Derek Burnett
Derek Burnett is a Contributing Writer at Bottom Line Personal, where he writes frequently on health and wellness. He is also a contributing editor with Reader’s Digest magazine.
Weight loss is often described as a journey, and with good reason. You set out toward a destination, hitting milestones along the way. Every pound of weight lost is an accomplishment, every day of healthy eating a victory, every new personal best in the gym or on the track a reason to celebrate. But what should your end goal be?
Not everyone has a final destination in mind when they set out on their journey. They just know that they need to lose weight—perhaps even a lot of it, and that’s fine. But whether at the outset or partway through the process, there will come a time when you ask yourself, “How much should I weigh for my age and height?” As you set out to answer that question, remember one thing…the target weight you choose must be sustainable. While it’s fine to have an ultimate goal in mind, understand that the lifestyle changes you’ve made must remain in place for you to keep your target weight. There’s a finish line in this race, but the people who are successful at keeping weight off are those who cross that line. They pat themselves on the back, but keep on running.
As you seek to arrive at an ideal weight, keep in mind that the tools you will be using are broad, intended to apply to an entire population, while you’re looking to set a goal that is individualized and personal. Only you, perhaps with the help of your doctor, can decide whether a specific weight is the healthiest for you.
Some people speak of being “big-boned,” and in fact there is something to be said for taking into account the size of a person’s frame in arriving at their ideal weight. There is a two-step method for using frame size as a determinant of ideal weight. You first measure your wrist circumference to categorize yourself as having a small, medium or large frame, and then plug your height into a formula that applies to people within that frame-size category.
To determine your frame-size category based on wrist circumference, use the Body Frame Method table below:
Once you’ve determined your frame size, use these formulas to arrive at your ideal weight in pounds:
If you’re looking for the quickest and simplest way to zero in on a healthy weight range, the National Institutes of Health provides the data below. Note that the NIH’s breakdown of ideal weight ranges does not differentiate between men and women, nor is age considered a differentiator once a person has reached adulthood.
