How much should I weigh? Ideal Weight for my height

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How much should I weigh? Is there a relation between body weight and height?

Body weight is associated with increase in fat in your body, but can also be due to increase in muscles on your body. Muscle addition normally happens with bodybuilders who are on a special muscle increasing diet. How much you should weigh really depends on numerous factors. Although excessive weight is undesirable, it may not be really life threatening. But keeping your weight in check is very beneficial as that would not only make you feel more energetic and active, but also prevent various cardiovascular (heart) diseases that may creep during the later years in your life. Concerns about being overweight are genuine but there are certain time your body does gain weigt like in case of women when they are pregnant.

What can determine if my body weight is correct for me? Are there any tools that will tell me I need to lose weight or gain weight or I am ok the way I am?

Three major tools or methods to determine if your are overweight or obese are:

  1. Body weight compared to your height
  2. Your waist size
  3. If you have any preexisting heart related or cardiovascular ailments

Body weight and height comparison

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is typically used by professionals to give you a quick indication of your body weight status. BMI is calculated as follows:

For example: if your weight is 160 pounds, and your height is 68 inches (5 feet and 8 inches), then your BMI will be

BMI = ((160/68*68)) * 703 = 24.32

Now you can look at the BMI table and see if 24.32 is good, bad or just ok.

Body Mass Index values - use the following to get a quick opinion of your weight based on your height

Based on the above BMI table, your weight is considered to be “Normal”. Again, this should let you relax, if you have other illnesses so its best to get your self checked by a professional if you have any other ailments or feel tired or fatigued most of the times.

Waist size is also a pretty good indication of your being overweight

A lot of weight is accumulated in the waist area. If you feel your waist size is more that any other person you know of the same height with “normal” BMI index, you are probably overweight.

Cardiac related heart ailments

If you are over 40 years of age, and have high cholesterol problem or have high blood pressure, hypertension, then you must watch your weight very carefully. While BMI may give you an indication of where you stand, a regular health check up by professionals every 6 months is a must.

Should I try to lose weight and excess fat? How can i shed the extra pounds and reduce my fat?

If you have the following conditions, seek professional advice:

  1. If you have normal health and BMI is over 30
  2. If you have any history of heart trouble, cholesterol and any other cardiac ailment and you BMI is over 25
  3. If your waist size is over 40 inches (men) and 35 inches (women), you may want to get professional advice before its tool late

Losing weight is a totally separate and vast topic. But here are some tips that may help:

  1. Eat a healthy breakfast, include fruits, oats, cereal
  2. Eat smaller meals, increase your frequency
  3. Cut down on fast foods, and fried foods.
  4. Cut down on red meat; Eat chicken and fish if you must
  5. Drink more water - at least 10 glasses per day spread evenly throughout the day
  6. Eat your dinner at least 2 hours before you go to bed
  7. Get a brisk walk for 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week; you need to break into a sweat.

These are by no means a complete set i instructions to lose weight, but can serve as good starting points.

So your question about “How much should I weigh” has a very long answer but this information should help you get a feel on what you need to do next to keep your weight in check and stay fit and healthy.

Let us know about your experience on losing weight. How did you do it? How much did you lose? What special diet of exercises did you undertake  to reduce your weight? Post your comments and share your weight loss tips with our readers!

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August 21, 2008 | Filed Under Weight Loss and Diet 

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