What’s a healthy weight goal for you? In the last 10 or 20 years, health experts have changed that question to what is a healthy body mass index (BMI) for you? The BMI takes into consideration the amount of bone, muscle and fat in your body’s composition and is considered better than the more straightforward height and weight charts that insurance companies used years ago.
I’ve heard that those old charts said a woman should weigh between 3-5 pounds more than a 100 for each inch above five feet tall, so a 5’6” woman should weigh between 118 and 130 pounds. The newer BMI measure would say a 5’6” woman who weighed 118 was underweight.
There are easy ways and hard ways to measure BMI with the harder ways being more accurate but also requiring much more expensive technology. An easy way to calculate your BMI is a formula based on your weight in pounds and your height in inches.
BMI = (Weight in Pounds X 703) / (Height in Inches X Height in Inches)
The calculation for a 5’6” woman who weighed 140 (alas, not me!) would look like this:
22.59 = (140 X 703 = 98,420) / (66 X 66 = 4356)
A BMI between 25 and 29 is considered overweight while anything 30 and above is obese. Below 20 is underweight, and 20 to 25 is healthy.
Honestly, the formula results seem on the high side based on the results I’ve seen online from BMI calculators that take into account other measurements, but it may assume the woman is not very fit with a lack of muscle tone. (Or, I’m deceiving myself.) One online BMI calculator I like is on Body by Glamour, and I highly recommend you try that one.
You also can see some of the more accurate but also more expensive ways to measure BMI in the first episode of many of The Biggest Loser seasons. I believe one test measures the amount of water displaced when you get into a tub. I’ve never met anyone who got their BMI measured with one of these methods, but it could be an interesting exercise.
Weight Watchers now stresses a healthy BMI. Their healthy weight ranges are based on BMI but easily translate to a height/weight chart.
Height Weight (BMI = 20) Weight (BMI = 25)
4’9” 92 116
4’10” 96 120
4’11” 99 124
5’0” 102 128
5’1” 106 132
5’2” 109 137
5’3” 113 141
5’4” 117 146
5’5” 120 150
5’6” 124 155
5’7” 128 160
5’8” 132 164
5’9” 135 169
5’10” 139 174
5’11” 143 179
6’0” 147 184
6’1” 152 189
6’2” 156 195
6’3” 160 200
6’4” 164 205
6’5” 169 211
I can’t imagine thinking a 6’2” man weighing 200 pounds is overweight, but these are interesting guidelines to look at as you figure out what’s a healthy weight for you. I’m using the healthy BMI range as my ultimate goal in my weight loss journey. I’d like to get back into that range with perhaps a 10 to 20 pound cushion. I’m around 5’6”, and my healthy weight range is 124 to 155 or a BMI of 20 to 25. I’ve been throwing around the 135 to 140 pound range as my ultimate goal. That may be too ambitious, but I may get there if I keep working at it.
What do you think of the body mass index? Do you think it’s more accurate than the old height weight charts or a new way to talk about the same old thing? Does it influence what you think is a healthy weight for you?
