Twinkle,

Please understand that it is not a matter of what might seem normal to me. Companies such as the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company have spent a great deal of time, effort and money looking at what are healthy weight ranges that lead to the longest life span? Why? Because they are gambling on being able to know how long people will live so that they can set their life insurance premiums and terms accordingly. Just as a casino knows that it can play the odds and win over time provided it has a very good knowledge of what those odds are, so too do life insurance companies know that they will win over time if they know the longevity odds for people well enough.

Their weight tables yield the following:

Height without shoes = 5' 1"
Small Frame: 105 to 119 pounds
Medium Frame: 115 to 129 pounds
Large Frame: 125 to 140 pounds

Your frame size or body build is determined by the thickness of the bones in your elbows, knees, ankles, and wrists. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company offers this method of determining your body frame size: Extend your arm and bend your forearm upward at a 90 degree angle. With your fingers straight, turn the inside of your wrist toward your body. Place your thumb and index finger of the other hand on the two prominent bones of the elbow. Measure the space between the fingers against a ruler or a tape measure. Compare your measurement with the figures in the table below. Elbow measurements less than those given indicate a small frame; greater measurements indicate a large frame.


Women

Height without shoes .......Elbow Breadth for Medium Frame
4'9" to 5'2".........................2 1/4" to 2 1/2"

To find the points to measure your elbow between, form a U cradle out of your right arm and grasp your left arm (if that's the one sticking up) underneath the bicep. Slide your right hand down until you feel the two knobs of bone protruding sideways at the elbow. You want to measure the breadth of these two bones at their widest point.

Another means of estimating frame size is to measure the circumference of the wrist since there is seldom much fat there. For your height, the wrist measurement for a medium framed woman is 5.5" to 5.75".

Now, the above tables are for women that are 25 to 59. I do realize that you are younger than that. I also realize that a given individual's ideal weight may not be reflected by any given table very well.

But they are a good guide and unless you are extremely small framed you should consult a nutritionist about this issue. Don't go by what you or your family or your friends "feel" is fat. Don't go by what your "skinny" friends weigh - those skinny friends may very well be underweight and damaging their own health, too. Being 10% underweight can have serious health consequences.

Ask yourself why you won't just go see a doctor or nutritionist to find out what a good target weight for YOU is. Could it be because you suspect that they will tell you a higher weight than you have convinved yourself it "right" for you? If so, that is a sure sign of an unhealthy approach to your weight.

I knew two girls in high school and one in college that were rail thin and absolutely adamant that they were either at the proper weight or were still a little fat. Two of those three girls are now dead. The last I heard of the third she had finally gotten treatment after nearly dying herself and is now doing great.

Like Dizzy, I am offering this unsolicited and don't know if any of it applies to you. But we offer this information because we are concerned and do care, albeit we are strangers who never have and almost certainly never will meet.