What is Your Ideal Weight?

Hi,

Just what is your ideal weight? 

Depends on who you ask.  

There are all kinds of charts available that show that you should weigh so much based upon your height and age.

There are others based upon your BMI or body mass index.  This was designed to take into account the proportions of muscle to fat in your body. 

And most of these involved all kinds of fancy calculations, that no one is really going to do. 

However, I found a pretty simple one the other day and thought I would pass it on to you.

First you take your height over 5 feet in inches and multiply that by 5.  If you are under 5 feet tall then this formula doesn't work for you. 

Then you add that number to 110 pounds if you are a woman and 120 pounds if you are a man. 

So an example for a woman who is 5'3" tall would be:  She is 3" over 5 feet tall, so take 3 x 5 = 15.  Add that to 110 pounds and you get 125 pounds. 

For a man who is 6 feet tall:  That is 12" over 5' tall so 12 x 5 = 60.  Add 60 + 120 and you get 180 lbs.

This is pretty simple to figure out, but it does have a few problems.  One of them is the same problem that the charts have.  A person that is more muscular is going to weigh more.  An athlete who is 6 feet tall and weighs 215 would be considered overweight and even obese based on the charts and this formula. 

But, let's just take the average person.  I think the above formula is a little too heavy for the women and maybe just a little light for the men. 

So can you use the formula in helping you maintain an ideal weight?  Sure.

Using the example above, a 5'3" female who weighs 125.  If you feel good and healthy and look good to yourself at this weight then your goal is to maintain it for your lifetime. 

Weigh yourself once a week at most.  Your weight will flucuate on a daily basis no matter what you eat or do.  So don't bother weighing yourself daily. 

If your weight starts going up then you can do a few things to get it back to normal.  Eat more nutrient dense foods.  Cut out more junk food.  Take an extra walk every day.  Do an extra workout at the gym. 

You don't have to do all of those things, but try a couple for a week.  Then weigh your self again. 

The trick is to not gain a lot of weight in that week in the first place.  If, for example, after Thanksgiving week, you gained 1 or 2 pounds, then spend the next week getting it off. 

If you go for 3-4 weeks without weighing yourself and have gained 6 or 7 pounds, then it is going to take longer and be harder to lose that weight. 

It is much easier to maintain your status quo then it is to "go on a diet" or increase your calorie burning workouts. 

So the bottom line is to use this, or any other formula you want, to figure out your ideal weight.  Then use a weekly weighing to maintain that weight.  Any changes in weight should be small ones and easily manipulated to keep you at your ideal weight. 

Thanks,

Mike Val
http://www.valshealthsite.com/