A lot of weight loss plans hinge around a person’s BMI. BMI, which stands for “body mass index”, is a common measure that assesses a person’s weight based on their height and gender. Your BMI can tell you if you’re underweight, of perfect weight, overweight, or obese. Almost weight loss calculator uses a person’s BMI to figure out how many calories a person should consume to reach a perfect weight.
For a long time, BMI has been a definitive way to measure someone’s fitness. It’s basically a weight loss program staple. It can help you determine how many calories you need to add or remove from your weight loss food plan.
The consumption of calories is what can make or break weight loss plans. Calories are units of energy, and counting how much we consume in a certain period can help us monitor weight loss. There is no standard number of calories we should consume, since it varies from individual to individual. It can depend upon your height, current weight, current calorie consumption, and your age. You can thus see why people use BMI as part of their weight loss chart.
The problem, however, is that BMI isn’t definitive when it comes to weight loss. It’s not the only factor that can influence a weight loss program. While it’s an important measure, it fails to take other aspects of a person’s fitness into account. So how should you incorporate BMI in your plans?
Problems with BMI
As mentioned above, BMI can sort people into four categories of fitness: underweight, perfect weight, overweight, and obese. It can thus work as a weight loss calculator. However, if you go just by your BMI when assessing your weight and fitness, you may be somewhat confused.
BMI doesn’t distinguish between fat and muscle and it won’t be able to help account for muscle gain in your weight loss chart. Your weight is a number, and that’s it. This lack of distinction can become quite problematic. It can also be distressing if you’ve been religiously working out for months and yet your BMI has not changed.
Working out makes you burn fat and strengthen and develop your muscles. There are, of course, a lot of differences between fat and muscle. In this context, the most important distinction between the two is density. Muscle is denser than fat. This can mean that you work out as often as you can, and you’ve burned off quite a lot of fat, but your BMI hasn’t changed much. This doesn’t mean that your weight loss food plan and workout plan aren’t working.
In this case, obviously, you have lost weight in terms of body fat. But you’ve also gained muscle mass, which can make you weigh about the same. BMI won’t be able to tell the difference, and as such, your BMI remains mostly the same. However, you’re fitter, healthier, and more active. You have less fat than ever before. In this case, BMI isn’t a very effective weight loss calculator. Seeing no significant or noticeable change in your weight and BMI can thus be confusing and frustrating. It also means that BMI is important in a weight loss program, but it’s not the most important or definitive factor.
BMI is not the only measure of fitness
A healthy BMI ranges from 18.5 to 25. If you fall in this range, you don’t have much to worry about if you live a healthy lifestyle, and you can focus on other things on your weight loss chart. Anything below or above this range, however, warrants changes to your lifestyle and diet.
However, BMI can be quite confusing, which is why there are other ways to measure your fitness that can function as a weight loss calculator.
One way is to determine your resting heart rate, which should be between 60 to 100 heart beats per minute. If your heart beats faster than 100 beats per minute, you may not be as fit as you’d like to be. A faster heartbeat means that your body is working hard to do something. If your heartbeat quickens even when doing relatively lighter tasks, then you may not be as fit as you’d like to be.
Another way to measure fitness is measuring your waist. This is an effective way to get some guidance on establishing your weight loss food plan. If your waist measurement is higher than 94cm for men and 80 cm for women, you’re not very fit. Having a smaller waist is important not because it makes you look good, but because it enables some of your vital organs to work properly. Since a lot of vital organs are situated in your waist area, extra weight may make it more difficult for your organs to work.
As you can see, these fitness measurement techniques explore areas of your fitness that BMI cannot measure. They can also diversify your weight loss chart. To get a more holistic view of your overall fitness, don’t rely solely on your BMI.
Personalized weight loss goals
All this isn’t to say that BMI is ineffective in creating weight loss plans. However, it’s best to take other fitness measurements into account as well. BMI is a good weight loss guide, but it’s not the only weight loss guide.
The best thing for you to do is to consult a doctor or a diet clinic to figure out a weight loss program that’s well-suited to the unique needs of your body. It’s always a clever idea to consult a medical professional when it comes to health matters. That way, you and your doctor can determine a weight loss food plan as well as a workout plan that suits you best. Fitness isn’t really a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. You’ll see much better results if you consult your doctor or visit a diet clinic.
Another important thing to take away from this is to not stress yourself out too much over a number. After all, BMI is just a number. It’s important, but it’s not the ultimate determinant of your fitness and health. It’s best to create personalized weight loss plans that can help you take all aspects of your fitness into account.
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