Who would be the best person to ask about my "ideal weight"?

[Onlyrainbows]

Five years ago I was obese, and have always been heavier than I look. Then I started running/ working out consistently and depending on what I do , I can look more or less chunky. I do prefer my runner's body, but unfortunately for medical reasons I can't run just yet. I'm still heavy though! And I don't lift enough to think that it's the "muscle is denser than fat" theory. Size wise I'm happy-ish but maybe I would be less flabby. Anywho, who would be the best to advise a PT? A nutritionist? A GP? Photos for reference

A random PT and Nutritionist don’t really need much additional education to call themselves that, a GP’s education doesn’t cover much on the topic of body weight. I’d go to a sports medicine clinic, the type affiliated with a university, their staff will have more specific expertise.

There are some ideal weight calculators available online, but those wouldn’t take things like build and muscle mass into account so best used with caution.

For as far as it’s possible to tell from a photo, you look quite muscular to me which may explain why you look a lot lighter than you are.

What’s your motivation for wanting to know your ideal weight? Is it because you’re concerned about your BMI?

As long as you're confident you're fit and healthy which you clearly are from your pics then I wouldn't worry. BMI is a guide not a bible. When I was at my fittest I was overweight almost obese on the scale. I looked great and had no weight around my middle.

You can go for a DEXX scan which does body fat etc. a Google will show you local places.

I think it is because I want a hard guideline? I fluctuate (and I know it's normal), but I would like to know if losing weight is beneficial or irrelevant to my general health

You look to me as if you are in the healthy range of BMI.

You also look as if you are carrying some body fat you could afford to lose IF you want to. You say you are concerned about being flabby. A GP is likely to be concerned only with BMI. A nutritionist or PT could probably help you towards a goal, assuming they are reputable and you have a goal. I don't think anyone could or should prescribe a hard guideline.

When I lost a lot of weight my first aim was to get into healthy range of BMI. People bang on about it being a crude measure but it is actually a decent yardstick for the vast majority of the general population. When I got into healthy range I still carried a lot of body fat and I didn't like that so I upped the weight training. I've lost quite a lot of size over 2 years (a couple of inches off waist and hips plus an inch off each thigh) although my weight has not gone down all that much.

If I was going to give myself a hard guideline now it would be to aim for being slap bang in the middle of the BMI range and to ensure my waist measurement is less than half my height.

I don't think losing weight based on what I see in your pictures would have much impact on your general health but I feel a lot better for having a bit more muscle and a bit less fat.

You look quite muscular in your photos, so you will be heavier for your size than someone whose bulk is made up of less dense fat. I should find somewhere local where you can have your body fat percentage accurately measured, to see if it's in a healthy range. FWIW I think you have a good body shape.

Tbh I think once you are into the healthy BMI range, nobody will be able to tell you whether losing additional weight is better healthwise or not. We just don’t know enough (yet) about the positive and negative effects of additional fat/muscle on the body - hormone production, metabolism etc. Some people’s bodies may work better at the upper end of the healthy BMI range, some may work better at the lower end. That’s why it’s a range.

There may be some people who will tell you that your ideal weight is X but I would take that with a very large pinch of salt.

According to my BMI I still need to lose 3.5kg . I once aimed to have a BMI of 22-23 and IMO I looked too skinny.

I was in your position(as In aware of being heavy but knowing that this was likely partly muscle and wanting a clear goal). I got a DEXA scan (body scan uk). This told me my exact level of fat, fat distribution, muscle mass. At the time my BMI was 26. I learned that my muscle and bone mass were very high, but I tended towards carrying fat on my stomach - so I reduced my weight by a stone (bmi now 23.5 I think?) which has got my fat levels in a good place (lean for mid 40s, but this bought down my visceral fat to good levels - if you are an apple you maybe need to be leaner) but still a good muscle mass. very helpful consultation post DEXA helped me discuss goals and strategies - in my case this was just to lose a bit extra fat - we decided on a stone.

I‘ve maintained that stone off easily for years - I think because it was highly realistic and appropriate for me. I wouldn‘t want to lose more - I want to maintain muscle at this stage. For what it’s worth so don‘t look plump but it is always worth checking visceral fat - you look a bit like me - muscular body, but just worth being clear your stomach fat is in the right place.

meant ‚you don‘t look plump‘ 😀

A load of women who didn't weigh more, nor did they wear larger clothes sizes, when they went from flabby to muscle-full.

Oh WOW that was a great article. Thank you!

I think the older photo was before you were training. You'd probably look a lot more athletic now at the same weight. One thing to do for yourself would be to take a photo in saggy underwear without posing to see how flabby you actually are. Careful posing and lighting makes my belly fat look more like abs, when realistically I'm a bit flabby and could do with losing half a stone. I know I'll never be 62kg again though, that ship sailed with my 20s!

In my old photo I did train, just different routine. Those are older photos, I think I was potentially lighter but not as toned

Can you get hold of one of those scales that measures body fat alongside weight.

All very well saying you weight x, but if most if this is muscle (which it looks like you are), that's very different to weighing x but it's mostly fat

I do have one, but I think it's extremely unreliable. If I tell it that I don't work out it days my body fat is 37% if I tell it I do it halves it to 19%. Maybe I do look like the 20% lady I genuinely can't tell.

Is it fat or loose skin?

If you're happy with your size, your best bet is to stop losing and start maintaining while weightlifting/doing bodyweight exercises.

This is called body recomposition and you lose fat while gaining muscle, leading to a toned look without weightloss (as you're replacing fat with muscle).

A very good PT can help but they're hard to come by and you might be better of doing some research on your own - reddit has a lot of threads about recomposition, including for women specifically. Good luck!

Those two are completely relaxed. I think it's a mix of loose skin and fat if I'm honest

And the other one!