Most likely, you probably thought about your weight. Am I too heavy, too thin, or am I an ideal body weight? Unfortunately, social norms such as what you see through social media, TV, movies, and magazines influence our perception of a perfect weight.
Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight is critical for your overall health. It can help prevent and control many diseases and conditions. If you are overweight or obese, you are at higher risk of developing severe health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Maintaining a healthy weight helps lower your risk of developing these health problems, improves your mood, and gives you more energy.
Thankfully, Ideal Body Weight (IBW) formulas and calculators have some practical use beyond visual appeal. In fact, IBW was first introduced in 1974 to estimate patient drug dosages. Today, not only is it still used in medicine, it has become a means for people to estimate their ideal weight.
Factors that Influence Your Ideal Body Weight
Several factors can affect your ideal body weight. Most people stop growing after 14 for girls and 16 for boys. However, people are expected to lose up to 2 inches (~ 5 cm) in height before 70. Additionally, as people age, they lose lean muscle mass, and it becomes easier to store body fat. Thankfully, you can lessen the effects of aging with a proper diet, exercise, stress management, and adequate sleep.
Another factor that influences your ideal body weight is gender. Women weigh less than men at an ideal weight, even though women naturally have a higher percentage of body fat and lower bone density. On the other hand, men generally have higher muscle mass and bone density and tend to be taller than women. Overall, these factors typically make men heavier.
Regardless of gender, your body frame, which refers to the size of your bones, can affect your weight. A person with a larger frame will naturally weigh more, even at the same height as someone with a more petite frame. You can reference the chart below using your height and wrist circumference to determine your body frame size.
| Height | Frame Size |
|---|---|
| Women < 5’2″ < 157 cm | Small < 5.5″ or < 14 cm Medium 5.5″ to 5.75″ 14 cm to 14.6 cm Large > 5.75″ or > 14.6 cm |
| Women 5’2″ to 5’5″ 157 cm to 165 cm | Small < 6″ or < 15.2 cm Medium 6″ to 6.25″ 15.2 cm to 15.9 cm Large > 6.25″ or > 15.9 cm |
| Women > 5’5″ > 165 cm | Small < 6.25″ or < 15.9 cm Medium 6.25″ to 6.5″ 15.9 cm to 16.5 cm Large > 6.5″ or > 16.5 cm |
| Men > 5’5″ > 165 cm | Small 5.5″ to 6.5″ 14 cm to 16.5 cm Medium 6.5″ to 7.5″ 16.5 cm to 19 cm Large > 7.5″ or > 19 cm |
How do I figure out my Ideal Body Weight?
Ideal body weight formulas like Body Mass Index are tools to estimate roughly how much you should weigh. However, it does not consider how much body fat and muscle are in your body. Highly fit people and athletes may be regarded as overweight. Also, you can be over or under your ideal body weight and still be considered healthy. However, IBW formulas are still helpful, especially in medicine. Therefore, researchers continue to explore and refine IBW formulas.
IBW calculators and formulas should only be used as a general guideline. The results are not intended to be the weight a person must achieve to be considered their ideal body weight.
If I can’t rely on formulas, how do I achieve an Ideal Body Weight?
It’s good to have a rough idea of what is considered an ideal body weight for you. This is where IBW calculators and formulas are helpful. However, achieving your ideal body weight comes from practicing good healthy habits.
A Good Diet
A balanced diet is vital to achieve your ideal weight. It provides the nutrients your body needs to function properly. There are dietary guidelines that explain how much of each nutrient you should eat every day. Generally, balanced diets include fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain foods, legumes, nuts, and lean proteins.
In addition to a good diet, managing your calories is essential. Almost everything you consume has calories. The number of calories you need per day depends on various factors. Once you reach your healthy weight, maintaining your weight means balancing your daily number of calories.
Exercise
Any exercise is better than no exercise at all. Exercise does more than burn calories to help you achieve your ideal body weight. There are a lot of benefits to regular exercise. For example, being physically active can reduce the risk of certain diseases, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do everyday activities. Furthermore, exercise can help maintain your thinking, learning, and judgment skills. Also, it can reduce your risk of depression and anxiety and help you sleep better.
Stress Management
Stress is a physical and mental response to situations the body and mind find overwhelming. Over time, stress can cause harm to your body unless you manage it. Unfortunately, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the fast pace of work and home, constantly inundated with technology, and still wanting time to do what you want. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to reduce your stress, such as exercising, maintaining a good diet, meditating, reducing your online time, and practicing deep breathing.
Sleep
You’ve likely had sleepless nights. The next day, you can feel cranky and groggy. However, you can quickly become sleep-deprived without sleeping 7 to 9 hours each night. When you get less than 7 hours of sleep regularly, it can eventually lead to health issues such as weight gain, a weakened immune system, risk of heart disease and diabetes, memory and concentration issues, and high blood pressure.
While sleeping, your body heals itself, restores its chemical balance, rebuilds muscles, creates new thought connections, and helps with memory retention. Without enough sleep, your brain and body systems won’t function normally. As a result, it dramatically lowers your quality of life. Sleep is essential for so many aspects of good health. Therefore, you should make it a priority to get enough quality sleep every day.
Getting Started
Starting something new is sometimes hard, especially when a goal seems difficult. Thankfully, all it takes is one small change to begin your journey and work on it daily until it becomes a new habit. For example, you could manage your food portions, eat more fruits and vegetables, drink fewer caffeinated drinks, or take a 20-minute walk daily. Regardless, it would be best if you talked with your doctor or a registered dietitian to discuss your best options.
Many people find it helpful to track everything in a journal. It lets you record your exercise, notes, and sleep so you don’t have to remember everything. You can visualize your progress, achieve your goals, and stay motivated. So what are you waiting for? Make one small change today and start your journey.
FitTrend’s mission is to help you along your self-improvement journey, promote an active lifestyle, and help you achieve your goals. Our journal can help you track your weight. Also, FitTrend allows you to connect certain scales to your account to make it easier for you to track your weight automatically. Create your account today and start using FitTrend for free!
Disclaimer: No content on this site should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
