FitSugar

Measure Up: BMI vs. Body Fat Percentage

FitSugar — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:50:59 -0700

BMI and body fat percentage are weight-loss terms thrown around with little explanation, so if you're confused about what they mean or which you should pay more attention to, you're not alone. Here's a brief primer to help.

BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It's a simple measure of the weight of a person scaled according to their height. You can use Fit's Calculator to determine your BMI, or follow these steps:

Multiply your weight in pounds by 703.
Divide that answer by your height in inches.
Divide that answer by your height in inches again.

A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

Body fat percentage is the weight of a person's fat divided by the person's weight. It lets you see how much of your body is made up of fat, and how much is bone, muscle, blood, and organs. There are several ways to calculate your percentage. Your skin folds can be gently pinched with calipers, some high-tech scales can measure body fat, and there's also underwater weighing. Many people get their body fat percentage measured if they are into sports or trying to measure their progress while losing weight. Fit women should have 21 to 24 percent body fat. Female athletes have between 14 and 20 percent.

To find out which one you should be concerned with read more.

Body fat percentage is a much more accurate measurement in determining if you are healthy. BMI doesn't take into consideration how much of your weight is muscle and bone and how much of it is fat. So that means a person can have a healthy BMI, but still carry weight in their belly, which can increase their risk for heart disease. So if you're trying to lose weight, or just wondering if your current weight is healthy, it's worth seeing someone to have your body fat percentage measured.

Celebrity BMIs Suggest the Numbers Can Be Misleading

FitSugar — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:00:35 -0800

When you're striving to achieve a healthy weight, it's natural to look for guidance about what exactly that means for your body. While the jeans test is telling in terms of your body's changes, your pants can't tell you how many pounds you might need to lose or gain to get to your best weight.

For years, we turned to the body mass index (BMI) formula for a clue about where we fall on the health curve, but the calculation doesn't differentiate between the weight of muscle from fat and therefore isn't as trusted as it used to be.

Health.com recruited its top two nutrition experts to calculate the BMIs of seven celebrities by analyzing their photos. The experts were told each celebrity's height measurements but used weight estimates, so their calculations aren't 100 percent accurate. Still, the results offer some surprising insight about the accuracy of BMIs. To see their approximate BMI calculations for celebs and athletes like Beyonce and Tony Romo, read more.

Celebrity	Height	Estimated Weight (lbs)	Estimated BMI	BMI Verdict
Angelina Jolie	5'8''	118	17.9	Underweight
Arnold Schwarzenegger	6'2''	240	30.8	Obese
Beyonce	5'6''	130	21	Normal
Tom Cruise	5'7''	166	26	Overweight
Tony Romo	6'2''	224	28.8	Significantly overweight
Serena Williams	5'9''	150	22.1	Normal
Jennifer Love Hewitt	5'2''	120	21.9	Normal

Source

Breastfeeding Is Good for Your Baby's Future

FitSugar — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:30:00 -0800

When I was born, breastfeeding wasn't so common. Many new moms weren't encouraged to do so, and they often felt more than a little shy about the practice (even in this day and age many people get offended when they see a mom breastfeeding in public). Too bad that back then they didn't know the health benefits of breastfeeding.

Not only does breast milk offer excellent nutrition and help protect babies from infections, but a new study shows that babies who were nursed as infants have a lower body-mass index (BMI) and a higher level of HDL cholesterol (the good kind).

What's so great about that? Lower BMI and high HDL help to protect against cardiovascular disease. This study discovered that those who were breastfed as infants were 55 percent more likely to have high levels of HDL cholesterol than those who were bottle-fed.

Also, adults in the study who were breastfed had an average BMI of 26.1. Those who were bottle-fed had an average BMI of 26.9. If your BMI is higher than 25, you are considered overweight and at risk for heart problems. Although there wasn't a huge difference in the BMI numbers, even a slight reduction in BMI can greatly reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease.

Well now I'm even happier that I chose to breastfeed my girls.

Source

Yogurt, Good for Your Tummy and Your BMI

FitSugar — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:30:00 -0700

I love yogurt. I am not lying when I say I eat it every single day. Mainly I eat yogurt because of the intestinal benefits and feel good ingredients, but now there is yet another reason to stock up on the stuff.

New research has found that women who ate three or more servings of yogurt over a two week period on average had a 15% lower body mass index (BMI) than women who didn't consume any yogurt.

Three servings of yogurt over 14 days? That's nothing. If this sounds good to you then try to incorporate yogurt into your diet.

Source

BMI Has Gone Awry

FitSugar — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:30:00 -0700

There are many ways to quantify a body. We weigh them. We measure their height and circumference. We determine the body fat composition. We use the Body Mass Index, aka BMI and this generic formula has been catching some flack lately.

This measurement is an unfortunately simplistic approach to measuring health. BMI is a mathematical formula that scales a person's weight to their height. The index also includes a range for optimal weights. The numbers below this range are considered underweight and the figures above the optimal range are considered overweight and obese. You might type in your stats, learn your BMI, and be appalled at your number.

If this has happened to you, you are not alone. Jezebel feels the same way and found a photo collection of women to help us all understand visually why BMI has gone awry. Kate Harding has put together a photo collection of women (you need to check it out!). Their stats are listed: weight, height and BMI. You will be surprised by the women that are considered overweight and obese. So take heart if you feel at odds with your BMI, there are other women out there who look like you and me!

Just 4 Things 4 Your Health

FitSugar — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:45:00 -0700

There are 4 simple things that have been proven to significantly reduce your risk of developing heart disease.

They are:

Eating at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day
Exercising at least 30 minutes every day
Maintaining a healthy weight (BMI between 18.5 and 24.9)
Not smoking

These four things are basic components of having a healthy lifestyle and are easy to do. In fact, starting these habits at any time can help improve your overall health. To hear more on this topic I highly recommend you listen to the Fitness Rocks podcast of an interview between Dr. Monte, the host of Fitness Rocks and Dr. Dana King. Dr. King authored a long-term study on the benefits of getting healthy in the middle years. But there is no reason to wait for the middle years to get healthy.

Would You Hire an Overweight Personal Trainer?

FitSugar — Tue, 08 May 2007 09:30:00 -0700

I read an article in the Washington Post recently that touches upon the issue of overweight trainers and its implications, inside and outside the gym. It seems that overweight trainers are faced with major criticism and have a harder time getting hired at gyms. The whole thing got me thinking about my gym and the fact that I have seen several overweight employees there. The visual skepticism of their ability as a trainer has definitely crossed my mind, good or bad, I have yet to decide.

I am curious how you guys feel about it -- Would you hire an overweight personal trainer?

People with an Optimal Weight Get Insurance Breaks: Good Idea or Not?

FitSugar — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 08:30:00 -0800

It is being reported that Phoenix Cos. Inc, an insurance company in Connecticut, is about to start offering discounts up to 20 percent on life insurance policies to customers whose BMI is verified by a doctor to be 19-25. The way it's going to work is that customers who qualify will start seeing reduced rates after five years if their BMI remains in the 19-to-25 range. Customers will see their premiums drop by 5 percent for every five years that they keep a healthy BMI ratio, up to a maximum of 20 percent after 20 years. Check out the Fit Calculator to see if you may qualify for an insurance discount.

Interesting concept if you ask me. What do you think -- A good idea or not?

Which is Better: BMI or Body Fat Percentage?

FitSugar — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 07:30:00 -0800

Many people are confused when it comes to looking at their Body Mass Index (BMI) versus their body fat percentage, since they do not always agree. So which should you go by?

First of all, body fat percentage is an estimate of the fraction of the total body mass that is fat mass, as opposed to lean body mass (muscle, bone, organ tissue, blood, and everything else that makes you work). This index is often used as a means to monitor progress during a diet or as a measure of physical fitness for certain sports. BMI is just a simple measure of the weight of a person scaled according to height.

That being said, body fat percentage is a much more accurate way to measure excess body weight than BMI since it differentiates between the weight of muscle and fat, while BMI just lumps it all into one figure.

So why are there so many BMI calculators on the internet? This is simply because measuring body fat percentage requires a few things: Special equipment, the physical presence of the person wishing to have their fat evaluated and the physical presence of someone who knows how to work the equipment. BMI is just a loose guideline for anyone curious about where they sit, but it is not a one size fits all answer. Curious about your body fat percentage? Then talk to a fitness professional at your gym or even your doctor. Curious about your BMI? Then check out [sorry, shameless plug] the Fit Calculator.

To read what the body fat percentages mean, read more

Description	Women	Men
Essential fat	10-13%	2-5%
Athletes	14–20%	6–13%
Fitness	21–24%	14–17%
Acceptable	25–31%	18–25%
Obese	32%+	25%+

Waist Measurement and Heart Disease

FitSugar — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 02:30:00 -0800

Did you know that your waist measurement is a great diagnostic tool for measuring your risk for heart disease?

Well, according to the Mayo Clinic men with waist measurements of 40 inches and women with measurement of 35 inches, accompanied by a BMI - Body Mass Index of 25 or less, have a greater risk for heart disease.

Why, you might ask, is your waist size relevant to the health of your heart? It is due to your omentum -
the fat organ attached to your stomach and liver. The omentum's only job is to store fat and make it easily accessible to the body and brain. The problem is that the omentum is very good at its job and it makes belly fat all too easy to access (as opposed to fat on your thighs or booty). The fat enters your bloodstream where it creates an inflammatory process and irritates your arteries and puts you at risk for blocked arteries.

So it is much better to have a pear shaped body and be thick in your hips than to have a round shaped apple body.