"O" Is For Obesity

We all know being overweight is hard on your body. It stands to reason that being obese is even harder; enough to increase the risk of cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke.

That’s a load of bad lottery tickets. You are bound to win something in the game you’re playing.

But I only have a small muffin top. At what point is a person considered overweight or obese?

I’ve discovered it’s all about body fat. When you have an abnormally high proportion of body fat, you are considered one of the two. To find out which one, you divide how tall you are by how much you weigh. That number will give you your BMI or Body Mass Index. To find out your BMI, go to this link: http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

Guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) place adults age 20 and older into the following categories based on their BMI:

BMI	BMI Categories
Below 18.5	Underweight
18.5 to 24.9	Normal
25.0 to 29.9	Overweight
30.0 and above	Obese

·         An adult who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight.

·         An adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

Keep in mind that this does not directly measure body fat. You need a 1950’s ice gripper gadget named calipers to measure the thickness of your spare tire, but it gives you a good idea. Athletes may have a BMI that identifies them as overweight even though they do not have excess body fat .

That would be me. Yeh right Deb.

So maybe it’s time to trade in your favourite sinful pleasure for something else that rocks your cravings. I turned to figs and dates that absolutely make my teeth sing with sweetness. A salty fan? Eat Dulse, (natural dried seaweed) and whole grain brown rice crackers. A bread-phenatic? Make your bread with gluten-free flours and honey instead of sugar, coconut oil to replace butter and up the healthy nut additions.

And keep moving. The more you move, the more fat you burn.

For more information, talk to your doctor on different ways to lose weight.