What's Your BMI?
For most of us, we can get a good understanding of our weight by calculating our BMI (body mass index). The BMI is essentially a mathematical version of the old height and weight charts. It is easy to tell from your BMI if you are classed as normal, overly thin, overweight, or obese.
Some people argue about the validity of the numbers, but for the great majority of us, they are a very good indicator. The underweight category applies to those with BMI's of 18.4 and under. Normal weight ranges from 18.5 to 24.9. Overweight ranges from 25.0 to 29.9; while 30.0 and above is considered obese.
You can find a good BMI calculator at the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's website here: BMI Calculator. It offers both US (feet and inches with pounds) and metric (centimeters with kilograms) calculators, and once you've calculated, it gives the information for you to interpret your results.
I've found that many people will condemn the BMI because it does not give the results they desire. A very small percentage of the population will fall outside the norms established by BMI. Generally, unless you are a bodybuilder or either extremely large or small boned, the results will be appropriate. I will also tell you that it is generally regarded as healthier to be fit and slightly overweight than unfit and normal weight.
Because I am currently heavy, my height of about 5 feet, 10.75 inches and 170 lbs, puts my BMI at 23.9 - towards the upper end of the normal range. When I was at my recent lightest, at 151 lbs, my BMI was 21.2 - slightly below the mid-point of the range. When exercising extensively while in my 20's, I would usually get down to about 142 lbs, making my BMI 19.9. Finally, back in high school, racing at a weight that almost anyone but a runner would call too thin, I was 135 lbs. and my BMI was 19.0 - still in the normal range.
I would be remiss if I did not also point out that my numbers were not always so good. Several years back, my weight peaked at 197 lbs, and my BMI was 27.7, putting me solidly in the middle of the overweight range. I will also tell you that at that weight, my blood pressure was threatening to cross the line into hypertension. (I was typically about 135/85 and hypertension begins at 140/90.) If you want evidence that the advice to "maintain a normal weight" works to control blood pressure, my current BP is about 120/80 (and I sometimes see readings at 110/70).
Know your BMI and track it. It is a good indicator for most of us. You also probably know (at least intuitively) how your bones are built compared to most others of your gender. I know I fall right around average, so should likely fall near the middle of the normal range. Those who have finer bones should likely aim for the lower portion of the normal range (18.5-21.7), while those with big bones should aim for the upper part (21.8-24.9).
Some people argue about the validity of the numbers, but for the great majority of us, they are a very good indicator. The underweight category applies to those with BMI's of 18.4 and under. Normal weight ranges from 18.5 to 24.9. Overweight ranges from 25.0 to 29.9; while 30.0 and above is considered obese.
You can find a good BMI calculator at the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's website here: BMI Calculator. It offers both US (feet and inches with pounds) and metric (centimeters with kilograms) calculators, and once you've calculated, it gives the information for you to interpret your results.
I've found that many people will condemn the BMI because it does not give the results they desire. A very small percentage of the population will fall outside the norms established by BMI. Generally, unless you are a bodybuilder or either extremely large or small boned, the results will be appropriate. I will also tell you that it is generally regarded as healthier to be fit and slightly overweight than unfit and normal weight.
Because I am currently heavy, my height of about 5 feet, 10.75 inches and 170 lbs, puts my BMI at 23.9 - towards the upper end of the normal range. When I was at my recent lightest, at 151 lbs, my BMI was 21.2 - slightly below the mid-point of the range. When exercising extensively while in my 20's, I would usually get down to about 142 lbs, making my BMI 19.9. Finally, back in high school, racing at a weight that almost anyone but a runner would call too thin, I was 135 lbs. and my BMI was 19.0 - still in the normal range.
I would be remiss if I did not also point out that my numbers were not always so good. Several years back, my weight peaked at 197 lbs, and my BMI was 27.7, putting me solidly in the middle of the overweight range. I will also tell you that at that weight, my blood pressure was threatening to cross the line into hypertension. (I was typically about 135/85 and hypertension begins at 140/90.) If you want evidence that the advice to "maintain a normal weight" works to control blood pressure, my current BP is about 120/80 (and I sometimes see readings at 110/70).
Know your BMI and track it. It is a good indicator for most of us. You also probably know (at least intuitively) how your bones are built compared to most others of your gender. I know I fall right around average, so should likely fall near the middle of the normal range. Those who have finer bones should likely aim for the lower portion of the normal range (18.5-21.7), while those with big bones should aim for the upper part (21.8-24.9).
posted by Scooter at 3:38 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Scoot--
Great Blog. I like your philosophy towards getting to a healthy weight or maintaining one. Eat less, work out more = healthy weight, and it has always worked like you mention in your blog description.
Over the summer I was training for the Chicago marathon and would get home from a long run and weigh myself and be all pissed off because I weighed the same that I did the week before or whatever. My husband (who ran the marathon also) finally put the scale away and told me that I was ridiculous because I have a very normal weight (5'11 ~150 lbs BMI=20.9) and was running 40 miles a week and so on.
Since he has done that I just keep my focus on my workouts and what I eat, not on whether if I ran an extra mile or did an extra rep at the gym maybe i would have lost a half a pound.
I will never weight 130 lbs like I did when I was 14. I think getting over that and enjoying the skin I'm in now is a spectacular realization.
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