Why Knowing Your Body Mass Index Number Is Crucial To Your Diet

When you are trying to lose weight, you will likely find that is a big numbers game, more so than any other factor in this society. Think about all the numbers there are to keep track of, how many pounds do you need to lose, in how many weeks do you need to lose it? How many inches is your waist and how many should it be? What is your body fat and what should it be? When you look at this is way, it is easy to see why so many people have trouble losing the weight they want to lose.

There is one very good way to determine where you sit and where you should be sitting in terms of dieting. Even though there are a variety of numbers you are to keep track of, there is only one set that doctors seem most concerned with, and that is your body mass index (BMI). BMI, is a fairly new concept in America. The reality is it has been around for quite a while. The idea was created by Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetlet. He was a Belgian mathematician and was extremely famous both then and now, because of the numbers systems he implemented in improving lives. This system has become the best measurement of determining if a patient is overweight or obese.

Many people still do not quite understand what body mass index is and often become confused by it. To them, they see it as another system of numbers that have to document and remember. The body mass index contains the ratio of a persons height and weight. Implementing the formula allows physicians to determine if he or she is overweight or obese.

While the word formula may scare you at first, determining your body mass index, is really not all that hard. First, you must determine your height in meters squared and your weight in kilograms. There are many websites available just for that reason, if you do not know how to determine those figures. After finding your metric height and weight, you divide your weight with your height. If you simply do not want to conduct this calculation, your physician should be able to provide you with a body mass index chart.

The average healthy person should have a body mass index of somewhere between 18.5 through 25, depending on their height. Those that fall between 26 and 29 are considered overweight. A body mass index between 30 and 39 is considered to be obese and 40 or more is morbidly obese. As the BMI increases, so do the risk of serious health problems.

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What is Weight Loss?

In the context of physical health, weight loss is the process of losing body weight, usually by losing fat. To achieve healthy weight loss, most experts recommend a combination of healthy eating patterns and regular physical exercise. Some people try to lose weight by using drugs such as fenfluoramine, nicotine or cocaine (see Anti-obesity drugs), herbs such as ephedra, or surgery such as liposuction