Congratulations if you are thinking though setting out on a plan to optimize your metabolic health.

One of the crucial targets for your path may be setting an actionable, reasonable weight target.

But what does this really mean? What should you actually weigh?

You may have a number knocking around in your head- a number that sounds good, or a number that makes you think about a fulfilled time in your life or a particular achievement.

That number may be the right target, or it may not. There may not be a right or perfect answer but there a few helpful things to think about as you are setting your target.

Firstly, don’t be bullied by your BMI! Your BMI, or your body mass index, is a ratio of your weight and height. It is a number found all over your medical chart. BMI is important to know as it is used in setting criteria for edibility for weight loss medications and for some other medical interventions.

BMI is a measure that was historically used by the insurance industry to tract and stratify patients. It was also developed using a dataset that was not nearly as diverse as our current population. BMI also does not give any direct information about your body composition (more on this in a bit).

The upshot, BMI does not equal your health and the traditional “healthy weight range” dictated by BMI is not always your appropriate target.

Secondly, following your body composition is an important metric in your body transformation. Our bodies are made up of several tissue groups- muscle, bone, fluid and fatty tissue, being the major groups.

Often when we strive for weight loss, what we really want is fat loss. So regardless of what the scale reads, monitoring the changes in your body composition can showcase the progress you are making.

There are some great tools out there- body composition scanners, formal medical testing- that can help you understand and manage your body composition as you re transforming. One readily accessible measure to hep you understand how your body distributes some tissues is your waist circumference. A waist circumference over a certain threshold, 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men, may mean that you are at increased risk of metabolic disease. Keep those tape measures handy! Routine check-ins of your waist circumference is another great tool

Lastly, studies have shown that fairly modest amounts of weight loss, in the range of 5 to 10% can have profound effects on your health. You can reduce risk of diabetes, reduce high blood pressure, improve sleep, improve fertility, improve joint pain with fairly modest amounts of weight change.

So, start with a reasonable goal. Track your progress. And celebrate your wins!

If you thought this was helpful, please share! Follow me on Instagram @daciarussellmd. Learn more about your metabolic health at www.apexmetabolic.com.