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pierinifitness
Posts: 2,231 Member
I haven’t spent much time here but hope to starting in late February when I’m projected to be at my ideal weight range which I’ll call 177-182 lbs. my single point target weight is 177lbs. I’m 5’11” in the height department.
It’s based on my belief that, as a middle-aged man (soon to be age 64), my ideal weight is no more than 10 percent higher than what I weighed at age 18. I propose this is a benchmark for all middle-aged men.
Hear me out before you sic the attack dogs on me.
This proposition assumes you were pretty much done growing at age 18 and were neither super skinny, fat or heavily-muscled due to competitive sports. Essentially, you were an active late-stage teenager and entry-level young man. That was me and I weighed 161 lbs. for my Army physical, circa 1973.
Three years later, I weighed 169 lbs. for my Army exit physical.
So, using my 10 percent plus proposition, this pegs my ideal weight at 177 lbs. and that’s my target ideal weight expected to be achieved on or around my 64th birthday.
Now, I would modify this higher if I was chasing a more heavily-muscled outcome but that isn’t a goal at this point in my life. My benchmarks are, as Jeff Cavaliere of Athleans website describes, light, lean and strong. I do want to be above average in the cardiovascular department.
Release the attack dogs!
It’s based on my belief that, as a middle-aged man (soon to be age 64), my ideal weight is no more than 10 percent higher than what I weighed at age 18. I propose this is a benchmark for all middle-aged men.
Hear me out before you sic the attack dogs on me.
This proposition assumes you were pretty much done growing at age 18 and were neither super skinny, fat or heavily-muscled due to competitive sports. Essentially, you were an active late-stage teenager and entry-level young man. That was me and I weighed 161 lbs. for my Army physical, circa 1973.
Three years later, I weighed 169 lbs. for my Army exit physical.
So, using my 10 percent plus proposition, this pegs my ideal weight at 177 lbs. and that’s my target ideal weight expected to be achieved on or around my 64th birthday.
Now, I would modify this higher if I was chasing a more heavily-muscled outcome but that isn’t a goal at this point in my life. My benchmarks are, as Jeff Cavaliere of Athleans website describes, light, lean and strong. I do want to be above average in the cardiovascular department.
Release the attack dogs!
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Replies
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Why would you think this post would garner attacks?
I weigh what I weighed at the end of high school. I think...it was a long time ago. It is what it is.3 -
cmriverside wrote: »Why would you think this post would garner attacks?
I weigh what I weighed at the end of high school. I think...it was a long time ago. It is what it is.
Kudos to you for being at your high school “fighting weight.”
I made my comment based on my experience posting a couple intermittent fasting topics.
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I propose that all middle aged men should be more flexible with their goal weight.
You have never been this age before and when you get to goal you may realise that what you thought was ideal actually isn't.
Which was my experience based on the my simple initial goal of my favourite adult weight. I found it was too high when I got there so I adjusted in a series of steps until I found my ideal weight for now rather than 30 to 40 years ago. And after maintaining a while and adding some muscle I adjusted back up again. Especially for someone training your ideal weight isn't set in stone forever.
My 18 YO weight would be too low for me now, my weight when at my muscular peak in my late 20's would be too high. Both weights are irrelevant to me now, I don't have the same goals or capabilities I had then.
For comparison my current best weight is 168lbs at 5'9 for my current fitness goals.
Now Welease Woger….
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pierinifitness wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »Why would you think this post would garner attacks?
I weigh what I weighed at the end of high school. I think...it was a long time ago. It is what it is.
Kudos to you for being at your high school “fighting weight.”
I made my comment based on my experience posting a couple intermittent fasting topics.
I don't really feel like there is an "ideal weight."
I think you will get the same type of pushback on this thread that you did on your statements about IF. It's in the way it is presented, not the actual concept.
Proposing to other people that they ought to embrace your personal belief because it's right is what is going to get you dissention. Just like the way you stated your belief in IF. People don't have a problem with you saying IF works for you. They have a problem with you saying that everyone should try to do what you say and that you have decide this is the way things should be.
Like this:I propose this is a benchmark for all middle-aged men.14 -
I’m not a man, and I have no idea what I weighed at 18, but whatever is was, I wish to hell I would have stayed within 10% of it for the last 33 years rather than what actually happened.16
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I think perhaps it's problematic proposing a benchmark that requires an individual to know how much they weighed at 18 and requires they either were an ideal weight at 18 or know what an ideal weight for them would've been.
Was the avg 50 yr old man an ideal weight at 18, and does he even know what he weighed at 18?
I would think the most important factor to an ideal weight benchmark would be how that weight range affects typical health risks for middle aged individuals. Is there some reason you think your benchmark would be healthier than current weight recommendations? Is the current recommended weight for an adult man more than 10 lbs different than the recommended weight for an 18 yr old?
These are honest questions, not criticism, I really have no idea myself.4 -
Who cares about what a person weighed at 18... just land in the middle or low end of your BMI and call it a day. Also.. how do you look now? That's what matters. Older with muscle looks good.. but you don't want to get frail looking. I have friends in their 60's who look frail. I always think.. "gain 10 pounds and look ten years younger."0
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Lots of people were overweight at 18. I was at a healthy weight then and I am in the same healthy weight range now and think I should go a little lower. But I am not going to propose weight at 18 - 5% for everyone. Also, I am not sure I am what you consider middle aged anymore; if I am, I probably won't be in 4 days when I turn 60.4
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CarvedTones wrote: »Lots of people were overweight at 18. I was at a healthy weight then and I am in the same healthy weight range now and think I should go a little lower. But I am not going to propose weight at 18 - 5% for everyone. Also, I am not sure I am what you consider middle aged anymore; if I am, I probably won't be in 4 days when I turn 60.
I had that thought when I turned 58, if I'm middle aged now does that mean I expect to live until I'm 116?3 -
My definition (mine only) - middle-aged is 35 to 69 and.99 cents. Old begins at 70.
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While my perception of ideal weight is mine, actually cardiovascular conditoning and other measurements of athleticism are actually what I chase.
I believe if you focus on these, as measured by load, reps, duration and speed, the weight loss and body appearance will catch up and tag along.
I’ll be able to do a dozen pull-ups (or more) at my target weight rather than 9 now. But, I did 10 reps at 200 lbs. so it’s possible to be fit and fat(ter).
Thanks to those of you taking exception to my proposition. It’s my current guide, nothing more and nothing less.1 -
pierinifitness wrote: »My definition (mine only) - middle-aged is 35 to 69 and.99 cents. Old begins at 70.
Yeah, 60 is the new 40. But 9 PM is the new midnight... :laugh:
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My husband was 130lbs at age 18. He is 6' tall. He is now 40 years old and runs about 170.
Your statement would mean he should weigh 143lbs.
Absurd sweeping declaration based on way too many assumptive generalities.7 -
nicsflyingcircus wrote: »My husband was 130lbs at age 18. He is 6' tall. He is now 40 years old and runs about 170.
Your statement would mean he should weigh 143lbs.
Absurd sweeping declaration based on way too many assumptive generalities.
Yes, I did preface a few assumptions and my guess is that your 130 lb. future husband fit one or more of them.
So did my wife’s brother who graduated from high school at a height of 5’3” only to have a college growth spurt and ended up at 6’3”.
But, if you find delight in calling my proposition absurd, I won’t be offended.
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Thanks for sparking a fun discussion. I am a woman, age 50, 5’3”. At 18 I did not exercise, ate a lot of junk food, and weighed 98 pounds. So clearly 18 was underweight and at a very high metabolism. At 20 I was 115 but again did not exercise or eat very healthy. At 38 I dropped down from 162 to 115 and this time around I had dropped sugar, improved my nutrition in general, and exercised regularly. Now at 50 for the last year I’m eating healthy, my exercise is not as intense as before but is consistent, and I weigh 129. So if you use my “fighting weight” at 115 then I’m now reasonably close to the ten percent rule. But also don’t I get a little more leeway considering that most American women my age are overweight and my metabolism has slowed down considerably? Anyway I am well within my BMI and my A1C s 5.3% down from 6% when I weighed 156.
And now I feel weird that I do actually remember how much I weighed that long ago.2 -
It's an interesting idea and another metric to try to look at perhaps when you are setting goals. Obviously not for everyone. I know that a lot of folks struggle with what their goal should be when they start and over time it changes. Body composition also changes of course so for me what looked pretty healthy and strong at 18 might not look the same at 60. But I really dislike the whole you need to weigh more as you age argument in case you get sick so you have some "pad". I want to be as healthy as I can, and as fit as I can be for the now.2
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Some of us were obese when we were 18.2
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SummerSkier wrote: »It's an interesting idea and another metric to try to look at perhaps when you are setting goals. Obviously not for everyone. I know that a lot of folks struggle with what their goal should be when they start and over time it changes. Body composition also changes of course so for me what looked pretty healthy and strong at 18 might not look the same at 60. But I really dislike the whole you need to weigh more as you age argument in case you get sick so you have some "pad". I want to be as healthy as I can, and as fit as I can be for the now.
Very much agree with the bolded, there's a good argument you should be lighter as you age compared to your physical peak as you are likely to have less muscle - especially true for men who will typically have a bigger lifetime range of muscle mass.
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I just don't get why I should be 15 pounds over a healthy weigh now. Using your numbers, it seems like you might be trying to justify setting your range with a BMI of ~25 as the low end as being healthy/normal. You are closer to a normal BMI than most people who try to justify that. My primary objection is your statement that it should apply to everyone who was at fairly normal healthy weight back then. You do you.4
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