You're standing in the doctor's office. The nurse slides the silver weight across the balance beam, or maybe you step on a sleek digital scale that blinks a number back at you in neon blue. If you are 5'7", that number carries a lot of baggage. We've been told for decades that there is a "correct" number for our height. But honestly? It’s complicated. Finding a healthy weight for a woman 5 7 isn't just about hitting a specific mark on a metal dial; it’s about bone density, muscle mass, and how your clothes actually fit when you’re moving through your day.
Standard charts are rigid. They don't know if you spent your twenties lifting heavy weights or if you have the narrow frame of a marathon runner.
The BMI Reality Check for 5'7" Women
The Body Mass Index (BMI) is the old-school yardstick. For a woman who is 5 feet 7 inches tall, the "normal" BMI range—which falls between 18.5 and 24.9—suggests a weight between 121 and 158 pounds. That is a massive 37-pound gap. You could lose a small child's worth of weight and still be within that "healthy" window.
It’s a blunt instrument. Developed in the 1830s by Adolphe Quetelet, it was never meant to be a clinical diagnostic tool for individuals. He was a mathematician, not a doctor. He was looking at populations. If you have a lot of lean muscle, BMI might label you as "overweight" even if your body fat percentage is elite. Conversely, you could be "thin on the outside, fat on the inside" (TOFI), where your weight is low but your visceral fat—the dangerous stuff around your organs—is high.
CDC data and various medical journals, like the Lancet, often use these ranges because they correlate with lower risks of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. But individual health is much noisier than a population average.
Beyond the Scale: Frame Size and Muscle
Why does your best friend look "skinny" at 150 pounds while you feel heavy at the same weight? Frame size is a real thing. To find yours, wrap your thumb and middle finger around your wrist. If they overlap, you likely have a small frame. If they just touch, you’re medium. If there’s a gap? Large frame.
A woman with a large frame and a healthy weight for a woman 5 7 might naturally sit at 160 or 165 pounds and be metabolically perfect. Her bones are literally heavier. Her joints are built to carry more. If she tries to force herself down to 125 pounds, she might end up losing hair, stopping her period, or feeling constant fatigue because she's fighting her biology.
Then there's muscle. Muscle is dense.
It takes up less space than fat.
This is why two women can be 5'7" and 155 pounds, but one wears a size 6 and the other wears a size 12.
💡 You might also like: Resistance Bands Workout: Why Your Gym Memberships Are Feeling Extra Expensive Lately
Waist-to-Hip Ratio: A Better Metric?
Many experts, including those at the Mayo Clinic, suggest that where you carry your weight matters more than the total sum. Apple-shaped bodies—where weight settles in the abdomen—face higher risks than pear-shaped bodies.
Take a tape measure. Wrap it around your natural waist (usually just above the belly button). Then measure the widest part of your hips. Divide the waist by the hip. If that number is 0.85 or lower, you're generally in a good spot. It’s a much better predictor of cardiovascular health than that annoying scale in your bathroom.
The Age Factor No One Likes to Talk About
Your "ideal" weight at 22 is rarely your healthy weight at 52.
As women hit perimenopause and menopause, estrogen drops. This shift naturally redistributes fat to the midsection. It also makes it harder to maintain muscle. Dr. Stacy Sims, a renowned exercise physiologist, often points out that women need more protein and heavy lifting as they age to maintain the same metabolic health.
If you are 5'7" and 60 years old, being 165 pounds might actually be healthier than being 130 pounds. Why? Because a slightly higher BMI in older age provides a "cushion" against osteoporosis and frailty. If you fall, that extra mass can literally protect your hips from fracturing.
Real World Examples and Nuance
Let’s look at three hypothetical (but realistic) women, all 5'7":
- Sarah: Long-distance runner, small frame. She weighs 128 lbs. Her BMI is 20. She feels energetic but has to be careful to eat enough to maintain her hormone health.
- Maya: Crossfit enthusiast, medium-to-large frame. She weighs 162 lbs. According to BMI, she's "overweight." However, her body fat is 22%, and her blood pressure is 110/70. She is incredibly healthy.
- Elena: Sedentary office worker, medium frame. She weighs 145 lbs. She is "perfect" on a BMI chart, but she has high cholesterol and low muscle tone.
Who is the healthiest? It isn't Sarah just because she’s the lightest. It’s likely Maya, despite being the "heaviest" on paper.
📖 Related: Core Fitness Adjustable Dumbbell Weight Set: Why These Specific Weights Are Still Topping the Charts
Metabolic Health vs. Aesthetic Weight
We often confuse "I want to look like that model" with "I want my heart to work well."
True health markers are found in your bloodwork, not your jeans size. A healthy weight for a woman 5 7 should be accompanied by:
- Triglycerides under 150 mg/dL.
- HDL (good cholesterol) over 50 mg/dL.
- Fasting blood sugar under 100 mg/dL.
- A resting heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
If those numbers are in check, and you have enough energy to get through your day without three cups of coffee in the afternoon, you are likely at a weight that works for your unique biology.
People obsess over the "thigh gap" or collarbone definition. These are often just functions of bone structure. Some women are built with wider pelvic bowls; they will have a gap even at a higher weight. Others have narrow hips and will never have one, even if they are underweight. Don't chase a skeleton you weren't born with.
How to Actually Find Your Personal Healthy Range
Forget the internet calculators for a second. Start by looking at your history. When did you feel your best? Not when did you look "the best" for a wedding, but when did you have the most strength?
Most clinical nutritionists suggest a "set point" theory. This is the weight your body naturally returns to when you are eating intuitively and moving regularly. For a 5'7" woman, this set point often falls somewhere between 135 and 165 pounds.
If you’re constantly hungry, irritable, and cold, you’re probably below your body’s preferred weight. If you feel sluggish, have joint pain, or get out of breath easily, you might be above it. It's a goldilocks situation.
👉 See also: Why Doing Leg Lifts on a Pull Up Bar is Harder Than You Think
Practical Steps to Find Your Balance
Instead of fixating on a healthy weight for a woman 5 7 as a single digit, focus on these actionable metrics:
Prioritize Protein and Resistance Training
Stop doing hours of "soul-crushing" cardio. Building muscle increases your basal metabolic rate. This means you burn more calories just sitting at your desk. Aim for 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal weight.
Track Your Trends, Not Your Days
The female body fluctuates wildly. Water retention during a menstrual cycle can swing your weight by 5 pounds in 48 hours. If you must weigh yourself, do it once a week or take a moving average.
Get a DEXA Scan or Body Comp Analysis
If you're really curious, skip the scale and get a DEXA scan. It’s the gold standard for measuring body fat, lean muscle, and bone density. It will tell you exactly how much of your weight is "functional" (muscle and bone) versus "storage" (fat).
Focus on "Non-Scale Victories" (NSVs)
- Are you sleeping 7-8 hours?
- Can you carry your groceries up two flights of stairs without huffing?
- Is your skin clear?
- Is your mood stable?
These are the true indicators of whether your current weight is supporting your life or hindering it. If you are 160 pounds and 5'7" but you feel like a powerhouse, don't let a 1950s height-weight chart tell you that you're failing.
Ultimately, your "ideal" number is the one that allows you to live the most vibrant version of your life without being consumed by the math of it all. Focus on adding healthy behaviors—more fiber, more movement, more sleep—rather than just subtracting pounds. The weight usually settles where it belongs once the habits are right.
Next Steps for Your Health Journey
- Schedule a baseline blood panel to check your metabolic health markers like A1C and lipid profiles.
- Measure your waist-to-hip ratio today to get a more accurate picture of your fat distribution than BMI can provide.
- Swap one cardio session for a strength-training workout this week to begin supporting your bone density and muscle mass.
- Audit your energy levels for three days to see if your current caloric intake is truly supporting your activity level at 5'7".