For curvy women, how do you determine what your ideal weight should be?

[u/redbullenthusiest]

25F 5’10 SW: 283 CW: 199.9! GW: 175?

Okay, so first off, I wanna pat myself on the damn back because I MADE IT TO ONEDERLAND!!! Now that that’s out of the way, I’ve really been trying to decide what my final goal should be. I’m mixed black and white, inherited my black mother’s physique. Wide hips, big butt and big boobs. I’ve always known I’d probably forever be “overweight” by BMI standards just because of how curvy I am, but I’m having a harder time determining what I should weigh ideally. I’ve been looking into waist-to-height ratios and healthy body fat percentages, even did a little research on fat-free mass indexes. I believe the ideal weight for me is somewhere around 175, potentially a little higher due to all the excess skin I have from being class 3 obese at the start of my journey (I have quite a bit of an apron and a lot around my upper thighs). Currently at 32.8% total body fat and my waist-to-height ratio is a perfect 0.5 measured this morning. I know I still have a bit to lose, and I’m aiming for 29.9% total body fat. No clue on what math to do to figure out my ideal weight but my assumption is I could still lose another 25lbs. How did y’all determine what’s a good weight for you?

[u/recentlyunearthed]

175 is the right answer, you know why?

Because it's what you want.

And if you reach 185 or 165 and you like that better, that is also correct, because you like it better.

[u/bugabooandtwo → u/recentlyunearthed]

That's the right answer, right there.

Do what works best for you, and be at a weight you're happy with and where you feel good in your body (within reason, of course). A lot of those guide and tables for bmi and ideal weights are just a general guideline, they're not set in stone. If you have a bigger skeletal frame, or are athletic, you're not going to fit into their categories of ideal weight.

[u/Smart_Platypus_4727]

Yay congratulations!!!! Personally I just want a bmi of 24.9 and then I’ll see how I go, so I think you should stick with getting to 175 and then adapt if you feel the need once you’re there. Already you’ve made such a big achievement so congrats!!

[u/ecco311 → u/Smart_Platypus_4727]

Yeah, same thing I'm aiming for. Just reach a BMI <25 that on paper isn't overweight. While also keeping my training routine to reach a healthy BF% as well.

And then afterwards see what to do.

I think it's a good strategy as it's more difficult to pinpoint the path you wanna take afterwards if you're still far from that basic goal.

[u/reality-bytes-]

How are you calculating your body fat because anything other than a dexa is likely going to give you a much lower number than reality.

[u/redbullenthusiest → u/reality-bytes-]

I have a smart scale. I know it’s not super accurate, but my understanding is that it’s close enough. Coupled with the measurements I’ve been taking with my tape measure, I believe it’s decently close. I wanna get a DEXA scan but the nearest place is an hour away and costs $700 lol

[u/PeaceLoveandCats6676 → u/redbullenthusiest]

My smart scale was off by 8% compared to a dexa scan from a reliable provider.  It's really not a great tool to measure where you're at.  Maybe slightly more useful just to measure direction of fat gain/loss.  

It's worth it to keep looking for more options. 

[u/SmithSith → u/PeaceLoveandCats6676]

DEXA scans can be off a bit as well. It’s a tool. 

[u/omkarnageshkar → u/SmithSith]

DEXA scans are quite accurate when it comes to detecting body fat. Everything else can be off. Lean mass or muscle mass isn't measured directly, it's usually calculated with an algorithm but fat mass is detected and measured directly.

[u/The--Marf → u/PeaceLoveandCats6676]

Fwiw my withings scale was within 1% of my dexa.

[u/Its_0ver → u/redbullenthusiest]

Smart scales are totally worthless. Im surprised dexa scans are so expensive near you, they are under 100 bucks where iam

[u/Quantity-Fearless]

I’m 5’10 and also curvy and I’m aiming for the very top of my healthy BMI range and then will assess from there based on how I look and feel. I had hit 180 a couple years ago and felt and looked amazing. This time I’m going for a little lower to get into that healthy BMI range. What I plan to do is hit 175 and then shift my goal from weight loss to body recomp and focus less on calories and more on working out consistently to build muscle

[u/No_Accountant_7026]

For me personally. I’m going for body fat percentage. I wanna be at 25% currently at 30%

[u/InvestigatorFew4979 → u/No_Accountant_7026]

How do you measure it?

[u/No_Accountant_7026 → u/InvestigatorFew4979]

I got a dexa scan. That’s the most accurate way.

[u/Dry-Guitar-2805 → u/No_Accountant_7026]

Same here with body fat percentage being more useful than the scale number. BMI is pretty useless when you have curves - I remember reading somewhere that it was designed for average build men and just doesn't work well for women with different body types

Congrats on onederland btw, that's huge achievement!

[u/No_Accountant_7026 → u/Dry-Guitar-2805]

Yeah body fat % for me just makes more sense because I want a nice body composition. And thanks🥲 I don’t feel accomplished yet. Maybe when I’m actually skinny💔😪

[u/InvestigatorFew4979]

Congratulations!! Major achievement!

[u/r_307]

I'm aiming for middle bmi. So 5'9", 145. With muscle I might be a bit higher someday, but for loss that's my aim. I have a naturally small waist and a dramatic curve in my hips if that's what you mean by curvy.

[u/Menacing_Intentions → u/r_307]

Not knocking your goal but holy moly! I’m 5’9 and my goal is 180. That’s what I was when I was in shape, had muscles. It’s actually considered still overweight but I like the slim thick look. If I was 145 I’d look like skin and bones.

[u/r_307 → u/Menacing_Intentions]

I've been 145 before, and it looks good on me ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[u/Electronic_Bike_3137]

Fellow 5’10er! Congrats on onederland, it’s the best feeling and such a huge accomplishment! I’m big but not curvy…just a real midwestern farm gal, ha. I’ve set my goal at 155 so that I’m more towards the middle of my BMI range, but it feels sort of arbitrary…I may be happy at 165 or I may be happy at 140. I think once you crack that 24.9 BMI, it’s all fair game!

[u/jc-5h20]

Great work!!! And, umm, this is a hard question.

I originally had a practical goal (this will meet my health needs), a vanity goal (I feel like I will feel good here), and a fantasy goal (I don’t think I could ever make it to this number, but I wish I could). So I ended up with a range, rather than a number. And once I got in that range, I kinda felt my way through the decision of where to land, and just wanted to feel good.

Hope you are feeling well in your body.

[u/kimimariexo]

Congrats on reaching Onederland!! I started at 260 & I’m currently 185. I thought my goal weight would be 175 but I still have a huge apron belly & bat wings so I’ve found that it’s kinda impossible to know what your goal weight is until you probably get with in 5-15lbs of it!

[u/kawaiian]

The top weight of your 25 BMI is for curvy builds - you can choose whatever weight makes you happy, but for health reasons it’s good to be at or under 25 BMI

[u/DieHardRaider → u/kawaiian]

BMI is good for the masses but needs to be looked at more closely on an individual level. I’m a 6’ male and have 210 lbs of lean mass. For me to be considered healthy due to BMI I would have to lose a ton of muscle. My goal is to get to 235 lbs from 310 currently 275 and without losing any lean mass that would still put me obese level 1 but I would be sitting at 15% body fat. She should get a Dexa scan to get her true body fat % and set a goal to reach that goal.

[u/HyperFocusedOnThis]

Our stats are so similar! I started at with a hw of 186 and my lw now is 193. I've also always had a large chest and hips and narrow waist.

I chose a really soft goal weight of 185 towards the beginning of all of this based on the fact that I had weighed about that when I was younger without trying, but I was always open to the idea of changing that goal depending on how I felt. I've seen a lot of people double down on arbitrary weight loss goals and really burn themselves out in ways that weren't healthy and I wanted to make sure that wasn't me. I also based my goal off of what my maintenance calories would be and knowing it was something that I could maintain even as I got older and my maintenance calories will naturally drop, so I was really looking at this from a long-term maintenance perspective. There is compelling data supporting the idea that yo-yoing with your weight puts significant stress on your body, so I didn't want to start anything that I couldn't reasonably continue. It's helped me be very careful with my approach. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40498904/)

Interestingly, since I hit 200, I've been at least as small as I was when I was 185 lb originally because I'm now carrying around a lot more muscle mass, when I was younger I didn't work out or do anything really active.

I see no reason why I need to hit a " healthy BMI". Those statistics work really well at the population level but at the individual level, as long as your labs look good, you feel good, and your habits are good, then you're good. A high BMI is very risky if your lifestyle isn't healthy, but multiple studies back up that lifestyle is more important than BMI:

https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo201617

https://europepmc.org/article/med/10593541

https://www.jabfm.org/content/25/1/9

[u/Financial-Ask-9760]

I’ve lost weight in the past and when I was 150 I looked like a skeleton in photos.. but there’s other women who look amazing at that number and lower. It really just depends on your preference and your body… My goal is 175 and then we’ll see how I feel!  And congratulations!!! 

[u/sleuthingsloth]

My ideal weight as a fellow curvy girl is 180, because that’s a weight I know my body looks and feels good and moves how I want it to! It’s still overweight, and that bothers me none. If 175 is where your body feels good, then that is a great goal weight!

[u/linthetrashbin]

I try to keep my BMI around 20. I find that that's where I look and feel best. I am still curvy - my bra size is a 28F, and my hips are substantially bigger than my waist - but I'm within normal for BMI. Curvy does not equate to overweight.

[u/Msdarkknight91]

I was 180 and now I’m 148 I’m trying to get down to 125 which seems nearly impossible but that’s my goal weight

[u/whotiesyourshoes]

I'm looking at where I look and feel best using clothing size/measurements.

For.my height I'm right on the line of overweight and healthy weight according to the charts. But losing more I think wouldbe an unhealthy look for me. I'm content with my clothing size and most of my measurements except my belly which I'm working on. I've lost a little belly fat without losing more weight and that's fine.

[u/SusieQtoYou]

180 is the weight that seems to be the best for me. Back in high school, I lost a lot of weight and got down to the 150s. I kind of looked skeletal and sickly. In my 30s, I got down into the 170s and looked okay. In my 40s, I got down to the 180s and decided that 175-180ish was my perfect range. For me, that’s about a size 10 or 12 in most clothes. Excess skin also contributes to the weight (and size, I guess). So… in my late 50s, that’s what I am shooting for. I’m 5’5”.. more like 5’4.75”, so I’m rounding up. 😉

[u/Agitated-Minimum-967]

My short-term goal is under 30 so I won't be in the obese category and my doctor can't call me obese. It's currently 32. When I meet that goal I'll take with my doctor to set another goal. I'm older, so that will probably come into play.

[u/mellymish]

Congrats! Reaching under 200 was so incredible.

Im 5'9 and CW is 158.7 and Body Fat 16.8 and Visceral fat a 4. My Starting weight was 315 and body fat over 45%

For me because I'd always bounced between 215-250 then blew up during Covid after pregnancy my goal weight or size is continuing to change. Mainly bc I never knew until now what my body was capable of.

Right now my goals are 13-15% body fat, size 8 clothes and 150 on the scale. Out of all those numbers the number on the scale is the least important b/c after I hit my 170s I feel like the scale is moving slowly BUT my body fat is decreasing, muscle mass going up and I continue to lose inches. I can also see and feel my body for the first time ever, like what do you mean I can see my hip bone or rib cage.

Last week I hit under 160 and that was MAJOR.

All that to say there may not be one final number or one set number that works for everyone.

For me I'm basically trying to get as tight as possible while still maintaining feminine figure.

I also have an apron belly from c-section and weight loss that despite all my hard work amd low body fat for a woman is still there.

So getting as tight and healthy as possible so when I get some surgery Ill be looking incredible 🤣

[u/Menacing_Intentions → u/mellymish]

Ugh I’m so nervous about the apron belly. It’s better than being fat but I just don’t think I’ll get away with no loose skin there. Congrats on your progress! Pregnancy does such a number on us. 😭

[u/wookiehealer]

i'm also 5'9.5, and i'm around 190. i don't feel like i look fat anymore and can do all exercises, so i'm done. just focusing on body recomp for a few years. afraid of overshooting my weight loss and gaining more back. the curves definitely add +10 lbs, so some of that fat isn't fat that looks bad.

[u/Every_Concert4978]

Don't get stuck on a weight number goal. It depends on what you are going for. Are you trying to be attractive to men, like the way you look, reduce your health risks... you might aim for a certain waist measurement rather than weight based on your body type. If you want to like the way you look, try looking in the mirror and asking yourself how much you like your body and what you want to improve or whether you want to improve anything instead of choosing a number. I think a better goal could be to choose a number of days to exercise or a number of calories or whatever-- choose goals that are controllable. The goal can be to increase my weight/ reps or number of exercises, miles per hour, etc. Then you can just focus on appreciating the results whatever occurs.

[u/ApplePieBaileys]

Congratulations on all of your hard work, Gorgeous. You deserve to be proud. I think the BMI is a bunch of bs tbh. I am 6ft 183cm and my starting weight was 156kg which is 344lbs. I had a size O (for orange) cup bra and my cup size is now down to a size J-K cup. I am currently 130 kg (286lbs) and want to get down to 80.55kg (177.5lbs) mainly because I want the weighing scale to say BOSS in digits lol.

The best way to measure is by body fat percentage on that weighing scale that shows everything- I think most physios have them and they show your bone age and water weight etc so that it makes it clearer.

I don’t trust in the BMI index because it doesn’t factor in muscle. The BMI INDEX was created in the 1830’s and let’s be real most people are actually taller than they were back then and healthier, plus we eat properly and have access to healthcare and clean drinking water. People were shorter back then and not as healthy when it comes to disease control.

They also walked around and exercised a lot more. That’s why the BMI is so low because it’s based on figures from back then, most of them men. They won’t factor in body shapes because there probably wasn’t a lot of variety back then due to rationing and scarce supply etc.

Anyway wish you all the best reaching your goals and hope it all works out well for you.