Find Your Perfect Weight - Part 1

I was having a conversation with a lady about my age (47) who I noticed had lost weight and I made a commit to her about how great she looked and what did she do when the cravings started. Her response was powerful, "my body doesn't ask for it anymore"!
So, in response to these weight determining guides, I will let my body be my guide for it tells me when I have eaten too much because it can hardly move and feels bloated,, when I need to get moving because it gets restless, when it is stressed because the acid reflux acts up and when it is exhausted because it begins to start feeling tired and unable to focus.
Our bodies communicate to us exactly what it needs and tells us when we are doing something that is not working for it everyday.
I believe the bottom line is we all for the most part know in our hearts where our weight should be and we are the only ones who control what goes in our mouths. That being said, I am glad I read this article and had an opportunity to put my 2 cents in (for what it is worth)...Have the best day of your life because you deserve it!! - 6/2/2013 9:02:41 AM

I read the article, and my BMI measured obese. I am 212lbs at 5'3, losing weight would be healthy idea. I have been recently diagnosed pre-diabetes with high blood pressure, my concern how about to lose weight to become healthy. My sisters believe since I am 48 years old and had a child I should not attempt to reach a healthy weight that put my BMI in healthy range because my age and I had baby, not reasonable of woman of age to get that weight goal. Is possible a woman my age to get a healthy BMI for woman at 5'3? - 5/28/2013 6:28:56 PM

This is great advice to use as a guage but is not going to be "ideal" for everyone of course. - 3/11/2013 3:37:10 PM

I find that the "Height/Weight Charts,HANWI formula" is off. I am between 5 & 5'1. It says that I should weigh 100-105 lbs (a midpoint range)???!!! NOT! I have a small (not asian tiny) to medium sized frame. I feel comfortable when I weigh 115 to 125 lbs. I have always had curves (when not overweight). If I was 100-105 I'd been a bean pole!!! I do concur that the charts are only a guideline & do not take into consideration someone muscle mass &/or fat ratio/location. - 10/22/2012 2:46:05 PM

BMI is a really terrible way to determine a "healthy" weight. Back in the day when I was wrestling in high school, we had our fat content tested so that we would know what was the absolute lowest we could go for weight classes. The state limit was 7% body fat (or 4% with parent approval). The chart also showed your 0% weight as a reference. The last time I had that done my 0% weight was in the 190's....yet according to the BMI that's over the normal range.

Sure, the article mentions that it's only one way and then lists a bunch of caveats for where it doesn't work. However, since there are so many people that it doesn't work for it seems pointless to even have an article on it at all. In math and science if a formula is debunked then it tends to go away.....why hasn't the BMI scale gone away yet? - 10/16/2012 1:17:31 PM

At 6'3" with a 12" wrist measurement , I supposedly weigh 196# according to this article. What a joke! After ten weeks of basic traing in the US Army, I weighed 205# after sleep deprivation, constant field exercise of calesthentics and forced marches of over 20 miles. Now at age 69 years and exercising three hours a day, three days a week at a gym, my weight is 256#. These charts don't take into account people of extra large bone structure & muscularture. These charts are developed by life insurance companies which charge more $ based upon a person's size. these charts need to be revised to account for actual sized people. - 9/19/2012 11:28:58 PM

I would like someone to also take into account in these endeavours, one's ethnic background. It is obvious to me that most scandinavians, for example, have a generally different body shape, height etc., than, for example, those of slavic or central american (mayan) backgrounds. We humans are simple are not genetically, all the same. - 9/17/2012 12:17:56 PM

Avocado here...I actually found the weight range on the HANWI to be about right for me. I have a larger frame and it put me at 143 which is where I was when I was at my healthiest. The upper range of the BMI is 154...not a big difference in the scheme of things. So, I'll shoot for 148.5 (middle ground)
Right now my BMI is 32.5 so Ineed to get that down ASAP but at least I'm an Avocado. :)
Thanks for the great article, Coach Dean! Your articles are always chocked full of information without all the fluff. I love it! - 9/17/2012 10:44:48 AM

I have always been very discouraged by these weight guidelines they give us. For one thing, I am, and always have been a very muscular person (bucking hay bales and packing 30# buckets of grain since I was about 8 years old). I am 5' 5" when I stretch a little and am very short waisted, (only 5" between bottom rib and hip bones) so of course my waist-hip ratio is high (36" waist and 43" hips). Determining frame size on me is interesting also, I would say large boned (although not long boned ) as my hands and ring size (not puffy or fat at all) are as large as most men's (Larger than some). One time in my adult life I actually got down to a very unhealthy 138# and ended up in the hospital because I was starving myself. And every chart says I should weigh no more than 143 #. - 9/17/2012 10:15:40 AM

Did anyone else find the formula for taking 60 inches of height plus 5 pounds for every inch yielded a really low range? The range I got from this formula at 5"4" was 108-132 pounds, with 120 being the middle. I have a small-medium frame, which means I'd be best off around 115 according to this formula, but this makes no sense to me. I haven't weighed that since I was 14 or 15 and still doing ballet. I find I look good at a muscular 140, and could maybe lose about 10 pounds from there, but when I weighed 128 at 18 years old I looked pretty gaunt in the face, so I imagine weighing 108 would make me look skeletal. The article said looking back at an earlier weight may not be the best way, but I have to say it works for me better than the range formula. - 9/17/2012 8:20:11 AM

I'm absolutely shocked at how high my waist hip ratio is. Now I've been trying to be careful with my diet. I have noticed that even though I've lost weight, I still have not reduced my slack size....Still tight. Is it the type of food that I'm eating? I'm trying to cut down on wheat and have been fairly successful. Something is wrong...
Exercise. I'm 78 with arthritis and at times it is particularly painful . I do suffer if I walk on the treadmill. Perhaps Tai Chi or low impact? - 9/17/2012 4:39:38 AM

Just a little mathematical point... right now, my waist to hip ratio is .84 , a moderate risk. That's with a 41 inch waist & 49 inch hips. However, my hip ratio at my ideal weight (from oh so many years ago), was .89 , a high risk... that's a 32 inch waist & 36 inch hips...

BMI on the other hand tells a much more accurate tale- current 30.1 (obese) and past 21.5 (healthy).

best to use common sense when applying these tools - 9/12/2012 7:12:06 AM

The older charts are quite stringent. I should weigh 143 or less? Actually less, since I don't have a large frame. I haven't weighed that since my sophomore year of high school. But I do feel good about getting into my normal BMI range-- just barely. I'm certainly not thin, but I feel better and it's easier to find clothes that look good.

Personally, I don't think people should set weight loss goals. I think they should set behavior goals. Vow to eat moderate meals of mostly unprocessed foods and snack seldom, as the people in France and Italy do, with the lowest average BMI weights in Europe. Do short (15 minutes), intense workouts several times a week and walk or do something comparable most days of the week for 30 minutes. Whatever you weigh after a few years of that is probably fine. - 8/18/2012 10:12:40 AM

i am 5' 8'' and weight 172 the excess weight is around the mid section i want to try to rid my self of this middle role it makes me feel like staying wrapped in a blanket. getting rid of this mid section seems to be the hardest area to lose. any ideas on the best way to loose this. - 7/12/2012 8:02:47 AM

To some of the "older" folks commenting here. I tend to agree with Dr. Oz when he says that you really should weigh about what you weighed at age 18-21. I am going to be 62 next month, I'm also slightly handicapped having had polio when I was an infant, leaving me with much less muscle in my left leg & right arm. I'm around 5 ft to 5 ft 1 in tall. I am an RN & work in an ICU and am in a position to see every day the terrible effects of people being overweight & unfit or in a state of de-conditioning. Coronary artery disease,diabetes, high blood pressure,crippled because their knees are shot from carrying all that weight, chronic back pain. The list could go on & on. I did let myself get overweight & out of shape, but I made up my mind that I didn't want all those diseases & problems. Most of my adult life I weighed 98-105#. I am now back to near that weight at age 62; I'm at 104-107# So I'm just sayin....it can be done. It ain't easy, but you can do it. - 6/19/2012 1:45:32 AM