How Much Should I Weigh? Why BMI might not be best

The question sounds simple but is a complicated answer: How much should I weigh? 

You may have heard that the best way to assess your proper weight is by looking at body-mass index (BMI), which correlates your height and weight into health ranges. While this is a starting place it is certainly not the end-all-be-all.

Here are two examples of clients in my practice that used BMI to assess how much they should weigh and the challenges that arose because of this. 

Melanie, a 55-year-old menopausal woman had lost and gained the same 50 pounds over the years. She had high blood pressure and suffered from depression. At five-foot-four and 230 pounds, her BMI labelled her obese. This five-letter word was deflating. After years of trying to achieve a healthy BMI range of 108 to 145 pounds with no success, Melanie decided to let it go. Looking back at her history it became clear that even when she was eating and exercising almost perfectly she was never able to nudge lower than 170 pounds. Over time Melanie found peace with her weight and success-fully now maintains a weight of 175 to 185 pounds. Despite BMI still classifying her as obese, she has more fun, better flexibility with her food, lowered knee pain and has dropped her blood pressure.

At 16, Beth remembers feeling bigger than most girls in her class. At five-foot-six and 170 pounds she started dieting and exercising excessively. She got to 120 pounds by being severely bulimic. At 19, a well-intended health professional that didn’t know the punishing regime Beth had been following for years, suggested that she was at a good weight because she fell within the healthy BMI range. Her psychologist and I had to work very hard to convince her that 120 pounds, although considered healthy by the BMI, was not healthy for her. As Beth recovered from her disorder and began to nourish her body with sufficient food and moderate activity, the scale normalized to the higher end of the BMI range. Her blood pressure and heart rate improved and her menstrual cycle reappeared. While happy that her physical health was restored, Beth still struggles with knowing that while some women at her height can be healthy at 115 pounds, in order to be healthy she needs to weigh almost 40 pounds more.

Three Steps to Achieving your Best Weight

It is not about the number on the scale 

Focus on restoration of health and maximizing quality of life. Minimize a fixation on numbers on the scale as much as possible. Focus on increasing your energy levels, improving mood as well as increasing vitamins, minerals and other key nutrients. Also focus on reducing joint pain, less need for medication, better digestion, and healthier blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels and blood sugars.

It is not about calories in versus calories out 

The diet industry would have you believe that you can weigh whatever you want if you simply eat less and exercise more. Your weight is a reflection of a complex list of factors above and beyond your food and activity factors. Also important are genetics, family history, gender, age, body composition, sleep habits, stress levels and more. Remember that some factors we can change while others are factors we have little control over.

It is not about giving up fun and flexibility 

Weight management experts Dr. Arya Sharma and Dr. Yoni Freed-hoff suggest focusing on your best weight, which is defined as whatever weight you can achieve while living the healthiest lifestyle possible and still having fun and flexibility. At some point you will not be able to eat less, exercise more and still enjoy a great life. At that point you are trying to achieve a weight that is under where you should be. The words fun and flexibility are essential. Living fully is indeed about a mix of healthful and soulful choices.