Warren County Guide to Physical Activity

What's the Right Weight For Me?

People come in many shapes and sizes. Much of your size and shape is determined by heredity: you tend to resemble your relatives. But part of your weight is due to fat that is stored inside your body. Everybody has some fat stores which are needed for energy reserves. However, excessive amounts of fat stores can lead to serious health problems such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), stroke and heart attacks. This is why it is unhealthy to be overweight.

The amount of fat stored in your body depends on two things: how much energy (calories) that you eat, and how much energy you use up through physical activity. If your weight is going up due to fat stores, it means that you are eating too many calories for the amount of physical activity that you are doing. You could correct the problem by either eating fewer calories, or exercising more, or both.

If you are too thin (not enough fat stores), you risk running out of energy because you have none stored as fat. In anorexia nervosa, people try to lose weight even though they already have too little fat stores. This is a mental disorder in which a person has a distorted body image, and usually feels that he (or she) is too fat even though he is actually too thin. If you feel that you are too thin, consult your doctor to see if your weight falls below the "healthy range".

If you feel that you might be overweight, calculate your BMI, or Body Mass Index. This compares your weight to your height, so a single measurement (BMI) can be used to compare people of all different heights. A BMI above 25 (for adults) is considered at risk of obesity and all the serious health problems that come with obesity. There are several web sites that will calculate your BMI, or your doctor will calculate it when you get your annual checkup.

No matter what your weight is, choosing a healthy lifestyle can maintain your weight in the healthy range. Healthy lifestyle choices include getting enough exercise every day, and eating a large variety of healthy foods in the proper amounts.