I am 5' 6" tall.

Until last Saturday night, and ever since high school, I believed my height to be 5' 10". I have no idea why I've had this misconception for so long, though I must have been told I was that height at some point. I can't imagine I'd just make that up out of nowhere, at least not intentionally.

The revelation comes as something of a shock, as if my mother had finally admitted she lied about my birthdate so I could get into pre-school a year early. I had a similar experience when I got to college, though it wasn't necessarily a misconception: I apparently hadn't weighed myself since I was 15 years old and 145 pounds large. Having coincidental access to a fitness room scale one night, I stepped up, only to find that *gasp* I had gained a good 30 pounds in four years.

I wouldn't have bothered to check my height if my girlfriend hadn't challenged my dubious self-knowledge while standing at the Bartell Drugs cash register waiting for my check card to clear. I asked the clerk if I looked 5' 10", and she said with a surprised laugh, "Nooo... I'm five-foot-six." I noticed that I was at eye level with the clerk and decided I needed to check.

I'm OK with it. Really, I am. 5' 6" is an average height, or at least fits well with the form factors of everyday life. I'm actually 165 lbs now, thanks to a schedule that tends to overlook meals on a daily basis.

However, this new data made me reconsider what my weight actually ought to be. I know I'm not that healthy, but 165 lbs seemed OK for 5' 10". Ask a disturbing question, get a disturbing answer: Dietitian.com's body calculator says my healthy body weight range is 128 to 156 pounds. I also apparently have a medium frame size for my height, based on elbow breadth. (The other information the calculator gives for me is inaccurate, as I didn't have numbers about my body fat and waist-hip ratio available. How could I be "overfat" if I didn't enter numbers for body fat? And is "overfat" really a word? I mean really.)

The calculator suggests nutritional goals based on what you tell it you want. Give it a go, just remember to double-check your measurements.

P.S. 165 pounds would be my ideal weight if I were 5' 10".