Why You Should Care About Your BMI

If you don’t know your BMI, please start here and calculate it before reading any further. http://1.usa.gov/XBIO5L. The goal is to keep it under 25. From a BMI of 25 to 29.9, we define someone as overweight. If your BMI is 30 or higher, you technically fall into the obese category. Obesity is a loaded term in our society, but it is the medically correct term to define the body fat estimate in someone with a BMI of 30 or higher, so I’ll use it here.

Those with an elevated BMI are at risk for serious medical conditions, which is the most important reason to attend to your weight every single day, whether you are striving to maintain or lose weight. Obesity increases the risk of cancer (breast, colon, uterine, gallbladder), heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, sleep apnea, infertility, gallstones, stroke, depression and other conditions.

Whatever your BMI, don’t despair! There are many success stories out there about people who have lost 25, 50, 100+ pounds with hard work, diet and exercise. It can be done without surgery or pills, but in extreme cases, those interventions may be necessary and life saving interventions. Talk with anyone who has lost significant weight and kept it off and most people will tell you that they have to work hard at it every single day. There is no magic supplement or diet that makes sustained weight loss a breeze. Pushing high doses of fruits and vegetables into your diet and moving more every day will slowly, but certainly, pay off. It may not be as sexy as green coffee melting away the pounds effortlessly, but the truth is that it is hard work to lose weight and keep it off.

Please don’t give up! Research tells us it can take years to do so, but your body will reset at its lower weight and eventually it becomes easier to maintain. Maintaining a healthy BMI is a lifelong daily commitment that we are all capable of making.

Thanks for listening and I wish you the best of health!

Please follow me on Twitter: @LisaOldson