Body mass index - a necessary condition or condition
We all know that if we divide weight in kg by height in cm squared, we get the Quetelet index or BMI. This indicator is used by doctors to determine obesity, and anything more than 25 units is considered unhealthy and incorrect. In particular, excess weight, even with a BMI of up to 30, creates increased stress on the heart, musculoskeletal system, spine and joints. A BMI from 30 to 35 is first degree obesity, then the “degrees” are distributed in increments of 5 conventional units:
- 35-40 - second;
- 40 and above - third
With a BMI below 18.5, a diagnosis of “underweight” is made. It should not be confused with anorexia or any mental illness. Sometimes it’s just the structure of the body and nothing more.
Body mass index is widely used in hospitals and schools, and it is also what most online calculators and calorie counters suggest we use when estimating our body weight.
It will also show how normal your body mass index is from the point of view of modern medicine.
Simple manipulations will help you get the correct value:
- weighing yourself immediately after using the toilet in the morning on an empty stomach, in a minimum of clothing. The scale should be placed on a smooth floor surface and away from the microwave oven;
- You need to stand on the scales straight, without swaying from heel to toe. Before weighing, you should calibrate the product according to the instructions; growth is also measured in the morning and in the evening, due to the natural elasticity of cartilage tissue, it can change downwards; Online calculators allow you to achieve minimal error, so it’s enough to simply measure your height in centimeters and weight in kilograms, without rounding anything.
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Online BMI calculator
To avoid the hassle of doing the calculations yourself, you can use the online BMI calculator:
wpcalc.com
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Why is the Quetelet index useful?
This index is good for its objectivity. Our height does not change throughout adult life, but our weight fluctuates. By tracking them, we can see the dynamics clearly. However, you can track your weight dynamics, for example, when losing or gaining weight, in kilograms. The index simply gives us an objective assessment of these indicators.
The Quetelet index is very easy to calculate, it is accessible and understandable. It is “understood” by most health professionals from the school nurse to the fitness trainer at any fitness center.
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The people against the Quetelet index
So you come to the doctor and find out that your BMI is too high. According to the official point of view, this should immediately motivate changes in a “healthy” direction. We all know what doctors advise in this case:
- switch to fractional meals, reducing the size of portions;
- start eating vegetables and fruits with every meal;
- drink 2 liters of water at least, and preferably 40 ml per kilogram of weight;
- give up processed foods, sweets, fatty fried foods, sauces and...everything that makes food tasty. Yes, in any medical institution they will tell you about the benefits of bland and low-fat food, although this information is already outdated in the context of scientific dietetics.
But what if you don’t come anywhere, but just sit at home and over and over again type into the search: “Do I need to lose weight if my weight is...”? This in itself is not a healthy situation, and even if you need to lose weight “for health,” it does not get better. Large BMI numbers actually motivate some people to learn more about proper nutrition and feasible physical activity, while others actually motivate them to do the exact opposite. Many people think that there is nothing more to strive for, if the BMI is already high, everyone around them is already criticizing, life is difficult, so isn’t it easier to relax and eat a bun? If your situation is somewhat reminiscent of this, it is worth understanding your internal psychological problems, and not trying to fit your body to a standard of beauty.
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BMI vs female athletes
Find any table with the height and weight of athletes in strength sports. At least go to the CrossfitGames website. There you will see almost no one whose weight is not within the height range of minus 100 cm. Are these women close to obesity? Not on your nelly! And those performing in aesthetic sports in a non-dehydrated state weigh no less than “height minus 100”, and sometimes more.
There are a whole bunch of funny cases where athletic people were classified as “obese” simply because of their high BMI. Therefore, students should choose another criterion that answers their important question.
In addition, BMI does not take into account such universal indicators as gender and age, as well as occupation, bone structure, body parameters, and even...pregnancy or adolescence and childhood. In general, more modern sources recommend that you and I abandon BMI as an imperfect indicator.
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How do you know if you should lose weight?
Many girls and women are not happy with their bodies. Some rely on the numbers on the scale, others on the reflection in the mirror and how they feel. Of course, you need to focus on your feeling, but still, for those who have doubts, there are a lot of formulas for calculating body mass index, which can be used to determine whether you should lose weight or gain weight.
The main calculation formula is the one developed in the 19th century by Adolphe Quetelet. With its help, the extras Quetelet suggested finding out the extra or missing kilograms.
The formula looks like this: I=m / h2, where I is body mass index, m is weight in kilograms, h is height in meters.
For example, for a person 1.7 meters tall and weighing 85 kilograms, body mass index = 85 / (1.7 * 1.7) = 29.4.
According to the index table below, this weight is considered overweight.
If you are not sure of the result obtained, you can also use the tables provided by the World Health Organization. They are considered more accurate as they take into account gender and age.
Table. taking into account age indicators for men and women:
Table. taking into account only age:
WHO has developed its own table for children, since the metabolism of a child differs from that of an adult. It is faster, but energy costs in children are many times higher.
In addition to the formula for calculating Quetelet's body mass index, there are a number of formulas for calculating ideal weight in kilograms.
Borngart index, developed back in 1886: Height (in cm) * chest girth (cm) / 240.
For example, a girl is 165 cm, chest circumference is 90 cm. We get: 165 * 90/240 = 61.8 kilograms.
Breitman index: height (in cm) * 0.7 - 50 kg.
The calculation for the girl from our example is 165 * 0.7-50 = 65.5 kilograms.
Broca-Brukst index: height (in cm) - 100 - height in cm. When calculating using this formula, it is also necessary to measure the wrist and, if its girth is less than 15 centimeters, then subtract another 10% from the resulting weight. If the girth is 15-18 centimeters, we do not change the number, but if the wrist is more than 18 centimeters, then we add 10%.
For example, 165cm-100=65. If a girl has a thin wrist, less than 15 centimeters in girth, subtract another 10%. 65-10%=58.5 kilograms.
Noorden index: Height (in centimeters) *420/1000. For the girl in the example, 165*420-1000=68.3 kilograms.
Tatonya index: Height (in centimeters) - (100+(height in cm-100)/20). Calculation for example: 165-(100+(165-100)/20=61.75 kilograms.
There is also the Korovin index, which involves determining weight by the thickness of the skin fold at the level of the 3rd rib and at the level of the navel. At the level of the rib, the fold should normally be 1-1.5 cm, and at the level of the navel - from 1.5 to 2 centimeters.
Ideally, calculate your ideal weight for all and compare the results. The arithmetic average will be your optimal weight. Based on the obtained numbers, it remains to decide whether you should lose weight, maintain weight, or gain it.
Focus on body fat percentage
Fat percentage is considered a more modern and perfect indicator for answering the age-old question about losing weight. However, this could not be done without marketing, culture and non-health criteria.
Doctors believe that a girl with a body fat percentage of 25 to 30 is healthy and normal. In fashion magazines and Hollywood films, we see beauties with 18-25% body fat and this is considered normal. But in the fitness industry, having anything more than 18% in good physical shape is nonsense. On stage, bodybuilding athletes stand in condition from 9 to 16% fat mass, depending on the nomination. And it is precisely this low percentage that many girls perceive as the standard.
No one denies that a percentage of about 8-16 is not healthy and cannot be maintained for a long time. So if these are your aesthetic ideals, it's worth planning everything for yourself - from how long you'll hunt for the percentage you're looking for, how you'll witness it (on the competition stage or by arranging a photo shoot), and how you'll get back into healthier shape.
Why is low fat percentage dangerous? Various sources associate it with such problems as “deficiency” of sex hormones, amenorrhea, infertility, disorders of the nervous system, increased excitability, insomnia, and depression. They also say that if a low percentage of fat is natural for a person, he cannot be considered as an obligatory “victim” of these problems.
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How to measure body fat percentage
The easiest way is an online calculator to measure the percentage of body fat mass. You enter height, weight, gender, age and anthropometric parameters (volumes), the calculator calculates the approximate percentage of fat. Such measurements are quite accurate and will allow you to answer the question about weight loss unambiguously. Working with a calculator will be especially useful for those who are engaged in strength fitness and have visually “found” their result, but have read too much about ideal parameters, and now believe that they must achieve them at any cost.
You can check the results of the online calculator in other ways:
- calipometry. Find a specialist who will measure the thickness of the fat layer with a caliper (they are available in fitness centers) and calculate the necessary indicators using a table; this method is considered quite accurate, but it’s a good idea to make sure that the specialist is qualified;
- bioimpedance analysis. A hardware method with a fairly wide distribution allows you to get results almost instantly. Widely used in fitness centers and the beauty industry
In any case, the error of different methods can reach 10-12%, which is why people doubt it and use different visual indicators, like the well-known picture of what different percentages of fat look like.
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Online body fat calculator
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What could be the negative health consequences of sudden or excessive weight loss?
Before you decide to use certain methods for losing weight, you should think about the fact that most too strict restrictive diets, the constant use of diet pills that you don’t understand can lead to dangerous metabolic disorders in the body. In addition, such harsh procedures can significantly slow down all processes of restoration and healing of the body in a wide variety of diseases. Of course, cruel diets can also significantly reduce the overall performance of any person.
In addition, no less dangerous and negative consequences of improper weight loss, for example, after long-term adherence to a strict diet, after fasting or after taking certain pills, can be an increased tendency of a person to frequent and deep depression, severe nervousness and an extremely unstable pathological psychological state.
It is believed that excessive thinness can increase the risk of developing dangerous diseases such as tuberculosis and other diseases that affect the respiratory system. But in women, lack of weight can interfere with the full functioning of almost all reproductive organs, primarily the ovaries, which are designed to produce the most important sex hormones.
As a result, many may begin to complain about the almost complete absence or incredible scarcity of previously full menstrual flow. However, the most severe and dangerous consequence of improper excessive weight loss for relatively young women can be infertility or even such a condition as the habitual failure to carry a successfully developing pregnancy.
It is also important to understand that a deficiency of ordinary adipose tissue and some disturbances in the functioning of the ovaries may subsequently even lead to an excessively early onset of such a condition as menopause. And, unfortunately, insufficient human body weight in certain situations significantly increases the risk of death associated with the development of certain cardiovascular and oncological diseases.
The opposite problem, or obesity, in turn, has also turned into a truly “global epidemic” in the modern world, and this is especially true for most Western countries (who prefer to eat fast food). Unfortunately, obesity in advanced stages poses an incredibly serious threat to the health of society.
You can even list the diseases that obesity can lead to. This, and hypertension, and the same vascular atherosclerosis, this, and coronary heart disease, and the same diabetes mellitus. But in reality, we still listed only a small fraction of the real list of those diseases that can be unpleasant and dangerous consequences of excessive excess weight of the human body.
But in addition to real diseases, another unpleasant consequence of improper, too rapid and excessive weight loss can be considered unsightly sagging folds of the abdomen. Let’s try to figure it out further how to deal with this problem.
Weight loss in simple facts
Many people should not lose weight, not in principle, but right now. However, healthy weight loss of several kilograms requires time, a fairly measured schedule and the strength to make changes in your diet, life and physical activity. Doctors warn us that we should not start losing weight during periods of severe stress at work and in our personal lives.
Are we listening to doctors? Of course not. Most of us start thinking about losing weight precisely when something goes wrong in the “rest of our lives.” Here you can give only one piece of advice - first try to plan your day so that you “give” an hour to preparing healthy food and half an hour to exercise. And then you will find out for yourself whether it’s worth it or not to start losing weight.
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Psychological aspects
Many people suffer from complexes for years and cannot realize themselves as individuals. The point here is not in weight and body shape, but in the fact that no matter how they look, they will not feel happy and harmonious. If the cause of the problems is psychological, and you just desperately don’t like yourself, no matter what, even a little excess weight is not the very first problem. In such situations, the best choice is to seek psychological help before weight loss begins. Of course, if there are health markers and the doctor said that you need to lose weight, you will have to do it. But in this case, preliminary preparation will definitely not be superfluous, and you can approach the process correctly and with all responsibility.
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When you don't need to lose weight, but you don't like your appearance
Here you need to clearly differentiate for yourself whether this is healthy dissatisfaction leading to growth, or simple “self-digging” in order to refuse to solve pressing life problems. The latter can lead very far from the path of health and beauty. If a person is determined to disguise the solution to problems, he can set unattainable goals such as the same stage “dryness” at any cost and try to achieve them in almost 2 weeks, constantly failing, and acquiring even more problems than before the start of the whole event with losing weight.
If your appearance with a normal BMI is “not athletic and fit enough,” the solution is obvious. You need to do fitness without going into a calorie “deficit”, and without immediately trying to set great strength records. It’s just that six months in the gym with adequate nutrition is a better option than six months of trying to either lose weight or gain weight with diet fluctuations and corresponding “drops” in weight.
If you have a slightly higher than normal percentage of fat, it is also not recommended to immediately go into a calorie deficit and suddenly lose weight. There is always an option to increase physical activity. Supplementing it and strengthening muscles can create this same deficiency without diet, and make the whole event more psychologically comfortable.
Be that as it may, if you decide to lose weight, you should understand that this event is not for a day or two, but at least for 12-16 weeks. Doctors believe that losing weight by 400-500 g per week is safe. Such modest numbers will help you maintain muscle mass in a calorie deficit as much as possible. All this leads us not only to health, but also to the aesthetics of the body.
At the same time, it is not at all necessary that you lose weight on some ready-made diet from a guru or engage in certain physical exercises. At the end of the day, what matters most is the consistency of your calorie deficit and the ability to make healthy choices consistently rather than just on one specific day.
Negative health effects of losing weight
Strict diets and the use of diet pills lead to metabolic disorders, slow down the healing process for various diseases, and also reduce a person’s performance. No less negative consequences of losing weight after a strict diet or hunger are an increased tendency to depression, nervousness and an unstable psychological state.
Excessive thinness increases the risk of developing tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases. Lack of weight in women disrupts the functioning of the reproductive organs, in particular the ovaries, which produce sex hormones. Because of this, many complain about the complete absence or scarcity of menstrual flow. The most severe consequence of losing weight for young women is infertility or miscarriage. Deficiency of adipose tissue and disruption of ovarian function subsequently lead to the early onset of menopause. Low body weight also increases the risk of death due to cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Obesity, in turn, has become a “global epidemic” these days, especially in Western countries, and poses a serious threat to public health. Hypertension, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus are just a small part of the list of diseases that are consequences of excess body weight.
