As a certified dietitian and author of the book "Diet Simple: 195 Mental Tricks, Substitutions, Habits & Inspirations" (LifeLine Press, 2011), Katherine Tallmadge has appeared on several radios and television shows around the country to discuss nutrition issues. With this piece, Tallmadge has contributed to the expert voices: op-ed & insights section of LiveScience.
Many of my clients want to know if physicians' documentation of patients' heights and weights is accurate. Really? My answer is:...
When figuring out your optimal body weight, don't rely just on height/weight statistics. Instead, researchers have created new BMI charts that may be used in conjunction with other pieces of personal data. After examining hundreds of research completed over the previous few decades, a committee of NIH scientists specializing in weight effects on health drafted the guidelines. Only then did the experts offer their recommendations to health practitioners.
As we can see on bodyvisualizer official website physicians and qualified dietitians like myself may use the guidelines to conduct client evaluations and provide treatment recommendations. BMI tables and your doctor's advice can also help you determine your ideal weight.
To get a healthy weight, there are eight steps.
Determine your body mass index (BMI), which is the relationship between weight and height that experts have linked to body fat and health risk. Divide your weight (in kilos) by your height squared (in meters) to get your BMI. The National Institutes of Health offers a calculator, so you don't have to do the math!
Losing weight is essential if your BMI shows that you are obese. If you have two or more health risk factors, weight reduction treatment is more crucial and suggested. For example, being a smoker, being inactive, or having any of the following: high blood pressure, low HDL (good) cholesterol, high LDL (bad) cholesterol, high triglyceride (blood fat) levels, impaired fasting glucose, a family history of premature heart disease, or a high waist-circumference are all risk factors for heart disease, according to the National Institutes of Health (measured at the belly button). For women, "high" indicates at least 35 inches and at least 40 inches for men. This is critical since abdominal obesity is linked to a greater risk of illness. In addition, we know that body fat isn't just inert - it is harmful. Metabolic control, immunity, inflammation, arterial stiffness, and cancer formation are influenced by hormones and pro-inflammatory chemicals produced by fat tissue. Because of this, a reduction in body fat has several physiologic advantages.
When it comes to obesity, health care providers strongly urge that you get therapy for your weight reduction.
If you're trying to lose weight for the first time, aim to lose ten percent of your starting weight. Depending on how much weight you need to shed, this might take six months. Losing one and a half to three pounds a week is quite safe. Increasing your cardiovascular exercise will expedite your weight loss if your caloric consumption is within reason.
Make another effort at weight loss if you need to shed additional weight.
Maintaining your weight after achieving your weight reduction goal requires nutritional treatment, exercise, and behavioral therapy. Therefore, this initiative should be continued permanently.
According to NIH standards, you must pursue lifestyle treatment for at least six months before your doctor can suggest medication or surgery. Although the safety of medication therapy has not been proven, 50 percent of surgery patients recover the weight they had lost before the procedure.
Obesity surgery may be a possibility for those with a BMI of more than 40 or a BMI of more than 35 with substantial unfavorable health problems.
Extremely muscular people, such as professional athletes or bodybuilders, may appear overweight on the BMI scale. However, this may be due to their high muscle mass rather than their excess fat. Weight loss isn't essential in these circumstances because more muscle isn't considered harmful.
