How
to Determine Your Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy body weight does not
mean you have to be thin. The Orangeburg, South Carolina Times & Democrat
sums it up nicely: "A healthy weight is based on your weight compared to
your height, how much muscle you have, and any health problems for which you
may be at risk."
The best way to figure out your healthy
weight is with the Body Mass Index, a simple and fast computation based on your
weight and your height to measure total body fat. It's calculated by
multiplying your weight in pounds by 705 and then dividing by your height in
inches twice.
Or figure out your BMI the easy way and just click here.
Plug in your weight and height and click
to calculate your BMI.
If your BMI is...
"Our
culture creates the impression that everybody needs to be at a weight that
makes us look like models and famous people on television and in
magazines," exercise physiologist Tabitha Quick told Times & Democrat
reporter Sonja Gleaton. "There are a number of factors that we can't
control. Our weight is influenced by genetics, body size, age, physical
activity, metabolism, and diet history. Two people can live similar lifestyles
and have very different weights. While it seems unfair, it is reality."
As a nation, we're fat. And getting fatter.
Unfortunately, there is no quick weight-loss program that works for the long
haul. Losing weight safely is a slow and steady process of about 1/2 pound to 2
pounds a week. The best way to do it is to just eat between 300 and 500 fewer
calories every day.
But consider this: If you lose just 5 percent of
your body weight, amazing things happen. First, you'll notice that your clothes fit better. The waistline
won't be as tight. Shirts won't be as snug. But more important, shedding only 5
percent of your body weight will greatly reduce your risk of heart disease,
high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, several types of cancer, asthma, and
more, reports Cox News Service. Your "bad" cholesterol will drop.
Your "good" cholesterol will increase. Best of all, you will lengthen
your life expectancy. A little effort. Huge results.
Here's a visual aid that might help: "Pick up
five pounds of butter and look at the volume," Dr. George Blackburn,
associate director of nutrition at Harvard Medical School, told Cox News.
"Look at the volume and see how much volume can come off with just five
pounds. Easy does it, like the tortoise. That's the healthy way. It's not what
you do for eight days, it's what you do for eight years."
Eat This and You Won't Gain Weight
Before
you reach for the nearest doughnut, realize that the carbs that do a body good
aren't from french fries and white bread that contain lots of sugar. (Drat!)
They are complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
In
the Northwestern study, more than 4,000 people from the United States, Great
Britain, Japan, and China wrote in a food diary everything they had eaten
during two 24-hour periods. "Lo and behold, what we did find is that
without exception, a high complex-carbohydrate, high-fiber, high vegetable-protein
diet was associated with low body mass index Van Horn explained. A low body
mass index or BMI is a standard measure of healthy weight. But also notable is
this finding: The more animal protein that was consumed, the higher the
person's weight.
Women who eat whole grains and shun
highly-processed refined grains gain less weight as they age, according to a
12-year Harvard University study of 74,000 middle-aged women who were between
the ages of 38 and 63 when the research began, reports Reuters.
Those with the highest fiber intake, especially from such foods as oatmeal and
whole-grain breakfast cereals, were half as likely as those with the lowest
intake to become obese over the 12-year study period. But the women whose diets
were heavily laden with refined grains, such as pasta and white bread, gained
more weight over time. The results included the effects of alcohol intake and
exercise.
The big takeaway from this study is that not all carbohydrates are alike, study
leader Simin Liu explained to Reuters. Carbs containing whole grains are much
more filling than highly-processed carbohydrate products, so people who choose
brown rice over white rice or oatmeal over a doughnut are more likely to eat
less--and gain less weight in the process. In addition, whole grains create a
slow, sustained release of sugar into the blood, unlike starchy grains that
trigger a rapid increase in blood sugar. This slower release is thought to be
beneficial for metabolism and fat storage.
Liu explained to Reuters that whole grains contain enzyme inhibitors that may
get in the way of metabolic efficiency. That means the body is forced to burn
extra calories just to digest and absorb whole-grain foods.
Here's the tough part: Most of the grain products Americans eat are
highly processed, low in fiber, and packed with calories. That means we have to
learn how to distinguish fiber-containing whole grains from refined ones.
The study findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition.
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