Learning how to calculate your ideal weight is an important part of achieving total health. Very few people have a realistic sense of what their ideal weight really is from a health perspective. Most of us think of ideal weight based on things like how we want to look, or how we used to look, but very few of us have actually calculated what our ideal weight would be for optimal health. Being at your ideal weight for health means that you’ll be as vibrant and energetic as possible, you’ll be reducing your risk of heart attack or stroke, you’ll be minimizing strain and wear and tear on your muscles and bones, and you’ll be at peak resilience against illnesses of all kinds, from the common cold to cancer. However, if you just guess at how much you think you should weigh, you could end up over or underweight, and won’t be able to enjoy all of these benefits. Read on to learn how to calculate your ideal weight in just a few simple steps. The five minutes it will take to follow the directions in this article could pay off in better health for the rest of your life.
Learn Your BMI
The BMI, or Body Mass Index, is one of the most reliable tools for calculating your ideal weight. The BMI uses your height to determine your ideal weight range. The BMI aims to calculate what weight is most likely to offer you a healthy percentage of fat, based on data collected about other people in your demographic group. You can learn your current BMI from the BMI calculator on the National Institute of Health website here. If that calculator shows you are in a healthy or “normal” range, skip ahead to the next paragraph. If your BMI comes up as over or under the “normal” range, keep reading. To set your weight goal, you’ll want to discover what your ideal weight would be from a BMI perspective. To find yours, check out the National Institute of Health table here. Look for where your height in inches meets up with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 to determine what an ideal weight for you would most likely be, based on height.
The Limits Of The BMI
The BMI is one great way to calculate your ideal weight, but on its own it doesn’t provide all of the data that you need. In order to determine your ideal weight, you’ll want to learn about the limitations of the BMI so that you can tell if the BMI calculations are right for your body type and your physical condition. If you are very muscular, the BMI is not the right way to calculate your ideal weight, because it is meant for people who don’t undertake serious athletic conditioning. Muscle weighs more than fat, so a very muscular person may have a BMI in the “overweight” range despite being at their ideal weight for health. On the other end of the spectrum, if you have a good deal less muscle than most people, the BMI may underestimate your weight, telling you that you’re “underweight” when you’re actually quite healthy. This sometimes applies to seniors, who have lost substantial muscle mass due to the aging process. Luckily, these groups can look to the waist hip ratio. Read on to learn about the waist hip ratio, which is a great and reliable checkpoint for anyone wondering whether they’re at an ideal rate.
The Waist Hip Ratio
If you fall into one of the groups for whom the BMI can’t reliably calculate an ideal weight, your best bet is to look at the relative measurements of your particular physique. The ratio between your waist and hips is a great indicator of whether you’re packing extra inches or not. No matter what your body type is, your WHR will tell you how close you are to your ideal weight for health. Using a flexible tape measure, find your waist measurement in inches by measuring around the slimmest part of your waist, usually within a half inch of your navel. Then, find the measurement around the widest part of your hips, usually 7-9 inches below your navel. To find your waist-hip ratio, divide your waist measurement in inches by your hip measurement in inches. So, for example, if you have a 26 inch waist, and 37 inch hips, you’ll have an 0.7 ratio. The ideal waist hip ratio, or WHR, for women is 0.7, and the ideal waist hip ratio for men is 0.9. If you meet that number, you are almost certainly at your ideal weight from a health perspective. If you’re above it, aim to lose weight at a rate of 1-2 lbs per week until you reach a healthy WHR. If you’re below the ideal number, focus your health regimen on bulking up a bit with increased calories and some gentle strength training.
Reference:
- If you want a complete assesment of your weight, head to a doctor for a body fat percentage test. ; Learn more about how body fat percentages can be determined in this comprehensive Wikipedia article on Body Fat Percentage.
