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Finding and Maintaining Your Ideal Body Weight

By Sasha Paul

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Published: 14Mar2012
Word count: 739
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There is a lot of talk about an "obesity epidemic," but we don't discuss the amount of people who are overweight without being obese. Those few extra pounds may not seem like much, but they can have a negative effect on overall health and life expectancy. So how do you know what your weight should be and if maybe you should be looking into a home diet plan?

You can check yourself against the ideal body weight, or IBW. This is your target weight based on age, sex and height. There are several formulas that can help you determine what your ideal weight should be. Steven B. Halls, MD has a web page that provides four ideal weight calculators - "people's choice," a medically recommended range of healthy weights, the Metropolitan Life tables, and other IBW formulas.

Some doctors also use Body Mass Index (BMI) as a guide. Using your height and weight, the BMI estimates your body fat. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has a calculator to help compute body mass index. The BMI categories are:

• Obesity: a person is considered obese with a BMI that is 30 or greater

• Overweight: you are considered overweight with a BMI between 25 and 29.9

• Normal weight: your BMI should be between 18.5 and 24.9

• Underweight: people with a BMI of less than 18.5 are considered underweight

Maintaining Ideal Weight

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 33.9% of adults aged 20 and over are obese. The percentage of adults aged 20+ who are overweight (but not obese) is 34.4%. This means almost 70% of U.S. adults are not in a healthy weight range. This puts them at higher risk for diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, osteoarthritis and others. The medical community estimates that losing 5-10% of body weight can improve health and lead to an overall feeling of wellness.

Here are a few suggestions to help in maintaining ideal weight:

• Learn to balance energy used against your calorie intake. If your calorie intake is high, then your energy use must be high as well.

• Maintain a healthy balance of activity and inactivity. Use age and condition-appropriate exercises to help you burn excess fat, but don't overexert yourself to the point of doing more harm than good.

• Consider the use of weight loss supplements to help you boost your metabolism and increase your antioxidant levels.

Having a support community is also helpful to maintaining your ideal body weight. Finding others who have been successful and asking them what you can do to achieve your ideal weight goal will help as well. Both your mind and body health will benefit greatly by finding what works best for you.

Sasha Paul makes online weight loss research part of her home weight loss program and home diet plan as she works on weight loss at home. The SlimGenics weight loss program helps you lose weight and lose weight fast with their scientifically-based well-balancedweight loss program.

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