Thursday, June 25, 2009

Stay Healthy -- Keep Your BMI Normal

Are you normal, over weight or obese? What is your Body Mass Index?
Is your waist-to-hip ratio more than 0.95 (for men) or 0.9 (for women)?
Do you have sedentary (very little physical activity) lifestyle?

Your Weight and Height; Your BMI
Your weight and your height tells you if you are normal, over weight or obese. Regularly check your weight to know if you are losing weight or gaining weight. If you are gaining weight, it means that input is more than your output; your calories intake is more than calories you are burning. If you are over weight or obese, this is not a good situation; you do not want to gain weight. You need to burn more calories so that your input calories are not more than calories you are burning. Thus a daily record of your weight will give you a good idea of what you should do to maintain your weight within normal range. After all you will not like to be in the over weight range or obese.

Figure out your Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is a ratio of your weight in Kg and square of height in meters.
That is BMI = weight/(height x height), where weight is in kilograms and height is in metres.

If your BMI is between 18.5 to 24.9, you are normal;
If your BMI is between 25 to 29.9, you are overweight;
If your BMI is 30+, you are obese.

Your Waist-to-Hip Ratio
Measure your waist and measure your hip. The waist-to-hip ratio, the lower the better. The optimum value for men is 0.9 and for women is 0.85. Higher waist-to-hip ratio means you have a fat belly or abdomen. The extra fat on abdomen produces hormones which can cause diabetes, high blood pressure, and raise blood lipid levels. If you have fatty hips, it is better than having fat on abdomen.

Tips for Weight Loss
Here are some simple tips that will help you lose weight.
1. Get enough sleep daily. Seven hours of sleep is normal. Less hours of sleep can also increase appetite.

2. Daily eat some veggie diet. A veggie diet ensures a lower average Body Mass Index and a lower mean plasma total cholesterol concentration. If you do not take veggie diet, you can at least replace a small portion of your food with veggie diet. Vegetarians have reduced rates of heart disease, hypertension, type II diabetes, constipation, certain cancers and gall stones. Fruits and vegetables are low in calories but high in nudtirents and fiber. So make it a part of your weight control diet.

3. Your metabolism is how you burn fat. As you age, your metabolism tends to slow down. Lazy or sedentary (very little physical activity) life style reduces your metabolism rate. Take steps to increase your metabolism. Do some exercise. Bring changes in your life style so that you are more active.

5. Divide what you eat in a day, in more number of meals. Don't skip a meal. Avoid the habit of skipping a meal and then over eating when you get time. Keep break between meals limited to four hours. This habit will help your body maintain the metabolism rate. Don't let your digestive system to relax and get lazy.

6. Make some changes in your life style. If you watch TV while lying down on bed, then sit and watch. When you are sitting, regularly shake or move your body and move your legs. Even gentle shaking or moving will help. Even slight changes in your sedentary life style help.

7. Once you are over weight, you can not reduce your weight in a few days or even in a week. You need to burn an extra of about 4,000 calories to lose 1 lb of fat or about 9000 calories to lose 1 kg of fat. You will lose weight in the same way you have gained it. You did not gain weight in just a few days, so you need patience when working to reduce your weight.