A quick way to figure out your ideal weight!

2

Replies

  • MrsJax11
    MrsJax11 Posts: 354 Member
    I messed around with the calculator until I put in the weight that resulted in the lean mass of the current weight to match the ideal. For a 5'6 woman the ideal weight is 137lbs. This sounds healthy, but one would have to take the frame of the person into consideration. I am 5' 6.5 and know that anything under 155 makes me look quite ill. At 155 I am pretty much cut with a few curves...and haven't seen that point for about 10 years now!
  • Msladynita
    Msladynita Posts: 11
    cool stuff thanks!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I used my starting weight & measurements to calculate my original lean body mass, and got 132 for my ideal weight. And that's right around where I am and my BF is supposedly around 20% now.

    I have lost a little lean body mass while losing, but only about 5 out of 29.5#. I imagine that's normal.
  • ciege77
    ciege77 Posts: 60
    I know I'm not the first to say that the BMI is complete bollox.

    Is that why the government and WHO and virtually every medical authority use BMI? It specifically doesn't claim to be accurate for athletes that have higher levels of muscle mass, but is based off mortality rates of overweight categories. 5-10lbs over a healthy weight can significantly raise your risk of health issues related to obesity and overweight.

    Bottom line: you know when you're overweight or when you're carrying lean muscle. BMI applies to the VAST MAJORITY.
  • TheGoktor
    TheGoktor Posts: 1,138 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:

    OK mine...

    (currently)

    "According to your measurements - weight of 201 pounds and height of 5' 10", your lean body mass is estimated to be 129.20. Since the ideal body fat percentage for women is 22%, your ideal lean body weight is 117.69 pounds."

    My current profile pic shows me at 161lbs, which is roughly what I am aiming to get back to; when I entered 161 into the calculator, I got...

    "According to your measurements - weight of 161 pounds and height of 5' 10", your lean body mass is estimated to be 117.18."

    Which seems not so far out! :smile: Of course, I know there's a bit more to it than a simple calculator but even so, it's not a bad starting point!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 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 that one, I have to gain a half pound of muscle to be "ideal." I'm ok with that! :laugh:
  • Bsp120167
    Bsp120167 Posts: 68 Member
    I have been a Zone guy for a long time and their website has the best bodyfat tools I have ever found. You have to register to use it but it is free.

    http://www.zonediet.com/tools/body-fat-calculator
  • Bsp120167
    Bsp120167 Posts: 68 Member
    Interesting enough the zonediet tools say the ideal male is about 15% bodyfat and ideal female is 22%. Guess I still have a lot of work to do ;-)
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    Okay so I found a fairly accurate link to determine BODY FAT percentage.

    http://www.healthyforms.com/helpful-tools/body-fat-percentage.php

    Once you find your your BF% then take that percentage and multiply it with your current weight.
    This will tell you how many pounds of fat you are.
    Then subtract that poundage from your current weight to find out your LEAN BODY MASS.
    Then plug in the formula I gave you and it should give you a fairly accurate weight that you desire based on the % you want to be.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    I messed around with the calculator until I put in the weight that resulted in the lean mass of the current weight to match the ideal. For a 5'6 woman the ideal weight is 137lbs. This sounds healthy, but one would have to take the frame of the person into consideration. I am 5' 6.5 and know that anything under 155 makes me look quite ill. At 155 I am pretty much cut with a few curves...and haven't seen that point for about 10 years now!
    If it's body fat % you're talking about, frame doesn't matter too much. When people think they look too gaunt at a low body fat percentage, it's because their lean body mass is also low, in most cases meaning they could probably use more lean muscle on their frame. Pile that body fat % on top of that and they would look better.
  • MelissaGraham7
    MelissaGraham7 Posts: 406 Member
    According to your measurements - weight of 170 pounds and height of 5' 7", your lean body mass is estimated to be 114.85 . Since the ideal body fat percentage for women is 22%, your ideal lean body weight is 105.83 pounds. Remember these are guidelines; your physician should help you determine the ideal weight and body fat for you.

    Seriously? 105 pounds at 5' 7"? I'm so confused. The National Weight Registry, Weight Watchers and my physician all say my range is 134-155 pounds. At 155 pounds, I am also within normal range for BMI. At 105 I would be at a BMI of 16.5% which is in the underweight category. Dropping below 120 puts me at underweight. Of course, that ain't gonna happen anyway! LOL.

    Maybe we focus a bit too much on numbers and statistics. I don't have a desire to look anorexic or malnourished. I want to look healthy and be fit so I"m going to be happy to fall in the "normal" range for the BMI and how I look in my jeans!! :wink:
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Niner those links are not accurate. You need a GOOD bodyfat caliper to determine your bodyfat%, and only then will you be able to determine your LBM. Even the handheld devices that gym's use aren't very accurate. About 90%.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    Niner those links are not accurate. You need a GOOD bodyfat caliper to determine your bodyfat%, and only then will you be able to determine your LBM. Even the handheld devices that gym's use aren't very accurate. About 90%.
    Actually the last one is much more accurate then most I've seen. I do know that electrical impedance devices aren't accurate and I don't use them. The link is for people who don't have access to calipers or people with calipers. Did I mention I have LANGE calipers? Best you can get!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    According to your measurements - weight of 170 pounds and height of 5' 7", your lean body mass is estimated to be 114.85 . Since the ideal body fat percentage for women is 22%, your ideal lean body weight is 105.83 pounds. Remember these are guidelines; your physician should help you determine the ideal weight and body fat for you.

    Seriously? 105 pounds at 5' 7"? I'm so confused. The National Weight Registry, Weight Watchers and my physician all say my range is 134-155 pounds. At 155 pounds, I am also within normal range for BMI. At 105 I would be at a BMI of 16.5% which is in the underweight category. Dropping below 120 puts me at underweight. Of course, that ain't gonna happen anyway! LOL.

    Maybe we focus a bit too much on numbers and statistics. I don't have a desire to look anorexic or malnourished. I want to look healthy and be fit so I"m going to be happy to fall in the "normal" range for the BMI and how I look in my jeans!! :wink:
    Try my last link to determine body fat and plug in the rest of the formula. See if there is a difference. 114lbs of lean body mass for a female at 5'7 seems a bit light IMO.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Niner those links are not accurate. You need a GOOD bodyfat caliper to determine your bodyfat%, and only then will you be able to determine your LBM. Even the handheld devices that gym's use aren't very accurate. About 90%.
    Actually the last one is much more accurate then most I've seen. I do know that electrical impedance devices aren't accurate and I don't use them. The link is for people who don't have access to calipers or people with calipers. Did I mention I have LANGE calipers? Best you can get!

    How much for the Lange? Roughly $200-250 right?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    Niner those links are not accurate. You need a GOOD bodyfat caliper to determine your bodyfat%, and only then will you be able to determine your LBM. Even the handheld devices that gym's use aren't very accurate. About 90%.
    Actually the last one is much more accurate then most I've seen. I do know that electrical impedance devices aren't accurate and I don't use them. The link is for people who don't have access to calipers or people with calipers. Did I mention I have LANGE calipers? Best you can get!

    How much for the Lange?
    Lol, I WON it in a raffle at work! I do believe that they are like $200+ though.
  • perne11
    perne11 Posts: 46 Member
    Mine is pretty accurate! I come up with my ideal weight being 137.5. My own personal goal is 135 +/- 3lbs.

    Thank you for this, it confirms what I am aiming for!!!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    Mine is pretty accurate! I come up with my ideal weight being 137.5. My own personal goal is 135 +/- 3lbs.

    Thank you for this, it confirms what I am aiming for!!!
    Cool. Hopefully this works for everyone else if a fairly accurate LBM is inputted to the formula.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 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!

    EDIT ADDITION: Okay so I found a fairly accurate link to determine BODY FAT percentage.

    http://www.healthyforms.com/helpful-tools/body-fat-percentage.php

    Once you find your your BF% then take that percentage and multiply it with your current weight.
    This will tell you how many pounds of fat you are.
    Then subtract that poundage from your current weight to find out your LEAN BODY MASS.
    Then plug in the formula I gave you and it should give you a fairly accurate weight that you desire based on the % you want to be.
  • SarahC75
    SarahC75 Posts: 45
    According to your measurements - weight of 170 pounds and height of 5' 7", your lean body mass is estimated to be 114.85 . Since the ideal body fat percentage for women is 22%, your ideal lean body weight is 105.83 pounds. Remember these are guidelines; your physician should help you determine the ideal weight and body fat for you.

    Seriously? 105 pounds at 5' 7"? I'm so confused. The National Weight Registry, Weight Watchers and my physician all say my range is 134-155 pounds. At 155 pounds, I am also within normal range for BMI. At 105 I would be at a BMI of 16.5% which is in the underweight category. Dropping below 120 puts me at underweight. Of course, that ain't gonna happen anyway! LOL.

    Maybe we focus a bit too much on numbers and statistics. I don't have a desire to look anorexic or malnourished. I want to look healthy and be fit so I"m going to be happy to fall in the "normal" range for the BMI and how I look in my jeans!! :wink:
    Try my last link to determine body fat and plug in the rest of the formula. See if there is a difference. 114lbs of lean body mass for a female at 5'7 seems a bit light IMO.

    the 105 lbs it suggests here, is not your IDEAL weight. It is your body fat. if you go back to the OP and say for arguments sake you wanted 20% at ideal weight. Divide that 105 by 0.8 which is roughly 132lb. Which is close to what you say is in the normal range for you :)

    I see a lot of ppl are just getting the lean body fat percentage, then not adding in your formula...
    Here is another calculator. .. http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/lean-body-mass ...
    It tells what your BF is now, and your ideal BF. Take the IDEAL bf, then add that to the OP formula :)
    As Alexander Meerkat would say ... SSSsssimpulz!
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Just to add on to Niner's instructions.

    Another way to calculate your Lean Body Mass is to use this formula:

    LBM = [total weight (kg) x (100 - bodyfat %)]/100

    To find your how many kg's you are, take your weight and divide by 2.2.

    Then when you get your number based on formula above, multiply it by 2.2 and you have your LBM in pounds.
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
    Niner those links are not accurate. You need a GOOD bodyfat caliper to determine your bodyfat%, and only then will you be able to determine your LBM. Even the handheld devices that gym's use aren't very accurate. About 90%.
    Actually the last one is much more accurate then most I've seen. I do know that electrical impedance devices aren't accurate and I don't use them. The link is for people who don't have access to calipers or people with calipers. Did I mention I have LANGE calipers? Best you can get!

    Yeah, this calculator is surprisingly accurate for me, any idea what formula it is using? As is your original ideal weight formula which I have been using.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    Yeah, this calculator is surprisingly accurate for me, any idea what formula it is using? As is your original ideal weight formula which I have been using.
    I had a feeling if I searched for a body fat % calculator using "waist circumference" that it would be more accurate since ideal waist ratios come closest regardless of frames and builds. No idea on the formula, but at least it's closer.
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
    Niner those links are not accurate. You need a GOOD bodyfat caliper to determine your bodyfat%, and only then will you be able to determine your LBM. Even the handheld devices that gym's use aren't very accurate. About 90%.
    Actually the last one is much more accurate then most I've seen. I do know that electrical impedance devices aren't accurate and I don't use them. The link is for people who don't have access to calipers or people with calipers. Did I mention I have LANGE calipers? Best you can get!

    Yeah, this calculator is surprisingly accurate for me, any idea what formula it is using? As is your original ideal weight formula which I have been using.

    I retract my previous statement... it was way off on my wife's body fat %.


    I have this one built into a spreadsheet that I use. It is the most accurate I have seen for both men and women (outside of an actual measurement.)

    http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy

    Formulas:
    Female = 495 / (1.29579 - .35004 * log10(Waist + Hip - Neck) + .22100 * log10(Height)) – 450
    Male = 495 / (1.0324 - .19077 * log10(Navel - Neck) + .15456 * log10(Height)) - 450
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    I retract my previous statement... it was way off on my wife's body fat %.
    Really? Hmmm. I tried it on 5 different people measurements from the gym (my clientele's input which I recorded earlier in July) and it seemed pretty accurate.
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
    I retract my previous statement... it was way off on my wife's body fat %.
    Really? Hmmm. I tried it on 5 different people measurements from the gym (my clientele's input which I recorded earlier in July) and it seemed pretty accurate.

    Interesting.

    I have always used the US Navy formula (added into my previous post). which requires more measurements, but is pretty accurate.
  • summertime_girl
    summertime_girl Posts: 3,945 Member
    Sure, my ideal weight is 125. But I don't think that's terribly realistic, unless I amputate a limb or two.
  • summertime_girl
    summertime_girl Posts: 3,945 Member
    Sure, my ideal weight is 125. But I don't think that's terribly realistic, unless I amputate a limb or two.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    Sure, my ideal weight is 125. But I don't think that's terribly realistic, unless I amputate a limb or two.
    What's your height, weight and gender?
  • HealthStatus
    HealthStatus Posts: 1 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:

    Hi,
    I run the website at HealthStatus.com. I'm sorry you don't trust the calculator, but I am not sure you are getting what it is telling you. The Lean Body Mass calculator is telling you how much of your weight should be made up of bone and muscle, so in your case, 86 pounds, then an appropriate amount of fat% for your age and sex should be added to that as well. The HealthStatus.com website has an Ideal Healthy Weight calculator as well, I won't post a link as I don't want to be spammy here on my first post, but click the calculator option on the left side menu to see our list of calculators. There are also 5 different body fat calculators that you can put your numbers into and get an estimate of your body fat %.

    Another poster mentioned that frame size has a lot to do with lean body mass, that is not really correct. If you ever see medical skeletons, you don't go "wow that sure is a big boned one!", for the same heights, skeletal mass won't deviate more than 2-3 pounds.

    Also there is some disrespect of the BMI calculation and that it doesn't apply to "athletic" individuals. To a degree that is correct, but you can also look at the number of athletes that suffer heart attacks at a young age. The heart still has to pump blood through all that mass and while your lungs probably process oxygen better and get it into the blood stream, the heart still has to move it around. Additionally, you are one injury away from being "not athletic".

    Let me know if you have any questions on our tools and I will try to answer them. Good luck to each of you in your efforts!

    Greg White - HealthStatus.com

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