"Perfect Weight vs Proper Weight

GinLee61 wrote: »

I started at 230 lbs 21 months ago and now I weigh 157. I have been stuck within 2 lbs of this weight since May. Seems like once I dropped below 160 lbs my body started fighting hard to retain it's existing fat. I currently wear U.S. size 8 or 10, depending on style and brand. Based on my wrist size I am medium frame.

Most charts tell me that the "ideal" weight for my height is 118 lbs. (HA HA!!) I have never weighed that little during my entire adult life. Even when I was 18 years old I weighed 125 and at that time everyone told me I was much too thin. I was pretty active but not would anyone would consider athletic.

I set my goal at 145, if I ever start losing again. I think that will be just about as low as I would want to go, as long as I lose a couple more inches from my waist to lower the weight related health risks.

Where are these charts that give you an "ideal" weight? The only charts I've ever seen are BMI, and they're a pretty wide range of weights. I don't know how any chart could give anyone an "ideal" weight. Bone structure, muscle mass, etc all come into play which is why BMI is such a broad range. My wife is 5'2"-5'3"...low end of BMI is around 110 Lbs...that doesn't mean it's the "ideal" weight...it's just the lowest in the range. She is a former collegiate athlete and she still trains and hits the weight room. The lowest I've seen her is around 120-125 and she looks ripped (like too hard/chiseled for my aesthetic taste)...aesthetically she looks the best at around 130-135 (fit and muscular with softer edges). To get to 110 Lbs she would have to torch quite a bit of muscle mass, not just fat.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Where are these charts that give you an "ideal" weight?
(snip good sense)

Not a chart, but there are things like this (and many charts that present similar data from research):

https://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html

I haven't read the underlying research, partly because I think the whole concept of some abstract ideal weight is complete nonsense. (I think it's way dumber than BMI.)

That's true even though the outputs of that silly "calculator" are in fact close to the weight I prefer for myself based on how I feel, how my health markers respond, and how I look. (I've had others here of similar height tell me that those ideal weights are too thin for them. Body configuration, body composition, personal preference and cultural factors make a difference, so I'm not questioning others' views.)

I will say that my wrist/elbow measurements are medium to large according to standard charts, but that I think those are pretty silly, too, as a universal guide to sensible body weight. Remember where I said body configuration matters? I have huge hands and wrists; elbows a little less huge. At those "ideal weight" numbers, i.e., slim, my ring finger's ring size is 10. It's unusual to even be able to find women's rings that big - they usually top out at 9. When I was obese, it was more like 13. That matters way less to my personal "ideal weight" than the fact that I have a narrow pelvis for a woman, and literally no breasts (post-mastectomies).

There is, IMO, no way to define a helpful, universal "ideal weight".