You cannot get your exact weight without a weighing machine, but you can get close: use a scale at a pharmacy, clinic or gym for a real number, or estimate a healthy range from your height. Using the WHO lower BMI limit of 18.5 and the Asian Indian overweight cut-off of 23, an adult 165 cm tall has a healthy weight of about 50–62 kg. A tape measure adds a second check: the NHS advises keeping your waist to less than half your height.
1. Use the waist-to-height ratio method
This is the closest thing to a scale-free number you can get at home. It does not tell you what you weigh, but it shows whether the weight you carry around your middle is in a healthy range. Measure your waist at the midpoint between your last rib and your hip bone, then divide it by your height in the same unit.
A ratio under 0.5 is the target: the NHS advises keeping your waist size to less than half your height. A 170 cm adult should therefore keep the waist under 85 cm. A 2023 review on PubMed Central lists the waist-to-height ratio, alongside the waist-to-hip ratio and BMI, among the standard body measurements clinicians use.
2. Visit a nearby pharmacy or clinic
Many neighbourhood pharmacies, diagnostic labs and gyms in India keep a scale at the counter for walk-ins, often free or for a small fee. This is the fastest route to an accurate number if you need a one-time reading rather than a home-tracking habit. Weigh in light clothes, without shoes, and note the time of day so a later reading is comparable.
3. Try public coin-operated weighing machines
Some railway platforms, bus stations and malls in India still have coin-operated weighing machines. They are less consistent than a pharmacy scale and increasingly rare, but in a pinch they give you a ballpark figure for a coin.
4. Use a homemade seesaw balance
If you have a strong plank, a fixed pivot point such as a low wall or a stool edge, and items of known weight, you can balance yourself against them. Sealed water cans and packed sacks of rice or atta with the weight printed on the packet work well. Sit at one end, add known weights at the same distance on the other end until the plank levels, and add up what you used.
It is crude, and any difference in distance from the pivot throws the result off. Treat it as a one-time check when nothing else is available, and keep the plank low to the ground.
5. Track progress through clothing fit and photos
If your goal is monitoring change rather than getting an exact number, skip the maths entirely. Note how a specific pair of jeans or a belt notch fits week to week, and take progress photos in the same lighting and pose at the same time of day. A waist measurement taken weekly with the same tape adds a number to the trend.
None of this tells you what you weigh, but it reliably shows whether you are trending up, down or holding steady.
6. Know your healthy weight range for your height
Even without measuring your current weight, knowing where you should land helps you judge whether you are in range. BMI is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared, so the healthy range for any height can be worked out in reverse.
The WHO classes a BMI below 18.5 as underweight. For Asian Indians, the lower thresholds in the WHO Asia Pacific guidelines apply: the ICMR-INDIAB study defines overweight as a BMI from 23 and obesity from 25. The UK NHS likewise treats a BMI of 23 to 27.4 as overweight for people of South Asian background. That makes 18.5 to 22.9 a healthy BMI range for Indian adults.
| Height | Healthy weight (BMI 18.5–22.9) | Overweight from (BMI 23) |
|---|---|---|
| 150 cm | 41.6–51.5 kg | 51.8 kg |
| 155 cm | 44.4–55.0 kg | 55.3 kg |
| 160 cm | 47.4–58.6 kg | 58.9 kg |
| 165 cm | 50.4–62.3 kg | 62.6 kg |
| 170 cm | 53.5–66.2 kg | 66.5 kg |
| 175 cm | 56.7–70.1 kg | 70.4 kg |
Waist size has its own Indian cut-off. The ICMR-INDIAB study defines abdominal obesity as a waist of 90 cm or more in men and 80 cm or more in women.
For reference, ICMR's National Institute of Nutrition uses a body weight of 65 kg for adult men and 55 kg for adult women when it sets nutrient requirements, in its 2020 Recommended Dietary Allowances. These are reference weights for planning diets, not personal targets. Once you have a reading from any scale, Omace's BMI calculator does the arithmetic for you.
7. Understand where these methods fall short
None of these substitute for a proper scale when precision matters. During pregnancy, for medical monitoring, or when you track a specific health condition, a reliable scale is the standard your doctor will ask for. A waist tape and a BMI table give a best available estimate, and that is different from an accurate reading.
For regular tracking, a scale at home is simpler. The Venus EPS-1199 weight machine for home weighs up to 180 kg in 100 g steps for ₹549 (October 2026), and the Venus EPS-2001 digital weighing machine for body weight does the same in 11 designs. If you prefer no batteries, the Venus BS-9701 analog weighing scale reads up to 130 kg in 500 g steps for ₹799. The Venus EPS digital scale series is a Legal Metrology approved model in accuracy class III, and the BS-9701 is approved in class IIII. Omace calibrates its bathroom scales at the factory before dispatch, and replaces one that reads wrong or gets stuck under the 2-year manufacturing warranty on store purchases.
The full range of personal weighing scales is in the store, and our guide to the best weight machine for home use compares them.
