Myth: I’m At My Ideal Weight Already.
Trust Me. There is Room for Healthy Weight Improvement
This ideal weight chart might surprise you. Might even make you angry and write me and tell me I’m smoking dope and you’re unsubscribing. Don’t kill the messenger! It’s just food for thought.
John McDougall, M.D. offers alternate ideal body weight charts showing much leaner body ideals than the government’s upward-trending Body Mass Index (BMI) based on averages. These charts may be “politically incorrect”, but more accurately reflect the weights of indigenous people all over the planet who eat whole-foods diets closer to the earth, no processed food, and suffer from little degenerative disease:
Dr. McDougall says weight in indigenous populations is:
A recent study also showed that half of people who are not overweight actually have organs marbled with fat, which has higher association with morbidity than the kind of fat you see on the outside. Another reason why a weight chart doesn’t tell the whole story. Thin people who eat lots of fast food are not healthy people. You are what you eat, regardless of your weight.
Fact: Listen to your body and know what weight it wants to be at. Not what your metabolism wants, because your metabolism may be damaged and in need of rehabilitation and nourishment. But rather, know what lean is for you, and be willing to go there, off the government’s “ideal body weight charts” based on averages, and stay there with a whole-foods diet.
Important Note: Definitely don’t beat yourself up if you are trying to lose weight. This isn’t a suggestion we should develop eating disorders, which is entirely different than, and counterproductive to, eating whole foods that aren’t addictive and arriving at a weight that American standards say aren’t appropriate. Set realistic goals with regard to weight loss rather than using the numbers in the chart to the left. But maybe we shouldn’t make goals or lifestyle choices relative to the BMI chart, how many babies we’ve had, or things that skew a truly healthy weight. Eating 60-80 percent raw, with greens being the main staple, and vegetables and fruits, low-fat legumes and grains, occupying most of the plate, it’s entirely possible to stay satisfied for long period of time on 1,200 to 1,400 calories (for women—somewhat more for men).
