Women's Healthy Weight

Can we please stop worrying about those numbers on the scale? I mean, yes, they do tell us something. If we're tipping the scale at 300 pounds, that is obviously not healthy. But I'm talking to you ladies, who, like I used to, obsess over an extra pound or two gain.

First, know that your weight does fluctuate from day to day. It will easily vary by as much as three pounds over the course of a few days. 

Second, there's more to being healthy than hitting your "ideal" weight. Yes, I am still several pounds overweight. But because I have taken charge of my own "wellness" and living a cleaner, healthier lifestyle, I am still in good physical condition for my age. I have seen ladies half my size and half my age who are always sick with something. They equate health with slenderness and so they haven't yet realized that they may be "skinny" but their lifestyle is contributing to a host of medical problems.

Instead of focusing on that scale, you should focus on your over body mass index (BMI). This takes into account all those other factors like height, and muscle, and yes, fat composition. There are several tools online to help you calculate your BMI. But one of the easiest and most popular is a simple mathematical formula.

Weight/Height (in inches, squared) x 703

For example: 110 lbs / 65 in (squared) x 703

110 lbs / 4225 in x 703 = 18.3 

Once you know your BMI, you can get determine where you are on the spectrum:

• Underweight: anything under 18.5
• Healthy: anything between 18.5 and 24.9
• Overweight: anything between 25.0 and 29.9
• Obese: anything above 30.0

So our young lady in the example is actually underweight.

This doesn't give you the whole picture though. There are other factors to consider. Frame size. Muscle composition. Age.

Athletes sometimes may weigh more due to being more muscular. As we age, older adults tend to store more fat than when we were younger.

Although the BMI is more accurate than some arbitrary number on a scale, the truth is that we should focus more on staying within a healthy range. And now that you know how to calculate that, AND you know where that range is, you have one more tool to add to your wellness arsenal.