What is a Healthy Weight?

What is a healthy weight?. Basically, it is defined as one that provides lifelong health. Having a normal BMI (Body Mass Index) is a great indicator to how much fat to muscle ratio a body has. To calculate the BMI, simply divide the weight by the height in inches.

For example, if a person weighs 150lbs and is 5ft 5 (65 inches) tall, 150 would be divided by 65 squared, then multiplied by 703 equalling 24.96 or 25% when rounded off. Men and women use the same formula for determining their own personal BMI.

Anything over 25% is considered as unhealthy (and why most people fail at loosing weight). In addition to the BMI, the American Heart Association (AHA) advises that the waist of a man should be no larger than 40 inches around and a woman’s no larger than 35 inches. But, according to the American Cancer Society (ACA) a man’s waist should never be larger than 35 inches and a woman’s no more than 30 inches.

Height and body frame also determine what is a healthy weight. For example, a woman who is 5’5″ with a small frame should weigh between 117-130lbs. If her frame is medium, then she should weigh no more than 141lbs, and for a large frame no more than 159lbs. A man who is 6ft tall with a small frame should weigh between 149-160lbs.

For a medium frame he should weigh nor more than 170lbs. and for a large frame no more than 188lbs. The benefits of staying at an optimal weight and normal BMI places less stress on joints, organs and the heart, in addition to providing effective armor against preventable diseases, such as certain cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.

In contrast to dieting to get to a healthy weight, eating to live instead of living to eat is probably the most sound advice a nutritionist can offer anyone needing to shed a few pounds. In fact, even more sound advice is to point an individual taking charge of his or her health, toward developing the habit of eating in an enjoyable manner.

This is achieved by treating the experience as a leisurely event, by savoring all the different flavors and textures of the highest quality foods that preferably, have been prepared from natural food sources. In contrast, when a food is prepackaged and full of sodium, sugars, and preservatives, the weight piles back on and health suffers (see stop potato weight gain).

The ritual of eating is meant to reduce hunger. What better way to accomplish this than with the Mediterranean diet? The word diet in and of itself is a misnomer when referring to the Mediterranean food plan, because eating in this way is as close to natural as all foods should be (not like most of the other fad diets do).

Nothing is restricted, no special foods to buy, just the sheer pleasure of eating meats, fruits, healthy oils and fats, and indulging in unrefined grains, fresh vegetables, and heart healthy red wine. Proven to reduce heart disease, cancer, lower blood pressure and increase good health,besides tasting delicious, this is the optimal way to eat for life and enjoy robust health at the same time.