How do I find out my ideal weight?

[CRSunrise]

I always thought that my ideal weight was somewhere around 175. I've done some looking around, and now I'm finding the ideal weight is something like 154. Now, I'm rather on the big bones side, or at least I think I am. I'm not simple and dainty. 

I just need to have a better idea of what I need to do here.

[Dominique]

One simple way to determine whether you have big bones or not is to wrap your middle finger and your thumb around your wrist bones. If your thumb overlaps your middle finger, you have small bones. If both fingers barely touch each other, you have normal bones. If they can’t join, you have big bones.

As to what your "ideal" weight may be, it’s really impossible to say. How tall are you? Where you normal weight in your early twenties?

[GershonSurge]

This visual chart may  give a good idea what you are looking for in terms of body fat percentage. A scale like the Aria will give a ballpark figure for body fat. Walgreen's has a less expensive model that does the same thing. The disadvantage with the Walgreen's model is it doesn't sync with Fitbit. 

The chart below gives an ideal weight based on different standards. I'd start with the one that gives the highest weight. When you get close, decide for yourself if it's right for you.

[SunsetRunner]

When starting to eat natural unprocessed foods more overall, becoming more in tune listening to the bodies signals (hungry or still feeling satisfied?), eating until comfortably satisfied when hungry, honoring the body not having more when not hungry.. the body naturally guides where it wants to be (at a healthy body fat & weight range).

This can be different from the weight range / body fat range having in mind, but being in a healthy range for where your precious body is most happy at.

[shipo]

@CRSunrise, you and I are in the same boat; my supposed ideal weight is about 160.  Not going to happen until I'm rotting in my grave.  🙂

I suppose if I really work at it, I might be able to get down to the mid-170s though.

[CRSunrise]

I'm 5'8 1/2", and I've been overweight for most of my life. I'd say that I was in the 200s even when I was in my 20s

[Hellfreedumb]

It is best to use an online BMI calculator/graph. It has a range of weights for height. As long as your are in the healthy range you know your in the right weight zone. It's up to you to decide are you in the low range, mid range, or high range of that BMI "healthy range."

I thought I was big boned as well when I was a kid and teen (heck still do), but at my lowest weight of 105 (5' 8), I learned I wasn't so big boned after all. It's amazing how subcutaneous fat can push your bones, organs, and muscles outwards.

Just google BMI range for men/women.

[A_Lurker]

@Hellfreedumb - you do realize that at 5'8" and 105 you are under the range for BMI, right?

[Judgetribe]

G'day CRSunrise, I was taught years ago by a crusty old army officer that body weight is just a number that is about as usefully as an ashtray on a motorbike.

He was dead set against the BMI chart. As he explained to me muscle is heavier than fat and I needed to place more importance on  pushup, sit ups and lenght of run times than body weight, The BMI scale recommened that my ideal body weight for my height was 65kg.  As you may have guessed I am horizontally enhanced.

I spent the first year of my amry career trying to stay at that weight, to acheive this weight goal I looked like a stickman.As I have gotten a little older and hopefully a little wiser I have found that I am  healthy and most productive when my weight floats around 72 to 75kgs. The last 8 months I have been knocking around CrossFit, and I have found that my body shape has changed,my wife has never been happier.

I guess what I am trying to say is don't get fixed on a weight number, enjoy life, eat good clean food and throw some good pizza and beer into the mix.

Cheers

Robbie ( I hate running I just do those Tough Mudder things for the beer at the end ) Judge.

[shipo]

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@Hellfreedumb wrote:

It is best to use an online BMI calculator/graph. It has a range of weights for height. As long as your are in the healthy range you know your in the right weight zone. It's up to you to decide are you in the low range, mid range, or high range of that BMI "healthy range."

I thought I was big boned as well when I was a kid and teen (heck still do), but at my lowest weight of 105 (5' 8), I learned I wasn't so big boned after all. It's amazing how subcutaneous fat can push your bones, organs, and muscles outwards.

Just google BMI range for men/women.

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I have to disagree; BMI, while accurate for some is completely bogus for others.  It is considered highly out of date and pretty much worthless as a metric for health and proper weight.

[FitBeforeFifty]

If you think BMI is not accurate for you, then have your body fat measured. That is a much better approach than simply assuming you are "big boned" or have a lot of muscle. While BMI mis-classifies a few people as obese that are otherwise at a healthy weight, those people are few and far between.

When I first picked a goal weight I too thought I would be too "skinny" at that weight. The closer I got to my goal the more I realized that was just a perception issue on my part. I had gotten so used to looking at my overweight (borderline obese) self that I forgot what I a lean version of me should look like.

The majority of people in the US are overweight. When most people around you are overweight you tend to shift your perspective of what "normal" should be.

If you think you are an exception to BMI there are ways to prove it -- don't depend on your perception as proof. 

[OCDOC]

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@FitBeforeFifty wrote:

If you think BMI is not accurate for you, then have your body fat measured. That is a much better approach than simply assuming you are "big boned" or have a lot of muscle. While BMI mis-classifies a few people as obese that are otherwise at a healthy weight, those people are few and far between.

When I first picked a goal weight I too thought I would be too "skinny" at that weight. The closer I got to my goal the more I realized that was just a perception issue on my part. I had gotten so used to looking at my overweight (borderline obese) self that I forgot what I a lean version of me should look like.

The majority of people in the US are overweight. When most people around you are overweight you tend to shift your perspective of what "normal" should be.

If you think you are an exception to BMI there are ways to prove it -- don't depend on your perception as proof. 

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@FitBeforeFifty

Excellent points.

My wife is 'worried' about my weight loss (50+ since Xmas), ie being 'too thin'. I'm still overweight by any BMI chart, and no way would a group of strangers look at me and say 'skinny'. The 'before' picture has been stuck in her head so long that it's the change that she sees.

Anyway, agree re getting an accurate body fat/composition assessment.

There's a clinic in Toronto that does DEXA body composition scans for under $200. I'm strongly considering making the trip to get one done, to calm my wife as well as get a true sense of where I am re lean mass, bone density, fat etc.

Might take in a Jays game the same day 🙂  R

[FitBeforeFifty]

Regarding the accuracy of BMI, this study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2877506/ is quite large and concludes: 

A BMI ≥ 30 had a high specificity (95% in men and 99% in women), but a poor sensitivity (36% and 49 %, respectively) to detect BF %-defined obesity.

In layman's terms:

1. High specificity means very few false positives.
2. Poor sensitivity means BMI failed to detect a lot of obese people.

In other words, only about 5% of men and 1% of women would be falsely identified as obese by BMI. It seems to me that a lot more than 1% of women claim to be big boned and a lot more than 5% of men claim to carry too much muscle for BMI to apply to them.

As I said, if you don't like BMI, fine, pick another quantitative measure but don't simply use a qualitative measure like I'm big boned or I have a lot of muscle. 

[shipo]

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@FitBeforeFifty wrote:

As I said, if you don't like BMI, fine, pick another quantitative measure but don't simply use a qualitative measure like I'm big boned or I have a lot of muscle. 

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The best easy alternative to BMI I've seen anywhere is even simpler to calculate than BMI; if your waist size is half your height or less, you're of a healthy weight; the further you venture either way of the midway point, the greater the potential for being either significantly underweight or overweight/obese.

[emili]

@Dominique learn something new everyday. 🙂

[emili]

@CRSunrise most weight charts give a range of what healthy weight is. Start at the high end of the chart and see how you feel. For me, I am 5'7, medium frame- I should be between 133-147 based on the chart I used. When I got down to 145, I stopped and stayed for a bit until I realized I wanted to be a bit smaller. So I got down to 134 and that fits me the best. I am apple shaped so carrying it all around the middle 145 didn't fit right. And to echo some others- my family didn't know I was heavy until I got thin. Now they can't believe they never saw it. Whatever you decide, much success in your journey.