What Is Your Ideal Weight For Your Height?

Wanna know how healthy you are? Your BMI is a great indicator of your healthiness. Here’s how to calculate your ideal weight for your height.

Are you wondering how much should I weigh? The answer to this question might not be that straightforward. In fact, the answer varies according to your gender, age, height, body type, and a bunch of other health factors.

Magazine models can be a great source of inspiration to look fit and to opt for a healthy life.

But before you start losing or gaining weight, it is vital to understand whether such figures are really the best example to follow when it comes to your own personal weight.

Now the question is, is there any formula to calculate ideal weight? The answer is yes.

Why Is It Important To Know Your Body Weight To Height Ratio?

For a healthy lifestyle, your body weight should be in accordance with your height. Whenever you plan to shed some extra pounds or put on some weight, you need to first set your target or agenda according to ideal measurement.

Knowing the height and weight ratio is vital to avoid severe health hazards.

If your height and weight are in the right proportion, you will be physically fit and will have that stamina to do work. Your metabolic functions will also be active.

Today’s generation is more inclined to eat junk and fast foods. This unhealthy habit is one of the prime causes of obesity.

Sometimes it is not possible to identify those extra fats. A lot of times, we ignore those baby fats consciously. But with time, fats accumulate and might become the cause of severe health issues.

Obesity might put a person at risk of greater complications and may cause glucose intolerance, diabetes, high blood pressure, and even artery disease.

So, before you jump on to crash diets or grab those dumbbells or start doing pushups, know how much you should lose.

Otherwise, too much dieting and exercise might make you underweight. This will eventually do harm to your body and overall health more than benefits.

Similarly, in the case of extreme overweight conditions, you should immediately seek professional help.

Calculating Ideal Weight

Bodyweight measure has been broadly classified into four groups. These are:

Underweight,
Healthy Weight,
Overweight,
and Obesity & Extreme obesity.

There are some technical approaches to calculate ideal weight according to body type, height, gender, and some other factors.

Dieticians and professionals mostly follow some internationally recognized and accepted techniques to calculate the ideal weight.

Here is a brief description of three methods to calculate the ideal weight:

1. Body Mass Index

Body mass index or BMI is the most popular and easy screening indicator of measuring fat percentage in the human body.

BMI is the measure of mass and height of a person to maintain a healthy weight. The number is Weight over Height square. It’s a universal number to measure obesity.

Many healthcare experts use it on a regular basis. You simply divide your weight by your height, then divide the result to your height again.

In this method, the weight of a person is considered in kilograms and height in meters.

A healthy person has anywhere from 18.5 to 24.9 BMI. Anything lower falls into the skinny group, whereas a BMI of 25 to 29.9 makes you overweight.

A person with a BMI ranging from 30 to 34.9 is considered obese. And a BMI over 35 is considered extreme obesity. The higher the number, the greater is the correlation to fatal diseases.

If you are underweight, then you have to consume fatty food every day. In the case of extreme obesity, you need to consult a physician.

Our BMI differs depending on gender, muscle mass, and bone mass. And there is no single BMI that is ideal for all people.

2. Waist To Height Ratio

Another useful metric we can use to calculate ideal weight is the Waist to Height Ratio or in short called “WHtR”.

Abdominal or big belly fat requires a lot of attention and work to keep it in check. For men, more than 40 inches (40″) and for women, more than 35 inches (35″) can be an indicator of visceral fat.

Research has shown a more dynamic predictor of morbidity by measuring waist circumference. The waist to height ratio is measured by dividing your waist size in inches to height in inches. The optimal ratio between your waist and your height is less than 0.5.

To simplify this, suppose you are 5 feet 8 inches tall, and your waist measures 32 inches. Then your waist to height ratio would be 32 divided by 66, giving a value of 0.47, which means your WHtR is within the optimal range.

Tracking your daily activity, healthy eating, light exercise, regular movements, and sound sleep are some pre-requirements in case you want to maintain a healthy weight.

3. Waist To Hip Ratio

The third and final way to figure out your ideal weight or mass, especially for women with naturally broader hips, is the waist to hip ratio.

You can calculate this simply by dividing your waist measurement in the narrowest point to your hips measurement at the widest point.

To break it down, suppose your waist measures 33 inches and hips measure 44 inches. Now 33″ by 42″ gives a value of 0.78.

Similar to other methods, the waist to hip ratio index also comes with a set of healthy ranges.

In women, this ratio should be ideally up to 0.8 for lower risk of developing heart and circulation problems.
This index should ideally fall to below 0.9 for males as anything higher than that may increase the risk of developing heart problems at a later stage of life.

Healthy Diet

Keep healthy and clean eating habits. Your diet should include:

Real whole, unprocessed food as close to their natural state as possible such as vegetables and fruits;
Healthy sources of carbohydrates like sweet potatoes;
High-quality sources of protein;
And healthy fats like avocados and nuts.

It takes not a temporary diet plan but a long-term commitment to a healthy lifestyle that offers long-term health benefits.

The bottom line is, a healthy weight loss or weight gain regimen should be maintained according to gender, body type, age, and height.

Drinking plenty of water and keeping sufficient fiber, vitamins, and minerals in the daily diet and measuring calories while consuming carbohydrates, protein, and fats should be made as a daily practice.

By keeping your weight in check, you can maintain a healthy lifestyle and observe noticeable changes in your energy levels as well.