How to (and Should You) Use BMI to Determine Obesity

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BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It is a commonly used method of determining whether an individual is underweight, normal, overweight, obese, or extremely obese. It is nothing more than a special number that is calculated based on your height and weight (and nothing else), which you then look up on a chart. Your doctor may refer to it if you discuss your weight with him/her. It is almost certain that your health insurance company uses it. Even the Wii Fit uses it. This article discusses the steps to calculating your BMI, we well as more practical and accurate steps to take to determine if you are overweight or obese.

For those of you who like math, you can compute your BMI by taking your weight(in pounds), and dividing it by the square of your height (in inches). Then take that quotient, multiply it by 703, and note the result. That's your BMI score. Alternatively, you can use a chart like the one pictured above to determine this number.

Some charts are color-coded to immediately show you the category of your weight (overweight, obese, etc). If your chart does not show this then it will likely have the following legend that you can refer to for your BMI score: Underweight (Under 18.5), Normal (18.5-24.99), Overweight (25-29.99), Obese (30 -40), Extremely Obese (40 and higher).

That's it. You now have your BMI score, and what is supposedly means. It is worth noting several things, in an attempt to answer the "and should you" portion of this article's title. First of all, the BMI score is based on nothing other than height and weight. It doesn't take anything else into account, such as age, gender, body frame, body fat percentage, or muscular development. Many gold-medal-winning Olympic athletes are considered obese according to their BMI.

As a more practical step, if you want to categorize your weight, simply take off all your clothes, and look in a full length mirror. Turn all around, look at yourself from any and all angles, and make an assessment. You don't need any charts for this. Unless you are totally delusional, and are totally fooling yourself, you will simply be able to see what the situation is. If you are a professional athlete who is slim and muscular, you will see that. If you have a big beer belly, you will see that as well. If you are underweight, you will see that. Just look, and make a plan of action as need be, working closely with your doctor. Just be honest with yourself. If you see a big belly in the mirror, just accept that it isn't healthy, but you can do something about it, unlike people who have incurable medical conditions.

As the final step, if you are overweight or obese, and feel the need to assign a concrete number to your condition, the best thing to do is have your body fat percentage calculated. You can get a rough idea of this by using a simple, low-cost device that sends a mild current through your body which you do not feel at all. You need to follow the instructions carefully, and use it under appropriate conditions to not get a false reading. It is still not totally accurate. You can have your percentage calculated more accurately by having a professional use skinfold calipers to measure it. Finally, you can have your percentage calculated by doing hydrostatic weighing. This requires a facility that has a special weight tank that you must immerse yourself in.

Keep in mind that if you are overweight, you will know if you are losing weight based on looking in the mirror, and of course by using a simple scale. You will also know it by the way that your clothes feel, or by how many notches on your belt you are using. We do not need to be so dependent upon special methods, especially oversimplified and generic charts, to tell us such obvious things about our health.

Fast Food & Junk Food Effects

People are getting busier no matter how old you are and who you are. You can even see a 5 years old kid will have a schedule for tuition's, leaning music instruments, swimming classes in some countries, while some adults will be drowning in their jobs to make ends meet. Connected to this matter, fast food restaurants will be exactly blissful in doing their business. People tend to settle their meals by consuming fast food to save time. Let's us see some points that might make you draw back from fast food and junk food.
The first issue that we definitely cannot put it aside is obesity. A burger in fast food restaurant basically contains more than 1000Kj of calories, while that's exceeding half of our body needs for a day! I won't believe that you will just have a burger in you right hand without a cup of vanilla coke in your left hand. Where do you think these extra calories will go inside your body? They will change to become fats in your abdomen and that's what you usually can see down the street there are uncountable fast food lovers with a fat-bellied. Well, you might love that if it's not on your body.
Obesity not only makes you dare not to stand in front of a mirror, it's not just simply an eyesore to the public as well. In fact, obesity is the major cause for some chronic diseases such as high cholesterol, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and many other types of cancers. This explains why the age group of people in getting chronic diseases is showing wider range nowadays. Who wants to go on long term medications and run in and out to the hospital forever? In this case, you always have the choice to choose the way you want.
Not to mention that our brain is the organ in affecting how we think and move. Fast food and junk food are very low in nutrients; instead they are full with colorings, flavors and preservatives. You won't want to know how the unhealthy ingredients could lead to some severe mental disorders. Researches have shown that junk food might cause dyslexia, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and worse is autism. An individual's mood and attention are highly influenced by the food taken, which means it will affect your concentration in school. For the parents out there, you won't want your children to be called as stupid in school, don't you?
Does that mean you can't have fast food and junk food at all? It is not necessary so. You just need to reduce the amount and frequency of having them in your diet. To begin with, you could bring your home-cooked food to your school or workplace. Of course, bacon, sausages and canned foods should not be your choices. Try some fresh foods and vegetables. You still can have your favorite fast food not too often; with the condition you drink a lot of water and exercise regularly.

Lower Your Cholesterol Level - The Difference Between Good Cholesterol and Bad Cholesterol

We all nowadays know the importance of trying to reduce cholesterol and many of us actively take steps to achieve a lower cholesterol level in our blood. I am frequently asked the question: "what is the difference between good cholesterol and bad cholesterol?"
So what is HDL cholesterol? (the good cholesterol) and what is ldl cholesterol? (the bad cholesterol). Read on and find out. Cholesterol circulates in our blood attached to a protein called a lipoprotein. There are two basic types of lipoprotein. High density lipoprotein (HDL) or low density lipoprotein (LDL). HDL is usually labeled as "good cholesterol" because the molecule is mostly protein and does not carry a high quantity of free fat along with it.
LDL on the other hand is a molecule that only has a small amount of protein and for the most part is made of of freely available and very easily dissolved cholesterol fat. LDL is often referred to as "bad cholesterol."
If you have a lot of good cholesterol or HDL in your system then your heart will be quite well protected from the effects of fat. If you have a lot of LDL - or bad cholesterol - then you will be at greater risk of heart attack or stroke. This information has now been shown to be correct in countless medical studies throughout the world.
If you are having a cholesterol check or cholesterol blood test then your doctor will look at your blood test result and check the level of the Total Cholesterol count. He or she will then examine the count for the level of the good cholesterol or HDL. The ratio of the total cholesterol divided by the HDL level is thought to be a reflection of the "true cholesterol level" in your blood and as such is a good predictor of future heart attack or stroke problems.
For example - a total cholesterol count of 6.0 and an HDL count of 1.5 will give a ratio of 4.0. This is a healthy level and will usually indicate good cardiovascular health. A total count of 6.0 and an HDL count of 0.5 will give a ratio of 12.0: very bad news indeed from the point of view of stroke and heart attack risk.
(Note - these are UK values for typical results - US values will be different but the ratios will be the same: the UK and the US use different units to measure cholesterol levels.)
If you have a high cholesterol then get focused and take steps to change your lifestyle now. If you don't know what your cholesterol level is then make plans to speak to your doctor about whether you need it checked or not.

5 Cardio Workouts to Burn Fat

Everything you know about cardio is about to change. You're about to discover the truth about 5 cardio workouts to burn fat and lose more belly fat in less workout time. Let's start by looking at the old, outdated way of burning fat.
Cardio Workout #1 to burn fat: Slow cardio
The first cardio workout to burn fat is "Old School Cardio". For years, we've been fooled into thinking that we need long, slow, boring cardio workouts to burn fat. However, too many men and women slave away on the cardio machines for 40, 60 and even 90 minutes per workout without burning fat. How is this possible?
To be honest, I don't know exactly why it doesn't work, but two recent research studies found that women doing 40-60 minutes of low intensity cardio, 3-5 days per week, did not lose belly fat after at least 12 weeks of cardio. Based on those results, slow cardio is not one of the best cardio workouts to burn fat.
In fact, in one of those studies, researchers tested high-intensity cardio, and found that high-intensity cardio was able to burn fat.
Cardio Workout #2 to burn fat: High-intensity cardio
The only problem is that high-intensity cardio requires you to work as hard as you can until you burn at least 400 calories in a workout. That will take you at least 40 minutes - so while this is one of the better cardio workouts to burn fat, it's still not the best.
A better approach is to use interval training. This is the third cardio workout to burn fat.
Cardio Workout #3 to burn fat: Interval training cardio
In a study from Australia that compared 2 cardio workouts to burn fat, subjects doing 3 interval training workouts per week lost a significant amount of belly fat while another group doing 40 minutes of slow cardio per week did not burn belly fat.
So interval training is a much better workout choice for fat loss. To do interval training, you do a normal warm-up, and then you alternate between hard exercise and easy exercise, then you follow with a cool down. This routine only takes twenty minutes.
Here's a sample of the interval cardio workouts to burn fat. Do a 5 minute warm-up, and then exercise for 1 minute at a pace that is 10-20% harder than your normal cardio intensity. After that 1 minute, decrease your exercise pace all the way down to cool-down level. Repeat that hard-easy cycle 5 more times. Finish with 3 minutes of cool-down.
Cardio Workout #4 to burn fat: Tabata Interval cardio
Since interval training became popular, personal trainers have been looking for other short cardio workouts to burn fat. A study from Japan used something that is known as the "Tabata Protocol", and many trainers believe this is even better than cardio and regular intervals. The fourth cardio workout to burn fat is the Tabata Interval program.
I'm not convinced it is better than regular intervals, but it is a heck of a hard way to do a fat burning workout. After a warm-up, you 20 seconds of hard work followed by 10 seconds of recovery. Repeat that 8 times. This fat burning workout takes only 4 minutes!
Cardio Workout #5 to burn fat: Bodyweight circuit cardio
Finally, the fifth cardio workout for fat burning is bodyweight circuit training. Like intervals and the Tabata workouts, bodyweight circuit training is not really "cardio", however, these are the three better cardio workouts to burn fat.
Whatever you want to call bodyweight cardio, here's how it works.
First, you start with a quick, easy bodyweight exercise, such as Jumping Jacks.
After that, alternate between 3 lower-body and 3 upper-body bodyweight exercises, using squats, pushups, lunges, pulling exercises like rows or chinups, split squats, and total body ab exercises like mountain climbers.
Finally, finish off the 8 exercise circuit with a tough total body exercise like jumps, burpees, or running in place. Now that's fat burning cardio!
Those are 5 cardio workouts to burn fat. Only two are "traditional", but those 2 are the longest, and least effective. The shorter fat burning cardio workouts are the best way to burn belly fat fast.

Obesity in America -- The Growing Epidemic!

Obesity is a disease that affects approximately 60 million people in the United States, where women are especially affected. Over one-third of women between the ages of 20 and 74 are obese, the majority of them being African American or Mexican American. With more and more pre-packaged food and less and less activity, the number of obese people in America has steadily increased since the 1960’s.

But what is obesity? Many people think obesity means that a person is overweight, but that’s not exactly true. An overweight person has a surplus amount of weight that includes muscle, bone, fat, and water. An obese person has a surplus of body fat. Most health professionals concur that a man is obese if he has over 25 percent body fat, and a woman is obese if she has over 30 percent. Women physiologically have more body fat than men, so that why there’s a difference in percentage.

It is difficult to determine the exact percentage of body fat a person has, but estimates can be made in a number of ways. First, using a tweezer-like tool called a caliper, you can measure the thickness of skin folds on different points of your body and compare the results with standardized numbers. You can also use a small device that sends a harmless electrical current through your body and measures your body fat percentage. The most commonly used method to determine if a person is obese is to look at his/her Body Mass Index (BMI). A person with a BMI over 30 is considered to be obese, and a BMI over 40 is considered to be severely obese. It’s important to remember though that BMI could be misleading in pregnant or lactating women and in muscular individuals. There are some free tools to find your body fat percentage at http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/body-fat-calculator.html.

With obesity, comes the increased risk of diseases such as high blood pressure, Type II Diabetes, heart disease, and breast, colon, and prostate cancer. In addition, obesity has been linked to mental health conditions such as depression or feelings of shame and low self-esteem. Health experts say that even losing 10 to 15 percent of your body weight can dramatically decrease the risk of developing these serious conditions. In addition, many obese people are discriminated against and targets of insults and other verbal abuse. Find out if you are at risk for health disease using the health calculators at http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/high-blood-pressure.html.

A number of factors, such as poor diet, lack of physical activity, genetics, and certain medical disorders, cause obesity, but it can be conquered. One major obstacle to being more physically active is motivation and accountability. Find a friend with similar fitness goals and begin a simple exercise program together. It takes time to see the results, but your health is worth it!

Nutrition, Evolution, and Having a Healthy Diet By Judith Schwader

Nutrition has everything to do with health. This isn’t news, exactly, but looking around at the crazy information on the market, one wonders if anyone actually makes the connection: what you eat affects how you feel. It’s that simple. Your health depends on the food choices you make in both the short and long term.

Take a pill, and all you’ve done is treat a symptom. Change your eating habits, and create a lasting change in your well-being. There are so many approaches to eating, however, and so much conflicting information that it’s come down to this simple question: does whatever you’re eating right now make sense?

Well, sense isn’t common, and it does depend on some good information. So here is something to consider: what kind of foods are humans evolved to eat? Cheetos? Don’t think so. That’s a no-brainer, but what about some others that we counted as healthy staples until recently, like bread and pasta. Go way back in your imagination, to hunter gatherer days – before agriculture and the obesity which followed for the first time among humans – and consider what would be part of our ancestors’ normal diet. If you’re about to pop something into your mouth that wasn’t around before agriculture, (a relatively recent development in human history), then eat it knowing it’s not considered a ‘normal’ food by your body. Foods your body considers ‘normal’ contribute to your health, other foods are either neutral or harmful. How simple is that?

A well-known exploration of this concept that certain foods help our bodies thrive is Dr. Peter D’Adamo’s book, “Eat Right 4 Your Type,” in which he bases his lists of what to eat and avoid on blood type. D’Adamo asserts that type O is the oldest type, and the newer A type didn’t show up on the scene until agriculture. So, Os should eat lots of meat and veg because that blood type doesn’t know how to handle too much grain. Type As can eat grain, but not dairy. Dairy is a category reserved as a ‘normal’ food only for the yet more recent human blood type, AB. (Maybe we’ll evolve a new type that can handle Cheetos and red licorice, my personal favorite abnormal foods).

D’Adamo supports his blood-type theory with all kinds of careful research, and so what? Does it make sense that humans should rely primarily on foods that occur naturally? Absolutely. If you’re going to eat a grain like wheat then, eat it whole, or don’t eat it at all, and don’t eat much of it anyway because humans pretty much made wheat up! I’m not going to take the, “Does it occur naturally?” debate too far, because it’s time to look at another researcher’s take on the food and evolution connection.

Dr. Phillip Lipetz wrote “The Good Calorie Diet,” a book for the weight loss market, but he also has supported his theories with all kinds of careful research. His describes how the human response to starvation that was developed during the ice age carries on today. Ironic, isn’t it, that the food available to us today - rich and sweet and abundant - causes our bodies to behave as though starvation is at hand.

The short story for how this works is that up until the ice age, humans ate whatever was readily available, like roots, plants, fruit, and a little tasty carrion now and then. Along came the ice ages, and those foods became scarce. Now humans were forced to hunt, but it was dicey and the weapons were primitive, so spans of time occured between kills. The result: our ancestors evolved ways to make the most of the conversion of excess blood sugar into stored nutrition in the form of body fat. When they starved, they lived off stored fat.

Today’s diet mimics the ice age diet: high fat and high protein, and our genetic programming says, “Uh oh, we’re facing starvation again. Better store up some fat.” Lipetz goes into convincing detail about food combinations in his book. He describes some that cause the creation of excess fat, such as butter on bread. More useful are his combination's that actually inhibit fat formation, like lean meat with most vegetables. In a society where obesity and its attendant health issues are rampant, these food combination's are helpful places to focus our attention. Yet the single most useful bit to remember from his research is that foods which cause our bodies to create excess fat all have one thing in common: they weren’t part of our ancestors’ normal diet.

Armed with this overview, next time you’re about to pop something in your mouth - whether your focus is health or weight – you don’t need to have a bunch of rules and whacky information in mind. Just use common sense. Ask whether it’s a food that was around before the advent of agriculture. If it was, go for it. If it wasn’t, then consider that your body won’t consider the food ‘normal,’ and in both the long and short run, that’s got health consequences.