How To Determine Your Healthy Weight

To properly determine your healthy weight isn't just getting a scale. The best way to determine a your healthy weight is to determine such body composition tests as percent body fat, waist to hip ratio, and body mass index, in addition to traditional height-weight measures. These tests, taken together, are much more accurate than just looking at weight.

Determine Your Body Mass Index Rating
Body mass index (BMI) refers to relative weight for height for both adult men and women and is used as a measuring tool for future disease risk.

If your BMI is 19 to 24.9 you have a healthy weight.
If your BMI is 25 to 29.9 you are considered to be overweight and may incur moderate health risks.
If your BMI is 30+ you are considered to be obese. Obesity is linked to increased risk of cancer, heart disease and other health problems.

A high BMI, however, may not be a risk if it's due to high muscle mass, which is common in bodybuilders. See more about BMI.

Use online calculator to Calculate your BMI

Waist/Hip ratio (WHR)
A WHR measurement shows how fat is distributed on the body. A high WHR (greater than 0.95 for men and greater than 0.08 for women) is linked to increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. To determine your WHR, measure your waist at the level of the naval, and your hips where they are the largest. Then, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.

Use online calculator to Calculate your Waist /Hip Ratio

Determine Your Percent Body Fat Rating
Body weight can be broken down into two components, lean (muscle, bone, organs) and fat. The proportion of your weight from fat is termed "percent body fat." Depending on your age and gender, body fat of 5-23% is recommended, less than 5% is considered very lean, more than 35% is a definite health risk.

There are several ways to determine your percentage of body fat. The higher your body fat percentage above average levels, the higher risk for illness such as heart disease, high blood pressure, gallstones, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and certain cancers.

There are primarily 3 ways to determine your percentage body fat. The cheapest way is to purchase a digital body fat scale or a skinfold caliper. The most expensive and more accurate is a process known by hydrostatic (via underwater weighing tank). Healthcentral.com has an online calculator you can use to determine percentage body fat.