What Is a Healthy Weight?

A healthy weight is a weight at which you feel good about yourself and have energy for work and play, and one that does not put you at risk for weight-related diseases—such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer, and diabetes.

But weight is only one measure of your health. People who are thin but don't exercise or eat nutritious foods aren't necessarily at a healthy weight just because they are thin. A person who is overweight according to body mass index (BMI) charts may be healthy if he or she eats right and exercises regularly.

How much you eat is not the only determinant of your weight. Your age, metabolism, genetics, and how much you exercise also play an important role in your weight, health, and risk for disease. So it's important that you avoid comparing yourself to others and that you determine the lifestyle changes you need to make to maintain a healthy weight.

Nutrition is an extremely important component of being healthy. Consistently eating a balanced diet low in saturated fats combined with whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and good fats, such as olive oil, is far better than dieting for quick weight loss and later returning to your previous eating habits.

Physical activity is key to improving your health and preventing serious illness. Regular physical activity significantly reduces the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity, anxiety, depression, and cancers of the breast, colon, and female reproductive system. 1

Only 22% of people in the United States exercise at recommended levels. 1 You should get at least 30 minutes per day of moderate physical activity 5 or more days a week.

Other things to consider about your weight include:

Your percentage of body fat, which is made up of essential fat needed for proper body functioning and stored fat for later use. Your percentage of body fat depends on genetics, lifestyle, and physical activities. In general, women have more body fat than men. There are several methods for estimating percentage of body fat.
Your body mass index (BMI), which is based on your height and weight. Your risk of weight-related diseases may increase if your weight is above or below BMI range. BMI measurements may be misleading if you are muscular or if you have lost a lot of muscle mass. To calculate your BMI, see:
Healthy weight chart for adults.
Healthy weight chart for adults (metric).
Where you store fat in your body. Fat is stored in the fatty tissue under the skin (subcutaneous tissue), in the abdominal cavity (intra-abdominal tissue), and within muscles (particularly in older adults). People who are "apple-shaped" and store fat around their abdomen are at increased risk for diseases associated with being overweight compared with people who are "pear-shaped" and store most of their fat around their hips. For information on how to assess your distribution of body fat, see calculating waist circumference.

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