I write about the body mass index a lot and anyone on a diet should understand this. Your Doctor and any weight counselor you talk to will always refer to your BMI, so you need to know at least the basics.
Your BMI is based on your height and weight. It’s one way to see if you’re at a healthy weight.
Underweight: Your BMI is less than 18.5
Healthy weight: Your BMI is 18.5 to 24.9
Overweight: Your BMI is 25 to 29.9
Obese: Your BMI is 30 or higher
The above shows examples of body mass indexes. The figure at which your height corresponds with your weight is your body mass index. To find yours use WebMD’s BMI calculator.
Using a calculator is the easy way, but you can do the calculation yourself.
We will use my weight and height to illustrate:
I’m 160 pounds, so 160 x .45= 72kg (I’m changing my weight and height into metric) so I weight 72kg.
I’m 6 foot tall and we want to change that into meters, so you change that to inches x .025 = 1.8 x 1.8 = 3.24
Then divide 72 / 3.24= 22.22 and that’s my BMI. Like I said it’s easier to use the calculator on the website but if you have a pocket calculator it took me 2 minutes.
Most people don’t realize how much overweight they really are and calculating your BMI will give you a reality check. This is serious stuff, the more body fat you have the shorter your life and the more susceptible you are to diseases and viruses.
Why you might ask. Body mass is a measurement of muscle mass compared to body fat. And the theory that they use to obtain this percentage is done by using averages. Doctors are assuming that the weight of your bones and organs are average for your height and weight.
We change those numbers into metric because scientists that invented the system were British. So it's more accurate if we do the calculations in metric. We calculated my BMI at 22.22% which means that I have 22.22% body fat compared to 77.78% muscle mass.
As you can probably tell already this way of calculating will only work for average people who have a normal amount of muscle.
Doctors use this method because it's fast and easy when you use a BMI calculator. But there's another way. Health Clubs, and nutrition specialists use a different method. You can buy online a caliper that cost less that $10. I found one on Amazon; a caliper, tape measure, and a chart for less then $10. If you have a gym membership they might do it for nothing.
So why is the number so important. You doctor keeps that number in your records and updates it every year. Most doctors today report everything to your insurance company. You might check with the doctor so you know what is reported and what is not. But the treatment your doctor recommends will depend on what the insurance company will pay for. Maybe it's your insurance that actually calls the shots and recommends the treatment. The BMI information the insurance company has will affect the type of treatment you receive and what the insurance will pay for. The bottom line is to know your BMI and then talk to the doctor about lower that number.
Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.
If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.
There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.
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