Why can people of the same height/weight look so different?

tabbyxxcat
tabbyxxcat Posts: 102 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5'11" and often take extra note of the success stories from people of the same height. I'm currently 170lbs with a goal weight of 150, and am shocked to find girls of the same height at 170 that look so much tinier! Then, I see girls that are around 150 that look just how I would want to. And furthermore, I heard a fact that an average female model is 5'11" and 110-120lbs, and is like a size 3/4. I'm a size 13/14 now, so what?!?!?!?!?

What accounts for these differences?

Thanks! :)

Replies

  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Heavy lifting?
  • loiswilkerson
    loiswilkerson Posts: 11 Member
    People carry their weight in different ways/areas. People's builds are different, some are more muscular, some people's bones are more dense than others, etc. I love looking at pics of people with the same height and weight and seeing how different everyone looks.
  • Hildy_J
    Hildy_J Posts: 1,050 Member
    Gender makes a HUGE difference, I find.... ;-) x
  • Mechanikitty
    Mechanikitty Posts: 90 Member
    It has to do with bone structure. People can look thinner with a large bone structure and they carry weight better. I wouldn't try to judge my own body size against another person's. If you want to get a rough idea use mybodygallery. Put in your height/weight and look at all the extremely different bodies - you might find one out of hundreds that resembles your own.
  • 75in2013
    75in2013 Posts: 361 Member
    Bodyfat%
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Bone structure, as well as body fat and lean mass. Even the same person can look a lot different at the same weight depending on their body fat and lean mass.
  • 75in2013
    75in2013 Posts: 361 Member
    Good examples:http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages

    10-percent-body-fat-male-pictures1.jpg

    15-percent-body-fat-female1.jpg
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    Genetics.
  • monomach
    monomach Posts: 2
    Fatty tissue weighs less than muscle tissue. They may just have more muscle than you.

    I currently weigh over 330 pounds, but I was a fairly muscular 210 before I quit smoking and quickly packed on the weight. A guy I work with sometimes remarks that he wishes he looked like me. He's never lifted anything in his life or had a job that requires physical activity, so he looks bigger and "softer" than me. In reality, I outweigh him by 60 pounds just because I carry a lot more muscle.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Frame size
    Body composition

    And mainly genetics
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
    It has to do with bone structure. People can look thinner with a large bone structure and they carry weight better. I wouldn't try to judge my own body size against another person's. If you want to get a rough idea use mybodygallery. Put in your height/weight and look at all the extremely different bodies - you might find one out of hundreds that resembles your own.

    I entered my info and got one result and it was of a woman's face.:noway: ha ha. Guess I AM a "special snowflake". :laugh:
  • strongnotskinny121
    strongnotskinny121 Posts: 329 Member
    Another example, I weighed 135 when I left high school 12 years ago and I was a size 12/14. I packed on more weight till I hit 210, size 20. Lost 80 pounds, thru diet, exercise (including weights). Now I weigh 130, but I'm a size 4.
  • tapesong
    tapesong Posts: 8 Member
    a mixture of body fat %, lean mass and genetics. i'm technically not overweight, according to bmi, but i look bigger than other girls my height and weight (i'm 5' 2"). i used to think this was just my body being the worst (i'm a pear shape so all my weight goes to my hips/thighs and makes me look heavier on the bottom and slim up top) and gave up hope on my thighs slimming down because other girls with the exact same stats looked fitter than i did.

    but now i know that it's not just genetics but also down to body fat and lean mass. while i might be the same weight as another girl with a height of 5' 2", if she has lower body fat and more muscle, she's going to look fitter because more of her weight comes from muscle than fat than me. since i started working out, i've seen my bottom start to slim down and i've realised that i can look fitter if i build muscle and lose fat (i'm first trying to lose excess weight and then i'm going to build muscle because i think that's the best way to go about it, but if i'm not losing a lot of weight but my measurements are smaller, i don't worry.) tl;dr muscle can add weight, fat can add weight - they affect your body shape differently.
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
    I weighed 103 when I was seventeen and I looked good (I realize that NOW). I got pregnant, gained 39 pounds, gave birth and within the first year got back down to 101. I looked anorexic, it was horrible with just a mere 2 pound difference.
  • onedayatatime12
    onedayatatime12 Posts: 577 Member
    Well sometimes to attain these low weights, models are known to not eat enough (essentially starving). Usually the ideal weight for 5'11" (regardless of body structure) is 130 minimum. I'm 5'8" and I can tell you, even with my tiny body frame, my lowest goal is 120. And I think these models (VS) weigh more than 120, more like 130-135 because they seem to have muscle- the numbers are just altered because in most people's minds a lower number (regardless of body composition) is more appealing than a higher number on the scale.
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
    a mixture of body fat %, lean mass and genetics. i'm technically not overweight, according to bmi, but i look bigger than other girls my height and weight (i'm 5' 2"). i used to think this was just my body being the worst (i'm a pear shape so all my weight goes to my hips/thighs and makes me look heavier on the bottom and slim up top) and gave up hope on my thighs slimming down because other girls with the exact same stats looked fitter than i did.

    but now i know that it's not just genetics but also down to body fat and lean mass. while i might be the same weight as another girl with a height of 5' 2", if she has lower body fat and more muscle, she's going to look fitter because more of her weight comes from muscle than fat than me. since i started working out, i've seen my bottom start to slim down and i've realised that i can look fitter if i build muscle and lose fat (i'm first trying to lose excess weight and then i'm going to build muscle because i think that's the best way to go about it, but if i'm not losing a lot of weight but my measurements are smaller, i don't worry.) tl;dr muscle can add weight, fat can add weight - they affect your body shape differently.

    Don't wait!! Start strength training NOW to help you keep the muscle you already have while you are losing fat. If you wait, you will have lost muscle too. It's much much harder to rebuild it than it is to retain it. Trust me, if you do it this way, the scale may not move much but your body will change rather quickly for the better.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    Body fat percentage plays a huge role. I'm 5'3, 150, and can fit into my size 6 jeans from 5-8 years ago. Then I see pictures of women who are 130 anr look a lot like I do now or women my height who want to be 110 and it always startles me.

    Weight distribution and bodyfat% seem to be king over actual weight.


    I hate that body image website. No one ever looks like me.
  • veggiehottie
    veggiehottie Posts: 590 Member
    I agree! It's crazy. I find it weird when I see posts from people who weigh the same as me and are as tall as me, and they wear completely different sizes than I do.
  • thesophierose
    thesophierose Posts: 754 Member
    Genetics!
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Well sometimes to attain these low weights, models are known to not eat enough (essentially starving). Usually the ideal weight for 5'11" (regardless of body structure) is 130 minimum. I'm 5'8" and I can tell you, even with my tiny body frame, my lowest goal is 120. And I think these models (VS) weigh more than 120, more like 130-135 because they seem to have muscle- the numbers are just altered because in most people's minds a lower number (regardless of body composition) is more appealing than a higher number on the scale.

    Often times the VS models have to gain weight to become one, because they come off the runways extremely thin. Having said that, they airbrush out the bones of VS models to make them look softer, so you don't get an actual picture of how thin they really are. It's ALL smoke and mirrors when you look at bathing suit models. I saw some candids of a very fit VS model, and was surprised at the amount of cellulite she actually had. Of course, she STILL looked fabulous. I wish we could get away from the cellulite = evil mindset. :angry: Rant over.
  • gigglybeth
    gigglybeth Posts: 365 Member
    Adding my voice to the lean body mass and frame size chorus. I'm also 5'11" (well, 5' 10.75" but who's counting) and my goal is 170-180, which should hopefully be around 27-30% body fat. For me, that's maintainable and reasonable. If I were to go for 150, that would be less then 15% BF and too difficult for me to maintain.

    I'm just a bigger girl. I've got broad shoulders and wide hips, so I'm never going to be model slim or even really slim at all.

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