Normal weight for a fit/healthy 5'3 person?

I'm currently 5'3 and 111 lbs. Before having my first daughter I was 98 lbs (under weight I know) after having my first I lost most of the weight and was at about 105. Then I had another child and as of 2 months ago I was at 106. Now I don't think 106 is by any means a lot of weight. However, my skin wasn't as tight as it used to be and I decided that it was time to tone up! So I spoke to a personal trainer and told him what my goals are. He said that at 5'3 106 lbs I was pretty fit but that they count really fit/toned people of my stature to be 17.7 on the BMI scale and I was a 18.8. So he advised me to lose 1 lb of fat and gain 3 lbs of muscle. So that would put me at 108. Ok fine. I haven't changed my diet at all since I've never had a problem with eating healthy. But I just weighed myself yesterday and I'm at 111 lbs! My stomach still isn't as flat as I would like it, but its better. I don't understand what is going on! I know that muscle weights more than fat but I wasn't supposed to even get to this weight and my stomach isn't flat. What do I do? I already stay under 1400 calories a day and work out at least 4 times a week or over an hour! I do 8 minutes of warm up on the treadmill and then 30 minutes of weight lifting and then I burn off 300 calories doing cardio w/in 30 minutes. I don't get it. Someone please help.

Replies

  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
    Well I'm 152lbs and 5'3. I feel that I am fit and healthy, but I don't think that helps you. You had a child two months ago? It's going to take time for your body to bounce back. Keep up with the workouts and keep track of your calories. Things take time.
  • maliabarcy
    maliabarcy Posts: 11
    No I had a child 2 YEARS ago. I was 106 2 months ago and now 111. I'm just trying to figure out why I am going up like that. Seems a little extreme of a jump especially since I haven't increased my calorie intake.
  • Morgaine_on_the_move
    Morgaine_on_the_move Posts: 228 Member
    I find it surprising that a trainer would advocate for someone to be at an underweight BMI. The range for 5'3'' goes up to 141. That's obviously well above where you are. Maybe you should just concentrate on building muscle and forget the scale for a while. When I weighed 125-128 at 5'3'' I was a size 2/4 and pretty happy there.
  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
    No I had a child 2 YEARS ago. I was 106 2 months ago and now 111. I'm just trying to figure out why I am going up like that. Seems a little extreme of a jump especially since I haven't increased my calorie intake.

    I'd bet money on it being water. Your muscles hold onto water for repair. It has nothing to do with calories. You should take measurements so you don't freak out over the scale so much.
  • maliabarcy
    maliabarcy Posts: 11
    it didn't make sense to me why he would say to be below but he tried to explain it as wanting to have no body fat you would be less then the BMI to be thin and toned. I don't know. Whole thing confuses me! I'm just weirded out by gaining weight. I have NEVER weighed that much. I can't explain it. I just want my stomach to be flat. That is all I want. I want it to be flat and tight.
  • maliabarcy
    maliabarcy Posts: 11
    how do I loose the water?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    No I had a child 2 YEARS ago. I was 106 2 months ago and now 111. I'm just trying to figure out why I am going up like that. Seems a little extreme of a jump especially since I haven't increased my calorie intake.

    If you're doing a new workout or intensifying your workout, you're going to retain water for muscle repair...this is a good thing...it means your body is having a training response.
    how do I loose the water?

    Stop obsessing about an arbitrary scale weight. Focus on body composition and have some patience. This **** takes more than a couple days.
  • RiannonC
    RiannonC Posts: 145 Member
    That personal trainer sounds really confused. If you listen to him, you're going to be really confused. Keep in mind they go through a short training course, they don't even have to have completed college. Some of them really know their subject and others are clueless. You'd probably be better off doing your own research than listening to this guy.

    If I were you I would focus on upping the intensity of training and setting personal fitness goals, like how much you can lift, how fast you can run, etc, rather than worrying about the scale. Increasing your level of fitness is going to eventually help flatten and tighten your stomach.
  • sozisraw
    sozisraw Posts: 418 Member
    I'm 129 lbs 5ft 3 and have a pretty flat stomach ( I have two grown up kids) I eat a lot of raw vegan minimal grains , I eat 1600 plus exercise cals to lose weight!
    Flat stomach hasn't too much to do with weight. I run and lift!
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    I'm currently 5'3 and 111 lbs. Before having my first daughter I was 98 lbs (under weight I know)...

    I have no idea whether that was underweight. I'm 5'2" and I was 90 or in the low 90s for years. That was perfectly normal for me. I'm now around 100 because I'm older and more sedentary.

    People come in a wide variety of builds and their body composition is not identical. You have to start thinking for yourself about what is healthy and desirable and practical (and of course consistent with any examinations or test results you receive from medical professionals and your own weight history).

    Some other comments:

    What is your body fat percentage?

    I think it's odd that your PT is assessing you by BMI, that's a crude tool used to indicate whether populations are overweight or obese, which you clearly or not. At the level of the individual, the BMI, is not very telling. At times I'm classified as underweight, which I'm not. In addition, there's a new BMI formula that yields different results. Under that I'm normal.

    Not every woman who's had a baby can have a perfectly flat stomach. I'm not saying that's the case for you, but you should consider it.

    Not every woman has firm arms. it's genetic. What do the older women in your family look like? If it's not genetic and you don't have a huge amount of fat in your arms or are gradually reducing it, are you doing the right exercises to firm your arms, especially triceps exercises?

    One normally doesn't think of strength training in terms of time. Rather one talks of exercises and sets and reps and weights.

    Are you doing interval training? That might help with fat loss.

    Are you following a diet that is supposed to encourage fat loss?

    I would consider all of the above in developing a program that works for you. But you're lucky, because even at your current weight you are well within in the normal range. You just need to find the right combination.
  • BL_Coleman
    BL_Coleman Posts: 324 Member
    If you want a six pack look I think you most likely need to be between 110-115 and doing enough sits where you hate the excericse.

    The one time in my life I had one:

    1. Low body fat percentage ( which you have)
    2. 5 x a week ( do 250 vertical situps working your weight up to 20 lbs)
    3. When you get the look you want you can maintain by doing only 3 x a week

    You aslo can't stop, if is the quickets definition to go away if you stop.

    - Course I am no longer a gym nut and would just kill to be 120 again (sigh)
  • maliabarcy
    maliabarcy Posts: 11
    I'm currently 5'3 and 111 lbs. Before having my first daughter I was 98 lbs (under weight I know)...

    I have no idea whether that was underweight. I'm 5'2" and I was 90 or in the low 90s for years. That was perfectly normal for me. I'm now around 100 because I'm older and more sedentary.

    People come in a wide variety of builds and their body composition is not identical. You have to start thinking for yourself about what is healthy and desirable and practical (and of course consistent with any examinations or test results you receive from medical professionals and your own weight history).

    see that's the thing! I have always been super tiny. Everything about me is tiny. My mother and my sisters are tiny. Even though I can tell I'm getting thinner... I feel like my stomach is pudgier. If that makes sense. It is upsetting. Then I hop on a scale and it says I weight more. For my body type 111 lbs is a lot.
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    I'm currently 5'3 and 111 lbs. Before having my first daughter I was 98 lbs (under weight I know)...

    I have no idea whether that was underweight. I'm 5'2" and I was 90 or in the low 90s for years. That was perfectly normal for me. I'm now around 100 because I'm older and more sedentary.

    People come in a wide variety of builds and their body composition is not identical. You have to start thinking for yourself about what is healthy and desirable and practical (and of course consistent with any examinations or test results you receive from medical professionals and your own weight history).

    see that's the thing! I have always been super tiny. Everything about me is tiny. My mother and my sisters are tiny. Even though I can tell I'm getting thinner... I feel like my stomach is pudgier. If that makes sense. It is upsetting. Then I hop on a scale and it says I weight more. For my body type 111 lbs is a lot.

    I do get that. For someone with your history, 111 is a lot and you're doing EXACTLY the right thing. You're nipping it in the bud. Don't panic. There's lot of conflicting information out there and of course as a mother of two young children and other responsibilities you've got a tremendous amount on your mind, not to mention being bombarded with these unrealistic images of celebrity moms who three weeks after birth are thinner than when they were pregnant. Who knows how they're benefiting from PhotoShop and plastic surgery? It is completely unfair to normal women.

    If you can, see a doctor, a Registered Dietitian, and probably a new personal trainer. Be very specific about your goals. If your doctor et al. don't take you seriously, find other people. There are unfortunately people out there who think that if you aren't overweight you have nothing to worry about. That is beginning to change.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    it didn't make sense to me why he would say to be below but he tried to explain it as wanting to have no body fat you would be less then the BMI to be thin and toned. I don't know. Whole thing confuses me! I'm just weirded out by gaining weight. I have NEVER weighed that much. I can't explain it. I just want my stomach to be flat. That is all I want. I want it to be flat and tight.
    NO body fat?????
  • maliabarcy
    maliabarcy Posts: 11
    low body fat