Starting out on the road not the gym

[Teddy]

I really like the idea of using a combination of how you feel, your performance and your overall health as indicators to your ideal weight. I think weight as a number is so much less important than taking all factors into consideration. So, your ideal weight may be far different than that of someone who is the same height and age - and may even change over time. Bone density and size, muscle mass, athletic performance goals all have bearing on what each person's ideal weight will be. Perhaps as you start working toward your ideal weight, you can gauge how you feel and if your overall performance goals are being met along the way. That way you can work towards a goal that is geared toward how you feel and how you perform and your overall wellness, and not so much a hard and fast number on the scale.

I have gone back and forth with the whole weight issue all my life. And I would be lying if I said I never bought into the idea of an "ideal weight". For most of my life, I have been pretty fit and active, but have at different times carried quite a bit more muscle (tried body building), less muscle (was a professional stunt woman), a lot less muscle (aspirations of being a professional kickboxer) and then a lot less muscle and a lot more fat (combo of aging and a very high stress work environment). Now, at the age of 44, I weigh in the neighborhood of 118 to 120 lbs. (I'm 5'3"). I rarely get on a scale and it makes me laugh when people are shocked to hear that I weigh 120 lbs. I suppose that seems heavy for my size (I'm small boned and have a small frame), but my body fat is around 12%, and my resting HR is about 38 BPM. It's funny because I think a lot of people view my physique as not very attractive. I have muscular legs and arms and I have begun to get pretty vascular. I sometimes notice people staring at me and not necessarily in a good way, but I don't really mind. I think I look just like I want to look, I am fit and strong, and more importantly I feel terrific. So, perhaps try to forget about the number on the scale. Your ideal weight is achieved when you feel great, perform great and are in excellent health.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well, the statement is categorical (regardless of whether or not you explicitly identify the view as your own) because you've applied the characterizations "too thin" and "having no muscle" to an entire category of persons (those 5'5"ish and 120 lbs), without admitting the possibility of exception. There are a lot of folks generally in that category and some of them (me) might object to being thus characterized. (Plus if you saw me, you wouldn't be tempted to call me those things).
However, I'm in complete agreement with the general view that it's much more important to be healthy and strong than it is to be thin.

It's good to be able to express opinions here, and it's also good to be able to object to them!

[RolliePollie]

I am finding that I carry my weight differently than I did when I was in my early to mid-twenties. And I also care a lot less about what the scale says because I've never been in such good shape. I am 33 years old, 5'6", and about 148 lbs. I wear a size 8 in pants and a small/medium for tops. Here is what fascinates me...when I was in my early 20's, I weighed 130 and I wore a size 8. Now I realize that clothes sizing may have changed somewhat in the last 10 years or so, but if you look at pictures of me then and now, I actually look smaller now. I think I could stand to lose about 10 pounds, but in general, I'm pretty happy with how my body looks. That is definitely not something I would've said when I was in my 20's!

I have a co-worker who is my same height and says she weighs 125. If you put us side-by-side, we look about the same size. Except she has a chest and I don't, and my legs are bigger. That's over 20 pounds difference, so where is my body carrying that weight? My legs aren't THAT much bigger than hers. Interestingly, my mom worked for an OB/GYN for 15 years. She weighed all the patients, and she says she could never accurately guess someone's weight. She said sometimes she'd be shocked that someone weighed so much, or conversely, that they weighed so little. So I guess it's just a very individual thing. I know muscle weighs more than fat, so I'm giving cycling all the credit for my increased weight and apparently descreased size!

[short cut sally]

I am 5.5, and 147 #'s, and 40 (yikes to age and weight), before I started biking I had lost weight from 180 to 136 ish, then biking (and junk food) returned to my life, along with the 10#'s. I've maintained that 147ish for almost 1 1/2 years. I am very pear shaped, always have been. Was told once by a medical student that I had the perfect birthing hips and I was wasting them by not having any children. I do agree that society pushes the fashion to be pencil thin and the younger folks look up to that and feel they have to look like that to fit in to society. When I was in high school, I so wanted to be pencil thin. Now, I am happy with how I look, okay, I still wouldn't pass up a free trip to the surgeon for some lipo, I will be truthful. Sad though, those models that portray that look smoke and drink caffeine non stop and scant amounts of food all day, probably along with inplants and injections, how is that healthy? Every person has a different body structure, how they carry their weight, and how they perceive themselves. I think if you are getting out there and exercising, feel good about yourself, and are enjoying what you are doing, that should be what really matters.

[sundial]

Oh, to be a size 8 again. Sigh.

[KnottedYet]

I'm 5'8" and weigh 155 or so. I would LOVE to see someone in the fashion industry design clothes that fit MUSCULAR women!

I had high hopes for things like LuluLemon and Athleta and Columbia and REI, since they portray themselves as "sports" clothes first I thought they'd fit over muscles. Uh, no. They fit over skinny lil' butts. Not powerful haunches like mine. Or broad shoulders like mine. And they gap at waists like mine.

I have had good luck with Horny Toad and Ibex, and Levis men's 560 and 501 jeans. And believe it or not, Coldwater Creek.

"Big" thighs are signs of POWER, which our current societal desperate-to-go-back-to-the-good-old-days fixation doesn't value. So fashion isn't going to support it.

Ignore the fanstasy-fixation that surrounds us! Love your power! Honor your biker's thighs!

[LaDolceVita]

My $.02 is that you need to learn how to measure your body fat. It's more about measuring your body than what you weigh, what and how much you eat and how you exercise. I would recommend getting calipers to measure your body fat over the digital body fat scales. They'll give you a different reading every time. I did the Body for Life program for four years and had great results.

[LadyinWhite]

I'm 5'5 and I weigh about 165. I say that with pride Yep, a whopping 165. I used to weigh 211 - then I changed my lifestyle. The biggest change I've made is accepting the fact that I weigh 165 and feeling like that's OK.

I'm not a competitive rider, I don't ride with a group, I ride just for me. I definately gain a few lbs when I have to take a break from riding due to work/family or most recently back injury. I also lose it again as soon as I get back into a regular schedule of riding.

For me, the fact that I eat healthy, that I'm fit (Yep, fit at 165.), I can run, I can breath, my cardio strength constantly surprises me and I know I can hop on a bike and ride for 30 - 50 miles @ 14mph avg speed and feel just fine - THAT's what it's all about !!!

Maybe - someday - I'll get down to 150 but who cares if I do or don't. (my lightest weight in my life was 135 and that was with diet and running EVERY DAY - it was exhausting to maintain!) My doc is so proud of me and gives me a big thumbs up every time I see her.

And you know what else? I feel sexy as hell. I'm curvy in all the right places and I love it! Yes - my thighs are disproportionately large and where I carry the remaining extra lbs - but I have sweet muscle definition and did I mention I'm HEALTHY??? LOLOL

42yo - I'm alllll about being healthy!! My vote is thin or not so thin - find a place where you can truly be happy with who you are, as you are. Who cares what other's think? Life's too short

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lady in white-
RIGHT ON!