Frame Size

ElyseL1
ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was wondering if anyone else gives credit to the idea that frame size should really impact how much we weigh? I'm having a hard time deciding how much I should weigh because MFP is telling me that it should be 132, but several other websites are saying closer to 140 because I have a large frame. According to MFP i'm still obese but if I follow the advice from other sites I would squarely be out of that range. I'm so confused right now. Any advice?
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Replies

  • Iron_Lotus
    Iron_Lotus Posts: 2,295 Member
    Of course.

    ETA: Just because MFP says something doesn't make it true lol MFP also says I should be eating 1200 calories.
  • ElyseL1
    ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
    LOL that's a really good point! I would starve on that
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
    I think frame size definitely should impact your goal weight.
  • bap2011
    bap2011 Posts: 5 Member
    Here is the recommendation for me based on height and sex:

    Results:
    According to your height of 5' 5" your ideal healthy weight is 134 pounds. Your recommended weight range is between 119 and 149 pounds.

    I am large framed, and have weighed 135 before. I was skin and bones. You could see my ribs. 149 is probably closer to reality for me. I would find the top value of your range and shoot for that.
  • bap2011
    bap2011 Posts: 5 Member
    Here is the place I got my info from: http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi
  • Shadowcub
    Shadowcub Posts: 154 Member
    A large frame has a significant more bone mass than a small frame. So it stands to reason that the large frame person would weigh more than the small frame person, all other factors being equal.

    MFP reports the straight medical BMI numbers without really commenting on their appropriateness.

    For me, I doubt I'll ever be in the "Healthy" range due to my bone structure (I've been heavy all my life and am built like a truck). I'm honestly just amining to be "Overweight".
  • m0jk
    m0jk Posts: 133
    i think it should be included.. everytime my weight is calculated , healthy weight is between 10-12 stone.. consultants told me i was 8 stone before and healthy because i have a small body frame i need to aim for that. dont think i will ever be that again tho lol
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
    Don't focus so much of BMI really. I set a goal for myself and when I get there or around there I will see how I look and judge it based on that. The textbook answer ins't always right
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    I'm aiming for the top of the range for my height, 5'6" which is around 155. Once I get closer I'll have a better idea of what's appropriate for me. Maybe I won't even get that low, but it's a starting point.
  • SilverLotusGirl
    SilverLotusGirl Posts: 537 Member
    Instead of focusing on a number, why not focus on being healthy. When you get to a point to where you look and feel great, clothes fit great, you have confidence and energy, and you have the muscle tone you want, and you're medically healthy, that's your goal weight. The number isn't that important but if you do have a larger frame you will weigh more than those with narrow frames but that's like comparing an eagle and a sparrow.
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
    how do you knowou have a large frame. I alaways thought I did as well. The dietcian measured my wrist and my frame is medium. Alot of the big bones big frame stuff is nonsense.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    No. I'm sorry but it is very easy when you are overweight to justify it through "frame" size or body shape or any number of other excuses. I've been there and done that. Work on losing the weight one step at a time and let your goals adjust along the way as you make honest changes to your lifestyle. You just may surprise yourself.
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
    It's not so much the size of bones (frame size) that determines your goal weight, it's the amount of lean tissue that you have, genetic fat distribution, etc.

    I found out that I have a small frame size (small bones) and a wrist so tiny that virtually no adult watch will fit it. But genetically I also have a short, stocky, muscled figure. Losing too much weight could put my lean tissue at risk, and I still wouldn't look as slender as a naturally skinny person.

    I am also an endomorph prone to fat storage. Even at 97 pounds and 17% body fat I have a small pot belly, thick thighs, and almost no hips. If I wanted to look like a fitness model I'd have to go to hard lengths to lean out, and even then it wouldn't look very feminine.

    Your goal weight should be where you look and feel your best. Generally that's somewhere in a healthy weight range, but BMI is more about averages than science.

    When I first started losing weight I assumed that I had a medium frame and looked fine at 130 pounds. I was mistaken. Once I hit 120 and looked at some old photos, I saw how much excess fat that I had on my body and felt how much easier it was getting to jog. I was still quite at 110 and 105 pounds. My frame was an excuse to hide my incredulity at the weight charts.
  • SilverLotusGirl
    SilverLotusGirl Posts: 537 Member
    I don't know about the size of my bones but I have a wider frame than a lot of women. I have broad shoulders, a wide rib cage, wide hips, and big quads. I've had a dietitian tell me that being "thin" was not in the cards for me and to focus more on health and not so much just one number.

    So I don't want to be a size 2 or anything but I want to be healthy with a larger frame.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    I know for a fact that I have a higher than average bone mass, and a higher than average muscle mass, so I never pay much attention to recommended sizes. For me, the governing number is body fat percentage. I'm inside the healthy range now and am pushing for the atheletic range. Try not to focus on weight. If you're trim and lean you can be smaller but weigh more. Case in point - there was a point several years ago when I weighed 185 lbs, but had about 27% body fat and had a 38" waist. I'm now at 195 lbs, but my body fat is at 21% and my waist is 34". My weight is up, but I'm leaner, healthier and looking better.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    Just because a lot of people use frame size to make excuses doesn't mean it's bogus -- just means that a lot of people think they have a larger frame than they do. I do agree, though, that rather than worrying what your goal should be, you should evaluate yourself objectively on the way down.
  • cdjs77
    cdjs77 Posts: 176 Member
    I always believed frame size was a myth, but I asked my aunt, who is a doctor, and she said it is true that people's frames and shapes vary, just not as much as most people think. The way for calculating frame size is also not very accurate, as it only really uses wrist size (which can fluctuate with weight). A few years ago I got measured for a bracelet and my wrist was just under 6" which put me in the category of small frame size for my height. Recently I got measured for a bracelet and my wrist size was about 6.3" putting me in the medium frame category. I have gained about 10-15 lbs since the first measurement, but I doubt it's because my frame got bigger.

    The best measurement, in my non-expert opinion, is body fat percentage. Higher body fat percentages are usually correlated with more health problems regardless of weight or BMI (here is just one of many studies: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20020/abstract).
  • ken_hogan
    ken_hogan Posts: 854 Member
    Instead of focusing on a number, why not focus on being healthy. When you get to a point to where you look and feel great, clothes fit great, you have confidence and energy, and you have the muscle tone you want, and you're medically healthy, that's your goal weight. The number isn't that important but if you do have a larger frame you will weigh more than those with narrow frames but that's like comparing an eagle and a sparrow.

    I have to agree with this. I went to the website that another posted about the healthy weight ranges, and it has my range from 131-164. I can't even IMAGINE being anywhere near the 130's. Last time I remember being 150 pounds was when I was through with Navy bootcamp, and then I thought I was rather thin. I can't imagine being able to lose another 15 pounds from that.
  • mandrade4550
    mandrade4550 Posts: 47 Member
    Instead of focusing on a number, why not focus on being healthy. When you get to a point to where you look and feel great, clothes fit great, you have confidence and energy, and you have the muscle tone you want, and you're medically healthy, that's your goal weight. The number isn't that important but if you do have a larger frame you will weigh more than those with narrow frames but that's like comparing an eagle and a sparrow.



    Well said ! I agree goal is to be healthy and feel great....numbers always change even by drinking a glass of water :smile:
  • nm_353
    nm_353 Posts: 16 Member
    I have the opposite problem :( I'm 5'6 and roughly 139, and still chubby! I'm within my healthy weight range, but because I'm small framed I look fatter than other girls do at my same height and weight... According to MY DOC, a good weight for me would be about 120-125, as far as too actually look on the thin- average side. I can even go all the way down to 114-115 safely. OMG, I can never lose that much weight :( It has taken me months to get from 155 too 139! How can I ever make it to the 120's again?? Now I wish I was larger framed so that I could look normal at a normal weight! This isn't fair :( I'm semi tall, weigh 139 and still have a freakin double chin and huge bread basked and fat arms... wtf???

    A girl above said shes 5'5 and when she weighed 135 she was skin and bones :( Ugh I wish, I only got 4 pounds to go to be 135, and at 5'6 I'm still gonna look chubbyish :( SO discouraging!
  • jenniferwoodweeg
    jenniferwoodweeg Posts: 45 Member
    I am on the larger frame size. For instance , my friend is 5'7 w/small frame(narrower hips and shoulders,etc) and so am I. We both weighed 145 and she looked overweight while I looked normal weight.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
    I have the opposite problem :( I'm 5'6 and roughly 139, and still chubby! I'm within my healthy weight range, but because I'm small framed I look fatter than other girls do at my same height and weight... According to MY DOC, a good weight for me would be about 120-125, as far as too actually look on the thin- average side. I can even go all the way down to 114-115 safely. OMG, I can never lose that much weight :( It has taken me months to get from 155 too 139! How can I ever make it to the 120's again?? Now I wish I was larger framed so that I could look normal at a normal weight! This isn't fair :( I'm semi tall, weigh 139 and still have a freakin double chin and huge bread basked and fat arms... wtf???

    A girl above said shes 5'5 and when she weighed 135 she was skin and bones :( Ugh I wish, I only got 4 pounds to go to be 135, and at 5'6 I'm still gonna look chubbyish :( SO discouraging!

    This is me. You will be amazed at what your body can do that you think it can't. Keep going - you will get there.
  • PunkyRachel
    PunkyRachel Posts: 1,959 Member
    I am undecided on my final GW. I'm 5'5 174lbs and a size 12. I only have 24 pounds to drop to finally be a healthy BMI. I see people on here my height with GW's of like 105-110. I think if I got that small I would look sickly, and I would loose my natural DD's. I want to keep my boobs, but I'd be okay if they shrunk a little to maybe a C at smallest. I've always considered myself very proportionate with the hourglass figure. I'm thinking my GW should be 130, my healthy BMI is 112-150. So 130 would be in the middle and comfortable for me I think?
  • ElyseL1
    ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
    No. I'm sorry but it is very easy when you are overweight to justify it through "frame" size or body shape or any number of other excuses. I've been there and done that. Work on losing the weight one step at a time and let your goals adjust along the way as you make honest changes to your lifestyle. You just may surprise yourself.

    I have been honest with myself that's how I've lost 53 lbs. I also know that when I was 14 I weighed 140 and fit into a size five jean and no one could ever accuse me of being overweight. I just think the goal weight on here is not necessarily something I would consider attractive for my own person.

    Thanks for the feed back everyone :)
  • pwnderosa
    pwnderosa Posts: 280 Member
    I'm always curious about this too, I don't really understand it. I think I have an average frame I suppose, maybe on the smallish side, I do have a small head and small wrists... But most of my adult life I have been around the top of my BMI range and relatively happy with it, except for the two times I got chubby. I have wide hips and a fair amount of curves and I don't tend to look as heavy as the scale reports...so I just don't know!

    My goal weight is set to the top of my BMI range but since I now exercise more than I have since high school, I might keep losing when I get there, I'm really not sure what to do once I lose these last 8 lbs to get me into my BMI range, but I plan to keep logging definitely.
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    Frame size does matter, but it's only one of several factors that you have to consider in determining an appropriate weight. They include:

    Height
    Weight history
    Family members' healthy weight ranges
    Body fat percentage
    Body fat distribution patterns (having an "apple" shape is considered to be more troubling than being "pear" shaped)
    Activity Level
    Age
    Sex
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
    My wrist is nearly 7 inches around, My shoulders span around 19 inches, I assume that when I lose more weight my shoulders will not be near as wide, but I don't see them going under a 16 inch span which is still wider than average, I don't believe they have been that narrow on me since my mid teens. When I wasn't huge they said things about me like I was built like a brick house. So, no I may not even hit the top range for BMI for my height. But, I assume it is safe enough for me to get down to a healthy BF% which is what I am aiming for whether I hit that at 240 or 180. Then I will see if I want to go lower than that percent for a more athletic BF%.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    frame size absolutely does affect how much you weigh when you're at a healthy body fat percentage. However it's extremely difficult to measure accurately, especially when you're obese. If you're fairly lean, it's obvious, by how much you weigh and how big your ribs, shoulders etc are when you're at a healthy body fat percentage. But if your entire frame is covered by a layer of fat, then how do you know where the fat ends and the bones/muscles begin?

    It's a lot more reliable to focus on body fat percentage rather than weight. 25% body fat is 25% body fat regardless of height or frame size. The ranges for body fat percentage are different for men and women.

    Get your body fat percentage measured reliably, and aim to get that into the healthy range. You can calculate how much you'll weigh at your ideal body fat percentage, and you can determine what body fat percentage to aim for, by what kind of look you want, i.e. if you want visible abs and muscle definition, for women you'd have to be around 15% body fat (assuming you also do weight training, if you don't develop your muscles you'll just look starved at 15% bf). If you want a "softer" look, i.e. firm but without visible definition, then you would aim to stay above 20% body fat. Leigh Peele's blog has a free download with everything you could possibly want to know about body fat percentage, including different ways to measure it and what men and women look like at different body fat percentages. http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages - this is a lot more reliable than trying to estimate your frame size and basing your goal weight on that.
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    Frame size makes a difference..I have a small frame.
  • sc10985
    sc10985 Posts: 347 Member
    Absolutely. I'm 5'1" and typical bmi charts put me in a healthy weight range of 97-118lbs. I haven't weighed that since like 6th grade lol. Since becoming an adult my lowest weight was around 122. Once I figured out that I have a large frame I discovered mt healthy weight range is actually 125-140. Makes sense!!!

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