About BMI

Calculate Your BMI

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Height ft. in.
Weight lbs.

What does it all mean?

BMI
Weight Status
Below 18.5
Underweight
18.5 - 24.9
Normal
25.0 - 29.9
Overweight
30.0 and Above
Obese
A BMI of less than 19 indicates you are underweight.
A BMI between 20 and 24 is usually considered normal.
A person with a BMI of 25 to 29 is considered overweight,
and a person with a BMI of 30 or above is considered obese.

Obesity is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases.

Weight loss diets

After many of us have determined to lose weight or get in shape - magazines, newspapers, television and radio bombard us with diet and weight-loss options. Diets are promoted through books and over the Internet.

Be skeptical. Some are more hype than substance. Some are downright dangerous.

Fad diets can usually be recognized by promises made by promoters. As you review the information about a particular diet plan or weight loss product, ask yourself, "Is it too good to be true?"

Unfortunately, many diets are empty promises. Beware of diet plans or weight loss products if:

  • Miraculous, fast results are promised.
  • No time or effort is said to be required
  • Claims are made that calories don't count.
  • Eating a variety of foods is not stressed.
  • Claims are made that diets either high or low in certain nutrients have special weight-reducing powers.
  • Certain foods have special powers to cause selective weight loss (for example, hips and thighs).

There is no dietary shortcut to weight control and long-term health. The magic pill, cream, skin patch, wrap or dietary supplement for weight loss does not exist. You have to be active enough to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound of body fat. Fast weight loss (more than one to two pounds per week) reflects water - not fat - loss. Your plan should be to eat well and enjoy some type of physical activity daily.

The USDA's "Dietary Guidelines for Americans," released in 2005, recommends consuming a variety of nutrient-rich foods and beverages from the basic foods groups and meeting calorie needs by balancing food intake with activity.

Fad diets that ignore the principles of the Dietary Guidelines - available at www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines - might result in short-term weight loss, but might do so at the risk of your health.

How you go about managing your weight has a lot to do with your long-term success. Gradual weight loss should be your goal, unless your physician says your health is seriously at risk due to complications from being overweight or obese.

Permanent, safe weight loss involves permanent lifestyle changes in which you consume fewer calories and become more active. It also is very important that before beginning any weight-loss program, you talk with your doctor.

 What is diet?
Diet is called specially selected by a quantity, the composition of energy value and the method of preparation food ration, and also the weight loss diet program. There are diets medical and weight loss diet. Medical diets a little, they are known for a long time, necessary, checked up, effective for treatment of some illnesses and rehabilitation. To weight reduction they attitudes have no.
Weight loss diets the huge quantity, and every day appear all new and new. Among them it is possible to allocate following versions -

Separate meal.
Supporters of the theory of separate meal consider what to eat all is possible and in any reasonable quantities, impossible to use products incompatible with each other simultaneously only. However the majority of doctors do not recommend a separate meal. In their opinion, application of this technique - artificial infringement of normal digestion.
Monodiets.
Provide the use only one foodstuff . They too rigid and dangerous to body. Besides if to enter application of a monodiet into system or to not adhere to the moderate use of food after its termination, the former weight will quickly be restored.
Albuminous diets
A maximum of fiber (meat and a fish), a minimum of all rest. As a rule, it is rather "rigid" diets.
Fatty diet.
To lose weight, it is necessary to use mainly fat food, mainly meat and bacon. Animal protein and fats are easily acquired and give a maximum of energy.
Vegetarian diet
A good, healthy diet, however difficult. But it in itself does not give strongly pronounced effect of weight loss.


The most known and popular diets:

South Beach diet, Atkins diet, Lemonade and Grapefruit diet
Apply diets correctly

 

  • Consult with the doctor-dietitian, it will help to pick up the most effective for you diet.
  • if suffer any chronic disease, necessarily consult with the doctor - some diets can be categorically counter-indicative to you.
  • Try to pick up a diet including food which you love
  • Be not overzealous. At all do not use a diet, longer and more often, than it is recommended. Do not reduce caloric content too (women should consume not less than 1000-1200 calories in day, men - 1700-2000).
  • If at application of any diet for loss of weight at you the state of health has noticeably worsened, have appeared (aggravation) of any diseases, immediately stop application of this diet.
  • To loss weight it is easier, than to keep the reached result. After end of a diet do not eat all successively, and smoothly, gradually pass to the normal balanced mode.
  • Finding an easy weight loss program should be at the top of the agenda for anyone that is overweight but there is no perfect system; despite some methods that are debatable however, a number of proven systems that help shed pounds healthily do exist. There is more harm caused to an overweight person than just pride as many serious medical conditions are as a result of obesity.

    The Internet has been one of the biggest forces in information about dieting but ultimately how successful you easy weight loss method is will be down to your commitment. Losing weight can be for health reasons, self image reasons or both but whatever the reason, you must be sure that you’re doing it for your benefit and not another person.

    There are a number of things to consider which will help make your weight loss program easier including; the time of day you eat, how often, what you in fact eat and of course what physical activity you carry out. Losing weight quickly like twenty five pounds a more can actually do more harm than good to your body as it suddenly has to adapt to a lower weight and it can also give unrealistic future expectations.

    To keep it simple, consider that a pound in weight is generally believed to be 3,500 calories and then it’s easy to break down into daily reductions of 500 calories, meaning you can lose a pound in weight each week. Most of us eat too much and definitely an excess of junk foods which we shouldn’t rely on the way we do although it is not a good idea cut out everything you enjoy.

    Emotions have a great deal to do with weight gain as many people (more likely women but not exclusively) eat more when they feel depressed, unwanted or unloved. The problem is that being overweight is the cause of many life threatening medical conditions including diabetes, heart problems, joint trouble and cancer. Many of the easy weight loss treatments neglect the psychological factor, hence, very few are truly effective, but you have to go beyond planning and find the real cause of a metabolic imbalance.

    All that said it has been shown that it is actually beneficial for the person using a weight loss program to be light-hearted about it as the mental attitude makes losing weight more likely. A positive attitude and open mind are very often the keys to improving life style and eliminating the bad habits. Together with the loss of extra pounds comes a boost in energy and vitality as well as a sense of well being that is directly related to an improving self-esteem.

    An effective and easy weight loss program will take many things into account but it will be different for every person but once the changes can be seen and felt by that person, it becomes easier to achieve.

    We love desert! We usually want some deserts at the end of our meals. However, you may also know that desert usually means sugar and fat. This will probably be bad for you, especially if you are on diet.

    Interestingly, if we have the chance to choose different foods, we will tend to have the fatty foods. This may be because we are just like other animals that we will need the fat to prepare for the cold winter. We will need a layer of fat so that we can keep ourselves warm in the winter.

    There are some cases that we eat just because we would like to have some joy. This is probably why we love desert. Because we want some joy at the end of our meals, we would like to have some deserts. You may think that it is not true. However, you can just ask yourself a simple question. Will you die out of starvation if you do not have the desert? If your answer is a YES then the above are totally wrong. However, you will know the correct answer.

    You may think that even if the above is true, it is still alright for you to have some desert since you will choose low fat desert. You will think that the low fat can pose fewer problems to your health or it will not do any harm to your weight loss plan. However, the truth is that you may try to eat twice as much of it. This will be a problem if you are on diet.

    In fat, you should try your best to avoid desert even if it is low fat desert. You really want some desert at the end of a meal, you should go for fresh fruits. Fresh fruits are always the best desert for you.

    You may think you will get bored if you take fruits as your desert. Yet there are various ways to treat fresh fruits. And this is just a matter of creativity. For example, you can bake an apple like a potato. Remember that you should avoid any sugar when you are baking the apple. The taste of it will be just wonderful!

    Remember, you should avoid desert even if it is low fat desert. They will just give you a fake impression that they are healthy food. However, the truth is that they are still sugar and fat!

    If you want to shed a few pounds (or even a few sizes), there has never been such a wide variety of proven and healthy weight loss plans to choose from. The key is to find the one that is just right for you. Here are a few questions to consider during your search.

    Ask yourself:

    1. How much time do you have to devote to your weight loss program? If family or work commitments keep you running even into the evenings, it may be difficult for you to commit to weekly weigh-ins and weight loss meetings. If that’s the case, you might want to look into a diet program that is administered primarily online. These programs often cater to people with busy lifestyles. You can track your progress and read emails and online newsletters on your own time. In many cases, you can also share successes with other program participants at your leisure in online forums.

    2. How much money do you want to spend? Online programs are often less expensive than weight loss programs that require physical meeting space. Another tip: If you are pinching pennies, your best bet will be to look into those programs that allow you to create your own meals, rather than purchasing pre-packaged meals. You may even find that you save money when you begin your diet because you’ll be spending less money on groceries, though you will likely be spending more on fresh fruits and vegetables.

    3. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much willpower do you have? An online weight loss program is likely going to take more self-discipline than another type of program. If you need the extra boost, you may enjoy the accountability that comes with reporting to meetings and talking with the mentors who lead these meetings.

    4. How do you feel about the idea of a weekly weigh-in? If shyness or embarrassment about your current weight will stop you from wanting to participate in meetings, you may be nervous before attending those local weight loss meetings. A little of this may actually be constructive, as it can help you stay on track with your diet. And the mentors at the weight loss meetings are often very skilled and experienced at handling these types of issues. You will likely find an atmosphere that is welcoming and put in place to help you, not to embarrass you. Still, if you have serious misgivings about going to such meetings, you might want to get started with your weight loss efforts online at first. You can always switch to a local weight loss program as you progress toward your goal.

    5. Do you have any friends who would like to participate in your weight loss efforts with you? A diet buddy can help a lot with your long term weight loss efforts (adding both accountability and a shoulder to lean on) so put your heads together and see what kind of diet program would best suit the both of you.

    The first thing to consider in any weight loss program that you choose is whether the program is safe and allows you to lose weight in a healthy way. Make sure that you are eating a healthy, balanced diet and that you drink plenty of water. Any weight loss plan that you choose should also reward safe exercise along with eating right.

    Reaching your weight loss goal is an amazing feeling. Choose a weight loss program that will allow you to enjoy the journey as much as possible.

    Losing weight is one of the most difficult (and one of the most rewarding) adventures you can embark on. Here are some tips that have helped me.

    1. Talk to a doctor. It seems every diet gives this advice at the beginning. This time, instead of thinking of this advice as a mere disclaimer, see your doctor and find out what her thoughts are regarding your weight loss. Do you really need to lose weight? If so, how much? What would be the health benefits of doing so? Your doctor may be able to provide valuable advice and tips on following a weight loss program that are specific to your needs and lifestyle. Plus, there is a measure of accountability there as well. You’ll want to have progressed in your goals before your next appointment.

    2. Think yourself thin. One of the most helpful things for me when I was losing weight was to imagine the way my body would look when I had reached my goal weight. I looked at a model in a catalog that looked the way I wanted to and I imagined that this was my body. When the going got tough, it really helped me to come back to that image. Make a collage of images and quotes that will prove inspirational to you on your weight loss journey.

    3. Get past the notion that food that is healthy tastes bad. Admittedly, I’m not a big proponent of rice cakes or diet soda. Instead, eat delicious, healthy and real foods in moderate amounts. Fresh fruits and vegetables, grilled lean meats, and lean dairy products are delicious. If you get a craving for a cookie, eat one. (Just one.) And then distract yourself by doing something else. Make a phone call, walk around the block, sip some water with fresh lemon wedges, or read a chapter of an absorbing novel.

    4. Get past the notion that exercise is a drag. Find something you love to do. If you look hard enough, you will find an exercise that you can look forward to. Think this out and try to match your personality with your exercise. If you love to savor the mind-body-connection, take a brisk walk in the great outdoors and follow it up with 30 minutes of yoga. If you crave competition, meet a friend for a game of basketball after work.

    5. Get inspired with fitness magazines, as well as magazines that help you make low fat substitutions in your cooking. Cooking Light magazine, for example, has some great suggestions for spicing up low fat dishes with fresh, zesty herbs. Before long, you will learn how to naturally make healthy changes to your family’s favorite recipes.

    6. Keep a Weight Loss Journal, in which you applaud your successes. Give yourself kudos for all the steps on your journey, to drinking your daily allotment of fresh water to getting out and moving each day to eating healthy foods.

    By using the power of your mind, body and spirit – and continually patting yourself on the back, you’ll meet your weight loss goals and be able to maintain your new, healthy weight.