I saw one today that said a healthy weight for me would be 86-105 lbs, oh come on! Are they serious?

Theoretically I should weigh about 125! I haven't weighed that little since middle school.

At 4'11"? That's not completely unreasonable. Though I do have to caution that weight charts do not tell all! A doctor or body fat percentage test might be able to pinpoint what's healthiest for you specifically.

I looked up my weight chart for 4'11" it says a healthy weight should be between 99-123 that sounds more reasonable.

Weight charts are definitely generic I think. For myself (5'7"), it says 120-150lbs is normal, which technically I am in that range, but I carry most of my weight on the lower half of my body, where I look more overweight then normal.

You need to go by BMI..not just weight. Everybody is built differently and weight charts are so generic. THey may give a good idea of a weight, but they are not 100% correct. Check for a BMI calculator online....this tells you your percentage of body fat and that is what is important. You dont want to run the high risk of HEART DISEASE, which killed my aunt last year. So, stay healthy and look how you want to look!

BMI is based just on height and weight, so it doesn't take body composition or percent fat into account. Maybe you're thinking of some other index than BMI?

BMI still isn't the best thing to go by. Someone really muscular (I think Arnold Schwarzenegger was the example I heard) would be considered obese. Weight charts and BMI can give you a rough estimate but the absolute best way to determine where you should be is to have your body fat % tested. For women, below 25% is considered a healthy weight.

One of my girlfriends has lost like 70 or 80 pounds she's at 188 i believe. she's about 5'9" and her body fat is like 22 or something. she's amazing, but we were just joking how she's still in the OBESE category on the charts. The beloved OBESE category. And we think that people like us who are athletic should get shirts for the gym that say...yes i'm obese! I think that category is so asanign(sp?)

My bf is RIDICULOUSLY in shape...like is training for a marathon and runs 15 miles several times a week...and his doctor told him at his physical that he needs to lose a few pounds because he looked on the chart and determined he was obese. I was like "uhhhhh has he ever seen you??? Because I sure have and you would probably have to gain 50 lbs to be obese!!" I feel like the height/weight charts can really only be just a guide, because fat% is really what's important. I used a chart to help with my goal weight, but if I end up being a few pounds over my "goal" and look stellar and have a fine %, I won't cry about it!!

BMI and weight charts are only good for standard body structures. If you want to know if you are a small-boned or large-boned person (which is truly your bone structure, not a classification of your body size) you can do a search on "ectomorph", "mesomorph" and "endomorph" - there is a way to tell based on your wrist measurement, I believe.

BMI is calculated on height and weight, and is not a good gauge for people with a large bone structure or men who are very bulked up in muscle. DH is 5'6" and weighs 210. Anything over 155 is considered obese for his height, but considering that using body fat calculations (accurate ones) that he has 191 pounds of LEAN muscle mass, I don't think that's a very good gauge.

For 4'11" (I'm 5'0), a max desirable weight would likely be in the low 120's. Mine is in the mid-120's.

If you truly want to know where your healthy weight is, use your blood pressure, pulse and body fat as gauges. Weight is so variable.

I would LOVE to weigh 130 again. It is a healty weight for me and my body size....but man is it gunna be work getting it back there!!!

Good luck to all!!!


~Mystie

I definetly know how you feel. According to the bmi chart at 5 ft5 I should weigh between 114 and 144 pounds o.O. I don't think I'd ever weigh 114 pounds unless someone cut one of my legs off...I think I'll stick to body fat % and how my clothes fit.

I definitely understand... at 5'6, I should be between 120-150lbs.... some even say 115-145, depending on what website I look at.

I've never weighed lower than 160 in my life (and that was freshman year of high school) and I have a large frame, so I'll never hope to be lower than 145 without looking unhealthy - which is fine with me!

It's really about how you look and feel, than what you actually weigh.

Yeah, I saw one that said I should weight 127. Not since high school (and then I was too skinny)!