'ideal' weight for 5 ft tall female?

Selunca
Selunca Posts: 208 Member
edited December 18 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm not actually sure how tall I am, I'm between 4'11-5'1", I haven't had an 'official' measuring in a long time.

Anyway. I'm getting conflicting information. One website said 125lb is a good weight, one says 100lbs!

According to Livestrong.com's method of checking, I have a larger bone structure.

Any suggestions? Right now I'm going to be ecstatic to get under 150lbs for the first time since highschool!!
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Replies

  • frank513
    frank513 Posts: 23 Member
    OK, first thing "Big boned" does not exist.

    2nd, your ideal weight is dependent on muscle, and what you are looking to accomplish....

    if its just weight, then 100 pounds may be right....BUT would you rather weigh a 100 pounds and be a size 6 or 115 and a size 4? judge yourself with the mirror and your clothes fitting better. Weight is only a number
  • skaimee
    skaimee Posts: 22 Member
    I'm 4 ft 11in and weigh 116. I was at 107 and felt pretty good so I'm aiming for 105 and we'll take it from there. Good luck reaching your goal !
  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
    I'm right around 5' or maybe 5'1" and I don't have the "petite" bone structure either. I haven't been under 120 since Jr High so I think 100 to 115 numbers I see out there are a little unrealistic for me (us). I got down to around 123 a couple years ago and felt great. I think the ideal weight that I feel fits me is the 115-132 range (even though I'm not trying to get to 115). My goal right now is 127. I feel good in my skin at that weight.

    I was around 145 a couple years ago and dropped to the 127 so maybe for you a first mini goal should be 130ish...once you get there you can see how you feel...what size you're in and how it feels and go from there. If you've you have medium to large bone structure setting your goal below 120 I think is setting yourself up for heartache. Feel free to message me.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    It varies a lot depending on the individual. Frame size, body composition, and body shape can really change the weight each person will be best at. I'm 5'0" as well, and a lot of people my height can be healthy and comfortable at 100 lbs. I've always had a very muscular build though and used to be a size 2/4 at 125 pounds. I couldn't drop another 25 pounds from that and still be healthy and functional.

    Don't worry about having an exact number in mind ahead of time. Instead, evaluate as you go. Take pictures, record how you feel, write down your workout performance, etc. and every time you lose, say, five pounds, see how you feel and whether you want to stay there. Find a weight that makes you feel good and allows you to do the things you want; the number itself really isn't important.
  • CAMP30
    CAMP30 Posts: 17
    I was 110 lb when I joined the military, I was 135lbs after basic, now after having kids and being out for nearly a decade I no longer have the muscle and I am 145 with a big belly that I so want to lose. I think my goal will be to lose the belly 5 lbs at a time. I would like to see myself around 125 since I doubt I am going to go back to my muscular self at 135.
  • bb1266
    bb1266 Posts: 27 Member
    Good conversations!

    I'm 5'0", and the heaviest I ever was was about 115 lbs growing up. I have a small frame, so extra weight really doesn't sit well on me, as it all goes to my stomach. i'm aware that being apple shaped has increased risk of heart disease. Currently I'm at 102, but I'm still not satisfied as even with exercising and limiting my calories in a safe way, I still have pudge. My goals is 95.

    America has grown used to being a bit fatter, but I live in Asia, and trust me, that shows you what short people who are skinny can really look like. I'm no longer satisfied with my pudge.

    Standard BMI is very misleading for short people. According to a reformed calculation, shorties may be a whole point too low.

    http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi_calc.html This is the New BMI calculator. It's just a guiding number, but it gave me a better idea of where I can safely set my goals.

    I'm interested in finding other people who are short and are working to lose or maintain.

    Bump bump!
  • Mitzigan94
    Mitzigan94 Posts: 393 Member
    Bump
  • diamier
    diamier Posts: 66 Member
    In my opinion, small girls are cute, but for sexy feminine women, they look more gorgeous when they have some good round lines, so I wouldn't go for less than 100lbs, I guess the ideal would be 108lbs at maximum!
  • Escape_Artist
    Escape_Artist Posts: 1,155 Member
    The number on the scale means nothing and the BMI/weight charts are flawed to begin with since they don't take into account your body composition. Everyone carries their weight differently.

    You should not aim at a specific number but rather go with how you feeling towards the way you look.
  • pinkiemarie252
    pinkiemarie252 Posts: 222 Member
    It's really a personal thing. Each person looks different, is shaped different and is comfortable at a different weight. Someone else might feel great at 100 lbs but at that weight you might look bony or feel faint. You've already made a lot of progress so just keep working at it and eventually you'll get to something that feels right.
  • OK, first thing "Big boned" does not exist.

    2nd, your ideal weight is dependent on muscle, and what you are looking to accomplish....

    if its just weight, then 100 pounds may be right....BUT would you rather weigh a 100 pounds and be a size 6 or 115 and a size 4? judge yourself with the mirror and your clothes fitting better. Weight is only a number

    Sorry for the OT, but what's up with your ticker?
  • Littlestandrews
    Littlestandrews Posts: 96 Member
    I'm just shy of 5ft and my doctor wants me anywhere in between 99lbs and 123lbs. My goal is to get to about 115 so that I can have a little wiggle room before I'd be considered "overweight" again.

    I don't buy into the whole big boned thing but there are different body shapes to pay attention to. My sister and I weigh the exact same amount and are about the same height but she is an apple shape and I'm more of an hourglass. We have drastically different goal weights (hers is 100lbs) but she still has a large gut when shes 120. So I would base it more on your shape and being anywhere in the healthy range then on 1 particular number.
  • _funrungirl
    _funrungirl Posts: 145 Member
    I think it really all depends on what you are going for.

    I'm 5'0" with a petite frame (my wrists are a little less than 5.5" diameter). Right now I'm about 140 at a size 8. In High school I was 90 lbs at a size 5 . I look at pictures from H.S. wondering how my toothpick legs supported even that little amount of weight.

    A few years ago I was 117 at a size 4 with good muscle tone. I am working on getting get back to around 117 with good muscle tone.
  • I am 5ft 2 and around 130, I would like to loose more, aiming for 115.

    Its really up to you and your body type (apple, pair, hourglass, etc)
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    BMI chart says 97-128 lbs. is considered 'normal' for 5'.
  • MichMunchkin
    MichMunchkin Posts: 94 Member
    I have no idea what the actual "ideal" weight is for a woman our height (I'm 5 feet on the nose and it took me 23 years to get there, thank you very much.)

    What I *do* know, though, is that the "recommended" weight I have been quoted over and over and over by Weight Watchers, by BMI charts, and (initially) by my own doctor is not a place I am willing to go. That weight? 125 pounds. I am 160 pounds right now and am looking to lose another 10-15 pounds. And that....is IT. I cannot even *imagine* being 125 pounds. The smallest I have ever been is 140, and I think I looked too skinny then (and that was with weight training 4 times a week.) When I went to see my doctor after reaching 140 pounds, she didn't believe I weighed that much until she weighed me herself, and then even she agreed that 125 would be much too low for me.

    I said all that to say this: no one really knows what an "ideal weight" is. The attitude I'm talking at this point is that my ideal weight is a weight that I am comfortable at -- and most importantly, a weight that I am able to maintain without depriving myself or having to kill myself at the gym. I want to be able to maintain this for the rest of my life, and no chart can tell me where I "should" be, because no chart knows me the way I do.

    Don't stress out about "ideal" weights. You'll know when you've reached where you need to be.
  • MichMunchkin
    MichMunchkin Posts: 94 Member
    In my opinion, small girls are cute, but for sexy feminine women, they look more gorgeous when they have some good round lines, so I wouldn't go for less than 100lbs, I guess the ideal would be 108lbs at maximum!

    .....108 pounds.

    I'm five feet tall. I'd be invisible at 108 pounds.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    I have no idea what the actual "ideal" weight is for a woman our height (I'm 5 feet on the nose and it took me 23 years to get there, thank you very much.)

    What I *do* know, though, is that the "recommended" weight I have been quoted over and over and over by Weight Watchers, by BMI charts, and (initially) by my own doctor is not a place I am willing to go. That weight? 125 pounds. I am 160 pounds right now and am looking to lose another 10-15 pounds. And that....is IT. I cannot even *imagine* being 125 pounds. The smallest I have ever been is 140, and I think I looked too skinny then (and that was with weight training 4 times a week.) When I went to see my doctor after reaching 140 pounds, she didn't believe I weighed that much until she weighed me herself, and then even she agreed that 125 would be much too low for me.

    I said all that to say this: no one really knows what an "ideal weight" is. The attitude I'm talking at this point is that my ideal weight is a weight that I am comfortable at -- and most importantly, a weight that I am able to maintain without depriving myself or having to kill myself at the gym. I want to be able to maintain this for the rest of my life, and no chart can tell me where I "should" be, because no chart knows me the way I do.

    Don't stress out about "ideal" weights. You'll know when you've reached where you need to be.

    Do you have a low body fat percentage then?

    I would be interested in seeing a picture, because I am 5 ft and at 140 I looked horrendously overweight. I suppose as long as your waist to height ration is okay, it doesn't matter. It would be interesting to see how different short people carry their weight.
  • MichMunchkin
    MichMunchkin Posts: 94 Member
    I have no idea what the actual "ideal" weight is for a woman our height (I'm 5 feet on the nose and it took me 23 years to get there, thank you very much.)

    What I *do* know, though, is that the "recommended" weight I have been quoted over and over and over by Weight Watchers, by BMI charts, and (initially) by my own doctor is not a place I am willing to go. That weight? 125 pounds. I am 160 pounds right now and am looking to lose another 10-15 pounds. And that....is IT. I cannot even *imagine* being 125 pounds. The smallest I have ever been is 140, and I think I looked too skinny then (and that was with weight training 4 times a week.) When I went to see my doctor after reaching 140 pounds, she didn't believe I weighed that much until she weighed me herself, and then even she agreed that 125 would be much too low for me.

    I said all that to say this: no one really knows what an "ideal weight" is. The attitude I'm talking at this point is that my ideal weight is a weight that I am comfortable at -- and most importantly, a weight that I am able to maintain without depriving myself or having to kill myself at the gym. I want to be able to maintain this for the rest of my life, and no chart can tell me where I "should" be, because no chart knows me the way I do.

    Don't stress out about "ideal" weights. You'll know when you've reached where you need to be.

    Do you have a low body fat percentage then?

    I would be interested in seeing a picture, because I am 5 ft and at 140 I looked horrendously overweight. I suppose as long as your waist to height ration is okay, it doesn't matter. It would be interesting to see how different short people carry their weight.

    My body fat, when it was last calculated, was 24%. As for a picture......well, here you go. Me at 140. They were both taken on the same day -- May 9, 2012, the day I became a WW Lifetime member (in the first picture, the pants I'm holding are the ones I wore to my first WW meeting).

    Oh, and since you mentioned it, my waist-to-hip ratio at 140 pounds was 0.7 -- it's 0.8 now.

    292288_644625449598_2135956272_n_zpsdff0fc70.jpg

    525543_629601362988_940543548_n_zpsaa7d3390.jpg
  • vanguardfitness
    vanguardfitness Posts: 720 Member
    my friend is either 4'10 or 4"11. She does cross fit now. I think she last told me she was about 110 or 115. She looks pretty good now, although I think she looked better when she was in college as a cheer leader. She weighed 90 lbs then.
  • AmerH
    AmerH Posts: 40 Member
    I have no idea what the actual "ideal" weight is for a woman our height (I'm 5 feet on the nose and it took me 23 years to get there, thank you very much.)

    What I *do* know, though, is that the "recommended" weight I have been quoted over and over and over by Weight Watchers, by BMI charts, and (initially) by my own doctor is not a place I am willing to go. That weight? 125 pounds. I am 160 pounds right now and am looking to lose another 10-15 pounds. And that....is IT. I cannot even *imagine* being 125 pounds. The smallest I have ever been is 140, and I think I looked too skinny then (and that was with weight training 4 times a week.) When I went to see my doctor after reaching 140 pounds, she didn't believe I weighed that much until she weighed me herself, and then even she agreed that 125 would be much too low for me.

    I said all that to say this: no one really knows what an "ideal weight" is. The attitude I'm talking at this point is that my ideal weight is a weight that I am comfortable at -- and most importantly, a weight that I am able to maintain without depriving myself or having to kill myself at the gym. I want to be able to maintain this for the rest of my life, and no chart can tell me where I "should" be, because no chart knows me the way I do.

    Don't stress out about "ideal" weights. You'll know when you've reached where you need to be.

    Exactly!
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    I have no idea what the actual "ideal" weight is for a woman our height (I'm 5 feet on the nose and it took me 23 years to get there, thank you very much.)

    What I *do* know, though, is that the "recommended" weight I have been quoted over and over and over by Weight Watchers, by BMI charts, and (initially) by my own doctor is not a place I am willing to go. That weight? 125 pounds. I am 160 pounds right now and am looking to lose another 10-15 pounds. And that....is IT. I cannot even *imagine* being 125 pounds. The smallest I have ever been is 140, and I think I looked too skinny then (and that was with weight training 4 times a week.) When I went to see my doctor after reaching 140 pounds, she didn't believe I weighed that much until she weighed me herself, and then even she agreed that 125 would be much too low for me.

    I said all that to say this: no one really knows what an "ideal weight" is. The attitude I'm talking at this point is that my ideal weight is a weight that I am comfortable at -- and most importantly, a weight that I am able to maintain without depriving myself or having to kill myself at the gym. I want to be able to maintain this for the rest of my life, and no chart can tell me where I "should" be, because no chart knows me the way I do.

    Don't stress out about "ideal" weights. You'll know when you've reached where you need to be.

    Do you have a low body fat percentage then?

    I would be interested in seeing a picture, because I am 5 ft and at 140 I looked horrendously overweight. I suppose as long as your waist to height ration is okay, it doesn't matter. It would be interesting to see how different short people carry their weight.

    My body fat, when it was last calculated, was 24%. As for a picture......well, here you go. Me at 140. They were both taken on the same day -- May 9, 2012, the day I became a WW Lifetime member (in the first picture, the pants I'm holding are the ones I wore to my first WW meeting).

    Oh, and since you mentioned it, my waist-to-hip ratio at 140 pounds was 0.7 -- it's 0.8 now.

    292288_644625449598_2135956272_n_zpsdff0fc70.jpg

    525543_629601362988_940543548_n_zpsaa7d3390.jpg

    see, this is just not fair at all. I at that weight looked massive ... with double chin and all :laugh:
  • MichMunchkin
    MichMunchkin Posts: 94 Member
    I have no idea what the actual "ideal" weight is for a woman our height (I'm 5 feet on the nose and it took me 23 years to get there, thank you very much.)

    What I *do* know, though, is that the "recommended" weight I have been quoted over and over and over by Weight Watchers, by BMI charts, and (initially) by my own doctor is not a place I am willing to go. That weight? 125 pounds. I am 160 pounds right now and am looking to lose another 10-15 pounds. And that....is IT. I cannot even *imagine* being 125 pounds. The smallest I have ever been is 140, and I think I looked too skinny then (and that was with weight training 4 times a week.) When I went to see my doctor after reaching 140 pounds, she didn't believe I weighed that much until she weighed me herself, and then even she agreed that 125 would be much too low for me.

    I said all that to say this: no one really knows what an "ideal weight" is. The attitude I'm talking at this point is that my ideal weight is a weight that I am comfortable at -- and most importantly, a weight that I am able to maintain without depriving myself or having to kill myself at the gym. I want to be able to maintain this for the rest of my life, and no chart can tell me where I "should" be, because no chart knows me the way I do.

    Don't stress out about "ideal" weights. You'll know when you've reached where you need to be.

    Do you have a low body fat percentage then?

    I would be interested in seeing a picture, because I am 5 ft and at 140 I looked horrendously overweight. I suppose as long as your waist to height ration is okay, it doesn't matter. It would be interesting to see how different short people carry their weight.

    My body fat, when it was last calculated, was 24%. As for a picture......well, here you go. Me at 140. They were both taken on the same day -- May 9, 2012, the day I became a WW Lifetime member (in the first picture, the pants I'm holding are the ones I wore to my first WW meeting).

    Oh, and since you mentioned it, my waist-to-hip ratio at 140 pounds was 0.7 -- it's 0.8 now.

    292288_644625449598_2135956272_n_zpsdff0fc70.jpg

    525543_629601362988_940543548_n_zpsaa7d3390.jpg

    see, this is just not fair at all. I at that weight looked massive ... with double chin and all :laugh:

    I don't know what it is, why I can look smaller at a higher weight. I know some people will say it was the weight training, but no, that's not it. I'm sure it *helped*, but my mother is the same way, and she's never picked up a barbell in her life. Genetics, I suppose.

    If you've never checked it out, I highly recommend having a look at My Body Gallery: http://www.mybodygallery.com/ It shows how women who are the same height can carry different amounts of weight VERY uniquely. There are women on there who are 5 feet and as high as160 pounds who look absolutely FABULOUS.
  • jeanettearcher1
    jeanettearcher1 Posts: 1 Member
    i am 5 foot on the dot and weigh 140. im wouldnt say im obese but i just took my bmi and it said im at 31%. I have always been an upside down pear. alot of ppl say i need to grow a booty but i cant help it. i am comfortable at 140 since my husband still loves me, just cat get the 90lb girl i was out of my head. Granted i was 17 then and 35 now.
  • There's is small, medium and large framed. I'm 5 ft and medium framed so 110-112 should be my weight. Wrap your pointer finger and thumb around your wrist if they touch your small framed (106-110 pounds) if they almost touch your medium framed (110-112 pounds and if they aren't even close to touching large framed (113-116 pounds)
  • Last year I weighed 112 now I weigh 147 ugh. But 112 I looked great suited my height and body. I would like to be 110
  • I'm 5'1. I was pudgy at 125. I'm 115 now and I still have a pooch but it's not so bad now. This is the weight I have been most of my life. I've been 110 also. I thought I looked ok, no muscle though, just real petite. I would like to be towards the lower end of my AVERAGE BMI which the lowest it can be is 100 without me being underweight. So whenever my abs start appearing is the weight I want to stay at. Since I do not see them now, I am going to keep trying to trim fat and gain muscle until I do! So again, that's the weight I want to be at. I may end up staying at 115 or gaining, who knows. That's fine, just want my abs.
  • JL2513
    JL2513 Posts: 867 Member
    I'm 5 ft tall and my goal weight is 108 lbs. I was aiming for 113 initially, but decided it was a bit higher than I liked and I'm already seeing quite a difference as I drop further and further down from 113. It'll be different for everyone. I remember I was around 113 when I started high school and had been pretty happy with my weight then, so that was my ballpark figure.

    I have a feeling my belly still won't be completely flat at my goal weight and that's okay- I did expect some fine tuning would still be needed. I'm going to be very happy at 108 and will stop dropping weight then. My focus will be on gaining muscle mass and toning up afterwards.
  • loriq41
    loriq41 Posts: 479 Member
    I am at 123 now and hope to get to 115...I have not been close to that weight in decades..ha ha..but if I recall, the lowest I ever was is 106 lbs and I could not maintain that to save my life..plus I was young and at the time thought I was fat in my size 2 jeans...lol
  • xilka
    xilka Posts: 308 Member
    I'm 5'0ft and 115lbs.
    My goal is 110.

    I've weighed 90lbs in the past but I felt too light and weak.
    I feel a lot stronger as I am now.
This discussion has been closed.