Fat 2 Fit #76 – Your Ideal Weight


Written on October 2, 2009 – 11:59 am | by Russ Turley

Ideal Weight graphic The words “goal weight” are thrown around on the show very casually. With 66% of Americans in the obese or overweight category, I don’t think the average person knows what a reasonable goal weight should be. Is that goal weight ideal for you? What is the weight you should strive for and maintain for the rest of your life? In the feature section, we go over four methods for finding your ideal weight and give you our recommendation for picking your last goal weight.

In the email and comments section of the show we have four questions. Shannon wrote in to ask about weight lifting. Since starting a weight lifting regimen her weight loss has stopped. She wants to know if that’s normal. Don’t get hung up on the numbers. Amy wrote in about munching mindlessly on snacks. Vicky wrote in with a European perspective to the Time article we talked about previously. Also related to the Time article, Tom wrote in about the sad state of journalism.

On the Web Report, Jeff shares some facts about fat that you might not have heard before. Here’s one from the list about liposuction: It may make you prettier, but not healthier. Liposuction doesn’t remove fat from around the internal organs, so your fat-related health risks are unchanged. Good to know. Russ has two awesome products (not) that you should immediately go out and (not) purchase. One of them is even “intalled” by a plastic surgeon.

Links Mentioned in the Show:
New picture posted on the Hosts page
20 things you didn’t know about fat
Snuggie for weight loss (Don’t buy this!)
Mouth implant helps you lose weight (Mock this, don’t do it.)
Metropolitan Life weight/height tables
Relationship between fat percentage and BMI
Ideal weight calculator
NHLBI BMI tables

Recipe of the Week:
Scrambled Egg Burritos

Homework:
We have covered a lot of information about what your ideal weight should be.  The homework this week is to re-evaluate your goals to see if you have set reasonable goals or if they are realistic. If you have no way to measure your body fat right now, the homework is to find out that level.  There are many ways to do it and some are very inexpensive.  If you are getting close to your goal weight, this becomes even more important to do to see if your goal weight is healthy for you.

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  1. 5 Responses to “Fat 2 Fit #76 – Your Ideal Weight”

  2. By Jen K. on Oct 8, 2009 | Reply

    Thank you guys, this actually cleared up a lot. You both continue to inspire me. At least once a week, I listen to you on the way to the gym, and for the first 5 minutes of cardio. This show is an amazing resource and is fast-becoming a database of all things health-related.

    Thanks for all you do.

    Jen

  3. By Pralle on Oct 12, 2009 | Reply

    Hi guys, thanks for the episode, it really made me think about stuff so I have 2 questions for you.

    1. Is having more than recommended amounts of body fat really, REALLY that bad? I remember growing up with some people who LOOKED fat, but were actually quite athletic. They exercised regularly, but had this extra weight because they ate more than they burned. But they were still strong and healthy, despite being overweight. So is it critically important that we focus efforts on losing body fat, even though some overweight people can be healthy and happy?

    2. You distinguished between visceral and adipose/subcutaneous fat and say that visceral fat is the more “dangerous” type. I assume that when you use body fat measuring-instruments such as body fat scales and body fat calipers, the number you get tells you the amount of subcutaneous fat, not visceral fat. So would the body fat % reading you get be an accurate indicator of your “total body fat”(perhaps the scale tells you both subq and visceral fat?) and is there a way to get a reliable measure of just your visceral body fat?

  4. By Russ Turley on Oct 12, 2009 | Reply

    Our next show will actually be about body fat types, visceral and subcutaneous. Short answer is if you want to measure visceral fat the only reliable method is an MRI to actually see inside your body. Otherwise, look for a more detailed discussion on show #78.

  5. By James on Oct 15, 2009 | Reply

    Gentlemen,

    Thanks, as always, for the show. It is an absolute pleasure to listen to, and I am always excited for the next installment to arrive.

    I just had a question for you about body fat measurement methods. The personal trainers at my gym insist on only using one of the electronic, handheld devices to do body fat assessments, even though I have often read that they are some of the least reliable tools (often underestimating body fat percentage by up to 40%). Did you guys run in to any information about these measurement devices and their relative accuracy?

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