You're standing in the doctor's office. You see the chart. It says a woman 5'7 ideal weight should be somewhere between 118 and 159 pounds. You look at your own number. Maybe it’s 165. Maybe it’s 140 but you feel "soft." Suddenly, you're spiraling. But here's the thing—those charts were mostly dreamed up by insurance companies in the 1940s to decide how much to charge people for premiums. Seriously. They aren't gospel.
The truth is way messier.
If you are 5'7", you have a taller-than-average frame for a woman in the US (where the average is about 5'4"). You have more bone mass. You likely have more room for muscle. Trying to squeeze into a "one size fits all" weight bracket is basically like trying to fit a size 9 foot into a size 7 shoe because a chart said so. It's just not going to work for everyone.
The BMI Myth and the 5'7" Reality
We have to talk about the Body Mass Index (BMI). It’s the metric most people use to find their "ideal" weight. For a 5'7" woman, the "normal" BMI range is $18.5$ to $24.9$. If you do the math—which involves dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared—you get that 118–159 pound range.
But BMI is a blunt instrument. It doesn't know the difference between five pounds of marble-hard muscle and five pounds of visceral fat. It doesn't know if you have "heavy bones" (which is actually a real thing; bone density varies wildly).
- The Athlete Paradox: A 5'7" woman who lifts weights and has a low body fat percentage might weigh 170 pounds. According to the BMI, she's "overweight." According to her blood pressure, energy levels, and metabolic health, she's an elite specimen.
- The "Skinny Fat" Issue: Conversely, someone could weigh 120 pounds and be "ideal," but have high internal fat (visceral fat) that puts them at risk for Type 2 diabetes.
Let's look at real people. Think about a professional volleyball player. They are often around this height. They are rarely 125 pounds. They are usually dense, muscular, and hovering in the 150s or 160s. They are healthy. They are peak.
Why "Ideal" Depends on Your Frame Size
You’ve probably heard people talk about being "small-boned" or "large-framed." It sounds like an excuse people make up, but it’s actually a clinical measurement used by nutritionists and exercise physiologists.
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A simple way to check this is the wrist measurement. Take your thumb and middle finger and wrap them around your opposite wrist. If they overlap, you’re likely small-framed. If they just touch, you’re medium. If there’s a gap, you’re large-framed.
- Small Frame: Your "ideal" might actually be on the lower end, maybe 120–135 lbs.
- Medium Frame: The sweet spot is often 135–150 lbs.
- Large Frame: You might feel and look your best at 145–165 lbs.
If you have a large frame and try to force yourself down to 120 pounds, you’re going to lose muscle mass. You’re going to feel tired. Your hormones might even start acting up because your body thinks it’s in a famine. It’s not sustainable. Honestly, it's kinda dangerous to ignore your biological blueprint just to hit a number that was calculated by a 20th-century actuary.
Muscle vs. Fat: The 5'7" Volume Difference
Height gives you a bigger "canvas." At 5'7", a five-pound weight gain or loss isn't as visible as it is on someone who is 5'1". This is a blessing and a curse. It means you have more leeway, but it also means you might not notice health changes as quickly.
Muscle is much denser than fat. Think about it like this: a pound of lead vs. a pound of feathers. They weigh the same, but the lead takes up way less space.
If you start working out, you might see the scale go up while your jeans get looser. This is the "recomposition" phase. If you're 5'7" and 160 pounds with 20% body fat, you will look remarkably different—and be much healthier—than if you are 160 pounds with 35% body fat.
What the Doctors (The Good Ones) Actually Look At
Forget the scale for a second. If you walk into a modern sports medicine clinic or a high-end longevity practice, they aren't obsessed with the woman 5'7 ideal weight number. They look at "Bio-markers."
- Waist-to-Hip Ratio: This is a much better predictor of health than weight. If you carry most of your weight in your midsection (the "apple" shape), you're at higher risk for heart disease, regardless of what the scale says. For women, a ratio of $0.80$ or less is generally considered healthy.
- Body Fat Percentage: For a woman, a healthy range is typically 21% to 32%. Athletes might be in the 18% to 20% range.
- Blood Markers: Things like A1C (blood sugar), lipid panels (cholesterol), and C-reactive protein (inflammation). If these are good, and you feel great, who cares if you weigh 162 instead of 158?
The Role of Age and Hormones
We have to be real here. A 22-year-old woman who is 5'7" will have a different "ideal" weight than a 55-year-old woman of the same height.
As women age, especially moving through perimenopause and menopause, estrogen levels drop. This naturally leads to a shift in where the body stores fat. It also makes it harder to maintain muscle mass. Trying to maintain your "college weight" in your 50s often requires extreme calorie restriction that can lead to osteoporosis (brittle bones).
Sometimes, carrying an extra 5–10 pounds in older age is actually protective. It provides a "reserve" in case of illness and can even help maintain bone density. It’s about longevity, not just looking good in a swimsuit.
Stop Chasing a Number, Start Chasing Function
If you’re obsessing over being the "perfect" weight for your height, ask yourself why. Is it because you want to be healthy, or because you have a specific image in your head?
Health isn't a static number. It's a range. For a 5'7" woman, that range is wide.
Instead of staring at the scale every morning—which, by the way, can fluctuate by 3–5 pounds just based on salt intake or your menstrual cycle—focus on these metrics instead:
How is your energy at 3:00 PM? Are you crashing, or can you keep going?
Can you carry your own groceries? Can you do a push-up? Strength is a better indicator of "ideal" than gravity's pull on your body.
Are you sleeping through the night?
How do your clothes fit? (This is often more accurate than the scale).
Actionable Steps to Finding YOUR Ideal Weight
If you really want to find the right weight for your specific 5'7" body, stop using the standard charts and do this instead:
- Get a DEXA Scan or Bio-Impedance Scale: Don't just weigh yourself; find out your body composition. Knowing your lean muscle mass vs. fat mass changes the whole conversation.
- Measure Your Waist: Take a tape measure. Wrap it around your natural waist (usually just above the belly button). If it's over 35 inches, you might want to focus on fat loss for health reasons, regardless of your total weight.
- Track Trends, Not Days: If you must use a scale, use an app that averages your weight over a week. Daily fluctuations are just water and "noise."
- Prioritize Protein: Especially if you are on the "higher" end of the weight spectrum for 5'7". Aim for roughly 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass to ensure you aren't losing muscle.
- Consult a Pro, Not a Chart: Talk to a registered dietitian or a functional medicine doctor. They can look at your bloodwork and your lifestyle to give you a personalized "goal" that actually makes sense for your life.
The concept of a woman 5'7 ideal weight is a starting point, not a destination. You are a complex biological system, not a math equation. If you're 5'7" and you're eating whole foods, moving your body, and your bloodwork is clean, you've already found your "ideal," even if the scale doesn't perfectly match the 1940s insurance chart. Focus on how you feel and how you function. That is the only metric that truly matters in the long run.
Next Steps for Your Health Journey
- Calculate your Waist-to-Hip Ratio today to get a baseline for your metabolic health.
- Schedule a basic blood panel to check your metabolic markers (A1C, Cholesterol, Vitamin D) which provide more "truth" than a scale ever will.
- Audit your strength: See if you can perform basic functional movements like a bodyweight squat or a 30-second plank, focusing on building the muscle mass that supports a 5'7" frame.