Don't Sweat the Scale

Trying to get healthy and fit? Quit worrying about what the scale says. Blasphemy you say?  Worry more about your waist circumference and BMI (take into consideration the caveat I give you at the end of this) please. Because I personally am on the bubble between obese and morbidly obese. I have single digit body fat.

Why? Because if you exercise the way you should, your body composition will change, with muscle replacing fat. Because muscle weighs more than fat, your weight may stay the same or even increase slightly as you become healthier.

Body Mass Index is your weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Intimidating as that may sound, you can find BMI calculators at several sites online, including www.cdc.gov (search for "BMI calculator.")

Your target: A BMI of 18.5 to 25 is ideal. A BMI of 25-30 is overweight. A BMI of more than 30 is obese and brings a substantially increased risk of health issues, ranging from diabetes to depression.

Waist circumference

What is it? The number of inches around your waist as calculated by a tape measure at the smallest area above the umbilicus (your belly button) and not by your pants size.
Your target: For men it should be less than 40 inches and for women under 35 inches no matter what your height is. Above those levels your risk for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, strokes and some cancers significantly increases.

The caveat I would like to add in regards to the B.M.I. (body mass index) is

BMI may be an inaccurate assessment tool for certain population groups such as athletes or the elderly because it doesn’t take into account fat vs. lean body mass. Since muscle weighs more than fat, BMI may overestimate body fat in athletes with a high percentage of muscle mass, inaccurately putting them in an overweight or obese category. In the elderly, BMI may underestimate body fat since muscle and bone density tend to decrease with age. Case in point I am considered obese and almost morbidly obese so just be careful with BMI.

 

 

So in conclusion, keep up the strong work and don't let a number de-motivate you!