The United States, as well as much of the industrialized world, is, as of September 2010, experiencing widespread obesity. In order to monitor your body weight, you should establish your ideal body weight based on accepted medical norms. Your ideal body weight should take into account not only your weight, but also your height, frame and body fat percentage.
BMI
Your Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number that is used to arrive at your ideal weight. Your BMI takes into account both your height and weight to arrive at an approximate measure of your body fat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although it assumes an average-sized frame, the results can be adjusted to take into account a large frame.
Calculation
To measure your BMI, divide your body weight in pounds by the square of your height in inches, and multiply the result by 703. If you prefer to use the metric system, simply divide your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters. If you did this calculation correctly, you will end up with a number between one and fifty.
Large Frames
Wrap your thumb and middle finger around your opposite wrist. If your fingers do not touch, you have a large frame. If they barely touch, you have an average frame. If they overlap, you have a small frame. This method may underestimate the size of your frame, however, if you have particularly long fingers. Once you have confirmed that you have a large frame, multiply your BMI by 0.9 to arrive at your frame-adjusted BMI.
Ranges
BMIs of under 18.5 are considered underweight, because the body needs a certain amount of fat to be healthy. The normal range is between 18.5 and 24.9, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. You are considered overweight if your BMI is between 25 and 29.9. If your BMI is between 30 and 39.9, you are considered obese. A BMI of 40 or greater indicates morbid obesity. Keep in mind that women tend to carry more body fat than men do; consequently, ideal BMIs for women tend towards the lower end of the normal range, while ideal BMIs for men tend towards the higher end of this range.
Your Ideal Weight
Your ideal weight is best expressed in a range rather than an exact weight. Your ideal weight range will be those weights that will lead to a BMI within the normal range. Therefore, your minimum ideal weight in pounds is 18.5 times the square of your height in inches, divided by 703. The maximum is 24.9 times the square of your height in inches, divided by 703.
Body Fat
A highly accomplished bodybuilder might have a BMI in the overweight or even obese range, yet be healthy because his body fat percentage is normal. For this reason, if you are unusually muscular, your BMI may falsely classify you as overweight. In order to determine your body fat percentage, you might go to a health club and have your body fat measured by total body immersion in a water tank. Ideal body fat percentages vary by age and gender.
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