Each year, my colleagues and I get a health and wellness check at work, so that every team member has an idea how well they’re doing health-wise. I find it a little hilarious how guys get depressed after being told that they’re overweight or worse still…obese, based on their BMI calculations.
I remember one year, after working so hard to lose 15 kgs, I was told that I was obese!!!
This news really got me down, because I had worked so hard to shift the weight. I had to quickly run to the toilet to cry.
I felt so demotivated 
Much later, when my emotions were in check, I decided to look up this animal called BMI.
What is it and why is it so important in weight loss and health checks?
BMI essentially stands for Body Mass Index. BMI (body mass index), and it’s a measure calculated using the height and weight of a person.
In my research, I found out a few surprising things about BMI as a measure of how healthy you are.
Take a look at the 3 things your BMI DOES NOT reveal about your health.
1. BMI is an inaccurate measure of body fat content.
It doesn’t give you a good estimate of how much body fat you’re carrying around. Just because you have a high BMI doesn’t necessarily mean you’re overweight. You can have a high BMI even if you have very little body fat, especially if you’re male and very muscular.
2. BMI can differ based on your gender.
For example, a man and a woman with identical body-fat percentage could have widely different BMIs. This is because your BMI doesn’t take into account –
– muscle mass,
– bone density,
– overall body composition, or
– racial differences.
3. It doesn’t take into account your waist circumference, which is an indicator of your risk of developing lifestyle diseases.
One of the best ways to gauge how healthy you are is to measure the circumference of your waist. Research has shown that there’s a correlation between your waist measurement and your risk of lifestyle diseases, like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
When you have a large waist (more than 34.5″ for women and more than 40″ for men), you have a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes
.
Dare I ask, what is your waist measurement or do I just go ahead and mind my own business…
Precious Wellness 