Ideal Body Weight?

Who takes stock in the "Ideal Body Weight" charts and all the voodoo that doctors/medical practitioners or anyone puts into "categorizing" individuals? Doesn't the word "individual" by definitely defy such charts and generalizations? Are any of them really accurate?

If you put in "ideal body weight" into google, you will get 1,040,000 return results! How amazing is the information highway today and access to so much of it? Of course a lot of it is opinion, misguidance and conjecture, but there are some good sites out there that seem to do things well. You just have to parse your way through them, of course!

I am female, 5'5.75"
Here are some of the actual ranges from web calculators:
117-144 (mean 132)
132-145 (mean 138)
130 (nothing else! Really? What kind of calculator is that? About.com)
121 (nothing else! Really? Idealbodyweight.com)
112-154 (Note that your ideal weight range is somewhat broad. Depending on your build and whether you are male or female, an ideal weight for you may fall anywhere in this range.)

With all of this information which I got in 5 minutes, how can I know what is right? There is no way...no way and anyone would be very confused...

Is Body Mass Index (BMI) a good measure?
Your weight (pounds) times 703, divided by the square of your height in inches.
e.g. Weight 190 pounds.
Height 6 ft (72 inches)
722 = 5184
190 x 703 divided by 5184 = BMI 25.76
BMI is supposed to remain between 18.5 and 25 to maintain a "healthy" style.

But how is this IDEAL for those who are at the top of the scale and see mounds of fat on their bodies? The answer is to remember that everyone is different and every body type is different. BMI doesn't take into account the differences between an olympic swimmer and a couch potato. BMI doesn't take into account bone density, so it really is a very slightly reliable method to determine where you are, not where you should be. Everyone has different muscle tone, larger/smaller muscles, larger/smaller frame so there is no "ideal" way to measure. Even going to the doctor, depending on the physician, they use such outmoded measurements like Calipers, or a scale and a chart used in 1975 (like mine did)!

With this LACK of information, how can we get some REAL information for us as individuals? Many so-called "experts" agree that determining body fat percentage is really a good indication of how "fit" a person is and would calculate more accurately the differences between an Olympic swimmer and a couch potato. Some of the methods they utilize to determine this is:
near-infrared interactance
dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
bioelectrical impedance analysis

The American Council on Exercise recommends the following percentages:
Essential fat
Women 10-12%
Men 2-4%
Total fat
Athletes
Men 6-13%
Women 14-20%
Non-athletes classed as fit
Men 14-17%%
Women 21-24
Acceptable
Men 18-25%
Women 25-31%
Overweight
Men 26-37%
Women 32-41%
Obese
Men 38% or more
Women 42% or more

While I do fit into the "acceptable category of this chart, I am definitely NOT happy with the actual fat hanging on my body so I will definitely continue to look towards getting myself on the lower end of that scale!

So I hope that this has been an interesting blog for you to read.

Were you wondering how things are calculated with your own weight? Or are you one of the "lucky" ones that doesn't have to think about their health every day of their lives?

Thanks for listening...