WeightLossDietSecrets

Determining your Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist size are reliable ways to tell whether you have a weight problem and to estimate your risk for further health concerns.

Body Mass Index can be used to indicate if you are overweight, obese, underweight or normal. It will, however, overestimate fatness in people who are muscular or athletic.

Your waist size is a factor which can be highly subjective, and you should know whether you carry too much belly fat around your midsection. Your health risks increase with increasing waist size. A waist measurement greater than about 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women indicates a significant risk for related health problems.

Measure your waist at the point below your ribcage but above your navel.

How Is Body Mass Index Measured?

BMI uses a mathematical formula based on a person’s height and weight. Your Body Mass Index equals your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared (BMI = kg/m2). Or multiply your weight in pounds by 703, then divide the result by your height in inches, and divide that result by your height in inches a second time.

Or simply scroll down for the calculator and/or BMI chart.

What Do The Numbers Tell Me?

A BMI of 25 to 29.9 indicates a person is overweight. A person with a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. The BMI does not take body fat levels into consideration - so you could be brimming with muscle and at the peak of health - and the BMI results could show you to be obese. It is however still used as the standard, by many government health institutions.

Women seem to be content at values between 20 to 22 and men are usually satisfied with a BMI of 23 to 25. If your BMI is between 17 to 22, your life expectancy is longer than average (obviously within the limits of the discussion), and you don’t necessarily need to lose weight.

If your BMI is below 25, you are not considered overweight by most people. But if your BMI is 26 or more, that’s not good. But you knew that.

Most Importantly - Be easy on yourself. It’s not healthy to have anxiety over a less-than-perfect body image. Just trust your own judgment. And if you know you need to do some work, just do it! Step by step. A healthy mental attitude is necessary first, on the road to physical well-being.

ClICK HERE To Use The BMI Calculator

The BMI Chart