Do you have a "magic number" in your mind? Your dream weight? Whether we admit it or not, most of us have a number either on our mind or in our subconscious that we consider to be our "right weight".
But how did you come up with that number? Is it what you weighed in your senior year of high school? Is it what your best friend weighs? Is it the weight you "guesstimate" when you fill out forms requiring your actual weight?
It's just not sensible to start a weight loss plan without first considering an important question: Is the weight I want to achieve actually realistic for my body?
Answering this question truthfully will go a long way in preventing frustration down the road.
The truth is, setting an ideal weight isn't exactly ideal. The number on the scale doesn't indicate anything about your fitness level or general health.
Instead of using your scale as your gauge, consider tracking body fat percentage, BMI, or waist circumference, in addition to health benefits, such as being able to go off your blood pressure medication.
While none of these alternative measurement methods are actually perfect, they can all provide you with insight into other important factors that are related to weight loss.
The bottom line is, assessing the way your weight is actually affecting your health or your lifespan by stepping on a scale is not as useful as many other methods, so why rely on it as your only guide?
The reason is, body fat indicates your disease risk, not your actual weight, which includes your bones, organs, etc. An ideal way to estimate your body fat is to use a formula called Body Mass Index, or BMI.
Even BMI does not take into account the location of your body fat, which can actually be the most important indicator or disease risk. Fat that is centralized around the abdomen is a serious threat because it actually encases your internal organs, upping your risks of deadly diseases.
For women, a waist measurement of 35 inches or more puts you at significant health risk, according to the Institutes of Health. For men, a waist over 40 inches is in the danger zone.
Your cholesterol, blood pressure, glucose levels, and other health-related tests are excellent indicators of your need to lose weight.
That said, your scale can continue to give you a good idea of if you're doing well or stalling, but it's always important to consider the big picture.
It is not one measurement method but all that give the full scope of your health as it relates to your weight. If one method doesn't look ideal, but the others are excellent, it's safe to assume you're on the right track.
Lastly, your physician is the best and ultimate judge as to whether or not your weight is affecting your health and disease risk.
Source:
National Institutes of Health.
NHLBI, Classification and Risks of Overweight and Obesity. 14 April 2007.
