5'6" ladies... What is your goal?

jeebieheebies wrote: »

robininfl wrote: »

jeebieheebies wrote: »

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Btw, everyone has the same bones. No "heavier bones" or "small bones". Google 'body fat scans' where you can see the skeleton.

Is that true? That's really interesting. My oldest daughter's wrists are 2" bigger around than mine, and she wears bigger rings, ankle bones are wider, we are both around the same lean-ness and she's a couple inches shorter than me.

If we compared xrays of our arms, the bones wouldn't look different?

That's really odd. I don't, personally, think bones weigh enough to make a big difference in anybody's weight, not arguing that. And frame size varies (if I stand behind second daughter, you can see my shoulders are considerably wider than hers, for examle.). Is the difference in the wrists just frame size? Her bones are placed wider but are each the same size as mine? Why, then, are the fingers thicker, when she is thin like I am?

That's just really interesting to think about. Thank you.

Thanks for replying! I'm definitely not an expert but am curious about frame size, like you said. For the most part, I think people who say "I carry my weight well because I have a large frame", "people say I look smaller than I really weigh" etc probably have extra muscle (which of course is more compact than fat). Because I think "frame size" really boils down more to how much fat/muscle you have. When I was 155 lbs, my body shape was the same, but my "frame size" was obviously bigger than it is not at 145lbs. If I had been 155lbs all my life, then I would think of that as my default "frame size", I think. I am assuming this probably resonates with other people?

But I googled to try to find out details/evidence about frame structure and couldn't find a good answer. I did learn:
• Overweight people do have bigger bones (thicker, not just denser), but this is probably due to carrying around extra weight:

Ann Ross, an anthropologist at North Carolina State University and one of the researchers, described the change in the bone as "almost like a buttress making something stronger."

• "If you have a wider frame, then you'll need to string a bit more muscle, ligaments, and tendons between the bones, which could affect your weight. (not sure how valid this is, got it from a reddit thread)

So yeah ... it was a LOT of just threads like this with anecdotal evidence ("I am barrel-chested so look great at a higher weight!") and speculation ("Thai people look better when at a lower weight than Finns!"). And I am a bit skeptical of the wrist measurement thing, even though it IS an official "frame measurement" but I don't think that entails that frame=something you're born with, and not just a result of your fat+muscle? Because it's not like you can't store ANY fat on your wrist, and I have seen obese people with noticeably large wrists.

Let me know if you find anything interesting that seems more scientific than what I found!