How Much Do You Weigh?
Men and women overall are about 20 pounds heavier now than they were in the 1960's.
So how much does the average guy or gal in the US weigh? How much do you weigh?
Women weigh about 166 pounds on average, and men weigh 195.
In the 1960s women weighed 140 pounds and men weighed 160. In other words, women these days are about the same weight that men were 50 years ago. Oh boy. Have we gained some height too?
Maybe all of this means we can empathize with weight issues, and that most of us have struggled with weight at some point in our lives. I'm about 5'9", and there was a time when I tipped the scale at 190, and now I'm at 130 and have been in that lower range for about ten years. Has weight been an issue for you? I certainly understand how hard it is to lose it and keep it off.
The average weights in the Post article don't tell us who is in the middle of a weight loss swing, and it doesn't mention if we've gotten taller or shorter over time.
The Washington Post says women are about 18 percent heavier now than in the past, and men have padded their waistline by about 17 percent.
It brings up all sorts of discussion about why this has happened. Do we have too many great restaurants around? Are we so busy that we don't have time to exercise? Is it ok to have a little extra around the middle and still be happy and healthy?
If self-acceptance is a key to happiness, then all of this weight talk is relative to finding the right balance it seems. Are we comfortable in our own skin? Finding that point might mean we've landed on the right number on the scale.