Ideal body weight

[Namefonow]

Made a mistake today and looked at ideal body weight for my height. I don’t think I will ever achieve it. I have lost a lot of weight recently. Nearly 8 months post baby number 2 but I was over weight prior to pregnancy. Currently at 65kg at 5’3’’. I am fitting into size 6 jeans(that have a bit of stretch!) but probably 10/12 on top. Am I actually obese? I do have a lot of muscle which I don’t really like. I used to do a lot of sport. None at all any more. Just feel rubbish now. How can I lose enough weight to be considered a healthy weight?

Those things are ridiculous. My ideal weight is apparently 11 stone. I haven't been 11 stone since I was 11. When I was 18 I was fit with a very flat stomach and even then I was 12.1/2 stone.

Yes my ideal body weight would have me emaciated. I'm aiming for about a stone over that. Just go with what works for you

Yes. You're wearing size 6 jeans and are 'actually obese' 🙄

I’ve been overweight most of my adult life. A few years ago I did a slimming club and got down to just inside a healthy BMI (25). 5ft 5in and about 10st 6lb. People started saying I looked really slim and not to lose any more! Of course I gained it all back…I changed my approach and started powerlifting instead. Weight is gradually coming off but I’m much more toned, stronger and more confident. I chose that over ‘skinny’ these days.

Your BMI is 25.4, so slightly overweight but nowhere near obese.

I hope you have not been mislead into thinking that there is one set ideal weight? It’s a range. You are only just over the top of the range. The range will be across all healthy BMI’s from 18-25 and you can pick which one looks best on your frame. If your BMI is 25.4 you are slightly into the over weight range and a couple of KG will bring that back into the healthy range. Please note - range.

size 6 is not obese and 25.4 BMi is not obese. I think most people can get to just under BMI 25 without looking emaciated or unwell but it’s up to the person as to what is comfortable. Mine is 24.5, I’m not looking emaciated. Ideal weight range is really about providing an indicator of a range that suits your height in terms of adipose tissue and weight on your joints it doesn’t account for muscle though

If you have larger breasts then it might not be realistic to get into a smaller size clothes on top

@Namefonow at 5’3” the upper end of a healthy BMI is 140, from 141-163 you are then in the overweight category and do not tip into the obese category till 164.
too late for me to covert to kg.
quick math your 1.5 kg into the overweight category. Certainly not in the obese zone.

She’s quite short though and it’s possible the bmi charts do put her at obese .

Op you will get some posters on here who get very hot under the collar in defence of bmi ( probably because for their particular shape it works so they feel vindicated) but IME they are such a rough tool as to be not very useful.

Years back I was a size 4/6 ( taller than you) and within the healthy bracket on bmi. Yet my periods were irregular and I had a few other issues of just not feeling in optimal health. My gp wanted me to gain a few kg before conceiving and when I did I magically came right and felt incredible. Still within healthy range but at the lower end of it I felt rubbish. I am small boned so go figure? 🤷🏻‍♀️ My DH is tall, slim and has not an ounce of fat on him. Bmi says he is obese. I think bmi causes more angst than it is worth.

Op if you have a lots of muscle 💪 and are fitting into size 6 clothes are you sure your not one of those athletes type who the BMI just doesn't work for?

High muscle, low fat but BMI calculates you as overweight? You are absolutely nowhere near obese.

Can you use a set of body fat scales? Either using a friends or at a gym? Do Boots still have scales that do height and body fat?

I'm similar height, 80.5kg BMI 31 so yes I'm obese I barely fit a 16.

@Calliopespa she is nowhere near obese. She is barely overweight.
Lots of muscle could be putting her BMI into overweight when she is actually quite lean with very little fat to loose.
Size 6 says it all.

… and people will say “ oh but the nhs use it.”

Truthfully, most of the “ use “ I have seen is when I’ve had friends who look perfectly healthy get told their bmi is too high for the operation to go ahead and they need to lose a couple of kilos. I honestly suspect sometimes it is embraced as a tool to manage waiting lists and “ buy time”; “it’s not that we can’t get you in yet; it’s that YOU are at fault.”

Go by your waist height ratio not your bmi. I think it is amazing you are size 6 but weight 65kg, you must have so much muscle. I am the opposite 5'4" 50kg and size 8 to 10 and would love to be where you are. It takes so much work to build muscle and is so important for healthy aging.

Thanks for working that out - and I’m sure she feels better that you did.

I’m so dismissive it honestly wouldn’t have surprised me. As I posted above, my very slim DH ( not particularly muscular, though broad shouldered) is obese so nothing surprises me. I was so slim I was actually ill at the low end of my “ healthy” weight ( yet I am small boned, not bulky with muscle though was ( then!) very toned. It just wasn’t a weight at which my menstrual cycle wanted to kick in. That can’t be “healthy.”