Big boned/Small boned

To figure out your bone size, you need to measure the diameter of your elbow with a caliper. I know there is definitely a big boned, small boned difference. For the most part, bones are bones, but some people have bigger bones. My wrist bones are very prominent, and my wrist is still 6.75". Additionally, my elbow is 3" in diameter, 3/8" bigger than average for a woman of my size.

I do agree that some people use big bone vs small bone as an excuse to justify their weight. However, if you are within a healthy range, then people with small bones should weigh less than large bones - that's why there is a weight range. I don't know what the weight range is for your height (I'm much taller), so someone else will need to comment on that area.

There are most certainly different bone structures, and your wrist and ring size sounds teeny! I think I have small wrists, mine are at 6 inches!

If you wanted to weigh 102#, I'd say you were overstretching, but 122 sounds perfectly reasonable at your height, well within the normal range.

Nonsense. You have a 5 inch wrist, I have a 7 1/2. I have always had a 7 1/2, even before I got heavy. It is not so much the bones themselves as the way that our frames are set up that make the difference in frame size, or atleast that is the assumption I am under from my limited knowledge of anatomy.
If you search these forums, there are alot of posts about this topic. Here are a couple off the bat:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392194-those-interested-in-body-frame-size?hl=bone+size#posts-5546628

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/279076-small-medium-or-large-frame-size?hl=bone+size#posts-3691359

Don't let them get to you. Jillian Michaels from Biggest Loser weighs 115. Heard her say that once on the show

If your weight is within the healthy range for your height (which I beleive it is) then it isn't too low and that can be your answer to any comments you receive. It seems to me that there is something to the 'big boned/small boned' thing but I've never researched it.

I'm not so sure about 'big boned' and 'small boned' but there ARE different frame sizes. I've read various articles explaining ways to measure your frame, but I don't want to explain it in case I'm remember it wrong (maybe someone else can chime in here).

Honestly, weight in general can be somewhat of a lousy measure. I say use the mirror

To illustrate this:

This girl (crossfit athlete Lauren Pryor) is 5' 9" and weighs 160lbs


This girl (Lauren Plumey) is 5' 8" and weighs 129lbs


(Weights and heights taken from here: http://scores2010.crossfit.com/scoring/profiles/2010/women/ )

more info here - might be the same as posted above.

http://knol.google.com/k/how-to-determine-body-frame-size#

I think it has to make some difference, I have almost the same stats as you (same height, wrists 5.5, ring 5) but I'm 140lbs. Knowing another girl who is large boned and the same weight, she looks thinner than I do.

I always assumed it was because I was carrying x amount of pounds of fat for her extra x amount of bone weight...just a guess?

Different people come in different shapes and sizes. I have a friend whose wrist is larger than my ankles even though we are both almost the same height! Clearly there are some basic differences in our skeletal build and, therefore, some allowances for differences in weight should be made. That said, there are many other differences that are much more significant, such as the percentage of body weight made up by fat and lean muscle mass.

Perhaps you should focus less on what others say (unless it's your doctor!) and focus more on finding out some facts about how your body is built. If you don't already have one and budget permits, you could get a scale that measures body fat and water content as well as your weight; they go for about $30-$40 and most major retailers (Walmart, Target, Sears) carry them. If your body fat percentage comes back within the average range for a person your age and gender, then you are probably Ok - and you will have evidence to tell others to mind their own business :-)

Then, you could also look at some well-established data. Insurance companies know a lot about this kind of stuff; they have to if they are going to issue life policies and not get killed (pun intended) by people dying too soon. So ask Google what is the average weight for a 5' 4" woman, and the very first link that comes up is:

Met Life publised 'desirable weight' tables (which indicated the lowest mortality rates) back in the 1950's and revised them in the late 80's. Tables discuss weights for small, medium and large-framed individuals and provide guidelines for determining to which category you belong. You can find a copy of the tables here: http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/met.htm

These tables are not perfect but are a better guideline that the random drivel you'll hear from well intentioned but thoroughly ignorant friends and family. By the way, per those tables the ideal weight for a 5' 4", small frame adult woman is 114-127.

You look great in your picture. If you feel well and if your body fat is normal, you should be just fine ignoring those who criticize you.

I'm small boned too. I am 54 years old and 5'4" now, but used to be 5'6". My wedding ring was a 4 1/4 to get over my knuckle, but it would always roll as it was too big for my finger. Since I've started working as a welder and work with my hands doing some heavy stuff my fingers have gotten a bit bigger and I now wear a 6 ring. At 5'6" I couldn't get my weight above 105# no matter what I ate and I could out eat men 2x+ my size. I worked hard doing a lot of heavy work so I guess I just burned it off as fast as I ate it.

At 5'4" my healthy weight is somewhere between 107-147#. That is quite a range, I think 107# would make me look sickly so I'm shooting for 125-135#.

As is said above, if you are eating healthy and getting in some good excercise I wouldn't worry about it. If your doctor doesn't think you are too small, you're golden.

Probably even more critical that frame sense is bone density. African Americans have bones that are much more dense than Asians, the group with the least dense bones. That's why BMI is only a ROUGH estimate--it doesn't take this sort of genetic factor into account. I'm 5' 6" and weight125, but I have a well-defined musculature, and no one is calling me anorexic. Your size sounds completely normal.

Your frame/bone size and height are the most important factors in determining your weight range.

this is the calculator that I used

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/fsz

this is the weight chart that I used to correspond with height and frame size.

http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm

This girl (crossfit athlete Lauren Pryor) is 5' 9" and weighs 160lbs

Damn! I am 2 inches taller and about 5 pounds lighter (and I am a large frame with 6.75" wrist measurement) but she looks a helluva lot thinner/toned than me!!

Bone size does matter - as well as general build, BMI is not accurate when it comes to different races. My bones are small, but also dense, according to my tanita I have a lot of muscle and tend to hold on to a lot of water too. I'm constantly told I'm not overweight (I'm around a size 14) and my BMI says I'm obese. I know I want to be a healthy BMI, but if I get to my desired size sooner (between 8-10) then I will stop regardless of what my BMI says.

I agree that there are definitely differences between bone structures, but I think 99% of these are accounted for in the weight ranges for different heights. At my height of 5'11" a healthy weight is anywhere from 130 to 179. That is a wide range. I think a lot of people tell themselves they are big boned so that range doesn't apply to them when really they should just be aiming for the top of the range.

I always though I was "big boned" and I am, but I've had my BF% tested (water immersion) and at 18% BF I would weight 154. Right now I'm at 167 and within healthy ranges.

I don't trust wrist guidelines cause my wrists have definitely gotten smaller since I lost weight.

I am "big boned" at 170 I was wearing a size 8 in the past (currently down to 203 and a 14) That is why I don't believe the BMI is reasonable as it does not take into account the frame. I could probably wear a 6 around 150 yet I would still be overweight by those scales.