So, you’re 5'8". In the world of women’s heights, that’s statistically tall—roughly the 90th percentile in the United States. You’ve probably spent years looking over the heads of your friends at concerts, but when it comes to the doctor’s office, being "above average" makes those generic weight charts feel kinda useless. Determining the appropriate weight for 5'8 female isn't as simple as hitting a single number on a digital scale. It’s a moving target.
Honestly, the "perfect" weight is a myth.
Body composition matters way more than the total mass pushing down on a spring. A 140-pound woman with low muscle mass might actually have more health risks than a 165-pound woman who hits the squat rack three times a week. We’ve been conditioned to chase a specific digit, but that digit doesn't account for bone density, hydration, or where you actually store your fat.
The BMI Problem and the 5'8 Reality
Let's look at the standard metrics first, just to get them out of the way. The Body Mass Index (BMI) suggests that for a woman who is 5'8", the "normal" range is roughly 122 to 164 pounds.
That’s a massive 42-pound gap.
If you weigh 125 pounds, you’re technically healthy according to the CDC, but you might look incredibly thin and lack the functional strength to carry groceries. If you’re 160 pounds, you’re nearing the "overweight" threshold, yet you might be a size 6 with a visible six-pack. BMI was created in the 1830s by a Belgian mathematician named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. He wasn't even a doctor. He was looking at populations, not individuals.
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For a 5'8" woman, the BMI often fails because it doesn't distinguish between the weight of your femur and the weight of visceral fat. Tall women usually have heavier skeletal structures. Your bones literally weigh more. If you have a "large frame"—which you can test by wrapping your thumb and middle finger around your wrist—the standard charts might label you as overweight when you’re actually at your physiological peak.
Why frame size changes everything
Go ahead and try the wrist test. If your fingers overlap, you have a small frame. If they just touch, you’re medium. If there’s a gap? You’ve got a large frame. A 5'8" woman with a large frame will naturally and healthily carry 10% to 15% more weight than her small-framed counterpart. This isn't an excuse; it's biology.
What the medical community says about appropriate weight for 5'8 female
Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, often points out that our brains actually regulate our weight in a specific range, known as the "set point." For many 5'8" women, that set point might be 155 pounds. Trying to force that body down to 130 pounds—the lower end of the "appropriate" range—can actually trigger metabolic adaptation. Your thyroid slows down. You get cold. You get irritable. You lose your period.
Is it "appropriate" to be a certain weight if it costs you your hormonal health? Absolutely not.
Most modern practitioners are moving away from the scale and toward the Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR). For a woman, a WHR of 0.85 or lower is generally considered a sign of good metabolic health, regardless of what the total weight is. Why? Because fat stored around the hips (subcutaneous) is metabolically "lazy," while fat stored around the organs (visceral) is inflammatory.
If you're 5'8" and 170 pounds, but your waist is 28 inches, you are likely in better cardiovascular shape than someone who is 140 pounds with a 32-inch waist.
Muscle: The Great Weight Inflator
Muscle is dense. It’s like gold versus feathers. A small brick of gold weighs the same as a giant bag of feathers. When you start lifting weights—which every woman over 5'8" should do to protect her long limbs and spine—your weight might go up. This scares people.
Don't let it scare you.
Increased lean muscle mass raises your basal metabolic rate. You burn more calories just sitting there watching Netflix. If you are 5'8" and muscular, 160 or 165 pounds can look lean, toned, and athletic. At that height, you have a lot of "runway" to distribute weight. You can carry 160 pounds much differently than someone who is 5'2".
Real-world benchmarks for the 5'8" frame
Instead of obsessing over 135 pounds because that’s what a magazine told you in 2005, look at these functional markers:
- Energy levels: Can you climb three flights of stairs without feeling like your heart is going to explode?
- Sleep quality: Are you waking up rested, or is your body too stressed from under-eating to hit deep REM cycles?
- Blood markers: What do your A1C, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides look like? These are the real "grades" of your health.
- Clothing fit: How do your jeans feel? This is often a better indicator of body composition changes than the scale.
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company used to publish "Height and Weight Tables." For a 5'8" woman in the 1980s, they suggested 133-147 lbs for a small frame, 143-159 lbs for a medium frame, and 153-177 lbs for a large frame. Notice how high that "large frame" number goes? 177 pounds. In 2026, many women would see 177 on a scale and panic, yet for a tall, large-boned woman, it’s perfectly within the realm of medical appropriateness.
The "Skinny Fat" Trap at 5'8"
There is a specific phenomenon where 5'8" women maintain a low weight (say, 130 lbs) but have a high body fat percentage. They look "thin" in clothes but have very little functional strength. This is often the result of chronic dieting without resistance training.
It's actually dangerous.
Low muscle mass in taller women increases the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Since you have longer bones, the "leverage" during a fall is greater, making fractures more likely. Maintaining a slightly higher weight—if that weight includes significant muscle—is a protective measure for your future self.
Genetics and the "Thrifty Gene"
We have to talk about genetics. Some people are just "built" to be sturdier. The Pima Indians study is a classic example in nutritional science showing how some populations are genetically predisposed to retain weight for survival. While you might not be Pima, your ancestry plays a role in where your body wants to sit. If every woman in your family is 5'8" and "curvy" at 165 pounds, fighting to be 125 pounds is a war against your own DNA.
You'll lose that war eventually.
Binge eating disorder often starts with someone trying to reach an "appropriate" weight that is actually too low for their specific biology. When you under-eat for your height, your leptin (satiety hormone) drops and your ghrelin (hunger hormone) screams. You aren't weak-willed; you're just hungry because you're 5'8" and trying to live on the calories of a sedentary 5'2" person.
Actionable Steps to Finding Your Target
Stop looking for a single number. It doesn't exist. Instead, follow this framework to find the weight where your body actually thrives.
- Get a DEXA scan. If you really want to know what’s going on, skip the bathroom scale and get a Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry. It will tell you exactly how many pounds of bone, fat, and muscle you have. It’s the gold standard.
- Monitor your waist-to-height ratio. Keep your waist circumference less than half of your height. For a 5'8" (68 inches) woman, that means keeping your waist under 34 inches. As long as you are under that, your internal organs are likely safe from dangerous fat deposits.
- Focus on performance goals. Instead of "I want to lose 10 pounds," try "I want to do five pull-ups" or "I want to deadlift my body weight." When you focus on what your 5'8" frame can do, the "appropriate" weight usually sorts itself out naturally.
- Prioritize protein. Taller bodies need more amino acids to maintain their larger muscle mass. Aim for roughly 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your ideal weight.
- Check your lab work. Ask your doctor for a full metabolic panel. If your blood pressure is 110/70, your fasting glucose is 85, and your lipids are perfect, then whatever weight you are is likely appropriate for you right now.
Forget the charts. Listen to your joints, your energy, and your blood work. Being 5'8" gives you a powerful, athletic canvas—don't shrink it just to fit into a 19th-century mathematical formula.