Am I Fat?
If you are asking the question, there's a pretty good chance that you are. The standard today for determining this is Body Mass Index or BMI. BMI is more or less an electronic version of the old height and weight charts that most of us remember from the doctor's office. On BMI calculator I've found to be easy and convenient can be found at: http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm. This is part of the website for the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. It also has interpretive data - if your BMI is less than 18.5, you're underweight; 18.5-24.9 makes you "normal" weight (I have an issue with the term - it's a healthy weight, but in the United States today, it's unfortunately NOT NORMAL.); between 25.0 and 29.9, you're classed as overweight; and 30.0 or higher makes you obese.
OK, so I'm overweight (or obese), now what do I do? Well, the best thing to do is to see your doctor to establish a safety and healthy plan for losing the weight. Most likely, your doctor will recommend a combination of increased activity and reducing your calorie intake. It will probably be a week or two until you can get in to see the doctor, but you want to start today, so what should you do? I'd suggest that you start paying attention to trying to increase your activity level. This can be as simple as parking further from your office (or home), or choosing to walk to the lunch place, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. (Note: for security reasons some office buildings, hotels and apartments lock their stairwell's exit doors except on exit floors. Check this first, unless you're willing to backtrack - not much of a problem if it's one or two flights, but perhaps a big problem if it's 10 floors.) Also, pay attention to what you are eating and drinking. Did you know that a 12 oz. can of soda has about 170 calories? (I checked a can of Mountain Dew, others may differ, but probably not a lot.) So, if you drink 3 or 4 cans of soda a day, just by substituting water or another non-caloric beverage, you can cut out 500 or more calories a day.
Meanwhile, if you're overweight or obese, you should also know that you are not alone. Roughly one-third of adult Americans are obese, another third are overweight, and a third are normal weight (the number who are underweight is very small, but if you're there because of a health problem, it can be very serious). You may want to find a friend who's also trying to lose weight, if you do this, you can share your learning.
Choosing to be healthier is a process of learning both about what you can (and should) do and what you are willing to tolerate. If you start making some of these little changes, you can start making a difference today.
OK, so I'm overweight (or obese), now what do I do? Well, the best thing to do is to see your doctor to establish a safety and healthy plan for losing the weight. Most likely, your doctor will recommend a combination of increased activity and reducing your calorie intake. It will probably be a week or two until you can get in to see the doctor, but you want to start today, so what should you do? I'd suggest that you start paying attention to trying to increase your activity level. This can be as simple as parking further from your office (or home), or choosing to walk to the lunch place, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. (Note: for security reasons some office buildings, hotels and apartments lock their stairwell's exit doors except on exit floors. Check this first, unless you're willing to backtrack - not much of a problem if it's one or two flights, but perhaps a big problem if it's 10 floors.) Also, pay attention to what you are eating and drinking. Did you know that a 12 oz. can of soda has about 170 calories? (I checked a can of Mountain Dew, others may differ, but probably not a lot.) So, if you drink 3 or 4 cans of soda a day, just by substituting water or another non-caloric beverage, you can cut out 500 or more calories a day.
Meanwhile, if you're overweight or obese, you should also know that you are not alone. Roughly one-third of adult Americans are obese, another third are overweight, and a third are normal weight (the number who are underweight is very small, but if you're there because of a health problem, it can be very serious). You may want to find a friend who's also trying to lose weight, if you do this, you can share your learning.
Choosing to be healthier is a process of learning both about what you can (and should) do and what you are willing to tolerate. If you start making some of these little changes, you can start making a difference today.
posted by Scooter at 8:54 AM
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