Our BMI, or Body Mass Index is an indication of whether we are overweight or not. Our reading should come in somewhere in the region of top teens to mid-twenties. We have weight management problems if our figure is any higher than that. A BMI of more than 30 is considered obese. It becomes morbidly obese when the index goes over 40.
It’s very easy to determine what your BMI is: Using metric readings, take your current weight and height. Take your metric height and square it. Then divide the answer by how many kilos you weigh.
For instance – say you’re 1.55 metres tall and you weigh 78 kilos, your index would be 32.5. Clearly that result shows some different eating and exercise habits are needed, as a figure over 30 is categorised as obese.
If we persist with eating fatty and sugary calorie-laden food, we’ll never get a grip on our weight management. We can lower our fat reserves (and therefore our weight) if we trim down our portion sizes and stick to more natural foodstuffs.
Don’t be tempted by miracle diets that promise massive weight loss in no time at all. This rules out anything that suggests you consume less than twelve hundred calories in 24 hours. Such ‘instant remedies’ may produce some results, but it’s likely the weight will flood back on.
Healthy dieting that will make you fitter for life can take months. Losing up to two pounds a week can be achieved if you simply cut out five hundred calories or so a day. Clearly this isn’t going to make an impact this month, but you will be healthier by this time next year.
It’s well understood that foods saturated in fat contain the highest calories. Therefore keeping fat to a minimum will significantly reduce your calories. Substitute fat with whole grains, vegetables and fruit. It’s amazing how quickly you’ll start to notice improvements in your health.
It’s not worth saving calories up for two meals a day. You’re likely to get too hungry, and then grab a calorie-rich snack! Really, you’ll do yourself more favours if you have four or five little meals spread throughout the day. It’s more difficult to get the weight off when you feel half-starved. The body metabolises more when it receives frequent healthy portions of food. This leads to an efficient system of weight loss.
(C) Scott Edwards. Hop over to WeightLossDietWar.com for superb ideas on slimming recipes and healthy weight management.
