My husband was looking over my shoulder and noticed my goal weight... and told me he thinks I'll be too thin at 160... The chart my doctor gave me lists a high weight for a 23 year old woman of my height at 155, though? I'm so confused! When I met my husband I was about 180 and a size 10-12... I looked FAB. I'm afraid I'm going to obsess over it and let myself get too thin. Or is it even possible for me to be under 180? It's my lowest recorded weight since elementary school. 155 seems kind of a low for a high weight?! Sorry if this post was totally confusing... This is hard! I've never been "thin"... maybe I'm afraid of that?

I am 5'7 and the doctors chart listed a high weight for me to be 159, so it would seem that at your height that your weight could be higher than 155. You might try looking at a BMI calculator to know what the appropriate range would be. My range was 128-159 and I chose a "middle of the road" goal. I don't know the link for the BMI calculator but I'm sure someone else will. I am 46 yr's old , so not sure if this makes the difference or not.

Well the general rule of thumb I have heard is 5 feet = 100 pounds and every inch after is 5-10 depending on bone structure. So at 5'9, 145-190 should be a safe weight. In the long run it boils down to what you feel comfy with!

I know my heigh weigh is 140ish. I am aiming for 130 and have had a few people tell me they think that will be too thin. But I want to be at a healthy weight and of course I want to look good. I try not to worry about it and figure as long as I am at a healthy weight (and dont look sick) then I am okay. I want to see what 130 looks like. If I get there and think I look too small - I know how to gain weight. But I want to reach my goal and adjust from there.

But I think you are right on the afraid of being thin - you need to get to where you are happy not everyone else Why dont you get to 160 and then decided? But in the mean time, just keep plugging away!

Thanks ladies! I think my doctor is a little skinny obsessed... it might be time to switch. I think I look fine but he's not very nice about it! I'll just keep it up and see how I feel when I get there, and adjust accordingly .

Goals of any kind are a bit tricky especially if you don't remember ever being there.
You pretty much have to pick something to use a ticker or fitday.com etc ... but ... I think most of us would be happy at whatever weight we get to, if we fit nicely into clothing (no camoflage shapes ya know?), there's no flab hanging out, we can wear those brown slacks even if we have no control top hose ... that sort of thing.
There's also the difference between being a light weight and being a nice fit slimness ...
It's probably another case of wait and see

I don't think thats unrealistic. Your still in the overweight range and i think the healthy weight for some one who is 5'9" is between 135-160 (thats what i think i remember, my mom is the same height and i looked it up for her once) Just don't look at your long term goal and just focus on your next short goal and see how it goes and how you are liking your body. Anyways good luck

I'm a little shorter than you, 5'8", and my goal weight is 150. I'm extremely athletic, and have never been lower than 161.. but I figure, why not just go for it? If you get to 160, and don't feel comfortable being that skinny, gain a few more. Just go for it!

-Aimee

ValRock, do whatever feels right to you. My Doctor is a little "skinny obsessed" too. Last time I saw him, I weighed 147 and he hinted that I should try to keep losing more weight. Then he said "now, you're 5'4 right" and I said "No, I'm 5'7", so he was pressuring me to lose more and didn't even know how tall I was or that my BMI was at 22% now.

Well, I'm 5'3'' and my goal is 130 - 135. I could be incredibly happy at 125 or 128... or even as low as 120. That would be nice, but in my eyes, not very realistic FOR ME.

I'm 165 now, and looking quite the chubbo. No m'am, not impressed! Plus, it's HARD to find clothes that fit that actually look good, and don't make me look "too frumpy" or "too cowish" or "too sackish". When I was 138 last summer/fall, I was able to wear some really nice clothes, and I really felt that I looked good. And more importantly I FELT FABULOUS.

Fat feels bad.

I'm only 5'3" and now weigh 145. Still 4 1/2 pounds too much for my "highest normal weight". But I am happy here, I can wear 7 and 9's in juniors and 8 petites in misses. At 42, I think I might just stay here and quit trying for an unrealisticly low weight (for me). Every time I've gotten down to the 110's and 12o's I've always managed to jump right back up closer to this range.

Get a new doctor!!!

Wow you are doing a great job! Skinny or fat depends on so many things. What is your bone structure? Are you really muscular? Do you naturally have a really curvy shape? What is your body fat percentage? Do you want to be trim and toned or just hit a certain number? The number of pounds your body weighs is only part of the story. As we all know, two people at the same height and weight can look totally different! One can look flabby and the other trim depending on all of these factors. Since you getting so close to your goal, I would start thinking about whether or not you are "overfat" and pay attention to the shape and tone of your body. Someone recently used the visual of picturing 160 pounds of marshmallows versus 160 pounds of lean chicken... which would you rather be? They weigh the same but gosh the marshmallows would probably take up a whole room! Here is a photo showing the difference of 5 pounds of fat versus 5 pounds of muscle...

All of that is so true! I *think* I have a rather large frame. I'm hesitant to say that because I know there are women who say that until they've lost the weight and realize they are really rather tiny LOL. But, at the weight I'm at now my hip bones stick out the bottom of my ribs show... there's a pretty definate distinction there actually and I could carve meat on my collar bones. I'm also pretty muscular... I've always done a little weight training and walked/ran so I know the muscle tone is there, and that's probably effecting my weight a bit. Is there a way to test what kind of bone structure you have?

I don't know how accurate this is, especially for anyone who is overweight and might be carrying fat on their wrists or ankles... but here are some guidelines:

Ways to determine if your bones are small, average, or big. Measure around your wrist and around your ankle, then compare those measurements to the following charts:

Wrist Measurement

Small boned = 5 1/2 inches or less
Medium boned = 5 1/2 inches to 6 inches
Large boned = 6 inches or more

Ankle Measurement

Small boned = 8 inches or under
Medium boned = 8 inches to 9 inches
Large boned = 9 inches or more

My guess is this works best if you are at or near your goal weight. However keep in mind this is only part of the picture. I am pretty small boned however my hips and rib cage and shoulders are set very wide. My friend has the same size wrists and ankles as I do but she has the teeniest shoulders and hip bone and rib cage width. I could never be as tiny as she is... if I did my bones would be jutting out.