What Is Your Ideal BMI?

It’s worth noting that BMI (body mass index) is a very crude indicator of your weight and health. Although BMI outside the “healthy” range has been associated with increased risk of many potential health problems, it’s hard to pin down something like an “ideal” BMI.

But understanding BMI can give you some guidance about your weight loss goals, so it’s worth exploring.

What Is BMI?

BMI is a mathematical ratio between your height and the square of your weight. That’s all. Remember when I said it was a crude indicator? That’s what I was talking about.

To find your BMI, take your weight in kilograms and divide it by your height in meters. Twice. Or, if you’re not hip to the metric system, you can do it in pounds and inches. Just take your weight in pounds, divide it by your height in inches. Twice. Then multiply by 703.

Once you have the number, you can see where you fit on the scale:

  • Severely underweight: BMI <16

  • Underweight 16<BM<18.5

  • Normal 18.5<BMI<25

  • Overweight 25<BMI<30

  • Obese 30<BMI

For example, let’s consider a person who is 5’10” and weighs 175. Their height in inches is 70, so (175/70)/70*703=25, or the upper edge of normal.

Tweaking Your Result

As you can see, there is a wide range that is considered a normal, healthy weight. The person in our example could lose 50 pounds and still be in the “healthy” category. So how do you find your personal ideal weight?

Try asking yourself some questions:

How Do I Look?

How Do I Feel?

When you feel happy about the answers to both of those questions, then you’ve reached your ideal BMI.

To talk to a doctor about your BMI reduction options, please contact Med-Fit Medical Weight Loss Clinic in Denver today.

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Dr. Angela Tran