What’s Your Ideal Weight?

I’ve adjusted my goal weight up to 135, compared to my original goal of 120. This is not because I’m giving up; it’s because I’ve come to believe that 135 is truly my ideal weight.

When I first set my goal, I wasn’t sure what an appropriate body weight would be, because I went from rather underweight to nearly obese over the course of 15 years. At some time I must’ve hit my ideal, but I’m damned if I know when. At 5′ 3″, I weighed 100 pounds or so when I graduated from high school, and maybe 110 when I finished college five years later. I gained weight pretty steadily at 5 pounds a year after that, until my highest weight of 167 in July 2002.

I do remember that I first started feeling fat when I hit 135. That’s when my thighs started looking like white lumpy hams, and I couldn’t wear a size 4 any more. (Remember, my mental image of myself was of that scrawny teenager who had a hard time finding clothes small enough to fit.)

So I recently picked 120 as a goal because, hey, it seemed reasonable, it was below my first “fat” weight, and it was smack in the middle of the BMI range for my height.

But it’s time to adjust this goal, for a number of reasons. First, and most important, two independent methods of measuring body mass composition tell me that my current body fat percentage is around 30%, which means I have 102 pounds of lean body mass. I’ve gained some lean body mass since college! Nice! (The two methods I used were the waist-to-hip ratio method described in the Eadeses’ book Protein Power, and the fancy electronic thingy at the gym.) It’s desirable to hang onto all 102 pounds of lean body mass.

It gets a little complicated from here, because it’s hard to find consistent information on what constitutes a healthy body fat percentage.  If you google “ideal body fat percentage,” you’ll see what I mean.  Depending on who you believe, my body fat percentage could be anywhere from 15% to 33% and still be healthy.  Well, I’m at 30%, and my thighs still look lumpy white hams, my back is fat, and my belly bunches up when I sit.  Not to mention the wingspans that have replaced my upper arms …   Clearly 30% is too much for me.

I decided to go with the Eadeses again, since I find them to be generally relaible.  They say a woman of my age should have somewhere between 21 and 27% body fat. Weighing 135 pounds would put me at 24% body fat. In truth, my goal isn’t 135 pounds at all; it’s 24% body fat. If I gain more lean muscle mass, my ideal weight will go up.

I reserve the right to readjust again at any time.

There is another, more political reason that I’m changing my goal weight, and that is because it was based on BMI, and I’ve decided that BMI is a very ineffective measure of a healthy weight. The BMI charts say that I could weigh 105 pounds and have a “healthy” BMI of 18.6. But, again assuming that I don’t want to lose a single ounce of my precious lean body mass, that would give me only about 3% body fat!

Where the heck do these BMI charts come from, anyway? Did someone pull them out of, pardon my vulgarity, their ass? The author of the Bodywords blog started an interesting discussion, based on the recent research showing that a little extra weight can result in lowered overall risk of death. Check out the post; it’s fascinating in the questions it asks.

By the way, another thing I learned from Good Calories, Bad Calories is just how much public health authorities dumb down health science so they can reach the greatest numbers of people.  I’m guessing this is an example, too. It’s too complicated to tell us that we should be concerned about body mass composition, because the tests are not readily available. However, almost every household in America has a bathroom scale and a tape measure. So instead of suggesting that people get their body mass composition measured at their annual physicals, we suggest instead that they make an extremely flawed, but very easy, measurement with equipment they have in their own homes.

I’m beginning to think that the person who commented that I should stop weighing myself and go by the way I look and how my clothes fit had a point!  I have too keen an interest in science, and have spent too long in the business world, not to place a value on measurement.  But it would be helpful if I knew what the heck I am supposed to measure!