Relax. This is an anonymous poll.

how should i know? how much am i supposed to weigh if i'm about 5'6?

Up to about 150 wouldn't be considered overweight.

I go through cycles- at times I decide that I'm going to watch my diet, exercise, etc. in order to make it easier to find a shidduch, at others I decide it's either going to happen when it has to or not at all and I do quite a bit comfort eating.
Personally I think (at least from a distance or without another person as a point of reference) I look better when I'm overweight... I sometimes think losing weight just makes me look too tall. (I've mentioned I'm 6', right?)

No you didn't. I always imagined you as someone petite. Go figure.

But I definitely know people who look better slightly overweight. Especially people with long or angular faces; they look much better when their faces are somewhat rounded rather than that hollow look.

I don't believe you have. Wow. You should play basketball.

BTW, your new avatar is cute.

As for me, I'm on the high end of normal. When I'm in a good mood, I think my weight is "average." When I'm in a bad mood, I think I'm fat.

then theoretically i'm between 5-10 pounds overweight, but i don't consider myself overweight

Sounds like you're within normal range. For sure nothing to worry about.

Height and weight are not the ideal determinants for whether one is overweight or not.

It is more about percentage of body fat. You can be 4'8, weigh 200 pounds, yet be at 5% body fat. And you'll be fit as a horse! Conversely, you can be 6'5, weigh 150 pounds, and be at 40% body fat, and you'll be ... well...really fat

i'm not worried

what's body fat - has to do with bone structure? cause someone who has narrow (small?) bones might look fit while her friend (the same height and weight but big bones) - will look more fat.

i also read somewhere that age matters as well.

Mods - there's something wrong with this poll. It doesn't seem to be working properly. Its says over 3 quarters of the voters are not overweight or barely overweight...

"I'm not fat, I'm big-boned"-Eric Cartman

No, the body fat percentage is the (weight of fat) / (total body weight).

Your total body weight is basically : fat + muscle + water + organs/bones/etc

Given that organs/bones/etc and water content are relatively constant (if within normal range), then what varies is your muscle mass and fat.

So if you have 10% body fat, that means that around 90% is non-fat, and perhaps something like 80% or so is muscle. The really fit athletes (male) have body fat % in the single digits.



A big boned person with low body fat % and therefore high muscle %, will look very fit.

how would a regular person know his/her fat weight?

There are several methods of measuring it. One (though not very reliable one) is through a body fat scale. You can get it for like $40.

There are other methods that are more reliable/accurate but require more sophisticated machinery.

ok, thanks. i'll keep on believing i'm not overweight

I'm definitely not overweight but still need to get rid of 7-10 lbs (it sounds better in kilos). (I think I had too much ice cream in the 8th-9th month...)

I'm with Blue. Not overweight but that doesn't mean I like the number I see ..

Better get rid of them fast... I put on just 5 pounds with each kid but I'm now up to 30!

People are DEFINITELY lying...
Or they have a creative definition of "overweight"...

I could gain 10-15 pounds and still not be overweight.

Much healthier this way...

Better than the people who weigh 125 complaining they're 30 pounds overweight.

or could be like me - not knowing they are technically overweight. i would definitely have voted "not overweight" if didn't ask first.

I'm just skeptical given that such a large portion of the general population is not only overweight, but obese.....

Then again, with the new age food you people eat, maybe it IS accurate...

You should only lose weight if it is something you want and something you are happy to live with.


If you are 5'6 you can technically weigh 154.9 and still be 'normal'. 25-29.9 is overweight and 30 and above is varying levels of obesity.

Did I mention that I hate you?

See above. You are likely not technically overweight

To answer the original question-I'm about 50 lbs over normal weight but I'd like to lose about 80 to be skinny. Happy now K-Rebbe?

too late - i voted "up to 10 lb" already. let's make KR happy

I already knew YOU were fat

aww, gee thanks, I love you too!

What's love got to do with it???

I'm 6'2" and 225, I could lose 40 pounds.

Eli

I lost 88lbs from August 03- December 04, , but have put some back again (about 28) and I am NOT happy, even though people say I still look great. At the lowest weight I felt great but people said I looked scrawny. I think when you're a bit older like me you need a bit of weight on you. Just a bit

congratulations. It takes a lot of work to lose that amount of weight.

Doesn't this remind you of that survey when 90% or so voted they were amongst the most intelligent 25% of h.com or something...

For the record, when I have dieted I eat a high carb diet and all normal food.

I don't know you or what you look like, but from my experience, and from what I hear, the experience of most people who started out with a significant amount of weight to lose, people view you very differently when you lose weight. They think you are skinnier than you are and tell you to stop losing. I lost between 65 and 75 lbs so far (fluctuating) and people are telling me to stop losing soon despite the fact that I can lose about another 80. I guess people just don't view formerly fat people on the same scales they view skinny people.

(ftr, for all those who think I looked like a hippo based on these #'s, well you're right, but people used to think I needed to lose in the 70-80 pound range to be skinny. I wasn't as big as you'd think from these #'s!)

Same here. I'm just under 5'4" and weighed in this morning at 127. According to the current height/weight chart (http://www.rush.edu/rumc/page-1108048103230.html) I'm ok, but I would like to get down to 120.

My first fiancée was around 5'-4" and 128#, and I thought she looked perfect.

Here's an excellent idea for people looking for a good diet:
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/exchange-stud...227152009990001

How sweet. Still, I'm training to run a marathon and I know from experience that dropping a little weight will improve my chances of finishing in under 6 hours.

I'm actually surprised at how true that statement is. Embarrassingly enough I can count on the fingers of one hand (k, maybe 2) the amount of times I worked out since I started losing weight, yet the few times I went on my treadmill recently I was able to walk significantly faster for longer periods of time, and I always thought I was quite fit for my size!

Try carrying around 2- 5 pound weights everywhere you go for a day and see how you feel..... Then make the calculations what and extra 80 lbs does to you....

Also being fat in general makes you tired, the thing i hear most from people who lose a lot of weight is how much energy they suddenly have....

I don't know. Maybe that has to do with age. I don't feel like I have more energy. Maybe I just have a bad memory or maybe the more energy aspect didn't kick in yet but I always felt fine and I bh still do (though I loved sleeping and still do lol).

When I had lost the full 88lbs I looked fine and was a good weight for my height. I don't listen to people now who tell me I look great when I know I have to lose those 28lbs again.