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Original poster

Bmi - I could weigh 6 stone 10 lb !

86 replies

Frostine · 14/01/2022 10:39

Just checked the BMI guidelines and at my height of 5ft ( yes I realise that is short ) BUT surely even at that height 6 stone 10 would be very very slim . I've weighed 8 stone before ( not now ) and personally for me it was a little too slim .

OP posts:
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 14/01/2022 11:33

My DD is 145cm and 5stone. Shes only 10.5, so is still a child and not entered puberty yet... but her bone structure is very narrow. She grows up not out. I can easily see her her being one of those people in a few years. She does not look underweight at all (she's counted as healthy for a child)

FinallyFluid · 14/01/2022 11:34

20.7
Your result suggests you are a healthy weight

Healthy weight range for your height:
7st 6lb - 10st 1lb

I weigh eight stone 5 if I lost the guts of another stone, I would look very ill indeed.

A580Hojas · 14/01/2022 11:35

I think they have to cover all bases so that would include people of East Asian origin. Even so, anything starting with a 6 for someone of 5ft or over does seem extremely light.

PurpleDaisies · 14/01/2022 11:38

@Hemingwayzcatz

I’m 5 ft 7 and I think the lowest weight I could be is around 8 stone which is just ludicrous. As an adult the lowest weight I have been is 10 stone 8 and I looked very, very slim at that weight. I had B cup breasts and lost my hips and bottom. If I lost even another stone I would be sick.

I had to work incredibly hard to be that weight, I was running at least 5km 5 times a week and working out as well, I never had a day off tbh and I ate healthily 24/7.

8st6 is the lowest for 5ft7. That extra half a stone is important! It always surprises me that people look so different. I look really wobbly at 10st8 (same height as you). I keep my boobs and arse at 9st.
Bmi - I could weigh 6 stone 10 lb !
EdithWeston · 14/01/2022 11:38

It's a range to allow for variation in frame, boob size etc.

Sometimes, some people will look too skinny at the bottom of healthy, and some will look too fat at the top of it.

And if you're really muscly (armed forces, builder, competition level front row rugby player, weightlifter or bodybuilder etc) then it might not be a good screening tool for you.

But it's pretty good across the whole population, even though it does tend to show up just how skewed is our idea of what 'healthy' looks like

BalladOfBarryAndFreda · 14/01/2022 11:41

It takes build into account. Ectomorph types with very little muscle and a narrow frame will look a similar weight as a endomorph type of the same height carrying an extra couple of stone.

I am bang in the middle of my BMI range but look a bit chubby because I am an ectomorph body type. I look better at the bottom end of the range. It’s not about tone or exercise, I hill walk with my large dog for over an hour a day, plus pilates a few times a week.

Butteryflakycrust83 · 14/01/2022 11:43

BMI is a racist and outdated tool that has fuck all value. Dont waste your time on it.

Menofsteel · 14/01/2022 11:44

I ignore BMI because I’m a weightlifter. Mine is 24 (too high) but my body scans have me at 65% muscle, the other 35% is water, bone and fat (jj cup tattybojangles) it’s a rough guide, nothing more. My blood pressure is low, no visceral fat on my organs and my resting heart rate is 50bpm and I’m 42. Follow your own body and what works for your best health outcomes. I used to panic about it but even my PT says it’s too blunt a tool due to humans coming in all manner of shapes 🤣

ISpyCobraKai · 14/01/2022 11:47

I'm 5ft and last time I weighed more than 8st was when I was pregnant 21 years ago, I'm just built small.

BalladOfBarryAndFreda · 14/01/2022 11:53

@Menofsteel

I ignore BMI because I’m a weightlifter. Mine is 24 (too high) but my body scans have me at 65% muscle, the other 35% is water, bone and fat (jj cup tattybojangles) it’s a rough guide, nothing more. My blood pressure is low, no visceral fat on my organs and my resting heart rate is 50bpm and I’m 42. Follow your own body and what works for your best health outcomes. I used to panic about it but even my PT says it’s too blunt a tool due to humans coming in all manner of shapes 🤣
24 isn’t too high. It is at the upper end of normal range.
Menofsteel · 14/01/2022 11:56

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda (I love your name) my doctor has said it should be lower ideally. I think she’s just got to do the guideline thing though 🤷‍♀️.

Legomania · 14/01/2022 11:57

I sit near the lower end of the range for my height, but my weight has stayed very similar over the years, fit or unfit, so it's definitely where it's supposed to be. I also have a small bust.
However, half a stone on a slim frame makes a big difference, as a found out when breastfeeding; it wasn't a good look.

Shrewoodle · 14/01/2022 11:57

Sounds fine for a small frame. I'm 5'2ish and am healthiest around 7.5, 8st if I'm fit (small on top, chunky legs so I'd never be a healthy 7st, but can easily see someone of 5ft with a slim build being healthy at around that).

KevinTheKoala · 14/01/2022 12:02

I'm 4'11 and I became very, very fixated on the 6st weight goal. I was starving myself, counting calories in everything, regularly passing out from low blood sugars and still only got to 7st. I am usually around 8 to 8 and a half st. I dont know why I failed to lose the weight, I've always been told I'm heavier than I look but I think worrying too much about BMI can quickly become very dangerous, as long as you are healthy then it doesn't matter where you sit on that scale. We really do all have different body types.

KevinTheKoala · 14/01/2022 12:03

I also realise that 8st at 4'11 sounds huge but I can fit into size 4 clothes in some shops so I'm really not that massive.

TheOrigRights · 14/01/2022 12:05

Of course it's correct. A small-framed 5' woman could be quite healthy at that weight.

At 5'8" my 18.5 BMI weight is 8 stone 10lb. I am nearly that as I am very slim and lean. If I was 5' tall I would most definitely be at the 7 stone end of the range.

ArbleMarchTFruitbat · 14/01/2022 12:09

It's a range. 6st 10 is aimed at very fine-boned, compact women - 9st 1 will suit women with a broader, stockier build and the majority will find their ideal weight lies somewhere between the two.

HippyMoon · 14/01/2022 12:10

I'm 5ft too OP. I was 6st10 (maybe a bit less) when I was anorexic as a teen and I looked and felt awful, honestly. I'm now very overweight and aiming for a comfortable 8.5 stone!

TheOrigRights · 14/01/2022 12:10

@waterlego

Frame size is a factor that isn’t taken into account for BMI. I have a large frame (wide rib cage, big wrists, large feet) but am short (5ft 3). The optimum weight for my height according to BMI is between 8.5-9 stone. The last time I was at that weight people kept asking me if I was all right as I looked so bony. 😂

Some of us really are ‘big boned’ Grin

The 3 stone range is intended to take into account frame size (and other factors).

Even with your 'big bones' it is advised you stay within the recommended healthy range.

At 5'3" you can be just over 10 stone.
Bony is not the same as looking unwell.

Mundra · 14/01/2022 12:14

I'm 5'0 and am usually about 7st12, which is fine for my frame. The heaviest I've been was 42 weeks pregnant with DC3 at 10st9, the lightest was when he was about 6mo and we'd both been v ill, and I was about 7st2. That really was too thin for me- between 7.5 and 8 is best for me to be healthy.
Everyone carries their weight differently though, even people the same height have very different distributions of fat/ organs etc.

Mundra · 14/01/2022 12:20

Should also add that DC3 is now 5', and his frame is larger than mine (wrists thicker, for example) but he is 6st6- he's v thin, but he's also v narrow- shoulders are same as mine, but hips are 26" (my waist is 26, but my hips are quite a bit bigger than that!)
He's far more 'spindly' looking than I was when I was a lower weight.

AllThePogs · 14/01/2022 12:27

Six stone 10 is too slim for that height. My mum is that height and is 7 and a half stone with a small frame and looks slim, but healthy. She got down to 6 and a half stone when ill and looked emaciated.

ArbleMarchTFruitbat · 14/01/2022 12:35

@AllThePogs

Six stone 10 is too slim for that height. My mum is that height and is 7 and a half stone with a small frame and looks slim, but healthy. She got down to 6 and a half stone when ill and looked emaciated.
Really depends on build. My 5 foot mum has been 6 st 7 at that height most of her adult life. She is tiny - size 2 feet, takes a size I in rings.

I didn't inherit this - I take after my stocky father. My ideal weight is in the midpoint of the BMI range for my height. I once tried to get down to the bottom of the range and my hair started falling out.

FingersofFish · 14/01/2022 12:36

I think it depends a lot on your build. I'm 5ft and just over 7stones is my ideal weight but I'm very petite. Currently 8.5 and I look overweight which is very demoralizing when I feel I'm a decent weight!

TheOrigRights · 14/01/2022 12:41

@AllThePogs

Six stone 10 is too slim for that height. My mum is that height and is 7 and a half stone with a small frame and looks slim, but healthy. She got down to 6 and a half stone when ill and looked emaciated.
The BMI tool is designed for whole populations, not just your Mum!