight category according to BMI. And I personally don't think she looks like she has an above average amount of BF. She carries her weight well.

30% is "acceptable" amount of body fat. :huh:

/thread

Where is your chart from? Everyone I have looked at looks like:



And I am not arguing with you in the least -- it's just that this is what my doctor goes by.

Fithealthyforlife

But it also doesn't mean people should pretend that OP looks like she has more muscle definition than she actually appears to have.

Who said "definition"? I don't believe anyone did. OP isn't ripped. But to my eye, she still looks like she has more muscle than your average skinny girl...a lot more. Tight core doesn't necessarily have to mean ripped abs. It means flat stomach.

I don't get why people have trouble seeing muscle if someone isn't ripped but is at an average bodyfat level.

DamePiglet

OP, you're that heavy because you're weighing yourself on the Earth.

If someone asks, quote them your moon weight... It's like less than 30 lbs.

HappyStack

Healthy human skeleton accounts for about 15-20% of LBM, if I'm remembering rightly.

"Big bones" aren't that significant.

SunofaBeach14

In. Just in

vjohn04

I think you look like you weigh about 170. You just carry your weight higher on your body instead of someone like myself that carries it in my lower half.

You might be dense as far as bones, but I am not quite sure you have the muscle mass you think you have.

jonnythan

She has an average amount of muscle for someone of her height. She's "so heavy" because she combines this average amount of muscle with an above average quantity of body fat.

She doesn't have significantly more muscle than other untrained people of her height. Therefore she doesn't have "that much muscle."

If people want to argue the semantics of what "that much muscle" means go ahead. She doesn't have some freakish amount of muscle that you would normally find in an experienced lifter. She's "that heavy" because she's a pretty averaged sized 5'7 human being on earth.

DamePiglet

"Big bones" aren't that significant.

Speak for yourself :laugh:

Ophidion

Gravity!!

/thread

Achrya

But it also doesn't mean people should pretend that OP looks like she has more muscle definition than she actually appears to have.

Who said "definition"? I don't believe anyone did. OP isn't ripped. But to my eye, she still looks like she has more muscle than your average skinny girl...a lot more. Tight core doesn't necessarily have to mean ripped abs. It means flat stomach.

I don't get why people have trouble seeing muscle if someone isn't ripped but is at an average bodyfat level.

I don't have trouble seeing anything. OP looks to be around 30% body fat or so (ahem) which implies not much muscle aka an average amount. No one said below average, which seems to be what you're thinking is being said.


It's not like we're calling her fat (she doesn't appear to be) nor are we knocking being at that body fat, but she does look her weight. Which is fine. I probably look my weight too. So what?

silenceinspace

I'm not necessarily speaking to muscles/fat. The females in my family tend to be kind of round and broad-shouldered (me!) or whip-thin, but we all seem to weigh more than we look like we do (including my size-2 cousins, who says new doctors seem surprised at their weight). Same thing happens to me. A doctor once mentioned we had particularly dense bones, but honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Lately I've been losing inches and not pounds and I'm still getting smaller, so isn't it all the same?

usmcmp

Where is your chart from? Everyone I have looked at looks like:



And I am not arguing with you in the least -- it's just that this is what my doctor goes by.

Read the disclosure at the bottom of yours. Based on BMI guidelines.

Recommended Percent Body Fat (based on American College of Sports Medicine guidelines):

Age 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
Female 16-24% 17-25% 19-28% 22-31% 22-33%
Male 7-17% 12-21% 14-23% 16-24% 17-25%

jonnythan

But it also doesn't mean people should pretend that OP looks like she has more muscle definition than she actually appears to have.

Who said "definition"? I don't believe anyone did. OP isn't ripped. But to my eye, she still looks like she has more muscle than your average skinny girl...a lot more. Tight core doesn't necessarily have to mean ripped abs. It means flat stomach.

I don't get why people have trouble seeing muscle if someone isn't ripped but is at an average bodyfat level.

I don't have trouble seeing anything. OP looks to be around 30% body fat or so (ahem) which implies not much muscle aka an average amount. No one said below average, which seems to be what you're thinking is being said.


It's not like we're calling her fat (she doesn't appear to be) nor are we knocking being at that body fat, but she does look her weight. Which is fine. I probably look my weight too. So what?

Seriously. No one said she has no muscle. She just has no more than would be expected for a normal untrained person of her height and weight.

ThickMcRunFast

MoreBean13

I don't think the OP ever said she thought she was extra-muscular. She was just confused as to why her measurements are smaller than people who weigh more than her.

If the answer isn't higher muscle, higher bone density still could contribute but the answer might be even more obvious:

1) the people you're comparing to are lying about their weight, OR
2) you carry weight in places not covered by typical measurements...like shoulders, arms, calves, etc.

HappyStack

"Big bones" aren't that significant.

Speak for yourself :laugh:

My bad

DamePiglet

"Big bones" aren't that significant.

Speak for yourself :laugh:

My bad

Heeheehee... How could you turn my perfectly tasteless smut into something so adorable?! That seems wrong. :laugh:

mandyohmy

Hey, I am the same way!! I am 5'7" and even when I weighed 200lbs. NO ONE guessed that - they all said 170 max. I have always carried my weight very well and looked lighter than I am. I naturally am dense, have bigger bones, and more muscle. When I was 150-160 even people were telling me I was looking pretty shapely and lean. When I got down to 125 I looked sickly thin and was anorexic - yet 125 for many people is a very normal and healthy weight. Just accept that you carry your weight well and pay attention to the measurements! I have people tell me I'm very thin and lean now (Measurements 33"-27"-36", size 4-6 or small) and I'm usually a little over 140. Weight is just a number! You're lucky!

Same here. I am 5'7 and have been everywhere from 125-170 and only fluctuated one size in clothing. It really depends on your body type. I know when I am 125 people tell me to eat more, and when I am 170 they tell me I look "thick in a good way". Scales and BMI are obsessive and unnecessary. Find activities you ENJOY. Don't burn hours on a treadmill unless you think that is actually fun. Being active is about more than being a slave to the gym. I think you look awesome, but the way we feel about ourselves is what actually matters. No one on a forum can convince us otherwise if we don't believe it ourselves. Cheesy? Yeah, probably.

Fullsterkur_woman

I don't think the OP ever said she thought she was extra-muscular. She was just confused as to why her measurements are smaller than people who weigh more than her.

If the answer isn't higher muscle, higher bone density still could contribute but the answer might be even more obvious:

1) the people you're comparing to are lying about their weight, OR
2) you carry weight in places not covered by typical measurements...like shoulders, arms, calves, etc.

That's what I was thinking too. My scale hadn't moved for months; neither had the tape measure, but my trainer said I looked like I'd lost some weight again. I must have lost inches (or fractions of an inch) from places that I wasn't measuring, maybe biceps, ankles, between my navel and hips... who knows? Weight loss is not linear, and I don't think the few sample measurement points usually used give the full picture either.

Ejourneys

Here's another chart, adjusted for age:

Source: http://www.accumeasurefitness.com/

The following numbers for women's body fat percentage are copied from a card I received about 20 years ago and is attributed to the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America:

Age: 18-29
Very Good: 13-23% Average: 23-27% Fair: 27-32% High: 32+ %

Age 30-39:
Very Good: 17-24% Average: 24-29% Fair: 29-34% High: 34+ %

Age 40-49:
Very Good: 19-27% Average: 27-32% Fair: 32-37% High: 37+ %

Age 50+
Very Good: 21-29% Average: 29-34% Fair: 34-39% High: 39+ %

The following formula to calculate ideal weight comes from Sandra Rosenzweig's book Sportfitness for Women (Harper & Row, 1982):

1. Determine your current body fat weight:
Multiply your total body weight by your body fat percentage.

2. Determine your lean body weight:
Take your total body weight and subtract your current body fat weight from it.

3. Determine your ideal fat weight:
Divide your desired body fat percentage by your current body fat percentage; then multiply the result by current body fat weight.

4. Your ideal weight is your lean body weight plus your ideal body fat weight.

According to my calipers, my current body fat is at 25.9%, which is at the low end of "ideal" for a woman my age. I'm 55, 5'5", and am maintaining at my goal weight of 150. (All those fives are purely coincidental.) My avatar photo on the right is what I look like these days.

Another good resource to see what different body types look like for women is http://www.mybodygallery.com/