Do you believe that your body has an 'ideal' weight?

All living organisms by definition share 7 traits. One of those traits is the use of energy to maintain homeostasis. Humans are programmed to maintain stability. Temperature, pH, oxygen levels. Weight is also one of those things which affect overall function. Bodies are adverse to drastic change and adapt better to gradual changes. Sudden weight loss is harder to maintain, but not impossible. It's best to lose weight gradually, but "set point theory" is just a myth based on partial information. If your body is a certain weight for long periods of time, the body will adjust to maintain. It's why there are correlations with fat young adults being more likely to stay fat throughout adulthood than ones who were thin but got fat later, after college / kid / etc. If set point alone were a reality, then why do Americans of European heritage have such phenomenally higher rates of obesity than their average European counterparts? Genetics? Or more likely, environmental and cultural differences? I wish biology was more stressed in public schools. Everyone has a body and no one seems to know how it works because they learn about it from tabloids instead of textbooks.

Recently, I read "The Diet Fix," which had an interesting take on "ideal weight." Ideal weight, the author said, is the weight that you can maintain living the lifestyle that you are willing to live. For example, if you ask yourself, can I eat less and/or exercise more and the answer is yes, perhaps your ideal weight could be lower. If the answer is no, maybe that is your ideal weight.

Obviously, there are some flaws with this definition. Some people might restrict food or over exercise at a level that is far from ideal. And weighing a lot in order to maintain one's lifestyle might not be ideal either. However, I thought it was an intriguing premise, and a way to think about ideal weight not as something you diet down to and then regain, but as something you maintain throughout your life.

Another nugget from the book I liked: when you are facing a food that you want to eat, ask yourself, is it worth it? The author frames the question in terms of money: we may want item X, but can we afford it and is it worth the money? (Or, in the case of food, calories). If one decides yes, then ask, how much do I need to be satisfied.

I can say that for me these two simple questions have already had me making smarter choices.

While I don't think that the body is attracted to a particular weight, I also don't think that just because you are 5'6" you should be a specific weight. It is about developing healthy habits that you can maintain. So far, I have failed over and over again. I have lost and gained weight over the years, but is not because my body wants to be that weight, its because I just want to watch TV and eat this whole bag of potato chips over the course of the day.

Everyone's bone structure is a little different and as such I do not think that 120 lbs a reasonable weight for me as I have seen pics of me at that weight and I look anorexic... bones sticking out everywhere. There are other females that ate my height that look great at that weight. Find the right weight for you and strive to change those habits so that you can achieve it.

The body is a very efficient machine and its tries to establish "stability" or "homeostasis". At different stages of your life the body has about a 10 pound range that serves as a comfort zone. There are very few people who maintain their high school weight for the rest of their lives. That being said, that is not an excuse not to be healthy and make good food choices. I would listen to a doctor or a nutritionist to decide on your ideal weight. My suggested weight from my doctor is actually about 10 pounds heavier than what I thought. She says its better to stay in a comfortable, reasonable range than to fluctuate up and down for the rest of my life.

Na, fat people just say that to justify being fat.

Well, I suppose it could be a way for "fat people" to justify their weight, but I wouldn't know (I'm a size 4).

I do know that in my family I've watched countless family members gain and lose weight. It is a vicious cycle, partially propelled by their belief that there is a specific weight they need to be, regardless of whether they can maintain it.

I think it has an optimal weight in the sense of health and fitness but ideal nah

No, I do not believe there is such thing as a "set weight"

I've been normal weight most of my life, and my weight directly corresponds to the amount of physical activity and exercise I'm doing. Exercise also helps curb my appetite. My whole life I've weighed between 125 - 140 lbs at 5'4" I got to my highest of 172 lbs after several years of inactivity. My body has been pretty happy sitting at 160 lbs (For the past like 4 months ), even though I'd like to lose 20, I know it's going to take way more physical effort than I've been putting in lately.

That's NOT because my body's "ideal" is now 160. I'm still over-fat (got it tested, I'm 31% fat)

Our bodies are NOT equipped with any type of compass to point us toward our ideal weight. Ideal weight, for most people, does not correspond with the number of calories it takes to satisfy our appetite.

I've been 9st 7 for most of my life and then gained weight. I stayed between 10st - 10st 7 easily once I got back down to there, took a while longer to get the extra stone off but then I decided to aim for 9st.

I made it to 9st 3 but was always exhausted having to do loads of extra exercise and hardly eat anything to maintain it and I looked alot older in the face. My tummy still didn't go down as much as I wanted it to even after losing all that (was originally 16st) though I went down from clothes size 22 to a 14.

I put 15kg on easily as soon as stopped the exercise and the diet lapsed as I just couldn't keep it up. Now 11st 11 and trying to get back to 9st 7 again, dunno if i will now at 45yrs old and not been as mobile.

I do have hypothyroidism and a very doughy abdomen which I have seen commonly described on numerous occasions for people with under active thyroids. My wrists are still as thin (about 5.5") my arms and legs are around the same. I do admit my face looks better now filled out abit again but it's all gone back on my stomach and back in 18-20 trousers/jeans.