What is the most optimal weight for me?

[pastorgarymartin]

I'm ¾ of a centimeter above 5'8" so I'm about 173cm tall. I weighted myself bare naked and I'm 148.8 lbs or 67.5kg.

I'm 32 y/o, Asian male. My BMI is 22.5 but the lowest end for normal weight is 18-19? The ceiling is 24.9 so my BMI is on the higher end.

I'm getting conflicting answers both online and IRL. My parents advised that I should weigh 160 minimum. Average weight for males of my ethnicity is also about that number. My ethnicity has a much higher average life expectancy than the global average but I'm like 1cm shorter than the average as well. I need to know what's the absolute best range for my weight? I feel like 160 is a little too high.

 

[jebzuz]

@pastorgarymartin BMI is a poor assessment tool for individuals. It’s used to evaluate large populations

 

[ttowngirl]

@pastorgarymartin It’s more a matter of body composition that matters. Do you have excess adipose tissue? How muscular are you?

You can have a BMI in the normal range and if you have no muscle and lots of fat storage, that’s going to be worse than someone on the higher end of BMI with the inverse.

My BMI is close to 27 but I run 20miles a week, lift heavy weights, and have very low body fat.

 

[raymac1]

@pastorgarymartin What is your fitness level? Can you do ten pull up’s? Forty good pushups? Thirty sit-ups? Focus on fitness, not weight.

 

[pastorgarymartin]

@raymac1 I can do close to that. I can hike faster than most. I would say my fitness is above average but not the best as my body can handle.

 

[rundle]

@pastorgarymartin You are going to weigh what you are going to weigh, dude. I'm also a 5'8" Asian male. I've been a skinny 160, I've been a fit 185, and I've been, and currently a chonky 205, and many places in between

Don't worry about BMi, you aren't a 200+ pound Caucasian male, which is what BMI is most accurate towards.

If you are 150 you are very light for your height, but what really matters is your skeletal mass and muscle mass.

What is your lifestyle now, and what do you want your lifestyle to be in the future? 150 is light, but if you are 40% body fat, doesn't matter how light/ heavy you are, you have an unhealthy/ short life ahead of you.

180 at 20% body fat is arguably way healthier than 150 at 40% because it speaks to how much functional mass you have ( 144 vs 90 lbs), but can you sustain it? Are you happy at that weight? What's your energy like? Sex drive at? How well do you sleep? Are you able to do all the activities you want to do with minimal risk of injury?

Those are all questions you need to answer yourself

 

[pastorgarymartin]

@rundle Guessing if I don't have any abs, then my body fat is on the higher end and my best route would be to do exercises that promote muscle growth? This will increase weight BUT it will be considered "Good" weight right?

 

[dreuter032003]

@pastorgarymartin To quote one of the top rated Strongmen “Abs is not a thing of power.”

 

[rundle]

@pastorgarymartin Don't even worry about abs, that's a genetic component you have no control over. Most sedentary men in our height that don't look "visibly" obese are going to be in the 20 to 30% bf. Muscle growth is always a great thing to pursue, because there are a lot of co morbidity factors you are avoiding by being more muscles than average.

But please, consider this. There is no "good weight". Having too little visceral fat can lead to hormone imbalances, having too little muscle mass leads to some severe growth and insulin problems, and having too little skeletal mass can create long term physiological damage. Good is entirely dependent on your lifestyle and goals.

Do you think your body supports the lifestyle you have right now and want to have in the future? Weight is just a by product of those choices, not the determining factor.

 

[gregory33ad]

@pastorgarymartin You can be slim and not have abs. Abs is normally sign of very low body fat, you can be low body fat without them being visible

 

[newwalkinchrist]

@pastorgarymartin There is no ideal weight. Only a range of healthy weight.

It all depends on what type of body you want. Do you want to be heavier with more muscle or lighter with a runner’s build? Or somewhere in between.

My two questions to determine how heathy your weight is are “can you do 40 pushups?” And “can you run a good distance without getting winded?”

If you answer yes to both, you’re at a healthy weight.

 

[mrsmac0324]

@pastorgarymartin BMI is crap.

I’m 50M, asian, 5’8”. I’m 157lb at about 20% BF and a decent amount of muscle. I think I’m barely below the “overweight” BMI rating with a 24 BMI.

 

[caladrius]

@pastorgarymartin You get to decide how your body looks and feels, not your parents and certainly not kg/m[sup]2.[/sup] If you decide to lift heavy, you’ll gain weight: if you run, you’ll drop weight. Both are totally fine. Your body will respond to the stimulus (diet, exercise, recovery, sleep) that you give it. Do the things you love, enjoy having a capable body, and the scales don’t matter.

 

[unbridledwild]

@pastorgarymartin Your most optimal weight is the one you feel your best at.

 

[changedlife82]

@pastorgarymartin What do you want to do with your body? Longevity is a much more complex topic than just having an "optimized" BMI.

If you have the resources, you may find value in something like a DEXA scan:

https://health.ucdavis.edu/sports-medicine/resources/dxa-info

 

[javi19]

@pastorgarymartin Like the way you look and be able to do the things you physically want to at the level you want to. That’s the healthy weight for you.

 

[uzezi]

@pastorgarymartin So confused why you’re caring. Body fat , muscle mass and health status is what matters . BMI has some relevance on a global scale not individually .

 

[codykool]

@pastorgarymartin I've never heard anyone use metric and imperial fluidly.

...I don't hate it.