A quick way to figure out your ideal weight!

ninerbuff
ninerbuff Posts: 48,956 Member
Okay the ONLY thing you need to know is your LEAN BODY MASS. Once you know that then you can figure out what you should approximately weigh.

Men-15% to 20% ideal
Women- 20% to 25% ideal

Pick a percentage of what you want to weigh. For example let's just say 20%. You would then take your LEAN BODY MASS and divide it by (1-20%) to get your ideal body weight. You put a . in front of the percentage. 20% is .20. 15% is .15 etc.

EX.

Lean body mass- 150
Desired percentage- 20%

150 divided by .8 = 187.5lbs
You get .8 from subtracting .20 from 1

Again the only thing you need to know is your LEAN BODY MASS. Have fun!
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Replies

  • LauraMarie37
    LauraMarie37 Posts: 283 Member
    And how do you know your lean body mass?

    My question exactly.
  • MicMar66
    MicMar66 Posts: 186 Member
    bump...wondering about that too!
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/79136-lean-muscle-body-mass/

    or

    http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Lean-Body-Mass

    IDK how accurate those are. But try it.

    The Livestrong formula gives me 132.2.

    The calculator gives me 107.

    My goal weight is 135. It's 10 lbs. more than I weighed in high school and 5 lbs. lighter than maximum weight for my height for USAF enlistment.
  • pitbullmama
    pitbullmama Posts: 454 Member
    lost me already
  • LizC26
    LizC26 Posts: 319 Member
    Well I used a lean body mass calculator (Google)...and it said my lean body mass was 95lbs 95 x 1.2 is 114lbs....I've been 114 before, and it did not look good (sickly) I'm 5'4"...So unless there is some other way to calculate your lean body mass....This doesn't work for me..
  • Alyx128
    Alyx128 Posts: 92 Member
    Bump! I want to know too.
  • joneal7
    joneal7 Posts: 2 Member
    Your math is a little off. If you're 180 lbs and 150 lbs muscle, your bodyfat is 17%. Instead of multiplying by 1 + desired bodyfat, you need to divide by 1 - desired bodyfat. In this case, 150 / (1 - 20%) = 188 lbs.
  • aksingingbreeze
    aksingingbreeze Posts: 60 Member
    This link will calculate your lean body mass and tell you what your ideal lean weight should be...
    www.healthstatus.com/calculate/lean-body-mass
  • puzzler42
    puzzler42 Posts: 2
    And you need to know your percent body fat...I don't know about you, but I don't keep a set of those calipers around!

    The calculations cited above that don't require a %body fat calculation are using the BMI in the background. I know I'm not the first to say that the BMI is complete bollox. I'm at 215, and thinking that I need to stop here before I start looking sickly, but the BMI says I need to lose a minimum of 30 more lbs.

    In short, based on my research, this calculation cannot be done without either 1) knowing your % body fat or 2) relying on the BMI.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,956 Member
    Well I used a lean body mass calculator (Google)...and it said my lean body mass was 95lbs 95 x 1.2 is 114lbs....I've been 114 before, and it did not look good (sickly) I'm 5'4"...So unless there is some other way to calculate your lean body mass....This doesn't work for me..
    At your height and from your pic, 95 LBM seems a bit low. If that's your current pic, you look to be in the 20% range already.
  • arw060310
    arw060310 Posts: 256 Member
    Ya this definitely doesn't work for me. According to this system I should weigh 115lbs. Not happening lol.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,956 Member
    Your math is a little off. If you're 180 lbs and 150 lbs muscle, your bodyfat is 17%. Instead of multiplying by 1 + desired bodyfat, you need to divide by 1 - desired bodyfat. In this case, 150 / (1 - 20%) = 188 lbs.
    I concede to your math. Let me correct it. Thank you.
  • mfpchris
    mfpchris Posts: 279 Member
    Well I used a lean body mass calculator (Google)...and it said my lean body mass was 95lbs 95 x 1.2 is 114lbs....I've been 114 before, and it did not look good (sickly) I'm 5'4"...So unless there is some other way to calculate your lean body mass....This doesn't work for me..

    If you were to eat more and do consistent weight bearing exercises (read: lift weight) you can increase your
    lean body mass.

    5lbs of muscle, your lean body mass is now 100lbs, you want to have 25% body fat.
    100 / (1-25%) = 134 lbs. I think if you gain five pounds of solid muscle and lean down
    to 25% body fat you would not in any way look sickly at 134 lbs. It would probably
    be the most awesome you could look with the body g-d gave you to work with.

    Of course if you don't do weight-bearing exercise and get to 134 lbs. You will weight
    the same but your appearance will be different (some call it skinny/fat)

    mfpchris

    P.S. Gaining five pounds of muscle is not easy. It is a lot, a whole lot, of work.
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
    This link will calculate your lean body mass and tell you what your ideal lean weight should be...
    www.healthstatus.com/calculate/lean-body-mass

    "According to your measurements - weight of 182 pounds and height of 5' 2", your lean body mass is estimated to be 105.00 . Since the ideal body fat percentage for women is 22%, your ideal lean body weight is 86.07 pounds. Remember these are guidelines; your physician should help you determine the ideal weight and body fat for you."

    That says my ideal body weight is 86.07 lbs. I do NOT trust that calculator. lol

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • samulli
    samulli Posts: 8
    According to your measurements - weight of 139 pounds and height of 5' 3", your lean body mass is estimated to be 98.03 . Since the ideal body fat percentage for women is 22%, your ideal lean body weight is 90.03 pounds. Remember these are guidelines; your physician should help you determine the ideal weight and body fat for you.

    Decode for me? How do I find my ideal weight based off of that? (Unless 98.03 is the ideal weight, which is NOT right.)

    Edit: Duh, have to use your formula : ) 119.6, which is quite close to my goal of 120lbs!
  • wendyannie1976
    wendyannie1976 Posts: 205 Member
    well as my body fat is only 15.2% and according to the calculaters should be for my age and gender 22% I'd have to go below my goal weight to be at lean weight (I think) and having been anything up to 28lbs below it before I know that I just don;t look good but then I know I have a low body fat too!
  • leynak
    leynak Posts: 963 Member
    This link will calculate your lean body mass and tell you what your ideal lean weight should be...
    www.healthstatus.com/calculate/lean-body-mass

    "According to your measurements - weight of 182 pounds and height of 5' 2", your lean body mass is estimated to be 105.00 . Since the ideal body fat percentage for women is 22%, your ideal lean body weight is 86.07 pounds. Remember these are guidelines; your physician should help you determine the ideal weight and body fat for you."

    That says my ideal body weight is 86.07 lbs. I do NOT trust that calculator. lol

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    Yeah, I did that one too. It said I should weigh 101 at 5'6"..:laugh: I have a sister that is 4 inches shorter than me that weighs that & people tell HER to gain- I could only imagine me at the weight
  • Msaip
    Msaip Posts: 482 Member
    This link will calculate your lean body mass and tell you what your ideal lean weight should be...
    www.healthstatus.com/calculate/lean-body-mass

    "According to your measurements - weight of 182 pounds and height of 5' 2", your lean body mass is estimated to be 105.00 . Since the ideal body fat percentage for women is 22%, your ideal lean body weight is 86.07 pounds. Remember these are guidelines; your physician should help you determine the ideal weight and body fat for you."

    That says my ideal body weight is 86.07 lbs. I do NOT trust that calculator. lol


    Yea. Mine said 101.8 NO WAY!!!
    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
    It told me 90 pounds is ideal. Heeellll no. That would VERY unhealthy.
  • MoonIite
    MoonIite Posts: 341 Member
    Mine say 85 lbs.... I'm short, 5'1", but weighing that little is ridiculous.
  • jvinmill
    jvinmill Posts: 279 Member
    Thanks for this! Super interesting!! Ideally I think I'd like to be somewhere between my ideal weight and lean body mass :)
  • clarech
    clarech Posts: 157 Member
    Mine says I should be 115lb!!!! I don't want to look like skelletor
  • spareparts79
    spareparts79 Posts: 36 Member
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-formula.php

    Here is a formula to use to figure lean body mass, then you can use that to figure ideal body weight. The hand calculations seem to be fairly accurate for men, not sure on the female side of this website.
  • melibea
    melibea Posts: 228
    Some people posting here think lean body mass is the suggested ideal weight, but it's not! You have to add the desired body fat percent to that to get the ideal weight. I got 112 from the OP formula and 110 from the website mentioned above. It's pretty close to my own idea of my ideal weight :) I'm currently 25% body fat and would like to be around 20%.
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
    Some people posting here think lean body mass is the suggested ideal weight, but it's not! You have to add the desired body fat percent to that to get the ideal weight. I got 112 from the OP formula and 110 from the website mentioned above. It's pretty close to my own idea of my ideal weight :) I'm currently 25% body fat and would like to be around 20%.

    I'm one of the people who read my results wrong. Makes more sense now. :)
  • MoonIite
    MoonIite Posts: 341 Member
    I included the calculation and got 108 lb. That is a lot more realistic.
  • LauraMarie37
    LauraMarie37 Posts: 283 Member
    This link will calculate your lean body mass and tell you what your ideal lean weight should be...
    www.healthstatus.com/calculate/lean-body-mass

    "According to your measurements - weight of 182 pounds and height of 5' 2", your lean body mass is estimated to be 105.00 . Since the ideal body fat percentage for women is 22%, your ideal lean body weight is 86.07 pounds. Remember these are guidelines; your physician should help you determine the ideal weight and body fat for you."

    That says my ideal body weight is 86.07 lbs. I do NOT trust that calculator. lol


    Yea. Mine said 101.8 NO WAY!!!
    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    Yeah that site said I should be 112 pounds and I am 5’9". No thank you. (ETA: I realize the site is not calculating the final step correctly - ie, it basically says your lean body weight should be your final weight. The calculator is still crazy wrong for people who don't know the formula though!!!)

    So... OP, maybe lean body mass is the way to go. But it doesn't really seem like it's easy to calculate at home. Even the livestrong site doesn't seem entirely correct...closer, but not correct.

    Personally, I think using body fat percentage is a good way to go, if you have access to the tools. Otherwise, I like searching the threads here for posts where people post their goal weights for your gender/height. (ie, I found a post with all 5’9" women saying their individual goal weights.) It can definitely help figure out what is a healthy range for you to aim for, and give an idea about good final weights for different frame sizes, etc.
  • Imilie
    Imilie Posts: 2
    After doing all the calculations and using the chart suggested, I came up with my ideal body weight for 20% to be just over 120 pounds. I'm Female, 5'3 and current weight is 134. I have been about 120 lbs before through the use of hard exercise 5 days a week, lean dieting, and I did look pretty fit for my body style. I think this calculator is fairly accurate if you are willing to put in the effort to concentrate on gaining that lean mass. Still, it's always going to be easier for men than women, but not impossible!
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    This link will calculate your lean body mass and tell you what your ideal lean weight should be...
    www.healthstatus.com/calculate/lean-body-mass

    Yeah, this link told me I need to lose 20 pounds of LEAN BODY MASS. What? Totally not an accurate site.