Few fitness professionals will not have heard the question, “What should I weigh?” or, “I’m 165cm tall, what is my ideal weight?”

The little science we have to fall back on in tackling such a query is the body mass index (BMI), but we tend to do so somewhat reluctantly. This reluctance is due to certain reservations we have always held instinctively, but have only recently come to be formally justified in the exercise science community.

Is there really such a thing as an ideal weight? Even if there was, quoting arbitrary numbers so far has not seemed to contribute towards society at large getting any closer to some sort of ideal weight, quite the contrary.

We continue to wage war on the global obesity epidemic while Joe and Josephine public continue to pile on the pounds despite a wealth of information out there on effective weight loss strategies.

So where have these ‘ideal’ numbers come from? I mentioned BMI since it is one of the most commonly used standards in this debate. The system was developed as a tool to measure large populations using easily obtained variables: weight and height.

By dividing your weight by your height squared, you can obtain a number that will categorise you as underweight, healthy weight, overweight or obese. Achieving a score between 18 and 25 puts you in the healthy weight range, so we can basically use the BMI equation to answer our opening question to estimate an ideal weight using just a measure of height.

But is this really a worthwhile pursuit at all? Couldn’t we spend the same amount of time doing something a little more productive? The first reservation we have is that while weight and height might be useful for researchers studying large groups of people, they simply do not capture enough of the whole picture in the majority of cases.

BMI does not take into account muscle-to-fat ratios, so while two people may achieve the same ideal weight, they often look drastically different from one another. You could have an untrained man with very little muscle and a moderate beer belly weighing the same as a man with the physique of an Olympian.

Achieving an ideal weight therefore does not mean that we have achieved all there is to achieve and can throw out the gym membership card; and be rest assured we are a picture of perfect health. One can technically remain pretty much the same weight and continue to lose fat and build muscle year after year, drastically altering one’s appearance. And we haven’t even skimmed the surface yet.

Calculating ideal weight based on height regardless of gender also fails to take into account the fairly obvious differences in body composition between men and women.

Asking what weight you should be is a little like asking how much money you should be earning

We also know that fixation on an ideal weight tends to lead people to general dissatisfaction with their current condition and can instil the urge to pursue short-term solutions, such as following drastic diets without accompanying exercise. This strategy tends to lead to more weight gain over the long term, exacerbating a very unfruitful cycle.

So are we just supposed to scratch our heads and avoid the discussion altogether? Certainly not. We can start by making the question itself a little more productive. Instead of focusing on an illusive ideal, let us focus on a personal target. To put this in perspective, we could use an analogy that is perhaps more familiar and easier to understand.

Asking what weight you should be is a little like asking how much money you should be earning. This might be affected by your level of education, qualifications, experience and age, but even these variables could lead you widely off track. How much you earn will also depend on what sector you are in, how hard you work, how you take advantage of various opportunities for growth and development and how you manage your personal contacts and interact with colleagues and superiors.

Falling short of some illusory salary standard based on your qualifications and age could result in a degree of bitterness should you find you are falling short, actually making you less likely to effectively leverage the additional variables mentioned.

Even if you did reach your ideal salary standard, would you still really be happy with your work? Would you enjoy manageable stress levels and a good work/life balance? The question is too simplistic and could actually be leading us astray. Perhaps a more productive strategy would be to fully assess your current status and existing opportunities and make some realistic targets to start working towards within a fixed amount of time.

Just like working towards a higher salary in itself may not actually constitute a preferable outcome, neither may working towards a lower body weight. Just like an increased salary should represent a step forward towards improving the quality of your life, so should losing weight.

It should be combined with better body composition, better health and increased general wellness. Your targets should also be based on where you are now and where you realistically believe you can get to within a reasonable amount of time, taking into account all personal factors such as time availability, personal preferences and current physical condition. So let us start focusing on asking better questions if we seek truly preferable outcomes.

For a more successful plan, try asking instead: “Given my personal situation, how much weight could I reasonable aim to lose while improving my health, and what steps might best serve this target?”

matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt