Your Ideal Body Weight,
Don't get Caught Up with Numbers

I'm sure many of you have heard the dreaded words from your doctor: "You need to lose a few pounds", "You're too heavy for your height and age". Numbers are a great indicator of how healthy you are, but it's only part of the story.

It's not unheard of for someone to be a couple of pounds overweight but still be in great shape.

It's when the ratio becomes a little too out of whack that we need to become concerned. If you're 5'6" and over 200 pounds there might be a problem.

Here's a chart that gives a weight range for adults of different ages and heights, and remember, this should be used as a guideline, not as gospel:

Height and Weight Chart

Again, it's important to remember that these numbers don't take into consideration your lifestyle or stress level.

For example, someone might be in the proper range according to the chart, but they smoke 20 cigarettes a day.

Does that mean that they're healthier than someone who is slightly overweight and doesn't smoke?

NO.

What about different lifestyles?

Is someone who falls in the proper range who drives to work and sits in front of a computer for hours at a time--is that person healthier than someone who's a little bit heavier than they should be (again according to the table), but who is outdoors a lot, walks a lot more, eats different, fresher foods and has a lower stress level--is that person not as healthy, or even healthier, than the first example?

So when looking at these numbers it's important to realize that they're a guideline and to know that they're not the last word on your level of physical fitness and that ideal body weight might be a little different from one person to the next.



Return to HomePage from Ideal body weight