Trying to work out ideal weight?

[plaingirly]

I am 5'2 (and a 1/4!!) and when I saw the nurse she said my ideal weight was 8 stones 2 pounds.

Soooooo that means I have an awful lot of weight to lose! A scary amount to lose.

I don't know if she worked it out a certain way or if it was a figure just picked out of the air!

I don't really know what other people that are my height actually weigh! I see myself as looking huge but other people never believe how much I weigh.

[FeuDeSnowyRussie]

It depends how much muscle you have Mu1berries - maybe you build muscle easily so don't have much fat to grab? I am heavier than I look, because I am mostly muscle with very low body fat (I do exercise, but mostly it's just how I'm built) and I know people lighter than me who are a bigger dress size and much more wobbly.

[MsRinky]

I am exactly the same height as my Mum, but four inches smaller round the bust and hips and six inches smaller round the waist. I weigh two stone more than she does.

[AllIWantForXmasIsJewels]

Mominatrix I've been to many countries in the Far East. You might be larger than the average lady there but you are still not, in any way, huge. Unless you had put on a two or four stone when you visited? Yes Asian woman are smaller but, as you feel it's relevant, why did you not include that in your post? I've spent alot of time there and, although western, even at 11 stone I didn't feel huge just bigger than others.

[Ephiny]

I think it does depend a lot on muscle mass. My profile pics are me at 8st, looking decidedly curvy/chunky. Even now I'm a few pounds lighter than that, I still have 'handfuls of fat' (doesn't that sound lovely ), and look and feel quite chubby.

However I do practically no exercise (which I am planning to do something about, really!) so probably have a high body fat percentage and not much muscle. There's a lot more to health and fitness than just weight.

Though to be fair, my lifestyle/build is probably more typical of the average (British) woman than someone very athletic and muscular, so 8st2lb still does not seem an unreasonable target to me for the average 5'2" woman with a small-medium frame. That's not to say that someone who weighs more than that is overweight, of course not.

[Mu1berries]

My mum weighs the same as I do and is very flabby alright and two sizes bigger. NOT that I'm judging her, she's 69, I wouldn't expect her to be doing
workouts five times a week at her age!! although, I feel kind of locked into it. I don't mind though. I like feeling strong.

There are two girls adopted from china near me and one is the same age as my older child and the other the same age as my younger child and they're both the same height as my kids. Not that that proves anything. I just noticed it and was slightly surprised.

[Mu1berries]

MsRinky, has your mum had a bone density scan? :-/

[Mu1berries]

Epiphany, just had a look at your profile picture. That is pretty much how I see myself. Except I have a flatter chest!!!

[FeuDeSnowyRussie]

I wonder what determines how much muscle mass we have naturally? Because this thread, and others like it where people come and say 'I'm this height, this size and weigh this much', often create a lot of confusion and disbelief I think. But muscle mass must have a huge amount to do with our shape and size and general wobbliness, and it can't just come down to exercise and ethnicity. The women in my family (all of European descent) are all naturally muscly with huge man thighs and have only ever done light exercise.

[Mu1berries]

Yes, muscle mass and bone density I think. I haven't had a bone density scan but my mum has. Her bones are very porous. i'm just hoping that mine are rock solid as I've never given up dairy like she did. i take semi skimmed in my tea, on my cereal.... My mum walks a lot but has never run, or done any impact exercise.

[plaingirly]

Just joined up to mfp - thought I had better as I have never done calorie counting or keeping track of fat or carbs.

Cambridge Fab post!! I am feeling alone in my healthy plans as most of my friends are either skinny and eat what they want or bigger with no interest in dieting. Plus half the office had fish and chips for lunch today! Major temptation as it smelt so good. Just got to keep my motivation going - I always want instant results and the idea that it might take a couple of years to get to the weight I want puts me off right from the start!

[Mominatrix]

AllIWant, I was exaggerating when I said I felt huge. What I literally meant is that it was wierd to be on the larger side of average in one place when I am considered quite small in the West. I didn't mention the fact that I was Oriental as it was not relevant to my original post - but when people remarked that I was abnormally small it became relevant. I also didn't mention it as I am in Paris quite frequently and I am not unusually thin there - pretty normal.

[AnnaFurLact1c]

I'm 5 foot 4 and weigh 9 stone and am a size 8. Some people say I am a little 'thin' - especially my legs and bottom so the low 8's seem a little... low!

[aPirateInaPearTree]

i am 5ft 3 and have size 6 feet. small frame. i lost weight this yr very slowly using myfitness plan, as karma recommended.

wholly agree it depends on how you are built, and i can imagine if i were 8st 2 i would look awful. huge generalisation based on a 'weight'.

I lost weight slowly as i said, 2 stones in ten months. sometimes it was so dishertening, but i have never tried so hard before, and it has paid off. Myfitnesspal is very helpful in showing you what food groups you cals shoould be made up of. a real eyeopener

[FeuDeSnowyRussie]

Anna I'm an inch taller than you, also a size 8, but half a stone lighter - and no one has ever told me I look too thin! I don't know how to feel about that I actually look quite solid for a small person.

[ChristinaF]

I am 5 foot 3 1/2 and weigh 8 stone 5. I am 42. I am slim and have a small build but am not particularly skinny. I normally wear size 8 but some brands are too big.
So in answer to OPs post I would say 8 stone 2 doesn't sound strange for 5 foot 2 but maybe if the OP is much bigger than that it wasn't a helpful thing to say and a more realistic target would have been a better starting point.
Can I just ask though why so many people seem to say they were slimmer when younger? I have always weighed the same except when pregnant, never diet and don't go to the gym that much?

[MsRinky]

Oh yes, my Mum's bones are fine, don't worry. We are both overweight, by the way, but I also have a lot of muscle mass and she doesn't. Even though I no longer do as much exercise as I should, I did a lot in my teens and have legs like a rugby player - solid muscle. I just wanted to stress how different builds and weight distribution can be on people of a similar height.

[MsRinky]

I have always weighed heavy if you see what I mean - when I had to have a GA, the anaesthetist insisted on rechecking my weight before putting me under as she was sure that the weight recorded on my chart must have been wrong.

[BIWI]

It also depends on how much muscle as opposed to fat you have - muscle weighs 4 times as much as fat, but you will look leaner.

[stclemens]

coming back a bit late.

I think that it gets harder and harder to lose weight as you get older - hence the gradual creep up on the scales. And then the menopause comes along and hits you again. At 26 you need to be careful that you don't let things slide until you are in your 40s as it is just so much harder to correct things then. I was certainly much lighter and importantly thinner in my mid-20s.

Also I would be really interested in seeing the evidence on health and weight as we age that somebody quoted There is a bit of evidence that we should err on the side of being too thin for longevity but this is far from conclusive and it is probably different for women than men, where the evidence seems more clearly in favour of weight loss. Generally I just think in the UK we are used to a much fatter society than is probably healthy.

Agree that muscle will make a difference to your ideal weight (as opposed to layers of body fat) but that didn't sound like the OP's problem.

[stclemens]

oh ChristinaF - you obviously have good self control! I think the combination of two babies, desk job and lack of time to exercise have contributed to my gradual spread. (my parents owned an icrecream parlour so it is not lack of access to snacks in my youth that explained my relative thin-ness) I think you are one of the lucky ones.

[Sleepwhenidie]

The reason it gets harder to lose weight as we age is that muscle tissue (which burns more calories, even at rest, than fat) deteriorates, particularly post menopause when testosterone levels drop dramatically. Yet another reason to regularly do resistance training to maximise your muscle: fat ratio, along with all the other health benefits it brings, rather than just focusing on cardio to control your weight.

this is interesting.

[Xenia]

WQell you're 13 stone 2 and even at the upper end of healthy that is going to be around or under 10 stone so the nurse is in essence right - you certainly should try to lose 3 stone+. In fact 8 stone would be healthy and find too so that would be 5 stone to lose.

However if 95% of [people who go on diets put more on after than they end up losing you might be better not trying to lose any. Losing some and then getting up to 14 stone after would not be a good result but it would be typical of people who go on diets.

[plaingirly]

Joined MFP and set a goal of 126.

Not following a diet just eating healthily, staying under / on my calories and exercising! Trying to make it a lifestyle rather than a temporary diet.

[AmberNectarine]

FWIW, I have met Mominatrix and while she is very slim, she is by no means skeletal, she is in proportion for her height and frame. Goes to show that everyone is different. My Mum is 5'2 and about 8.5 stone at the moment after being about 7st all her life and I know she feels fat (she's not, she's an 8, but when you're used to being a 4...)

[ParceQueJeLeVauxBien]

9 stone sounds much less terrifying! Good luck.