Bone structure

RBXChas

I am calling shenanigans on any wrist measurement vs. height for determining your bone structure size. I gained a lot of weight very quickly during pregnancy, and even after losing a chunk of weight well after my post-partum weight settled, the watch I wore pre-pregnancy (probably 30 pounds ago) is really tight on me. It used to be loose. So at my highest weight (even well after I gave birth and lost all that initial weight) it would probably tell me I had an extra-large frame whereas when my weight is "normal," those tests would tell me I have a medium frame. Yes, you can gain weight in your wrists!

While I think it's true that some people have larger frames than others, there's no need to focus on it. You (not you in particular, a general "you") may fit into a size 8 but look flabby. You can fit into a 14 and look muscular and awesome. It all depends on your body composition and muscle tone. I have been 150 pounds, and I was still jiggly because I hadn't exercised regularly to get there. I would rather be 160 and tight

Anyway, it all depends on your height and body composition, but at 175 I would imagine a 14 would be big unless you were maybe 5'2" or less. At 150, you'd have to be 4'10" or something! I doubt that is the case, since most women I know are at least 5'3". I am 5'7", and at 150 pounds, I easily fit into size 8 pants and even had a pair of size 6 pants from NY&Co that fit tightly. In jeans a size 8 was comfortable at 150 pounds. I even bought a dress from the Gap that was (gasp!) a size 2 - you can imagine the solo dance party I was having in the dressing room!

As for your boyfriend making such a statement - it sounds to me like he is discouraging you. Who knows why anyone does that, but I've been in a relationship before with someone who constantly discouraged me from doing anything healthy. It stemmed from his own insecurities about his body and also from his insecurities about our relationship. I am loyal to a fault, but he was convinced that I would get really hot and find a new boyfriend. It was something I addressed with him, but he refused to trust me and continued to discourage me. All of those trust issues, along with some other stuff, led to the demise of our relationship. Even after we broke up, I lost a lot of weight, and he kept badgering me about how I was suddenly going to turn into a major slut because I looked good (I didn't turn into a slut, I promise). Either he needs to support you, or you need to ditch him!!! Life's too short to hang out with naysayers.

Best wishes of success to you!

sreimer07

I used the method Baisleac suggest, by that calculation I have a average body frame!

frenchielover

Frame size "calculator" using wrist circumference: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/17182.htm

Down and dirty method - Take your thumb and middle finger on your dominant hand and wrap them around your other wrist (don't squeeze tightly, just wrap your fingers). If they overlap, you have a small frame, if they just touch, you have an average frame, and if they don't touch you have a large frame.

That said, women's sizes suck almost as much as BMI as a measurement. They're only good as a very rough estimate and to show relative drop.

So....for this method...do you test above the wrist bone or below (farther away from the hand)....or on it?

baisleac

Frame size "calculator" using wrist circumference: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/17182.htm

Down and dirty method - Take your thumb and middle finger on your dominant hand and wrap them around your other wrist (don't squeeze tightly, just wrap your fingers). If they overlap, you have a small frame, if they just touch, you have an average frame, and if they don't touch you have a large frame.

That said, women's sizes suck almost as much as BMI as a measurement. They're only good as a very rough estimate and to show relative drop.

So....for this method...do you test above the wrist bone or below (farther away from the hand)....or on it?

At the narrowest point, below the bone. While you can gain fat at this point on your wrist, it is very unusual, and would be the last place you gain.

Atlantique

Lol thank you all so much. It actually really hurt that he said it. He knows how much this means to me. I dont think it helps that it seems he's gaining what i'm losing

It would hurt my feeelings too, but he probably didn't mean to be hurtful. He just doesn't know what he's talking about.

Years ago, I went out with a guy who was carrying some extra weight. While he complained about it constantly, he certainly didn't do anything about it while we were dating. As he was well over 6 feet, I really didn't think he'd be 'that much' smaller when and if he ever did lose weight, and I didn't give it much thought.

A few years after we broke up, I ran into him. He'd lost at least 40 pounds, and he was nearly unrecognizable. I had always thought that as tall as he was, he'd still be very broad in the shoulders when he lost weight. Not the case! Turns out he had the same tiny frame that all of his siblings and his mother did, he had just been carrying every last pound of it in his torso and more of it in the shoulders than I would have EVER guessed. It was shocking to me, honestly.

So if he had ever asked me what I thought he'd look like if he ever got back into shape, I would have guessed COMPLETELY, TOTALLY wrong. Not because I would have been trying to hurt his feelings or discourage him-in fact, I'd have been trying to encourage him! I just had never seen him at a healthy weight and had no idea what that would look like on him. Not a clue.

BrennaDS

I was intrigued by this wrist idea, so I went looking for it and now know I am indeed medium framed! Here's the website I found in actually combines the wrist test with the "formula" I mentioned before! The one thing they point out is that this is a guideline and they give you a range. The way I see it I've been overweight for years so getting within 5-10 pounds of what they say is "ideal" would be amazing! So that's what I'm aiming for is 5-10 punds above what they say a woman my height with a meidum sized frame should weigh.

http://calculators.hpathy.com/body-weight.asp

Don't ever let anybody discouarge you, and surround yourself with people who love and support you!

BrennaDS

LIKE!!!

Qarol

Take your thumb and index finger and wrap them around your wrist. If the fingers overlap, you're small. If they just touch, you're medium. And if they don't touch, you're large. Of course, this isn't accurate for very obese people. There are ideal weight calculators out there that estimate based on body frame. I've found two, and they're wildly different. I'm a large frame. One calculator topped out at 154 lbs. Another was a whopping 180 lbs. That's quite a difference. So take those with a grain of salt.

littlemissanguissette

I could see how wrist measurements could be off if you are carrying more weight, some people have bigger wrists because they are carrying more weight/fat.

However, I cannot over lap my fingers/thumb on my wrist, and I have BIG hands. [I'm nearly 6'] I am a large frame, there is absolutely no fat on my wrist [I can barely pinch any skin from them] so the measurements work for me. I weigh around 155 right now, and I fit into a 7/8 [these are Rue 21 sizes], at my lowest I was a size 4 but it was so difficult to maintain.

I also will probably never get smaller than a 5 or 6 because of my hips. I have WIDE hips [and a big booty hehe] at 40", and no matter how thin I get I never lose any inches on those hips [they do get bony, however..yuck]. Because of that I will never be able to squeeze into anything smaller, pants are SO hard to fit into when you have wide hips.

BrennaDS

LIKE!!!

Ooops! I've never left comments in here, I was trying to leave this as a reply to Atlantique's comments:

"It would hurt my feeelings too, but he probably didn't mean to be hurtful. He just doesn't know what he's talking about.

Years ago, I went out with a guy who was carrying some extra weight. While he complained about it constantly, he certainly didn't do anything about it while we were dating. As he was well over 6 feet, I really didn't think he'd be 'that much' smaller when and if he ever did lose weight, and I didn't give it much thought.

A few years after we broke up, I ran into him. He'd lost at least 40 pounds, and he was nearly unrecognizable. I had always thought that as tall as he was, he'd still be very broad in the shoulders when he lost weight. Not the case! Turns out he had the same tiny frame that all of his siblings and his mother did, he had just been carrying every last pound of it in his torso and more of it in the shoulders than I would have EVER guessed. It was shocking to me, honestly.

So if he had ever asked me what I thought he'd look like if he ever got back into shape, I would have guessed COMPLETELY, TOTALLY wrong. Not because I would have been trying to hurt his feelings or discourage him-in fact, I'd have been trying to encourage him! I just had never seen him at a healthy weight and had no idea what that would look like on him. Not a clue."

ivyjbres

i'm between 5'7 and 5'8

So am I, and definately large frame size. (BTW if you find a frame size calculator that goes off the width of your elbow, those are more accurate) At 150, I was a size 6-8. Pregnant, up until the last month, I was a 6-8. At 176, I was a 14. At 215, I'm a 16. Alot will depend on where you have fat and muscle distributed, but you can do what you think you can do.

Sezmo83

Down and dirty method - Take your thumb and middle finger on your dominant hand and wrap them around your other wrist (don't squeeze tightly, just wrap your fingers). If they overlap, you have a small frame, if they just touch, you have an average frame, and if they don't touch you have a large frame.

Mine used to overlap, now they don't even touch if I squeeze hard. Doubt I went from a small frame to a large frame, I just got fat.

At 140lbs I was in a UK size 10 jeans. They were too loose at the waist but a size 8 was way too small for my hips. I could have stood to lose more weight so not sure how it would have come out had I been at my current goal of 130lbs.

vox23

Not that I don't believe that there are different sizes of skeletal bones out there, but I used to get that I was big boned all the time. Really I think that saying you are big boned that's why you are larger is a cop out and not necessarily true. Underneath all the fat and muscle, we are generally all similar (note how I did not say the same though).

As for your question... I currently weigh just over 200 and am on the cusp on a size 14. I imagine when I am 150 I'll be around an 8 or so, so I don't think you need to be worried. That 14 will be long gone for you too, even if you are shorter than me (I'm 5' 7")

Very best of luck in your journey! Don't let him get you down! You can do it!!!!!

darrielirwin

I am 190lbs right now and fit into a size 12 or 14 depending on the brand`(I actually just bought a pair of size 10 jean shorts yesterday, they are tight, but I know within 5lbs they will be good). I am 5`8 and I carry my weight well! You will be FINE. My guess is that at 150, you should be in 10 or less! Don`t listen to what boys say, they don`t know a women`s body!

epoint

Wow, I either need to find out where you guys shop or I'm not wearing my pants nearly tight enough, lol! I'm 5'7"and down to 142 and I wear size 12 pants. (And yes, I'm still wearing some of my 14's, although they are loose.) I must carry my weight way differently from everybody else here. Or maybe it's the cheap Target clothes I buy. :-)

jubjubbird

I think one thing to bear in mind here is that women's clothing sizes are not consistent AT ALL!! I have everything from size 8 (skirts and dresses) to size 16 (pants) in my closet that all fit right now, on average I wear a 12, but not consistently. I just went clothing shopping for my daughter the other day and bought her several pair of shorts to try on, there were two size fours that were too small, a size 5 that fit, a size 6 that fit, and a size 4 that was baggy. It really depends on where you shop and how things are cut. You're better off to gauge changes by your weight and fitness.

Also I think if you measure the width of your elbow (on the bone, not around which would include any fat) you get a better measure. As far as wrapping your fingers, well I have really long fingers and big hands for someone my size, so I don't think that one works for me...lol.

jcl1981

the funny thing about bone structure calculations is that none of them are 100% accurate. I always thought i had a large bone structure because i was a moderate height and looked big. It was'nt until i lost weight and found out that my bone structure was not large but medium, all of the perceived largeness was from layers of fat on top of my bones, LOL! I think your best bet is to try and be as healthy as possible, don't resort to fads or crash diets to get to a size 14, even then there are so many kinds of size 14, i mean, tall, short, petite, i have seen many women that are a size 14 but are all different heights and weights, i am sure you will be beautiful no matter what the scale says.

LorinaLynn

FWIW, I'm 5'5 and about 136# now. I'm currently in a size 7 or 9 juniors jeans, depending on the cut, and a 6 in misses. At 150#, I was a size 8, at 160# I was starting to buy more 10s but still fit into most of my 8s.

But I'm smaller than I was five years ago at 130#. I have more muscle tone now, and that makes my weight higher.

I have no idea what my bone structure is. I have wide-ish hips, but a small waist and rib cage. With the wrist thing, my thumb overlaps my middle finger and ring finger, and touches my index. But when I was super skinny (110 pounds or so... don't wanna go back there!), my thumb and pinkie could touch. I have fairly small hands, but long fingers, too. And a big head. Sometimes women's hats don't fit on my noggin.

There's just so many factors... It's damn near impossible to predict what our ideal or goal weight or size will be until we get there. And that's a tricky part in itself: recognizing when we get there. It's kind of like doing a painting... the hardest part sometimes can be saying, "Ok. This is done."

srosenz

My experience as an orthopaedic surgeon, most people fall within the average ranges for the sizes of their bones. I can't tell you how many morbidly obese (supposedly big boned) hip and knee replacements I have performed that require the smallest implants.

Now of course there are some outliers amongst us, but it is not the majority (or even the median)

sassylilmama

Well I am 5 foot nothing and 150 pounds, wearing a size 12 right now. So in my opinion you should have no problem getting into a 14 at 5'7