Does BMI really matter?
February 24, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments
I’ve been afraid of the scale since I was too young to speak.
Before I knew it I was cheating myself.
Only weighing in after spending a week sick in bed or regurgitating up rum.
“Spew and scale”, I’d call it.
Not exactly accurate, as I was A.) only cheating myself and B.) getting good measurements based off the opposite of health. But, then, as I got even older, the next set’ve numbers to fear were the ones calculated from both my height and that unforgiving slab of plastic sitting on the bathroom floor: BMI. What BMI is, essentially, is this number you get when you plug your poundage into a formula. And what’s the resultant number tell us? Basically, it’s a body fat measurement based on height and weight. The purpose of it’s to indicate whether you’re too lean… or obese enough that you’re porkiness is putting you at risk for the kinds’ve disease the corpulent tend to catch. And how good a measure is it? Well, halfway into reading about this body beef barometer, I was already ready to dismiss it as garbage. (Until, of course, I calculated my own and saw it was on the healthy, albeit low, side of normal.) Yet, despite my relief to gain some random fat formula’s stamp approval, some experts suggest there’s a whole other reason to question BMI. And that’s the fact that it might not be the best measure. (Not on its own, at least.)
Why?
Well, first because it can’t tell if you’re big like John Cena or big like John Goodman. BMI doesn’t account for muscle versus fat. So, that means that if the height and weight between someone tubby and someone muscly happen to be the same, then guess what? They’re gonna get the same BMI readout. Which renders the whole thing kinda useless, doesn’t it? And that’s espesh important for the next point: visceral fat.
When it comes to obesity related diseases, one of the most important factors is where you bear your blubber on your bod. Studies have come to show recently that those sporting a spare tire (or even the “skinny fat” sorts) are at more risk for detrimental illnesses and an early case of the deadsies than those toting it around peripherally on their body. (Hate those saddlebags and thunder thighs though you might, you can thank the same genes you cursed your mom for, for that one.) For this reason, waist circumference is actually the optimal number to reference if you require numerical figures to judge your figure. The pros propose you use it in conjunction with the BMI.
(Some fun diseases visceral fat can cause.)
Then, finally, there’s one reason I read that I was kinda skeptical about at first. And that’s the fact that BMI doesn’t always alter in response to a lifestyle mod. In other words, you can start to eat cleaner, up your cardio, and still not see that number budge. As I mentioned, this kinda got an eyebrow raise from me. Then, I realized that this was more than likely looking at those first few months following said amendments to snack habits and cardio routines. Indeed, most formerly obese people I know went through the same phase first, before shedding actual mass: the jello goes rigid into muscle first (without much discernible size difference). And then, after a month or two, visible inches disappear from everywhere.
And if you’re an extra-heavyset friend reading this, thinking “HAIL no, I ain’t wanna wait that long to weigh less”, yes you do. Because otherwise, you suffer the rapid weight loss ramification of bat wings and adipose aprons. (AKA saggy skin syndrome.) So I encourage you to remain patient, (lest you cheat yourself outta your sexy) and try to rely less on abstract math in the meantime. Instead of obsessively inserting your body onto weight-ometer or into some dated equation, focus more on healthy diet and exercise routines for now. Plants instead’ve processed food. More water and workouts. Less high fructose corn syrup and more home cooking. And if you need some numerical feedback to know where your feeding habits have gotten you? Check your tummy circumference the next time you check your BMI.
And maybe have your doctor do it for you.
’cause when it comes to self lies, sucking in’s no better than my retro retch and weigh ways.
