What’s YOUR healthy weight?

Currently, as it stands, I am overweight. This is according to my BMI.

However, it seems to me that a number shouldn’t be telling us how healthy we are.

Really, it’s not the BMI’s fault. It’s the importance WE put on it that is the problem. The BMI is a useful tool to tell us how we’re going as a society or large population – the WHO uses it to record statistics on obesity. It can also be a guide as to how we are progressing when at extremes of the scale. But really, if we are obese, or morbidly obese, or underweight, we probably don’t need a calculation to tell us we could do with adjusting our weight. Mirrors, the size of our clothes, and the random comments from strangers are likely enough of a clue.

If you want to know your BMI, simply divide your weight in kgs by your height in metres squared. For eg: 67 / 2.56 (ie 1.6 x 1.6) = 26.172. Or just Google it and find a calculator online.

Problems with the BMI include the fact that it doesn’t work on children, pregnant women, and most athletes. So that cuts out quite a proportion of the population. Also, it has nothing at all to say about the composition of our bodies – how much fat we are carrying, and where we are carrying it – not to mention the actual state of our bodies. Plenty of people in the healthy weight range are living very unhealthy lives. I’m sure the fact that their BMI score is fine will be a great comfort to them when they develop lung cancer from smoking, or liver disease from drinking too much alcohol.

I can’t stress enough that it is what we do that makes us healthy or unhealthy, not a number on the scale or a chart, and not the size of our clothes. These things are signs – a clue and a potential red flag, but certainly not the final destination.

When you think about why you want to lose weight, I’m guessing it’s not just so you can stand on the scales, look down and see the number 60 – as pleasant as that may be. So when you come to think about what weight you should be, have a think about what you want to be DOING and FEELING, not simply what you want the scales to say.

I will feel I am living a healthy life when:

My cholesterol is fine, I have it checked at least twice a year.
My blood pressure is in the healthy range, I check it every few months
I have given up smoking.
I can cover the 5km track at our park in 30 minutes.
I exercise every day, and I push myself a little bit harder each time.
I do resistance training 3 times a week, and can feel myself getting stronger.
I eat lots of fresh fruit, vegetables and low GI foods.
I have at least 3 alcohol-free days per week.
I can easily see out a full game of soccer/netball/footy.
I play active outdoor games with the kids a few times a week.

Your weight on the scales can be a good guide, and most people feel a bit lost without knowing what it is. If you are obsessed by numbers, there are other tests to do, such as your waist and hip measurements. I'll talk about those in more detail soon.