No really... I AM big boned..?

Scrimples

I was just lamenting about this today. With my large frame and my goal weight adjusted accordingly due to that I still will sit in the overweight category on the BMI chart. I know logically not to worry about it, but it screws with my mind a bit.

When I was a teen my doctor did some measurements with some pretty neat calipers and discovered that what we thought was a large frame was even larger than we thought. I always felt too big. For instance, I have very broad shoulders. I look like a cartoon character (you know the one in the bugs bunny cartoons of the gangster in the zuit suit) if I wore anything with shoulder pads. I have a broad chest, large and muscular calves and thighs, and even a large skull. I'm structurally built more like a linebacker than a cheerleader iykwim.

All this ended up meaning for me was that we had to disregard the typical weight charts and factor that in. I was at my slimmest when the measurements were done and was told at 145 and 5'7" that I had actually lost 10-15 more pounds than necessary for someone with my frame and muscle tone. I also was not able to maintain that since it was too much, and well, I have struggled with my weight since the onset of hormones.

Someone with a large frame can absolutely look a lot thinner than the scale says and wear much smaller sizes than one would expect for someone that weight. However, if you do have a large frame, you have to let go of the idea of looking petite and small. You can't diet and exercise the structure away. You are stuck with it forever. I know you know that, but it is important to remember. Try and embrace what you have and work at making that the best you can. In the end it isn't the size of frame, the size on the tag of your jeans, or what normal may be if you aren't part of that norm. It is how you feel at that weight both physically and psychologically, how comfortable you are in your body at that weight, and if you can maintain it.

purplecharm

People do have different frame sizes. I have a disproportionate rib cage and hand-size for instance. I found this out when I broke a rib when I was younger.

Your hand length will not shrink when you lose weight. I just have very large hands for my height.

I also have big hands for my height and unfortunately my feet are also big for my height.

essaryswife73

Skeletons are all about the same size. No such thing as "big boned". Lol.

I agree!!! Big boned is nothing but bull**** that big people use as an excuse to be big. I know, used that same excuse myself for years!

I'm sorry, but I totally disagree. My grandfather weighed around 350 lbs when he passed and the medical examiner told us his skeleton weighed close to 100 lbs. His bones were huge and really dense. It's true that some people use "big boned" as an excuse, but it's not fair to lump everyone together.

tigersword

Skeletons are all about the same size. No such thing as "big boned". Lol.

I agree!!! Big boned is nothing but bull**** that big people use as an excuse to be big. I know, used that same excuse myself for years!

I'm sorry, but I totally disagree. My grandfather weighed around 350 lbs when he passed and the medical examiner told us his skeleton weighed close to 100 lbs. His bones were huge and really dense. It's true that some people use "big boned" as an excuse, but it's not fair to lump everyone together.

His skeleton was so heavy and dense because it had to support 350 pounds. His skeleton would have weighed much less if he had weighed 175 pounds. Just like his tendons, ligaments, and muscle mass would have been more than someone half his weight, for the same reason.

bcattoes

Skeletons are all about the same size. No such thing as "big boned". Lol.

Are they? I've never actually researched that, and I suppose it would depend a lot on what you mean by "about" the same size. But there are definitely people that have naturally bigger, or wider, bone structure than others. It doesn't make them look fat though, just wider. Nothing about your bones will make you look overweight.

JBG1987

Skeletons are all about the same size. No such thing as "big boned". Lol.

^I have always heard this.

JBG1987

My doctor and my best friend (a PA) have both told me that frame size is generally small, medium or large for all intents and purposes in determining a healthy BMI. Normally it can be gauged by wrapping your hand around your wrist. If your fingers overlap, you have a small frame. If they touch, you have an average frame and if they don't touch at all, you have a large frame. It is obviously not an exact science, but when your healthy weight range for your hight spans from 108-145, it can help you determine what is a better estimate based on your height and frame.

A 5'4" woman with a medium frame is probably comfortable in the 120-130 range, again, an estimate.

EricaRuns27

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

bcattoes

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

Certainly skeletal structure vary, otherwise we'd all be the same height.

hughtwalker

My bones are bigger than my 5' 4" 9 stone wife - if/when I lose weight will my bones be smaller?

abberbabber

I'm a physical anthropologist, and there IS such thing as big boned. No bones are the same size. Your ancestry play a large part it it. It doesn't make a huge difference, but it's not irrelevant either.

^^^^ See, empirical evidence. Isn't science (actual science) a wonderful thing?

QFT. No, your bones are not going to make you 300 ponds...but two women who are both 5'8" could look completely different based on bone and muscle composition. If there were no such thing as people with larger or smaller frames, everyone at the same height and weight would look just about the same.

concordancia

I am small boned. Sometimes I think I am the only obese person in the world who knows this about them self.

EricaRuns27

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

Certainly skeletal structure vary, otherwise we'd all be the same height.

Oh I def agree they are different. I'm 5'3". My skeletal is not the same as someone a foot taller than me, obviously. I'm just saying that a person stating "I'm big boned" as a part of reason/not losing weight is kind of silly.

bcattoes

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

Certainly skeletal structure vary, otherwise we'd all be the same height.

Oh I def agree they are different. I'm 5'3". My skeletal is not the same as someone a foot taller than me, obviously. I'm just saying that a person stating "I'm big boned" as a part of reason/not losing weight is kind of silly.

Agreed. I don't care how big or heavy your bones are, bones don't look like fat. If the reason you weigh so much is that you are big boned, you wouldn't have to explain that. They would plainly see that it was not fat.

purplecharm

I don't understand why people don't understand that large frames aka big bones exist and that having big bones is not the same as being fat. There are plenty of small framed people that are fat, obese and morbidly obese, just as there are large framed people that are fat, obese, and morbidly obese. i used to work with a morbidly obese lady and I could tell that she had a small frame underneath all her fat because she had small wrist, small feet, very narrow shoulders and a small head.

My 11 year old daughter is already 5'10 and weighs between 125-130 lbs BUT she has a large frame. Her shoulders are broad and she wears a size 12 women's shoe.I measured her wrist and it measured 6.5 inches. I don't know if she has stopped growing yet, but it's obvious that she is not fat but yet she has a large frame which she took after me.

I have a large from and although I am only 5'8 I wear a size 13 women's shoe. My wrist measures 7 inches(no fat on my wrist), I can't wear once size fits all hats because my head is larger than average and I have extremely broad shoulders. I took after my father, who also has a large frame with broad shoulder

My mother on the other hand has a wrist so small that she has to have additional holes added to her watches because her frame is small.

bump

purplecharm

i do not want this to sound rude. i used to think i was big boned. since then ive lost weight and seen a few fitness models post this on facebook.

I am SO glad u posted this CT image. I was wanting to show my boyfriend this a while back and couldn't find it for the life of me.

I'm an X-ray tech and I've x-rayed patients of all weights. A femur of a 120lb person is generally the same size of a person who is obese. It's just the extent of soft tissue surrounding it. I don't agree with the big bones theory at all. Just because I've seen how they appear in X-rays or all sizes.

Certainly skeletal structure vary, otherwise we'd all be the same height.

Oh I def agree they are different. I'm 5'3". My skeletal is not the same as someone a foot taller than me, obviously. I'm just saying that a person stating "I'm big boned" as a part of reason/not losing weight is kind of silly.

Agreed. I don't care how big or heavy your bones are, bones don't look like fat. If the reason you weigh so much is that you are big boned, you wouldn't have to explain that. They would plainly see that it was not fat.

Now one is saying that big bones = fat. They are not one and the same. You can be fat with a small frame. You can be fat with a medium frame. You can be fat with a large frame. Just because some fat people use the "big bones" excuse for why they are fat does not mean that there aren't people that actually have a large frame aka big bones.

I wanted to add that you can be sknny with a large frame.

lowpro1983

I think that when we are larger, we often can't imagine how we would look/feel if we were smaller. I mean, I'm 5'6 and about 195 lbs....size 14 and I still can't imagine what it would be like to be a size 10 or smaller. BUT....IT IS POSSIBLE.

Don't get too caught up on the big boned theory....just know that with consistency, determination, motivation, support - healthier eating habits and exercise habits, etc...you will lose weight!!! Don't get discouraged, keep going!

bcattoes

Oh I def agree they are different. I'm 5'3". My skeletal is not the same as someone a foot taller than me, obviously. I'm just saying that a person stating "I'm big boned" as a part of reason/not losing weight is kind of silly.

Agreed. I don't care how big or heavy your bones are, bones don't look like fat. If the reason you weigh so much is that you are big boned, you wouldn't have to explain that. They would plainly see that it was not fat.

Now one is saying that big bones = fat. They are not one and the same. You can be fat with a small frame. You can be fat with a medium frame. You can be fat with a large frame. Just because some fat people use the "big bones" excuse for why they are fat does not mean that there aren't people that actually have a large frame aka big bones.

Um, yeah. That's pretty much what I said.

SoulReckoning

OP: I just wanted to tell you my "big boned" side of things. I am German & Native American, I'm bred to be big. my mother is native american mostly, and she is taller than I am but she carries her weight really differently. Based on our legs, you would never know we were related. She has chicken legs (they are small even though she's overweight) her ankles and wrists are tiny. I practically have kankles, thunder thighs, a big butt, and 7.5 inch writsts that aren't fatty, mostly wrist. Obviously they'd get little smaller when I lose some weight. I am only 5' 6.5", and I consider myself "big boned" because at my heaviest (210lbs) everyone would say, "YOU CARRY IT WELL, I wouldn't have thought you weighed that much!" That phrase always annoys me. I was wearing a size 16/18 then on a good day. In High School and college I pretty much stayed about 170-180 pounds and wore a 12 in womens or 13/14 in Juniors. But just a few years ago I got down to a size 6/8 (depending on style and brand of clothes) at just 159lbs. That's a lot to weigh for that size I feel like. It was the smallest I could ever remember being, and I still had about 10-15 pounds to lose to get into the BMIs ideal weight range. Even at your height, I think you will be surprised as to what sizes fit once you start getting closer to your goal weight. I must have been doing sometihng really right back then to lose those inches like I did, it was a great feeling to go shopping for a trip I was going on. I remember thinking, oh I probably lost a size or two...Nope, to go from a 13/14 to a 6 or 8 was AMAZING! Hopefully I can achieive that again, and keep it!

murmt

OP: I just wanted to tell you my "big boned" side of things. I am German & Native American, I'm bred to be big. my mother is native american mostly, and she is taller than I am but she carries her weight really differently. Based on our legs, you would never know we were related. She has chicken legs (they are small even though she's overweight) her ankles and wrists are tiny. I practically have kankles, thunder thighs, a big butt, and 7.5 inch writsts that aren't fatty, mostly wrist. Obviously they'd get little smaller when I lose some weight. I am only 5' 6.5", and I consider myself "big boned" because at my heaviest (210lbs) everyone would say, "YOU CARRY IT WELL, I wouldn't have thought you weighed that much!" That phrase always annoys me. I was wearing a size 16/18 then on a good day. In High School and college I pretty much stayed about 170-180 pounds and wore a 12 in womens or 13/14 in Juniors. But just a few years ago I got down to a size 6/8 (depending on style and brand of clothes) at just 159lbs. That's a lot to weigh for that size I feel like. It was the smallest I could ever remember being, and I still had about 10-15 pounds to lose to get into the BMIs ideal weight range. Even at your height, I think you will be surprised as to what sizes fit once you start getting closer to your goal weight. I must have been doing sometihng really right back then to lose those inches like I did, it was a great feeling to go shopping for a trip I was going on. I remember thinking, oh I probably lost a size or two...Nope, to go from a 13/14 to a 6 or 8 was AMAZING! Hopefully I can achieive that again, and keep it!

And did you look/feel good in size 6 or 8? Bonewise, I mean I have quite a large structure, and my bones are really dense and heavy (my brothers' also - and that's a good thing, since both of us had a LOT of opportunities to break something, and have never even had a fracture). Large hands (very hard to find womens' gloves in my size), large feet. In middle to highschool I weighed a neverchanging 121 lbs, even though I grew a lot (5'3'' to 5'8''), and then at 18 I got +33 lbs in a year. The thing is, when I was 121, looking down I would always see not my boobs but my ribcage sticking out It really got to me, AND under the clothes it looked like I had a fat roll in a weird place ) And right below the ribcage there was this hollowness, where my abs were supposed to be. So, being 154 lbs and size 12-14 was better, because I didn't look like some emaciated kid in the top half (my hips were pretty wide, and even now with 210 lbs hipbones are near the surface, you can almost see them).

NZblue

People say I'm big boned, but I know for a fact that I have a small frame. When I was slimmer, I was little little. And I look forward to getting to there. Admittedly, I'm a rectangle when I'm small. I will miss having curves, but I know I'll be healthy!

kegbail

Came across this:

Body frame size is determined by a person's wrist circumference in relation to his height. For example, a man whose height is over 5' 5" and wrist is 6" would fall into the small-boned category.

Determining frame size:
To determine the body frame size, measure the wrist with a tape measure and use the following chart to determine whether the person is small, medium, or large boned.
Women:
• Height under 5'2"
o Small = wrist size less than 5.5"
o Medium = wrist size 5.5" to 5.75"
o Large = wrist size over 5.75"

• Height 5'2" to 5' 5"
o Small = wrist size less than 6"
o Medium = wrist size 6" to 6.25"
o Large = wrist size over 6.25"

• Height over 5' 5"
o Small = wrist size less than 6.25"
o Medium = wrist size 6.25" to 6.5"
o Large = wrist size over 6.5"

Men:
• Height over 5' 5"
o Small = wrist size 5.5" to 6.5"
o Medium = wrist size 6.5" to 7.5"
o Large = wrist size over 7.5"

brwnsuga6

I understand what you're saying. When I was 150 pounds, I could fit some 10's but I most wore a size 12 and 11/12 in juniors. Right now, I'm somewhere between 185-190 and I wear 14's but I can still squeeze into some 12's. I don't consider myself big-boned, but I do believe that I naturally have more muscle mass than the average woman of my height. My 190lb body probably looks like 160lbs on the average woman. When I tell people my weight, they never believe me. The point is I concentrate less on weight and clothing size and more on my body's appearance and endurance ability.

hughtwalker

I am big boned - I need to be to support this enormous girth.

Next please?

kitka82

Looking for some motivation!

Anyone else out there have a large frame and able to share their story? I'm 5'8 and 220... generally wear a size 16. I was at a Doctor's office the other day and he told me I was NOT big boned, and that he's seen much bigger - he's kinda given me a complex now! So I went and looked online to see how I can judge this myself and the circumference of my wrist is 7"....and according to everything I read that's big boned! I am very broad and carry weight all over, anyways I'm trying to lose weight, and I really wish I can get down to a size 10, is this even possible? I don't even remember a time that I wore something outside of a size 14. About 3 years ago I dropped down to 180, and I was wearing a size 14 - and this was a healthy look for me.

Am I deluding myself into thinking my frame will prevent me from going down to a size 10?

If anyone has got some stories, please share! Thanks!

I'm here to tell you YES it is possible to reach size 10, if that's your goal. It depends on more than just weight and frame size. Find out your body fat percentage and focus on getting THAT down.

I started at 224, size 18. I'm now 169, size 8/10, medium. People NEVER believe me when I tell them my weight, and they say I'm crazy for wanting to lose 20 more pounds. I am 5'7" and carry most of my weight on my bottom half. Scale weight doesn't necessarily determine your clothing size. I have no idea what size frame I have. My goal is 150, 21% body fat. I'm currently over 30% body fat (again, mostly in my lower half).

Victoria2448

I'm a physical anthropologist, and there IS such thing as big boned. No bones are the same size. Your ancestry plays a large part it it. It doesn't make a huge difference, but it's not irrelevant either. Now to say its an excuse for 50+ pounds is just crazy. But it can make things like wrists and ankles appear larger. It doesn't effect weight except by the smallest fraction. But a lot of things can change how you appear. Like a girl I went to school with was 5'7, 115 pounds and wore a size 6-8 depending on the brand because her hips were wide. She wasn't big boned, but her hip bones were spread apart farther.

Well said!

BeeElMarvin

etoiles_argentees

:indifferent:

neandermagnon

If people have EXACTLY THE SAME skeletons then how is it possible to identify male from female when fossils are discovered from ancient cultures?

Why are some women to 'narrow' for childbirth if the skeletons are EXACTLY the same? is the fat making their hips closer together?

If all skeletons are the same please explain Osteoporosis and the other skeletal disorders. By this thinking then it would be impossible to have any differences in structure at all.

Here's one from the American Journal of clinical nutrition : http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/75/6/1012.long which discusses frame sizes.

It is utterly ridiculous to say that everyone has the same size of skeleton.

^^^^ THIS

I'm 5'1", 130lb, and 100lb lean body mass, 22/23% body fat, right at the top of the BMI healthy range, and I have a big rib cage and shoulders. My shoulders are nearly as big as my husband's and he's 5'11".

there are women who are 5'1" at around the same body fat percentage as me whose entire weight is 100lb and their lean body mass around 75-80lbs.

Why?

Different frame sizes

No, i'm not an experienced bodybuilder or anything like that. I haven't put on any significant amount of lean body mass since lifting (although I'm aiming to) I have a large frame, that is all.

the healthy range for body fat percentage and how it's measured is the same regardless of frame size. If you go by body fat percentage, you don't have to worry about what your frame size is, just get into the healthy body fat percentage range and let your weight be whatever it is when you get there. It will also tell you what your frame size is. If your lean body mass is a lot for your height, you either have a large frame or you're an experienced bodybuilder who's put on a lot of additional lean body mass through hard work.

Scale weight and BMI can be notoriously misleading, and it's extremely difficult to estimate frame size, and a lot easier to estimate body fat percentage. The wrist method does not work for everyone, as frame size is about the size of the pelvis, rib cage and shoulders, not the size of the wrists/joints. The two have a tendancy to correlate, but it doesn't correlate for everyone (i.e. someone could have a big rib cage and a small wrist joint).

aakokopelli7