Advice for tall people with higher #'s on the scale?

bcmlam1001
bcmlam1001 Posts: 118 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 5' 9" and as of now I weight 148lbs. I have always been taller and weighed more than the average female and have always been a little self conscious of that. No matter how hard I try I cannot seem to get below this. I can hit 146b then I bounce right back to 148. I have weighed this for almost 2 years now VS all my girlfriends who are 5'4" and weigh 120lbs. I would LOVE to get to 145and maintian that but I can't seem to get there. Everyone tells me that I might be as small (number wise) as my body will get. My BMI is 22 and I wear a 6/8 and smalls in my tops. I guess I just feel bigger because of the number. People are always telling me that I am skinny enough and don't need to lose and my husband says I look good where I am. Which, 145/148lbs would not be noticable to anyone else but to me I would be happy in the 3lbs difference. Can someone out there tell me how tall you are and how much you weigh compared to your weight and if this sounds about right? I would appreciate some feedback!

Replies

  • AmeChops
    AmeChops Posts: 744 Member
    Heya, I'm 5'9", currently hovering around 155lbs, I'd consider myself to have a very small frame (my wrists only just measure 5 and 1/4 inches) and I'm aiming to weigh about 130lbs. I'm currently in a UK 12 (generally) so I reckon I'll be a definite 10 by the time I reach my goal.

    Having said that, I haven't been at that weight for 10 years now so I might actually be happy in the 140's, until I get there though who knows!
  • rebecca_d35
    rebecca_d35 Posts: 131
    I get it, but you need to change the way you think in order to stop driving yourself crazy. Start by looking at this group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/109-tall-women

    I am 5'10" so I know how you feel. But honestly, at your height, anything around 150 is a great weight.
  • Im_NotPerfect
    Im_NotPerfect Posts: 2,181 Member
    I'm 5'9" as well and honestly, under 150 is fantastic for our height. My goal weight is actually 175 right now. For me it's a very manageable weight. I have a medium frame and at my lowest I was 159. It was VERY tough to maintain and I got a LOT of comments about how I looked "too skinny" (like that's even possible for me...).
  • hipsdontlie1
    hipsdontlie1 Posts: 294 Member
    I am 5'9 and weigh 170. I cant seem to get passed this number. You are only 3lbs from your goal so just be happy, you are doing great! Just keep at it and im sure you will get there!!
  • Faintgreeneyes
    Faintgreeneyes Posts: 729 Member
    I am 5'7- currently same issue- fluctuating between 135-138 lbs. The thing I have to try and remember is that while I have friends who are smaller (5'4 and under) and that weight less- for my body type there is no way I could weight the same amount as them.

    I know its hard to see yourself as "big" when everyone else around you tells you that you are thin, or thin enough. Maybe the thing to focus on now is lowering your BF% and see if that helps with what you are viewing as being "big". Body composition goes a long way in how we feel about ourselves, so maybe dropping your bf to even 20% might make you feel better about yourself, even staying at your current scale number.

    Hang in there!
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    That scale number is not nearly as important as that BMI #. You have a BMI of 22... There is NOTHING wrong with that. Forget the scale number... It is not that important. A more important number is your body fat percentage. If that number is in range and you see muscle definition... Don't worry about the scale. You are taller... You are SUPPOSED to weigh more than the other girl who is 4" shorter... If I were 148 for example (not a girl and am 6'3") I would literally be UNDERWEIGHT... You are doing great. If you get to 145.. that is fine I would not stress over it though.
  • logdunne
    logdunne Posts: 132 Member
    Im 5ft 9 and 199lb, down from 222.
    I have a large frame (gorrila wrists and broad shoulders- sucks to be me)
    Im aiming for 160-170 which seems to be at the top end of the 'normal' section of the BMI chart

    Relish being an amazonion woman :-)
  • mrsmrogers
    mrsmrogers Posts: 6 Member
    I'm 5'9 and weight 160lbs and I also would prefer to be down to 145lbs. For some reason I just struggle with losing.
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    I agree with everyone else here. 5'9 and 148 is a great weight. Us taller people need to weigh more than people shorter than us. What are you so worried about?
  • zclark13
    zclark13 Posts: 135 Member
    I'm 5'9" as well. When I was in High School I weighed 124, but I don't consider that realistic any more 3 kids and 35 years later! At this point I'm trying to get down to 165 but I'm not althogether certain that's going to be maintainable. I am, after all, over 50 now and have been relatively sedentary all my life.

    My personal opinion is you need to figure out what's more important: a number on a scale or being able to enjoy life without worrying about 3 lbs. Face it: unless you want to look like an Olsen twin, you will not be able to weigh 120; and do you really want to torture yourself just for that number?

    If you are a size S on top and wear a 6/8 those are the numbers I would look at! (At this point I'm ecstatic to fit comfortably in a 16!)
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
    You can certainly get to this number if you want, but first let me just say- Don't let the scale control you!! I'm 5'3" and hover right around 135 during my active seasons and 140 during the winter.

    Ok with that out of the way, I can tell you what I see in your diary that may be working against you:

    Drop the 1200 calorie goal. You are quite slim and as such, trying to force your body to lose weight with the maximum deficit you can will only prove frustrating. My best advice for anything within 10-15 lbs of your goal is to do some form of zig-zagging. For me it looked something like this: My BMR (can be found under TOOLS) is 1350, so my LOWEST calorie goal ever is 1300. I eat one week to 1300 (NET calories, so I eat most of my exercise calories), the next to 1400, the following to 1500. I maintain for 1 week at 1600 and then drop back to 1300. It averages about .5-.75 lbs per week for me.
  • WhitneyAnnabelle
    WhitneyAnnabelle Posts: 724 Member
    That scale number is not nearly as important as that BMI #. You have a BMI of 22... There is NOTHING wrong with that. Forget the scale number... It is not that important. A more important number is your body fat percentage. If that number is in range and you see muscle definition... Don't worry about the scale. You are taller... You are SUPPOSED to weigh more than the other girl who is 4" shorter... If I were 148 for example (not a girl and am 6'3") I would literally be UNDERWEIGHT... You are doing great. If you get to 145.. that is fine I would not stress over it though.

    I don't know why I clicked on this (because I am nowhere near being tall), but I'm glad you distinguished between the importance of BMI versus BF%. My BMI is about 19. My BF% is about 23.5. So...BMI is indicative of very little when it comes down to it.
  • atrjohnson
    atrjohnson Posts: 77 Member
    I am 6"0 and have a large frame. I am currently obese and honestly do not care about the weight. I track for my PCOS. It is causing my hormones and blood sugar to go haywire. So my diary focuses on sugar amounts and I stick closely to a modified diabetic diet, sometimes low carb but not always.

    As a teenage when I worked out 4-6 days per week and ate close to stravation level(not purposely but I only ate salads without dressing and cereal for breakfast) I weighed around 178. Because of my frame I was told I looked like a crackhead. Let me explain my build, most of my dad's family have been athletes. The women were shot putters and discus throwers so I truthfully come from a large stock. My dad is 6"9'. I have been told that I should be a female body builder and once a nutritionist using an old school caliper was giving me a fat test and remarked that she had never seen a female with this much muscle mass in her legs. She told me I had man muscle legs.

    I would love to get down to the 170s again but even at that I will still be larger than most women. There's nothing wrong with that it's just a fact. As people we have to get past the scale as a measure of all that we are. We are worth so much more. Be as healthy as you can at any day and time. That's the real answer.
  • bcmlam1001
    bcmlam1001 Posts: 118 Member
    Thanks guys for the input. I really feel better. I believe I am going to (as of today) stay away from the scales for about a month and focus on my exercise and eating right and healthy and just leave it at that. My husband fusses at me sometimes about cooking him a big meal then eating cereal. I had already made up my mind that today I would start adding more calories into my dailey diet. Not unhealthy, just more. I also get people telling me all the time that I am to skinny. My BFF told me I looked my best at 155lbs. My husband joking/seriously tells me alot that he just loves rubbing on bones. I think sometimes a couple of my problem is I have a sedentary desk job and I am not sure how many calories I am burning sitting there all day vs how many I am eating, the the other problem is, my sister is one of those 5'4" 120lbs and has lost 120lbs and kept it off for 6 years and I think sometimes (altho I NEVER let people in my life know) that I might feel a little inferior to that because she was always bigger than me and I was the smaller one and now when I am around her I feel like the big green jolly giant next to her cause she is so short and thin. I did balloon up to 200+ when I had my little girl but that is the largerst I ever got. Maybe I have the fat girl complec because I am taller than most girls. As of today I am going to try to get all of this outta my mind and focus on me and feeling good in my body. Thanks for the encouragement and for people that really care! I CANNOT talk to my family about these issues I don't believe they would understand.

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