How to Determine your Ideal Weight

I posed this question on my Real Food Wellness Facebook page not too long ago: “How do you really know how much you’re supposed to weigh?” The responses varied. Check em’ out. “THAT is a really good question. BMI? Get your fat measured with those caliper thingies? (that’s what they say at the gym anyway)” “That is a great question! My guess is that it would be determined by a number of factors. Height, frame size, muscle mass, are a few that come to mind.” “Not even my doctor could answer that question. I just kept watching what I ate and exercised. At a certain point, I simply stopped getting smaller and stayed. So I take that as “how much I should weigh“. “If I eat clean and feel good about what I’m eating I seem to adjust appropriately. My body feels good, less aches and pains.” Interesting, yes? If you truly want to know your body’s ideal weight at this point in your life, you’ve got to go far less “high tech,” as some of these readers already intuited. With the popularity of primitive/traditional type diets like the paleo diet or Sally Fallon’s dietary protocol, why not kick it old school and do what people did before the existence of calipers, scales, and BMI charts? That’s right. Trust those natural instincts and let your body do its thing. Ideal Weight? I have to be honest and say I have no idea what your body’s healthiest weight is and I urge you to consider that, just maybe, you don’t know either. Your only responsibility is creating a supportive, non-threatening environment within your body. This includes all forms of self-care, diet and exercise included. And still there’s more. When I am supporting clients, we attend to nutrition and we focus on the inner shifts necessary to make changes feel safe and sustainable. It can feel scary (and liberating) to let go of the reigns a little bit. But I promise you, commitment to developing trust in your body leads to a trust in life – a beautiful benefit for years to come. Stay committed. Ask for support. Why not start now? With love, Laura