Kat & Tshepi

Hi there,

Welcome back to the blog. Have you ever wondered what is your ideal weight? Maybe the weight that you need to work towards to consider yourself healthy? This is a question that eventually pops up when you are deciding to lose weight, for whatever reason. We think there are three types of ideal weights (this is our opinion 🙂 ):

1.The weight that you think you should be at- What you have in mind.

2.The weight that is implicitly proposed by the social norms and your context- What you see around you.

3.The weight according to health exhortations – What science is saying.

All these options have good intentions and can be used to form an image of your healthier version. This week we would like to focus on what science is saying about our ideal weight by exploring the tool BMI (Body Mass Index). This a tool that we have used on our weight loss journey to gage our health progress and to give us a good idea of our target weight loss goal. BMI is a formula that is used to measure your health in relation to your height and weight. It basically says based on your current weight and height, you are considered underweight, normal, overweight or obese, and it also says if you would like to know your ideal and healthy weight, here it is.

BMI, called a weight-to-height ratio was conceived by a Belgian mathematician named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet in the 1930’s. The intention of BMI is to estimate whether a person is at a healthy weight for their height, this is achieved by dividing their weight in kilograms (kg) by their height in meters squared (BMI = kg/m²) or alternatively using the imperial system by dividing their weight in pounds (lb) by their height(In) and multiplying by a factor of 703 (weight (lb) / [height (in)]² x 703). Then the calculated results can be used to compare with the categories classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) below.

BMI	Category
Below 18.5	Underweight
18.5–24.9	Normal weight
25.0–29.9	Pre-obesity (Overweight)
30.0–34.9	Obesity class I
35.0–39.9	Obesity class II
Above 40	Obesity class III

Using the metric system, let us take an example of a person weighing 70kg with a height of 1.70m.

1. Firstly we multiply their height by height : 1.7m x 1.7m = 2.89m

2. Secondly we divide their weight by the above height calculated results: 70kg/2.89m = 24.22

3.Thirdly we compare the results to the BMI categories calculation, this will put the person with a BMI of 24.22 in the normal weight class.

You can also use one of the many free online BMI calculators to check your BMI category, try this one (BMI CALCULATOR). We have used BMI as one of the tools to help us with our weight loss, knowing where you want to go is the first step of every journey and this is where BMI will come in handy. It will help you with clarity on your vision so that you don’t become unrealistic on your weight loss goal (we tend to set too high expectations and over appraise our abilities most times 😦 ). BMI results can be quite disheartening though, in most cases the results are not as we expect. It is worth noting that BMI does not distinguish muscle mass from fat mass and does not include visceral fat, so BMI assessment might not be 100% accurate. It is therefore useful to use BMI as guiding and reference tool rather than a cast-in-stone assessment.

If you are struggling with determining your weight loss target, BMI will give you a good sense of what your targeted weight loss should be from a medical science point of view. Using BMI results as a reference point you are then able set your desired weight goal using your own discernment and common sense. Tools are meant to help and support us and not control us, this also goes to the use of BMI, it should not be used to put judgements on your own or others weight and health status but rather as a supporting tool that helps with direction on your weight loss journey. BMI, one more usable artillery for your weight loss warfare.

That’s it for this week, until next week, stay blessed.

Kat & Tshepi