05/10/2011 01:42
How Realistic Are My Weight Loss Goals?
BMI or weight loss charts? Fit or unfit? Heavily or lightly muscled? It can all affect our target weight.
BMI has weaknesses in determining optimal weight goals. It doesn't take crucial factors into account, such as musculature and frame size, or if weight is carried primarily above the waist or below the hips, which can affect the results significantly.
To determine your ideal weight range, it can often be more helpful to take frame size into account, since larger bones weigh more than smaller bones, no matter what your height and/or hip-to-waist circumference.
Here's how to determine your frame size:
http://www.am-i-fat.com/body_frame_size.html
Here's table to find your ideal weight range, based on that frame size:
http://www.am-i-fat.com/weight_tables_women.html
There are ideals and ideals, and those can vary from person to person. If you are very fit, you may feel better and be healthier at a higher weight than what might be considered your "ideal." Ideal is where you feel good and can maintain that weight without a lot of fuss, bother, and deprivation. I think we are often bullied into believing that we can't be healthy or happy unless we attain and maintain a weight that may be unrealistic for us.