What Is My BMI

by Donna S. on July 20, 2009

BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is a useful tool to help us know how much body fat we're carrying around. It gives a clear image of our weight status based on body mass. Here's how BMI ranges break down:

• If you're BMI is below 18.5 – Underweight
  
• 18.5 - 24.9 – Normal weight
  
• 25.0 – 29.9 Overweight
  
• 30.0 and above – Obese
  

If you're like me and don't want to struggle with the BMI formula, it's easy to find BMI calculators and charts on line. I plugged my numbers on the free calculator offered by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and presto there it was in black and white. Now I know what my BMI is. No guessing. It's 25.9. That's right. I'm overweight. I knew that. I'm thankful I've already lost over 10 pounds. Just for fun I plugged in my previous weight and my BMI was 27.8. I'm heading in the right direction!

Why should I care what my BMI is? For most of us it is a reliable indicator of total body fat and as we all know, body fat is related to risk for a number of diseases including heart disease.

I also took my waist measurement. Like I talked about in yesterday's blog, BMI is one risk factor but the size of our waists is another. That's because those of us who gain around the mid-section are at higher risk of developing weight related diseases. The marker for higher risk is 35 for women and 40 inches for men. I whipped out the old tape measure and didn't suck in my stomach. No sense pretending… I'm one inch under the 35 mark. That sounds so much better than saying I have a 34 inch waist!


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