Is there such a thing as an ideal weight?

A healthy weight means that an individual has a weight that is healthy for them, that they can maintain long-term, and which supports their physical and psychological health.

Most people have an ‘ideal’ weight in mind, a magic number that they’re always aiming for or trying to stick to. But if you’re struggling to get to that figure, it could be that it’s not quite the right one – there are many ways to calculate an ‘ideal’ weight, which shows that such a thing as ‘ideal weight’ doesn’t really exist. 

It’s important to remember that everyone’s body has different needs, some of you are parents, athletes, students, grandparents, etc.  We all have very different lifestyles that will ask different levels of energy. No one can tell you what your weight should be unless they know what you are asking your body to do. If your weight is making you self-conscious or stopping you from doing the things that make you feel good about, being you, then this could indicate that the weight might not be quite right for you.  

A person's healthy weight is individual to their genetics, medical history and experience with food and diets. Body Mass Index (BMI) is often used as a clinical indicator of health. While the measure can be useful, its limitations also need to be considered. 

Unfortunately, the NHS and some health professionals continue to use and advertise the "healthy" BMI range at 18.5 – 25 as a healthy range. But what we know is that not many individuals naturally sit below a BMI of 20. Many people attempting to maintain below this, will need to engage in a degree of restrictive eating or compensatory behaviours. 

At the end of the day, it is important to reinforce that these are guidelines and the only way to truly know what a healthy weight is for you is to fully explore your relationship with food, exercise and your body, to eat intuitively without following a set of rules or dietary restrictions. It is learning to trust your body and allowing it to settle at a place where it thrives. This can be terrifying leaping into the unknown, but we know from helping so many individuals on this journey, it is worth it!!