Your Weight - What is a Healthy Weight?

You may have spent minutes, hours, weeks or days thumbing through popular weight charts in order to determine your ideal weight. 'Ideal' weight charts are everywhere. In fact, we've got a few here, too.

Comparing several weight charts may induce head-scratching because numbers are notorious for varying - sometimes greatly.

"Why is this? Doesn't anyone know what a person is suppose to weigh?" one might ask. Actually, no...no they don't.

Here are a few good pointers when it comes to the validity of weight chart offerings:

Weight differs from one individual to another and is influenced by many factors including age, muscle mass, frame size, ethnic roots, lifestyle and activity levels. Dave might be the same height as Sam, but because of all the influencing factors, Sam may require more weight on his frame that Dave.

Given the information above, weight charts should be considered by an individual as a simple tool for measuring weight.

Weight charts should be considered by an individual as a useful pattern in setting weight loss goals and should not be considered set in Diet Stone.

Variances in weight charts are one reason why many individuals utilize the famous BMI (Body Mass Index) method, but even this gizmo has fallacies - but more on that on another date.

With all this said, what is a healthy weight for YOU?

Your healthy weight has little to do with a number on a chart or graph. Your healthy weight is the weight that you feel best at. When trying to determine your healthy weight, think about the influencing factors mentioned above - then set a weight goal. If you have a large skeleton, shoot for more weight. If you are extremely active, you'll need more calories - and so forth.

The closer that you get to reaching your weight loss goal, measure yourself using the following questions:

Do I feel peppy? OR Am I sluggish?

How is my body functioning? (i.e. constipation, regularity, good sex, no sex, good night's sleep, insomnia, adequate urination, cloudy or vividly colored urine - and so forth).

Is my blood pressure level within a healthy range? (Weight affects blood pressure in a great way. Dropping a small amount of weight may mean the difference between taking medication and not.)

With a little analyzing here and there, you'll take the guesswork out of your perfect weight! Listen to your body talk. It's your most powerful Health Indicator.

"There's a Little Bikini in All of Us!"