the Hamwi equation

So, a big part of nutrition is body weight.  How much should I eat to loose or gain weight?

One easy (and VERY generalized) way of determing your ideal weight is to use this simple formula:


for women:
Start with 100 pounds for the first 5 feet in height, then add 5 pounds per inch.  (So a woman who is 5'6'' should weigh close to 130 pounds; (100 + (6 x 5)).)  OBVIOUSLY this doesn't take into account body composition.  Are you very athletic?  What is your build?  So to account for this, add and subtract 10% to this giving you a range of 117-143.  AGAIN! This is NOT exact! A much better measure would be total body fat composition.

for men:
Start with 106 pounds for the first 5 feet, then add 6 pounds per inch.  So a man who is 5'11'' should weigh close to 172.  The 10% range should be 154.8-189.2.

This is a general tool dietitians use to determine ranges in weight.  We'll address what to eat to maintain, gain, or loose weight later on!