Do You Know Your BMI and How it Relates to Health and Fitness?

Simply put, BMI stands for Body Mass Index.  Looking at my body change over the years I can see I definitely have some body mass, but is that a bad thing. The Center for Disease Control feels it is a good assessment tool for identifying obesity and overweight issues the population.  Many others use it as a screening tool to help in identifying potential health and weight issues.

Some of those issues that tend to be related to obesity are diabetes, cardiac issues, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and health issues related to each of these issues. It is generally excepted that those who are in a healthy weight range generally suffer from less of these health issues.

BMI is broken down into a variety of categories:

• 18.5 and below, you are considered underweight
• 18.5 to 24.9, you are in the coveted normal range
• 25.0 to 29.9, welcome to being overweight and the start of some of the health issues associated with being overweight
• 30 and above, you are considered obese

Obviously we all want to be in the normal range when it comes to our personal weight.  Finding out what is normal for you is a simple as typing BMI into the Google Search Engine.  You will be asked for your weight, height, sex and age.  I am 5’11 and today I am 219lbs (that is down from 230lbs three weeks ago), male and 46 years old.  For someone my height the scale looks like the following:

• 131.9 lbs is underweight
• 132 – 178.6 lbs falls into the normal range
• 178.7 – 215.1 lbs your in the overweight range
• 215.2 and above is considered obesity

Today at 5’11 and 219 lbs I am considered to be obese.  In my last doctors visit I was put on High Blood Pressure Medication, told my Cholesterol was high, and after labs it was determined that I am pre diabetic.  The advice from the doctor, get on blood pressure medication, and lose weight.  I have four pounds to go until I move from being obese, to overweight.  Sounds weird to think I will be celebrating becoming overweight, but when it is moving in the right direction that is something to celebrate.  Obviously it will take a while longer, but the real party will take place the day I hit 178 lbs and drop into the ranks of normal.  At that time I will schedule another Doctors appointment to see what impact it has made on my overall health and well being.  Until than I will be battling on to live a more healthy lifestyle in every aspect of my life