BMI is a lie. Or at least, it’s a very small part of a much bigger, more complicated story about your body. If you’re a woman standing 5'7", you’ve probably stared at those colored charts in a doctor’s office and wondered if that little dot in the "normal" box actually means anything for your daily life. It’s a common height. Taller than average, but not quite "tall" in the fashion world sense. You’re in that middle ground where five pounds can look like nothing or change the way your favorite jeans button up entirely.
But what is a 5'7 woman healthy weight exactly?
The standard answer is somewhere between 118 and 159 pounds. That’s the range the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides based on a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.5 to 24.9. But honestly, that’s a massive gap. Forty pounds! You could fit a medium-sized dog in that weight difference. A woman who weighs 120 pounds at 5'7" is going to have a vastly different lifestyle, bone structure, and metabolic profile than a woman who weighs 155 pounds at the same height. Both are "healthy" on paper.
💡 You might also like: Why Your Stand Up Abs Workout Is Actually Better Than Crunches
Yet, health isn't a single number. It's how you feel when you wake up.
Why the BMI Range for a 5'7 Woman Healthy Weight is Just a Starting Point
We have to talk about Quetelet. Adolphe Quetelet was a Belgian mathematician in the 1830s. He wasn't a doctor. He didn't study nutrition. He wanted to find the "average man" for statistical purposes. That is literally what our modern BMI is based on—a 200-year-old math equation designed for European men. It doesn't account for your hips. It doesn't care about your bust size. It completely ignores whether you spend four mornings a week lifting heavy at the gym or if you’ve never touched a dumbbell in your life.
Muscles are dense.
If you’re a 5'7" woman with a lot of lean muscle mass, you might weigh 165 pounds and have a lower body fat percentage than someone who weighs 135 pounds but has very little muscle (often called "skinny fat"). The 165-pound woman would be labeled "overweight" by a standard BMI calculator. That’s why researchers like those at the Mayo Clinic increasingly look at waist-to-hip ratio and body composition rather than just the scale.
Think about your frame. Some women are built like "birds"—small wrists, narrow shoulders, delicate bones. Others are "sturdy"—wide ribs, broad shoulders, a natural athletic build. These frames change your "ideal" weight significantly. A 125-pound weight on a large-framed 5'7" woman might actually be dangerously low, even if the chart says it's fine.
The Role of Body Fat Percentage
Weight is just the total mass of your bones, water, organs, fat, and muscle. It’s a lump sum. What really matters for long-term health—things like avoiding Type 2 diabetes or heart disease—is where that weight comes from.
For women, a healthy body fat percentage generally falls between 21% and 32%. If you’re an athlete, you might be lower, maybe 15% to 20%. If you go too low, your hormones go haywire. Your period might stop. Your bones might get brittle. On the flip side, if your body fat is concentrated around your midsection (visceral fat), it’s much more dangerous for your organs than if it’s on your hips or thighs. This is why a 5'7 woman healthy weight needs to be viewed through the lens of metabolic health, not just aesthetics.
Real Life Factors: Age and Hormones
Life happens. You aren't the same weight at 45 that you were at 22, and honestly, you probably shouldn't be.
As women age, especially approaching perimenopause and menopause, the body naturally shifts. Estrogen drops. Muscle mass tends to decline unless you’re actively fighting to keep it through resistance training. Research suggests that for older adults, being on the slightly "heavier" side of the BMI scale (around 25–27) might actually be protective against fractures and certain illnesses. It’s called the "obesity paradox," though that’s a bit of a misnomer. Basically, a little extra cushion can be a literal lifesaver if you get sick or have a fall.
Then there’s the "whoosh" factor of water weight. You can swing 3 to 5 pounds in a single day based on your cycle, how much salt you had on your fries, or how hard you worked out. If you’re 5'7" and weigh 145 on Monday and 149 on Wednesday, you didn't "gain" four pounds of fat. You're just holding onto water.
Does the "Rule of Thumb" Work?
There is an old clinical formula called the Devine Formula. It’s used often by pharmacists to calculate drug dosages. For a woman, it starts with 100 pounds for the first 5 feet of height and adds 5 pounds for every inch after that.
- 5 feet = 100 lbs
- +7 inches (5 lbs each) = 35 lbs
- Total = 135 lbs
Is 135 the "perfect" weight for you? Maybe. If you have a medium frame and a moderate activity level, it’s a very common "sweet spot." But again, it’s a formula from 1974. It doesn't know you. It doesn't know your genetics.
The Danger of the "Goal Weight" Obsession
We’ve all done it. We pick a number—maybe it’s 130, maybe it’s 140—and we decide we’ll be happy once we see it on the scale. But the scale is a fickle narrator.
If you hit your goal weight by starving yourself, you're losing muscle. Your metabolism slows down. You feel cold all the time. Your hair might thin out. Is that healthy? No. A 5'7 woman healthy weight is one that you can maintain without feeling like you're at war with your own body. It’s the weight where your blood pressure is good, your blood sugar is stable, and you have the energy to go for a hike or play with your kids without gasping for air.
Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, a well-known weight management expert, often talks about "Best Weight." Your best weight is whatever weight you reach when you’re living the healthiest life you can actually enjoy. If you have to suffer to stay at 125, then 125 isn't your healthy weight. If you feel great, eat well, and move your body at 155, then 155 is likely your healthy weight.
Indicators That You’re at Your Healthy Weight
Forget the scale for a second. Look at these markers instead:
- Sleep Quality: Are you sleeping through the night? Sleep apnea is often linked to being over your body's healthy weight, while insomnia can sometimes be a sign of under-fueling.
- The "Pinch" Test: This isn't scientific, but how do your clothes fit? Are you comfortable in your skin?
- Energy Fluctuations: Do you crash at 3 PM? If you’re at a healthy weight and fueling correctly, your energy should be relatively stable.
- Blood Work: This is the gold standard. What do your triglycerides look like? Your HDL and LDL cholesterol? If these numbers are in the green, the number on the scale matters a lot less.
- Menstrual Consistency: For pre-menopausal women, a regular cycle is a huge sign that your body feels "safe" at its current weight.
Practical Steps for 5'7 Women
Instead of chasing a digit, focus on the inputs. If you improve the inputs, the output (your weight) will eventually settle where it's supposed to be.
First, stop comparing yourself to 5'7" celebrities or models. Many of them are maintained at weights that are biologically unsustainable for most people. Their "job" is to look a certain way, often at the expense of long-term metabolic health. You have a different life.
Second, start lifting things. Whether it's kettlebells, grocery bags, or your own body weight, building muscle is the best way to ensure that your 5'7" frame stays "healthy" as you age. Muscle burns more calories at rest, yes, but it also protects your joints and improves insulin sensitivity.
🔗 Read more: Why wildbrine raw organic sauerkraut is basically a probiotic powerhouse in a jar
Third, eat for volume and nutrient density. At 5'7", you have a decent caloric "budget" compared to shorter women. You can eat quite a bit if you're focusing on whole foods. Don't restrict; add. Add more protein, add more fiber, add more water.
Moving Forward
The quest for a 5'7 woman healthy weight shouldn't be a prison sentence. It’s just data. Use the BMI range (118–159 lbs) as a very broad map, but use your own biofeedback—your hunger, your mood, your strength—as your compass.
If you’re currently outside that range, don't panic. Talk to a doctor who looks at "Health at Every Size" (HAES) principles or a registered dietitian who can perform a DEXA scan to see what your body is actually made of. You might find that your "ideal" is something you never expected.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Ditch the scale for 30 days. Focus entirely on how your body feels and moves rather than the daily fluctuations.
- Measure your waist-to-hip ratio. Aim for a ratio of 0.85 or lower, which is often a better predictor of health than BMI for women.
- Prioritize protein. Aim for roughly 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal weight to support muscle maintenance.
- Get a blood panel. Check your A1C and lipid profile to see what’s actually happening under the hood.
- Audit your energy. Keep a journal for one week tracking your "power hours" and your "slumps" to see if your current weight/diet is supporting your lifestyle.