BMI scale, or Body Mass Index scale, is a table with height and weight levels showing healthy and un-healthy zones depending on how your height and weight match up. Here is an example of a BMI Scale with an explanation.

There are metric BMI scales. Some BMI scales are for men, and Some BMI scales are for women. There are also BMI scales for teens and for children.

In my discussions of healthy weight, I will defer to the regular BMI scale as my standard. To use the BMI scales, you will need to know your height and weight. There’s not much to know about measuring your height, but your weight is a little more challenging.

If you’re an adult, your height is not likely to change, but your weight can change easily, and this is common. So, in the next section, we will discuss determining your baseline weight.

Honest weight:

Weight scales come in different shapes and sizes. Most of us will use bathroom scales. Always use the same scales for weigh-ins. Scales (especially bathroom scales) can differ and be inaccurate. Usually, though, they’re sufficient for our purposes. Balance scales, as shown here, are the most accurate and reliable.

Determining your honest weight is pretty simple. The first step is getting a high-quality bathroom scale. Don’t go cheap here. Expect to be in the 50+ dollar range. What you’re looking for is accuracy and consistency. You don’t need gimmicks like body fat percentages or data recording. These have little to do with your health. You need your accurate weight, that’s all.

Quality weight scales are usually accurate to within 1 or 2 pounds on either side of your actual weight. Make sure the scales you buy are pre-calibrated (Most of them are.)

Once you have your scales, make sure they are set on a hard, flat, level, and stable surface. Wobbly and uneven surfaces will return mixed results. Try to keep your scales in the same place every time you weigh in.

Here are your weigh-in instructions in 6 easy steps.

  1. Don’t eat anything after 6:00 PM on the day before your weigh-in. You can drink all the water you want.
  2. Get out of bed at your usual time, and urinate. Do not eat or drink anything.
  3. With no clothes, weigh yourself twice, one minute apart. It would be best if you got the same baseline weight. (If not, use the average – either way, this difference should be minimal).
  4. Record your weight and the date and time.
  5. Repeat this procedure for two more consecutive days.
  6. Now add up your total weights, and divide the sum by 3.

You now have a good reading of your baseline weight. Record this and record the date as well.

Important considerations:

You must accept this baseline weight as what you weighed on those days at that time of day. This is an honest weight. Weighing at random times during the day can be misleading and can work against you. The same can be said of weighing in at the doctor’s office.

Ignore your doctor’s office weight and rely on your own records. Done properly, they’re more accurate.

Eating and drinking during the day can add several pounds to your body weight. Avoid random weigh-ins. You have your baseline weight, and this should be the weight you trust.

Don’t weigh yourself all the time.

Weighing all the time is discouraging, especially when you’re trying to lose weight. You’re better off getting your baseline weight once a month. If you’re true to your eating plan, results should be clear at the 30-day interval.

Never feel bad or guilty about your weight. Some people avoid weigh-ins because they don’t want to face the truth about their weight. Knowing your weight isn’t going to change anything about you or your weight. This knowledge is simply data that helps you manage your weight – it’s a number – it’s a point “a.”

BMI

As an OMY, your goal is to be in the mid-normal range of the BMI scale – point “b.” If you are in this range, your task is to stay there. When you are below normal, your task is to gain weight. Above normal? Your task is to lose weight. It’s really that simple.

Don’t think of your task as gaining or losing weight, but rather, think of moving your baseline weight up or down. Stop thinking of yourself as fat or skinny. This is unfair to you. Think of yourself simply as a person making adjustments.

Adjustments?

We make them all the time. Some are easy, and some are not so easy.

Moving your baseline weight toward a normal BMI may not be easy. Just keep reminding yourself that zeroing in on your BMI is one of the healthiest things you can do. Your prospects of increased longevity grow more and more as you get closer to your mid-BMI target.

For dieting information, see: OVERWEIGHT? HERE’S HONEST HELP

In future posts, I will have much to say about adjusting weight and longevity.

OMY1

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