If you are 5ft 5/6 ish what’s your ideal weight?

[Housemovestress]

I am working hard at losing weight but can’t really decide what I am aiming for - how do you set your targets and would you mind sharing.
Thanks

10st 4lbs suits me. I used to be 8 stone, but looked way too thin. Unfortunately lockdown made me eat and eat and I've loads to lose.

Just under 10 stone is a good fighting weight for me.
I'm on my way there - was 10st 4 before a very shit summer, now 10st 7 and back on it again.
With regards to different body types I always think about my boobs. I am a 32 GG/H. They are big. they weigh 1/2 stone at least. Boobs and where you carry the weight is important.

I'm 5ft6 and 10st 12.
11 st was the heaviest I'd ever been and I felt awful.

10 stone is my current target.

When I was 9st 4 in my 20s and worked out a lot I looked great. Not sure if I could get back there now (mid-50s)

9st 7

Really depends on your body shape and how you hold fat (and where).
For me I am a pretty constant 9 and a half stone.
My ideal weight is around 8 stone 10. Anything under 9 stone and I feel much better. Haven’t seen that for some years. I hold fat on my belly and breasts and it just doesn’t drop from belly especially until around 8/10.
Very small frame.

At 5 ft 7, I look best at 8 st 7lbs. I'm 23% fat at that weight and within the healthy BMI guidelines. However, according to the FFMI (fat free muscle index), I'm 'undermuscled' and I should out on 9lbs of muscle. Which obviously will take some doing, I exercise (running, resistance exercises and walking) but it would take a bodybuilder over a year to put on that much muscle! I am small framed though, narrow hips and wrists so I suspect this has a bearing on things.

www.calculators.org/health/ffmi.php

I’m 5’6”

Between 8st 4 and 8st 7.

I’m not under muscled.

@Coogee forgive me, I find this so interesting. Do you mind saying what FFMI are you & fat percentage? And do you do weights?

N.B. I am a bit baffled over my result. I can see some muscle definition but not loads. I still have a bit of a stomach overhang but might be my age (nearly 50) and after having DC. I've never had a flat stomach, though - not even as a toddler!

@grasstreeleaf

My muscle definition is not too bad. I’d like it better but I’m reluctant to lose too much fat. A pound or three really makes a difference though. Yes, I do (heavy) weights with supervision, combined with HIT and some running. This pic will give you an idea of why I said I wasn’t under muscled. I had never heard of FFMI before.

www.mumsnet.com/uploads/talk/202109/large-525462-6d600f95-2e10-4be1-be2d-6d6bc84eaac1.jpeg

Thanks,@Coogee. No, you don't look undermuscled at all. I don't look as muscular as you but there is some muscle definition to me. I'd not heard of FFMI before either. I started to research such things when my body analyser scales came up with the description of undermuscled recently even though my BMI and fat percentage is healthy. I was looking at what sort of reference point they were using and I saw the calculator. Data wise I found these:

www.bodyscanuk.com/bodyscan-data.html

jcp.bmj.com/content/jclinpath/19/4/389.full.pdf

Oh and sorry, it Fat Free Mass Index not Muscle Index. My mistake.

What I have noticed is that it doesn’t take much extra fat to lose the muscle definition. The muscles are still there, but you just can’t see them.

I think that if you want your muscles or show, it’s as much diet as exercise. More so the older you get.

Somebody at my gym suggested I enter one of those bikini body competitions, but having looked into it, it needs a gruelling diet and exercise routine to prepare and I don’t think I really want it that much. Not to mention the cost!

I'm 5 foot 6 and like to be around 9 and a half stone, give or take a couple of pounds. Sadly I've put on a lot of weight in this last year and currently weigh nearly 11 stone but since last week I've been cutting out carbs so hoping to drop the excess and get my clothes to fit better.

@Coogee, I'm thinking more in terms of health. I'm happy pretty much with the way I look. I have lost 4 stone over the last 3 years. My fat percentage has gone from over 40% to 23%. Not much loose skin. My health has improved in terms of that. I'm also fitter as I run 10k a day without much effort or injury. However, what concerns me is the reported health concerns over lacking muscle mass as I get older. I think looking at the data spread (on the link I posted) I would just naturally be at the lower percentiles in terms of muscle mass because I am small framed but as long as it doesn't affect my health I'm not too bothered.

@Coogee

Oh and if I lost fat now without gaining muscle my BMI would be under what is considered healthy. So really I should gain muscle. Except exercise wise I hate 'the burn'. It demotivates me. DOMs also scare me (had cancer a few years ago and deep muscle aches can be a bit triggering) I run entirely at a MAF pace, and walk mainly and do a few resistance exercises. I do use a powerball and powersprin which utilises gyrotechnics. I also use soft weights you can strap to your arms and legs. Otherwise it's planks and similar. I'm scared of dropping proper free weights and don't like gyms.

Sorry to hear of your medical history. If you don’t.like gyms, I imagine it would be a challenge. I use free weights at a gym under supervision.

I have to go to a gym to stay motivated. During lockdown, my gym carried on via zoom. If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have done much.

Thanks, @Coogee. I'm not sure how important FFMI is really, though. As I said I'm happy with how I look and general fitness. How many people actually have their body composition measured? It's a burgeoning science. It does show a person can be considered to have a healthy or not healthy body composition at a variety of weights though.

Undermuscled or skinny skinny is just the new skinny fat.

I'm 5'5.5" and I'm happy with my weight around 8st 3/4lbs. I don't allow myself to get above 8st 6lbs now before reigning it in.
When I went to uni many years ago, I did hit 9stone and that was too heavy for me with my frame.

@canichange - snap! I’m currently 12 stone and size 12 clothes fit easily. I’d like to be 11 stone but couldn’t get under that. My body fat scales (which I know aren’t perfectly accurate) estimate me as having 8.5 stone fat free body weight.

9.5 stone is my ideal, although anything under 10 takes away some of the 'chubbiness' on my face etc.

However, my body resolutely wants to be 10 stone, and I have to seriously low carb to get under that.

I don’t have a flat tummy at 10st, I’m still fat with a paunch. I have to be under 9st to flatten my tummy. Puzzled me how others who are the same height can be 10st and have a nice body shape
Because nice body shape does not equal flat tummy. It’s quite simple really. You see, women can come in all shapes and sizes and be beautiful.

I'm 5 7 and my bmi healthy range is from an incredibly low 8st something up to 11 4ish (from memory). My ideal is 10- 10 and a half. I recently installed the nhs app where you can see previous Dr visit notes and I was weighed when I was 19 and was 10stone then. 10 stone before I had my kids and 10 stone between pregnancies as well, so it's comfortably where my body naturally wants to be.

Unfortunately I'm currently just outside the upper end of the bmi, and it's proving much more difficult to lose the weight now I'm approaching 40!

@catinthewindow see when I was 12 stone, my lean muscle mass was over a stone less than yours (according to my body analyser scales) and I was wearing a size 14 sometimes 16. My fat percentage will have been significantly higher than your's at that time. So it just shows 'ideal weight' will be a range of weights across a population of women.