Large Framed Ladies - 5'6" Goal Weight

I am 5'6" I can not imagine being that small. Right now my goal is 145/150. Whih is about 20-25 pounds to lose. Once I get there I may re evaluate, but I do want muscle. I don't want to be skinny fat either. I want to feel healthy, not gangly. After having three kids, if I get back to 145 I think that will feel amazing!

As someone who took a&p in college, there is truth to the frame thing. Look at two female skeletons side by side about same height (I have) and you can tell differences

I am 5'7 large framed, my goal is 145. Although in the past when I have been 145 or below, people have told me that I looked to thin, that i looked unhealthy. So I am guessing I should not go under 145.

I'm 5'5" with a 6.5" bony wrist. My goal weight is 150 lbs. My sister has pretty much the same frame as me except the hips. She weighs between 130-140, and people commented on how sickly and skinny she looks. I've never been anything but over 200 lbs since puberty, so I'm not sure how I'll look (or feel) at 150.

Perhaps you just have small hands! :laugh: :bigsmile: :laugh: :bigsmile:

I'm currently about 150 and my next goal is 140. I plan to re-evaluate from there to see if I want to lose any more.

Im kinda of confused cuz im 5' 7 weigh atleast 200 and my wrist is like 5.1

WAIT I FIXED IT im 6inch exact so still small boned

Of course there's a difference in skeletal configuration. Wide hips, wide shoulders, especially: You'll need geometrically more meat (muscles, connective tissue, blood vessels, more) to wrap around that, and those things have weight. For women, volume of breast tissue also makes a big difference in sensible goal weight. Muscularity (relative to size) also makes a difference.

But - if you ask me - the wrist/elbow things aren't that helpful.

For one, wrists can be fat, too: I lost about 50 pounds, and my wrists got enough smaller that I needed to resize bracelets or they'd slip off (and I mean cuff bracelets slipping off sideways, not just clasped ones slipping off over my hand).

For two, the body parts that make the most difference, in terms of "frame size" and weight are the big parts, like pelvic width and shoulder width, and those tend to be more obscured by body fat, while we're still overweight. That makes it hard to tell, especially for those who've been overweight for a long time.

I have big wrists, big elbows: The frame size calculators (even at goal weight) put me at medium to large frame. And I can close my fingers around those wrists: I have big hands, wide and long. Even at BMI 19 (5'5", 116) when I briefly overshot goal weight, my ring finger is a size 10 (when obese, at 183, it was around 14).

The thing is, despite being a freakin' 63-year-old woman, I'm built like a 14 year old boy: Narrow hips, flat butt (despite being decently strong), literally no breasts (post-bilateral-mastectomies). Shoulders are kinda wide, but that's it. At 140, I was still over-fat, even though I'm not completely devoid of muscle. Now in year 4 of maintenance, I'm sitting in the mid-130s, and that's more body fat than ideal. 125-ish would be better.

I'm not saying anyone here is wrong about what a good goal weight for them will be. BMI is a range for a reason!

I'm just saying it's a little more nuanced than wrist size, and whether your fingers wrap around. You get to decide what weight you'd like to be, on any basis you prefer. Most weights in the normal BMI range and a bit into the overweight BMI range can be healthy, for many women. You and your doctor are the ones to think through the health implications for you, because that's individual and situation dependent.

Let me be very clear: I'm not saying that those my height who think their healthy weight is higher than my healthy weight are wrong. Not at all. I'm not doubting anyone. But it's also good to be thoughtful about people who might be at the other end of the body configuration continuum: Sometimes these threads devolve into "people would be skeletal/unhealthy at X height and Y (lower than the poster targets) body weight". Understanding that it's very individual, we can all support one another positively in our individual goals, right? :flowerforyou:

2 0 1 2 Thread.








I don't think there really is a perfect weight for anyone, but you'll know it when you get there. As long as it's in the healthy weight range I don't think there is one weight. My weight range per the BMI chart has a 30 pound range.

This content has been removed.

5'6", large German farming build. I lost 115 lbs, and because of my frame, excess skin, and goal to be thick and muscular and not thin, I am happy between 165-170. Looking to put on more muscle over time, so I may go up a bit. There's no ideal for any frame/height, and I feel bad for anyone who subscribes to ideals. Just do you, boo. If you're happy and healthy where you're at, thumbs up. Have some confidence in your satisfaction and choices. :-)

scarlett_k wrote: »

What does the circumference of your wrist have to do with your build?

Wrist Size and Frame Size
Knowing your frame size allows you to estimate a healthy weight range for your body. Wrist circumference is often used for determining frame size, since people who with larger frames also have larger wrists.

For example, a man over 5 foot 5 inches tall, and a wrist that measures 6.5 to 7.5 inches around, has a medium frame.
A woman over 5 foot 5 inches tall, and a wrist that measures 6.25 to 6.5 inches around, has a medium frame.
A woman under 5 foot 2 inches tall, and a wrist between 5.5 and 5.75 inches around has a medium frame.
A woman between 5 foot 2 inches and 5 foot 5 inches, with a wrist that measures between 6 to 6.25 inches around, has a medium frame.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/500795-how-to-determine-ideal-body-proportions-by-height-wrist-size/

apullum wrote: »

scarlett_k wrote: »

What does the circumference of your wrist have to do with your build?

After losing 100 pounds, my wrist is smaller, just like the rest of me. Obviously it’s because I lost fat around my arms, as well as everywhere else.

Take the “frame size” claim with a grain of salt. Your wrists are made of more than just bone.

Sure, being 100 pounds overweight would pad the wrist measurement somewhat.

As a baseline, I've had trouble getting bracelets and non-stretchy gloves that fit since I was a (skinny) teenager. I had to have links added to the bracelets I inherited from my grandmother.

5'6, no clue what my frame is. Currently at 138 lbs, aiming for 130 first then reassessing from there - I like the idea of being 120 lbs but I don't know what my body's going to look like, particularly as I'd like to build some muscle eventually. So essentially 120 is my goal, but it's dependent on how I feel about how I look.