I offered to be a human test subject for a study they’re doing at work on a new exercise (weight-lifting) device that Chris has worked on. I was denied for not being “height/weight proportionate.” Their height/weight chart says that the maximum weight for my height (5’8″) is 164 pounds. I’m over that by about 20 pounds. At my lightest in the past decade, I was still over that by 5 pounds. And I thought I looked pretty damn good at 169. I’d love to get back there.
I’m annoyed. I know that I’m on the heavy side, and I could definitely afford to lose 20 pounds — and I’m trying to as I speak. But I don’t feel like I’m unhealthy. I run, swim, bike, play soccer, softball, etc. I do more physical activity that the majority of people I know.
Mostly, I’m just annoyed that the height/weight tables can still make me feel bad about myself.
Hey, you look pretty darn good now. Don’t worry about it.
The height/weight tables at NASA for women are awful. Insulting, really. You have to be either super petite, or a stick to fit into them. Anyone that exercises as much as you do shouldn’t be penalized because you aren’t shaped like a model.
According to my last chat with the flight doc, they are making efforts to improve them. For instance, they’ve slakened up the weight requirements for the Vomet Comet and replaced it with more reasonable standards as long as the rest of your blood work shows you are healthy and they are doing almost everything by BMI rather than just height vs. weight (problem is, they will only actually measure BMI by the height weight formula unless you ask for a more scientific measurement). They’re getting better – studies are finding that weight isnt’ as much of a predictor of life-long health as other factors – cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.
Double what Vic says!!!
Sorry i hadn’t commented in a while. Height/weight tables are so funky. Hopefully you don’t let that table keep you feeling down on yourself for long. You don’t deserve to be made to feel like that, and personally, I think you look terrific, so take that for what it’s worth. 🙂