@HogwartsAlum:

I'm 5'2" and I dated a guy in college who was 6'8".

Don't worry, he married someone who was closer to 5'9" or 5'10", but my spouse is 6'. So...??

OTOH, our good friend the doctor is 5'6", and his wife is taller than he is.

I grew up in the Midwest... full of self-pity for being so short. Then I went to college in New England and realized that 5'5 is actually slightly above average for a woman. Plenty of the guys I met out there were the same height as me.

My brother is 5'11 and complains about being "short". We both went to school with plenty of folks in the 6'6 and up range.

However, how about just picking up the phone and asking someone for an answer rather than posting with incomplete information here? Wouldn't that be more valuable to everybody, including you?

I for one am curious if there is a good reason for this or if it's just a shortcoming of the online tool. Guess I'll never know. (No, I'm not going to call WW myself, since I'm only 6-1 and it's not my issue.)

@Trickery1: I was assuming something along those lines. At 6'10" you would likely be an outlier on the height of people signing up. It's annoying, but automated systems are built for the averages. When you fall outside of the three standard deviations, it's harder to account for you.

they probably just don't have information for BMI at that height. None of the BMI charts I can find go over 6' 4". They use BMI to set weight goals. Previously, when you set goals at WW, they'd let you pick the weight. Now, they use BMI to help them keep anorexics and other eating disorder folks out of the mix.

(And I've still got three weeks before I'm allowed to do ANYTHING because of the C-section. I have to wait for my husband to lift the empty stroller down the stairs even!)

I have a friend who has the opposite problem and couldn't sign up for ww.com. she could attend meetings with a doctors note that has an acceptable safe weight. When she spoke to someone at ww they told her that it had to do with the website and the BMI calculator and the way it figures points. They said that once you go under a certain height or over a certain height it skews the numbers and its not 100% to be safe so I guess they are playing it safe themselves. She said that meetings is not problem but apparently the technology and the BMI calculator are the problems. I use ww.com but have no issue since I am the average 5'6"

If you're that tall, you have special needs for healthcare (and likely, footwear). You're not going to get around it. WW is intended to make money off stupid people who don't know how to eat right and exercise - they're looking for the 'average' person. The average tall (6'6, say) person won't have the same obesity issues (or solutions!) as a 5-footer because they have a vastly different metabolism.

WW tells you that you need to talk to your doctor first - have you? Because they're not telling you that simply because your height goes above their cutoff line - its because weight loss is a medical procedure, and WEIGHT WATCHERS IS NOT A DOCTORS.

Send those guys here!!!!

I NEVER wear heels. They kill my back, which I hurt several years ago. I'm trying to get in better shape, so it doesn't go out so much. And I look better in my skating dresses, LOL. One thing I like about skating is it's me on a huge sheet of ice, which makes me look smaller!

I'll trade you...or at least give you some height so we even out a little bit. :)

Seriously, get out with the wee bub in the stroller when you can because that's good for both of you (assuming you don't live in a pollution hellzone), and don't punish yourself for anything beyond that. You are going to be tired for months and months. Rest is as important to weight management as dieting.

Baby loves Mama in any size. :)

But I know lots of short guys who date taller women (not, like, a 5-foot guy with a 6-foot woman, but a 4 inch height difference isn't uncommon).

If I were as tall as you, I'd wear nothing but 3" heels, I swear to God. :) Grass is greener, I suppose.

So I use the Little Black Dress method. When the LBD fits again, that's my goal weight.

Here's a question for you...why do men over six feet always date women who are five feet tall? What are us tall (5'11" too here) supposed to do? Short men won't date us!

That is so annoying!

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I'm about 6'5" myself, and it's always reeeeally weird meeting someone taller than me.

Think about it this way: if you're short, you're going to see people taller than you all the time. You're also going to see people shorter than you all the time, just by virtue of everyone starting out short, as a kid. But if you're a tall fella, odds are good you'll hardly ever run into anyone taller than you.

Just so you know, as of January 2009, the "Core Plan" is no more. They now have the "Momentum Plan," which is basically the old Flex Plan, but with some items earmarked as "filling foods" which you can eat until you're full for a particular number of points (rather than having the points decided by portion size).

The Week 6 booklet (IIRC) explains this added distinction. Prior to that, the new "Momentum Plan" is all but identical to what used to be Flex.

This means that everyone in WW is counting points. They've done away with the no-point-count option. This may be because they have trademarked the word "POINTS" and may be getting ready to enforce that trademark in court ... they don't want to have a defense be, "But 'points' aren't intrinsic to the WW business, you can be in it, but not count points."

That's just my guess, but from everything I've seen, it's the best explanation I know of for what they've done.

At 6'10" and currently 280, the advice to consult a doctor is very good. No way should you have to strive for whatever ludicrously-low weight the BMI charts demand. That said, you don't set a goal weight upon joining WW. Your first goal is a 5% weight loss, then another 5% to reach a 10% loss, and only then is a goal weight established. So you have probably a few weeks to figure that out.

I suspect if you call their 800 number and talk to someone, they'll try to get you signed up somehow. The orange words do say that your height makes you "ineligible to sign up online," ... it does not say you are "ineligible to join WW at all."

A quick google search found me this info, maybe just add a point or three more for being over 5'10.

"Considering you are inquiring about how many points allowed per day, I am assuming you plan to follow the "Flex Plan" (there are two options- Flex and Core).

To find your daily points allowance, give yourself the number of points listed next to the option that fits your situation best:

Your sex:
If you are female- score 2 points
If you are male- score 8
If you are nursing- score 12

Your age:
17 to 26- score 4
27 to 37- score 3
38 to 47- score 2
48 to 58- score 1
Over 58- score 0

Your current weight:
Enter the first 2 digits of your weight in pounds. If you are 175 lbs for example, you would enter "17".

Your height:
under 5'1"- score 0
5'1" to 5'10"- score 1
Over 5'10"- score 2

Your activity level on most days of the week, how do you spend your day?:
sitting down- score 0
occassionally sitting, but mostly standing- score 2
walking most of the time- score 4
doing physically hard work most of the time- score 6

Add up all your scored points- that is your daily points target. "

a href="#c13710035">GuidedByLemons: I am 6'10", and I was able to look this up previously-- it is in the .001% range for the US. One of the Norse countries had a greater proportion of tall people, but even there, it was still very uncommon.

That's probably where the problem kicks in-- I weigh 180-185. Once in my life, I got up to about 200, and I really didn't look all that different than I did at 170. The same 30 pound difference on a 5'10" guy is going to be huge.

Frankly, of all the things that *don't* fit due to my height, I don't know that this is where I'd start my crusade.

I'd probably make exit row seating on airplanes be my rallying point-- it's very simple, tallest person on the flight gets first pick of seats. So sick of seeing 5' women in the exit row because the normal seats are too crowded.

When it comes to getting on a diet or other programs that deal with human physiology, the group running the program consults charts that were originally compiled in the 1940s-60s. The researchers came up with a range of heights that fit 99% of the population and, sadly, there weren't enough people of your height to allow for a statistically significant sample.

It's unfortunate that they don't try to extrapolate to help people on the far ends of the spectrum of humanity. I'd recommend talking with your doctor and see if they can help you.

It also looks like they are avoiding the liability of helping people with eating disorders such as Bulimia or Anorexia. 280 for someone who is over 6 feet tall actually seems like the average, healthy weight. TONE dont diet. Problem solved!

now every time i go to the doctor - if it's a new doctor or a new assistant/nurse, when they weigh me they put the bar where they expect my weight to be. then they look at me, and move it. and look at me and their eyes get wider and then they move it some more...
i never ever pay any attention to what the rest of the world says i 'ought' to weigh, hehe

@greyer:

Just had that conversation with my doctor a week ago...I'm 6'1" and he wants me to be at 220, so I need to lose a couple lbs, but my BMI is around 182 if I recall right.

Let's see, doctor says lose 6-9 lbs, BMI says to lose 40...yeah, that seems about right. Oh...and by the BMi chart, I'm obese. yikes.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Heh, thats how I felt. I'm 6'3" so im usualy the tallest. Then I went to work for a company where out of 10 guys, 5 were above 6' and 2 were 6'6", our sister company had 2 guys over 7' we it was scary. lol

Oh, and it would not hurt to consult a certified dietitian too.

The online tools have issues; this is just one of them. A quick email to customer service should fix this. Meantime, I have found that I am much more successful when I attend meetings than when I try to use the online tools alone. I think this is pretty common.

Finally, the healthy weight guidelines are based on BMI. Your doctor or a Weight Watchers leader can help you determine your healthy weight.

@dragonfire81: Funny you ask that. I actually do have a good friend who is 6'10". It's sad though, because there's a lot of people who think his being that tall makes it okay to ask him incredibly stupid questions. ("How's the weather up there?" comes to mind.)

BMI? You mean the thing that's based on mid 19th century French soldier body types, right?

[www.morris.umn.edu]

Why do doctors still take that thing seriously?

I also just realized that I parsed the first graph as feet and inches, not feet with a decimal.

Eh...

My sister feels your pain, she's 5'11".

But you'd think that since they just base it on the "my pyramid" reccommendations ANYWAY they could at least provide an adjusted calorie counter for breastfeeding. I can get why they don't want to be giving people "diet advice" while pregnant (although if they're just using the USDA guidelines, it's probably still fine), but during breastfeeding? Come on.

I thought about telling it I was doing 500 calories of running a day (for the breastfeeding) and then fooling with my input numbers to get the right number of input calories to support the breastfeeding, but I decided it was all just too much trouble. (And then I'd have to fool with my calcium and iron requirements, to get the right "high" amounts for breastfeeding, etc. etc. etc.)

But it's very frustrating. I would like to eat healthy now more than ever! Come on, internet, give me useful tools!

@HFC: Or at least a hottie that I could climb like a drinken monkey...

But yeah, I know a LOT of men over 6 feet, and a surprising number over 6'5". I'm sure it's a combination of modern nutrition and ethnic inheritance in the midwest. I only know two who are 6'10", though.

Maybe they're saying is you're tall... and Fat, you got other issues to deal with.

I think the guy should just totally go with the 6'6 diet plan. Sure, they'll assume he's short and chunky but the plan should work in theory.

One time I was walking through a JC Penney's and a lady asked me if I could reach a sweater for her that was on a hangar a good 12 feet high. I guess in her mind "taller than me = same height as a building."

What a simple thing that should be to fix!

But, after that online "reception," why would JJ ever want to go into a meeting room or try again?

Of course, I'm assuming JJ is a man. Good God, I hope this is a man.

@Ratty: Not at all, it doesn't take into account what kind (muscle/fat) of weight you're carrying only the numbers.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I hope not Mr. McGee, that baby must have been a whopper ;).

Ok, 6'4" may be kind of common, but I think we can all agree that 6'10" isn't. not yet at least.

@oneliketadow: BMI is not an accurate measurement of if someone is fat or not.

My fitday is currently bitching at me for my calorie intake with the extra breastfeeding calories.

discrimination (n) - the act, practice, or an instance of discriminating categorically rather than individually

What you meant is that they aren't doing it because they hate tall people.

Yeah, I'd guess BMI calculations don't work correctly for someone 6'10". We already know they don't work correctly for someone that is muscular...someone of that height is going to have a LOT more musculature than someone 5'10".

I bet they simply aren't motivated to do calculations for tall people that are a small percentage of the general population, and as for the shortness limitation, they are doing their best to avoid catering to children (and lawsuits). Just a guess though.

I mean, at '6.10 you might be as rare as someone that weighs 800 pounds! Someone try to put 800 pounds on the Weight Watchers website and see if they accept you! Haha!

@dragonfire81: You mean 5'10" isn't that tall right? I mean even 6'4" isn't too common.

Also. perhaps if he called they would help... You can't just try the website and give up.

Plus OP, J "tiny" J, 280 isn't bad at all for that height.

My Google skills aren't good enough to figure out, but I have seen statistics like .02% of males are taller than 6'7". So I'd guess something like .001% are 6'10" or higher.

A 6.10 person on average, even if skinny, probably will weigh a lot compared to us normies. I'm guessing WW know that there's only so much weight a person that tall can lose without going anorexic.

Are you joking? Do you know what percentage of people are that tall? I'll admit I don't, but I'd wager it's a very, very small number.

Do you really want to be their guinea pig?