Ideal weights?

mamacassi

I currently have my goal set for 140. The skinniest I was has been 130 when I was 5'2 which wasnt portioned well at all. I have a broad frame and I have short short legs. I worry that because of these factors what they say is my ideal isn't. I read someone who is 5'4 should be 113 pounds! (I'm 5'4 in a half technically lol)
I know weight is different on everyone but how can I adjust my goal to somewhere healthy? Is 140 too high?

justann

Check your BMI under the tools tab. That might give you some information.

Channing

In my opinion, keep your goal at 140 and when you get there, re-evaluate how you feel and if you think you could go lower.
It's all about the journey! Good luck!:flowerforyou:

Mellie13

I agree with Channing. That is what I'm doing, BMI is VERY basic and does not take into account your body structure, muscle tone, etc. I'm 5' and I set my goal and 130 and will reevaluate when I get there. The closer I get, though, the more I think a healthier weight is probably a little lower for me.

aippolito1

I also agree with Channing. I looked thin at 128 when I was 15 but I'm sure my bones weren't done growing. Last time I lost weight, I didn't get below 145 but I wasn't doing a lot of cardio. I was only doing toning exercises and dieting. So this time around, my goal is 140. If I have to go lower, I'll probably go to 130 but I have a feeling I won't need to. Just get there & decide then!

harborgirl

I think those charts can be way off. It depends on a lot of things, including the type of frame you have, how old you are, whether you have a curvy figure type, etc. I'm also 5'4" and when I was younger I felt and looked best at 125-- in my 40s I felt and looked best at 140. For some reason 140 looked different on me when I got older, better than when I was younger. I'd kill to get to 140 now... LOL.

My daughter is 5'6" and weighs in the mid 150s and looks great, very slender actually. She gets a lot of compliments, so it's not just me saying that. The charts say she should weight 20 pounds less.

questionablemethods

As others have mentioned, lot of ideal weight charts don't take muscle mass into account. Rather, they do, but they assume a standard amount or something like that. I'm 5 foot 3.5 inches. I'm 135-ish right now and I want to get down to wherever I look lean but not skinny. If I have nice muscle definition at 130, that'll be good. I'm thinking 125 is a good weight, but I might end up reevaluating.

tdh302

I agree with the others who suggested to check the BMI chart and to look at a weight range rather than a specific number. Good Lord...I'm 5'4 and I think the last time I weighed 114 I was in the seventh grade!. I'm over 40, weigh 128, have worked out for over twenty years, and I wear mostly 4s, sometimes a 2 here or there. I imagine that if I were to weigh 114 I would be near death.

MacMadame

I read someone who is 5'4 should be 113 pounds!

Well, there can't be one number that fits all 5'4" people. So I'd just ignore that. :happy:

If you go by BMI, the range for a 5' 4.5" person is: 107 - 148. That's a big range. If you have average muscles and average body fat, then you'd expect to be in the bottom of the range for a small frame and at the top for a large frame.

But BMI is only part of the story. You also want to look at your body fat percentage. If it is high, even if you look okay from the outside, if you have too much fat on the inside, you'll be unhealthy. You want your body fat percentage to be in the 18-25% range IMO. (Different people will give you different ranges -- 18-25 % is my take on it based on listening to all their reasons why they pick the ranges they do.)

Also, you can go lower if you know what you are doing. For example, professional endurance athletes often have much less body fat than 18% and are very healthy. Male body builders often get down to 3-4% body fat even though most people say that essential body fat for a male is 5-6% as another example. But I digress...

You also need to know what your muscle mass is. If you are very muscular and have decent body fat, you can still be out of range going by BMI.

I think you need to look at a bunch of factors, try a bunch of calculators and then figure out what makes sense for you. Then, be prepared to change your mind as you work on getting there. :laugh:

elysant

I found this site that takes into account your body frame size as well.

http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/ideal-body-weight-3146-143.html

I hate those calculators and such that give you one number based on nothing more than your height. According to this site I should weigh between 146.6 - 160 lbs. I want to be around 155 so that falls right in the middle of this. However, other sites I look at that base their numbers only on height say that I should weigh between 117 - 156. There is NO WAY that I could be between those weights. According to those charts 156 would be borderline obese!