| DETERMINING
YOUR IDEAL WEIGHT |
 Your
ideal weight may not be what you think it is. Ideal weight may sound as though
is refers to how you feel you should look, or how you believe others expect you
to look, it is the weight that is healthiest for your height, waist size, sex
and age. Your ideal weight can depend on even more than these factors, but generally
speaking they are the main determinants. Your body needs fat reserves to ensure
you always have enough energy on hand, and there is a healthy amount of stored
fat to have on the body. People constantly have difficulty making the connection
between stored fat and body image, since our culture pressures people to be very
skinny. Unfortunately, this image that is formed in magazines and on television
is contraindicative of what is a healthy range for your body.
"Very Skinny" is not the description of a healthy body. Your body needs
fat in order to be completely healthy, as fat can ensure that you receive energy
when you cannot eat enough for a span of time, and helps to provide all the right
substances for healthy repair of cells, etc. A more realistic body image needs
to be formulated in order for you to understand how your body should look and
what it should consist of. It needs a healthy balance of all the ingredients of
a healthy body, and this involves a proper ratio of fat to lean muscle mass.
The way most people get confused is how to measure your body fat and what weight
you should be aiming for. There are three major tools for determining your fat
content in relation to the ideal level for your height and sex. The first is Body
Mass Index, which takes into account your height, weight, and sex. There are many
calculators on the internet that can do this for you. They list your BMI, what
it means, and tells you the ranges for healthy, underweight, overweight, and obese.
The only problem with a BMI calculator is that it cannot be used reliably for
body builders as muscle weighs more than fat and will cause a misleadingly high
reading on the scale. Also, for children the numbers cannot be relied on.
Another method to calculate your weight situation is your Waist-to-hip Ratio.
A connection has been shown between where the fat is stored, and what effect
it may have on the rest of your body. For example, weight stored around the
waist is better for you than that which is stored in your upper body and generally
anywhere other than your waist. Fat in other regions has been shown to raise
your bad cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.
To measure your waist size, you should take a tape measure and start it at your
belly-button and wrap it around your waist. Healthy range for women is below
31 inches and anything over 35 inches puts you at a higher risk for stroke and
heart disease. For men, the healthy range is less than 37 inches and the risk
zone is over 40 inches. If you are in the middle of the healthy and at risk
zones, then you're are "borderline" and should take immediate action
to prevent yourself from going into the danger zone.
Another major method for determining the relationship between your size and
weight and your health, is the waist-to-hip ratio. You already have your waist
size, so now you have to take the tape measure and start it at the level of
the two bony protrusions on your hip (your pelvic bone) and wrap it around.
Then, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. If the ratio is
above .80 for women or 1.0 for men, then you most probably have a poor fat storage
situation.
People who are considered overweight or obese by their BMI should take immediate
steps to reduce their weight. Since there are so many risks associated with
obesity, it is essential that you take your weight into consideration. Taking
steps to decrease your weight requires immediate action as these risk factors
are threatening to your life. It has been proven through research that those
who are characterized by obesity or by being overweight who lose 10% of their
weight can dramatically decrease their risk of weight-related illnesses.
Later in life, these problems could result in major complications health-wise.
Obesity has been shown to be a direct cause of heart disease, osteoporosis,
joint problems, stroke, and much more. It is very important that you determine
where you should be ideally, and to take steps to attain that healthy range,
your life could depend on it.
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