What is the ideal weight, or “perfect weight,” for your body type?
Ask your doc at your next check-up what your ideal weight should be and chances are, he or she will refer you to a BMI chart.
A LOT of numbers.
These are general guidelines, based on your height, about what “your number” should say on the scale.
However…the BMI fails to take into account:
- Your muscle mass (muscle weighs more than fat)
- Your body type
- Your health history
- Your genetics
To say that every 5’4’’ female should weigh 120 lbs., or every 5’9’’ chick should weigh 145 lbs. is just not true.
A 5’4’’ person can weigh a “perfect” 120 lbs., but be thinking about food all the time, constantly battling herself in the mirror and comparing her body to other girls who are “prettier.”
Or a 5’4’’ person can weigh 105 lbs. or 135 lbs. and have a healthy, happy relationship with food and her self-care. She can eat to nourish her body, do things she loves for fitness, engage with others socially and have 110 other things going on in her life—outside thinking about food, diets, weight, etc. all day long…and be at a healthy number for her.
Your “perfect weight” is all a matter of your heart, your head, and answering this question:
Am I truly taking care of myself?
Because…when we are…weight is only a snippet reflection of what true health is.
Only YOU know in our heart and your head are: healthy or unhealthy.
In addition, get this: about 70% of your weight is determined by your genetics, leaving only 30-40% of your weight related to other things: like your nutrition, lifestyle, fitness, etc.
While this may seem like depressing news…it is actually liberating!!!
Whether you are thinner, and wanting to put on some muscle or size…or you are bigger boned and wanting to shed pounds and size…we all have a predisposition for a particular body type—and instead of fighting so hard and killing ourselves to change that, what would it be like to fully, wholeheartedly embrace and accept it?
You may very well:
1) Stop beating yourself up for what you look like
2) Stop feeling guilty about what you eat or
3) Stop spending money on diets, magazines, challenges, and other fat loss or weight loss tactics, and;
4) Gain more confidence and self-esteem.
Oh the possibilities.
The bottom line?
Weight is just a number, but YOUR “perfect” weight goes beyond skin deep.