"healthy weight" too low?

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  • jstratton29
    jstratton29 Posts: 1 Member
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    I look awesome at 160 pounds, but if I got down to the weight I am "supposed to be at", I would have to weigh in the 120's. A few years back, I got down to 140, and when I look at the pictures, I look awful. I am far too thin at that weight. I am also muscular with a larger chest. I feel like BMI and weight charts do not count for muscle at all!
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
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    It all depends on your body structure/frame and where do you actually carry most of your weight, and everything changes with age, usually for the worst.

    I am 5 feet tall with a small frame and I weight 100 lbs, and although this number may sound scary and overly thin, I have wide hips, legs are not thin (thanks Mom!), and I am busty, so I don't look skinny at all. At over 115lb (2 years ago), I looked like miss piggy and felt awful. So there you have it.

    You body will probably adjust and find its own weight, at least that is what happened to me. I was done loosing weight at 104lb and I lost an additional 5 lbs without even trying. Got back one lb and been very steady for 13 months.

    Just keep eating healthy and exercising and see how you feel and look when you achieve your final goal.
  • PlunderBunneh
    PlunderBunneh Posts: 1,705 Member
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    I'm with you. I'm down from a HW of 245, not even counting right after having baby, to 189, from a size 22 to a loose 14, but I'm 5'8. I've been told that I should be as low as 135, which is crazy talk. When I got down to 190, something clicked inside, and I realized that I'm not ashamed of my body. I know there is still work to be done. I'm hoping to go down to 160, but from here it's really just icing on the cake. Nothing wrong with being happy with the way you are, although that seems to be a pretty outrageous idea with most people on the site. I don't have to hate my body to want to workout and eat healthy.
    Anyhow...got a bit ranty there, sorry. Let your body decide when you want to switch to maintenance, not some silly chart with no inclusions for various factors like breast size or bone size.
  • aelarek
    aelarek Posts: 83 Member
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    I weigh 107 at 5'1.5" and I've still got tummy chubs and wear a size 4. I think the BMI is nonsense. It doesn't take in consideration for build or bodytype. It also doesn't measure how much muscle you have compared to fat. So disregard it. Focus on how you feel. Check with your doctor about the risks at whatever weight you get to when you are satisfied with yourself. People vary, you can't force someone to fit into a formula. Our bodies don't work like that.
  • ginny1214
    ginny1214 Posts: 338
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    Thanks for all the kind replies ladies! I totally feel great right now, I run, zumba, spin, strength train. I DO want to lose weight, maybe after I get my reduction i'll feel like I can be smaller, just at this point I can't imagine HUGE knockers on a small body like me..and I really am not small framed. And as for the woman who said they had a reduction. That's so amazing! I almost got one in high school, but decided against it, and I'm so excited to "reward" myself so to speak with a reduction hopefully before summer :)
  • it_be_asin
    it_be_asin Posts: 562 Member
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    For some, the healthy weight range recommended will be too low for them to have a healthy body fat %. For some, they may need to stay at the low end of the healthy weight range to maintain a healthy body weight %, and may have an 'overweight' body fat percentage at a higher 'healthy weight' BMI. The latter is the way I am made.

    BMI and healthy weight ranges work on populations, not on individuals.
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
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    My grandfather got to the top of his 'healthy weight range' and everyone thought he had cancer! He was doing Jenny Craig (this was in the 80s) and even his consultant told him to put weight back on. As a man who was 6'2 and worked outside all day he was very muscly. He's now about 105kg and is quite happy with his weight. It's why both him and my grandma think the top end of my weight range is too small for me. I'll reevaluate when I hit 90kg (my first BIG goal) but I can't see myself being happy there.
  • chic_mama_25
    chic_mama_25 Posts: 90
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    I agree that it depends how you are built. My lowest weight (at 5'6") was 114 pounds and I really looked ill (esp in the face), although some people my height look good at that or less. I am happy to fluctuate between 120-125, which is my goal.
    Good luck!

    Ps. I sympathise with the boob issue, although mine was the opposite, I lost all my breast tissue after pregnancy and I was very small chested anyway with big hips so I had surgery to enlarge them and now I feel much more in proportion with my curvy bum and legs (which stayed big even when th rest of me looked underweight at 114 so there you go)
  • laura789a
    laura789a Posts: 18 Member
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    I also think my Ideal weight sounds too low, im just going to keep going until Im happy with myself, Ive gone from 160 to 145 im 5, 2" and my ideal is (i think) somewhere between 100 and 110, I WOULD LOOK LIKE A STICK!! Im ignoring it, I will just stop when im happy.

    Your doing really well and as a lot of others are saying BMI does not take body shape into acc, (there are also several different BMI charts that all givedifferent results, so even the "experts" cant decide what we should weigh.)
  • snookumss
    snookumss Posts: 1,451 Member
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    HERE'S THE DEAL.

    My belief is... NOBODY TELLS A MUSCULAR GIRL SHE IS TOO SKINNY. She could have 2% bodyfat but nobody will say she needs to eat a cheeseburger!

    Go by bodyfat percentage, and lift weights ;D A trainer shouldn't tell you a single pound goal, thats ridiculous. Seriously Girly,
    I am 5 foot 6 and I weigh 170lbs. I am in the same size jeans and shirts as you. For you being shorter, and heavier than me you are doing GREAT. Keep at it and revise your goals as you get smaller.

    I personally never thought I should go below 150lbs, because I was 150 in high school and looked great! I recently saw somebody else my height post progress photos and she looked like I did at 150, and she looks even better at around 130. Now, I know there is a below 150 for me... so my goal instead of a pound number, is to see my abs. The more muscle the better because I lift, but my goal is to see my abs.

    You can change it, but base your goals from bodyfat percentage, NOT a random chart number.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    Don't worry about the number on the scale so much. Start strength training. Profit.

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