[LiannaKole]

I'm trying to figure out how to tell what my frame size is while I still have all this extra weight on me. The websites always say to measure your wrists and that'll tell you, but what if my wrists are inflated by weight I'm working to lose?

I saw a post a little while back from a maintainer here who was surprised to find out she had a small/medium frame and had always thought she was bigger.

I feel I have a big frame, but I can't really tell, can I? I can barely feel some of my bones at all, and my wrist is definitely still bigger (I just barely broke out of the obese BMI bracket).

So how can I know? Or can I at all? I'd really like to know, because I think that'd help me set goals better, and I'm just curious. Maybe it's bigger, maybe not.

None of those sites ever give advice for overweight people. ~sigh~

[junebug41]

I am having a hard time understanding what you mean by "frame size". Do you mean shape- as in, apple or pear or hourglass?

I think it's really hard to predict these things regardless. I also think that at your current weight you should have a pretty good idea of what kind of frame you have.

I'm also a little curious about how this would affect your goals. I don't mean to be so inquisitive, but I just want a better understanding of your question

[LiannaKole]

Sorry, should have worded that better. Thanks for asking for clarification.

I mean bone size. Like, what size my bones are. Large, medium, or small.

This would affect my goals because I have an ideal weight (not set in stone for sure), but I would have a better idea of what's realistic if I knew if I had larger and thus heavier bones or not.

Like, people who are Asian generally have smaller bones and thus have naturally lower healthy weights.

Usually bone size (frame size, as the sites call it) is measured by measuring one's wrist. And some calculators for ideal weights will ask for frame size because it apparently affects the healthy weight range for people. Or like, as a general rule people with larger bones should aim for a higher BMI (like 23 and not 18.5 or anything). Whereas someone with small bones could be at 18.7 and totally healthy.

But I'm not sure how to figure this out if my wrists are still larger from extra weight. I'm not sure if there's a way to tell at this point, but I'm kind of a planner and it's nice to have some sort of idea. Plus, I've always wondered "Am I really big-boned?"

You're right, I pretty much know my body shape. Kinda apple/straight. Not the best, but not bad for me.

[HotChildInTheCity]

Maybe you can get the answer to your question in the local gym (I think they can tell you that when they measure your body fat percentage)
And don't be so worried with the weight itself, mirror counts, not the scale

[brooksrm]

I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I've also heard about measuring ankles. I've been taking measurements on and off (not routine like my weigh-ins) but for example, where I've lost 7 inches in my belly in the past year and a half, my ankle circumference has reliably been at 9 inches. I never kept track of my wrist circumference, so I don't know how it compares. And while I sometimes have swelling in my feet, I don't usually around the smallest part of my ankle.

This page might help a little, if you feel that you can use that measurement. http://www.futrex.com/faq/Selecting%20Frame%20Size.pdf It's not the best, but the best I could find online at a quick glance.

This site also has elbow breadth information. I'll post a link how to measure it as well.
http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/reload.pl
http://www.icb2001.com/What_You_Should_Weigh.asp

[Dianne042425]

Ive always wondered this too. I am confused though, according to my wrists which measure 5.75 I have a small frame. However, according to my ankles which measure 8, I have a medium frame. So how do I know which one I am?!

[kaplods]

There's a lot of variation in bone shape, size and density - there is no "standard," you can have larger than average leg bones and smaller than average arm bones (or any other combination). So "which do I have," may not be a simple question to answer.

I don't think it matters, because there is no "magic number" for your weight (regardless of what height/weight charts imply). Instead, you'll determine your ideal weight based on how you look and feel.

Bone and muscle can both affect "ideal weight," making it hard to determine ideal weight, but I think between the mirror, the scale and your commons sense you can find the weight you feel best at through trial and error (and if you think you can't determint that on your own, you can get feedback from your doctor).

[redlight]

I wouldn't be concerned so much about your frame size now. When you've lost some weight, you can always readjust your target.