Let’s be real for a second. If you’ve spent any time staring at a bathroom scale, you’ve probably wondered if that glowing red number actually means anything. For a woman standing 5 feet 6 inches tall, the internet is flooded with "ideal" numbers. Some sites say 130 pounds. Others point to 145. It’s a mess. Honestly, the 5 6 woman ideal weight isn’t a single, solitary number etched in stone by the gods of medicine. It’s a range. A wide, frustrating, and often misunderstood range that depends more on what you’re made of than how much gravity is pulling on you.
Height is just one piece of the puzzle. You’ve got bones. You’ve got muscle. You’ve got water.
If you look at the standard Body Mass Index (BMI) charts—which, let's be honest, are a bit dated—a woman who is 5'6" is considered "normal" anywhere between 115 and 154 pounds. That’s a nearly 40-pound gap! Imagine two women standing side by side. Both are 5'6". One is a marathon runner with lean legs and a tiny frame. The other is a powerlifter with broad shoulders and dense muscle. They could weigh exactly the same and look entirely different, or weigh 30 pounds apart and both be perfectly healthy. The scale doesn't know the difference between a gallon of water and five pounds of lean tissue. It just knows weight.
What the medical community says about the 5 6 woman ideal weight
Doctors usually start with the Hamwi formula. It’s an old-school calculation. It suggests a "base" weight of 100 pounds for the first five feet of height, then adds five pounds for every inch after that. For a 5'6" woman, the math looks like this: $100 + (6 \times 5) = 130$ pounds.
But wait.
That formula is basically a "Goldilocks" number. It doesn't account for your frame size. If you have a small frame, the medical guideline suggests subtracting 10%. If you have a large frame, you add 10%. Suddenly, that 130-pound "ideal" shifts to anywhere between 117 and 143 pounds. And even then, it’s just a rough estimate. Dr. Margaret Ashwell, a prominent nutritionist and former science director of the British Nutrition Foundation, has long argued that we should be looking at waist-to-height ratios instead of just the scale. Why? Because where you carry your weight matters infinitely more than the total number. Visceral fat—the stuff that sits around your organs—is the real villain here, not the subcutaneous fat on your hips or thighs.
We need to stop obsessing over a singular target. It’s exhausting.
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Muscle vs. Fat: The density dilemma
Muscle is dense. It’s compact. You’ve heard the phrase "muscle weighs more than fat," which is technically a lie. A pound is a pound. But a pound of muscle takes up way less space than a pound of fat. This is why a 5 6 woman ideal weight can look like 160 pounds on an athlete and 130 pounds on someone who never hits the gym.
Check out the "skinny fat" phenomenon. It’s a real thing. A person can fall perfectly within the "ideal" BMI range but have a high body fat percentage and low muscle mass, which actually puts them at higher risk for metabolic issues like Type 2 diabetes. On the flip side, someone who lifts heavy weights might be "overweight" by BMI standards but have excellent cardiovascular health and low systemic inflammation.
It's all about body composition.
If you’re 5'6" and weigh 155 pounds, but you can run a 5K and your blood pressure is perfect, you’re likely in a much better spot than someone who is 120 pounds but survives on soda and gets winded walking up a flight of stairs. Numbers are just data points. They aren't the whole story.
Why age and hormones change the calculation
Life happens. You get older. Your metabolism slows down—sorta. It’s not actually a plummeting cliff like people say, but your body does change how it stores energy.
For women, perimenopause and menopause are game-changers. Estrogen levels drop. Suddenly, weight starts migrating toward the midsection. You might find that the 5 6 woman ideal weight you maintained in your 20s is nearly impossible to hit in your 50s without extreme restriction. And here’s the kicker: carrying a little extra weight as you age might actually be protective. Studies, including research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, suggest that for older adults, being slightly "overweight" can reduce the risk of mortality and provide a buffer against bone density loss.
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Fragility is a real risk.
If you’re 5'6" and 65 years old, being 150 pounds might be significantly healthier for your long-term mobility than trying to force yourself down to 125. Those extra pounds help keep your bones strong and provide a reserve if you ever get seriously ill.
The "Frame Size" factor you’re probably ignoring
You can't change your skeleton. It is what it is.
To find your frame size, wrap your thumb and middle finger around your wrist. Do they overlap? You’ve got a small frame. Do they just touch? Medium. Is there a gap? Large.
A woman with a large frame naturally has heavier bones and more muscle attachment area. For her, hitting a "thin" weight of 125 pounds might actually be unsustainable or even unhealthy. It could lead to the loss of her menstrual cycle (amenorrhea) or chronic fatigue. Your body has a "set point"—a weight range where it functions most efficiently. When you try to push way below that set point, your brain kicks into survival mode. It cranks up hunger hormones like ghrelin and shuts down your energy. It’s a losing battle.
Beyond the scale: Metrics that actually matter
If we’re going to move away from the 5 6 woman ideal weight as a fixation, what should we look at?
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- Waist-to-Hip Ratio: Take a measuring tape. Measure your waist (at the narrowest part) and your hips (at the widest part). Divide the waist by the hips. For women, a ratio of 0.85 or lower is generally linked to better health.
- Energy Levels: Do you feel like a zombie by 2 PM? If you’re at your "ideal weight" but have zero energy, something is wrong.
- Strength and Mobility: Can you carry your groceries? Can you sit on the floor and get back up without using your hands? These are better indicators of longevity than a scale.
- Blood Markers: Cholesterol, A1C (blood sugar), and C-reactive protein (inflammation) tell the real story of what’s happening under the hood.
I once knew a woman who was obsessed with getting back to her high school weight of 135 pounds. She’s 5'6". She finally got there through sheer willpower and a very sad diet of steamed broccoli and chicken. She looked "great" by societal standards, but her hair started thinning, she was always cold, and she was miserable to be around. She eventually settled at 150 pounds, started lifting weights, and realized she felt ten times better. Her "ideal" wasn't a number; it was a state of being.
Actionable steps for finding your personal balance
Forget the charts for a minute. If you want to find your healthiest version, you have to look at your lifestyle, not just the math.
Prioritize protein and lift something heavy. If you want to look lean at a higher weight, you need muscle. Aim for roughly 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal weight. Don't just do cardio; resistance training changes your body composition in ways a treadmill never will.
Measure your waist, not just your weight. Use a soft tape measure once a month. If your waist is staying the same or shrinking while the scale goes up, you’re likely losing fat and gaining muscle. That’s a win.
Get a DEXA scan if you’re curious. If you really want the data, a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan will tell you exactly how much fat, bone, and muscle you have. It’s the gold standard. It’s way more useful than a $20 scale from the big-box store.
Focus on sleep and stress. High cortisol (the stress hormone) makes your body hang onto belly fat, regardless of your calories. You can’t out-diet a lifestyle that’s wrecking your nervous system.
Acknowledge your genetics. Look at your parents and grandparents. If everyone in your family has a sturdy, athletic build, trying to look like a waif-thin runway model is going to be a recipe for frustration. Work with your body, not against it.
The 5 6 woman ideal weight is ultimately the weight at which you are your most vibrant, capable, and mentally sound self. If that’s 140 pounds, awesome. If it’s 155 pounds of solid muscle, even better. Stop letting a 19th-century formula (the BMI) dictate how you feel about your progress. Your health is a mosaic, and the scale is just one tiny, often misleading, tile.