Weight a Minute!
Published May 22, 2018 12:05 am
By Dr. Kaycee Reyes
WEIGHT WATCHING Being heavy doesn't always mean you're in bad shape.
Admit it. Stepping on the scale can be stressful! You take off your clothes, or most of it. Then you take a deep breath, slowly putting one foot on the scale, then another. You look down and wait as the dial spins fast until it stops, with the lever pointing to a number that for most of us is hard to accept. The bad news is finding out that you weigh heavier than normal, but the good news is, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re unhealthy.
Most of us see the weighing scale as an enemy. We pit ourselves against the people we see in the media: tall, slim, and slender models and celebrities who grace the covers of magazines or look so flawless on the screen. We think “thin” means healthy. We easily judge our bodies based only on how much we weigh, instead of how healthy we should be. Our body weight is how much we weigh measured in kilograms or pounds. If we weigh much heavier than normal, we may be obese. And obesity may lead to a higher risk of developing diseases from high cholesterol, respiratory problems, heart disease, depression, and diabetes. Obesity, a condition where one has an excess of body fat, is usually determined using the known Body Mass Index, or BMI. It is computed as the mass in kilograms divided by the square of one’s height in meters. The BMI result differentiates the individual into three categories: underweight or under 18.5 kg/m2, normal weight or 18.5 to 25, overweight or 25 to 30, and obese that is over 30.
While it has been a standard to use BMI to know if one is obese, it comes with limitations. For one, it only takes into consideration the excess in weight one has, not the excess in fat. And depending on the individual’s age, race, ethnicity, and lifestyle, the muscle mass may vary as well, affecting the result of the BMI. Athletes or those with more muscle than fat may tend to have a high BMI, or children with bodies that are still developing may have a low BMI, even if both are healthy. At the same time, one may appear in the normal range of the BMI measurement, but may have a lot more fat than muscle, or another may appear as underweight, but with a lot less muscle.
This is why BMI is more effective in assessing general populations or large groups, but for the individual, determining obesity may require more tests. One of these tests is by measuring by one’s waist circumference, wherein a male is obese if his measurement exceeds 94 cm or 37 inches, and so is a female whose girth exceeds 88 cm or 34.6 inches.
Moreover, according to American cosmetic surgeon Dr. Andre Berger, assessing obesity may include tests such as identifying metabolic markers, assessing one’s health through a body composition analysis, performing self-assessment on waist circumference and body weight measurements, and checking clinical symptoms and signs. Metabolic markers are changes in one’s body that can determine signs of good health or disease, and this includes insulin, free fatty acids, glucose, liver markers, hormones, etc. Clinical symptoms and signs include analysis of food intake, such as the level of emotional and binge eating, food preferences and environment, past weight history, family history, and weight loss attempts, and other trigger factors. This is why BMI is not the only indicator of obesity for individuals as a lot of other factors come into play as well.
If you are obese, it is not the end. There are ways to help you lose weight and regain control of your health. Aside from proper diet, nutrition, and exercise, there are also surgeries, such as baiatric surgery, that may be suggested by your physician that can help you lose the excess fat. To prevent surgeries that may also pose health risks, however, it is still best to make healthy options not just a goal, but as a lifestyle.
Remember not to succumb to crash dieting, as depriving yourself too much of food may lead to even more physical and psychological problems. Your goal should be keeping an active, healthy lifestyle until you reach a weight that is right for you, and to love the body you’re in—stretch marks, curves, and all. Most of all, remember that the scale is just a number.
Do not let the scale define your health.
WEIGHT WATCHING Being heavy doesn't always mean you're in bad shape.
Admit it. Stepping on the scale can be stressful! You take off your clothes, or most of it. Then you take a deep breath, slowly putting one foot on the scale, then another. You look down and wait as the dial spins fast until it stops, with the lever pointing to a number that for most of us is hard to accept. The bad news is finding out that you weigh heavier than normal, but the good news is, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re unhealthy.
Most of us see the weighing scale as an enemy. We pit ourselves against the people we see in the media: tall, slim, and slender models and celebrities who grace the covers of magazines or look so flawless on the screen. We think “thin” means healthy. We easily judge our bodies based only on how much we weigh, instead of how healthy we should be. Our body weight is how much we weigh measured in kilograms or pounds. If we weigh much heavier than normal, we may be obese. And obesity may lead to a higher risk of developing diseases from high cholesterol, respiratory problems, heart disease, depression, and diabetes. Obesity, a condition where one has an excess of body fat, is usually determined using the known Body Mass Index, or BMI. It is computed as the mass in kilograms divided by the square of one’s height in meters. The BMI result differentiates the individual into three categories: underweight or under 18.5 kg/m2, normal weight or 18.5 to 25, overweight or 25 to 30, and obese that is over 30.
While it has been a standard to use BMI to know if one is obese, it comes with limitations. For one, it only takes into consideration the excess in weight one has, not the excess in fat. And depending on the individual’s age, race, ethnicity, and lifestyle, the muscle mass may vary as well, affecting the result of the BMI. Athletes or those with more muscle than fat may tend to have a high BMI, or children with bodies that are still developing may have a low BMI, even if both are healthy. At the same time, one may appear in the normal range of the BMI measurement, but may have a lot more fat than muscle, or another may appear as underweight, but with a lot less muscle.
This is why BMI is more effective in assessing general populations or large groups, but for the individual, determining obesity may require more tests. One of these tests is by measuring by one’s waist circumference, wherein a male is obese if his measurement exceeds 94 cm or 37 inches, and so is a female whose girth exceeds 88 cm or 34.6 inches.
Moreover, according to American cosmetic surgeon Dr. Andre Berger, assessing obesity may include tests such as identifying metabolic markers, assessing one’s health through a body composition analysis, performing self-assessment on waist circumference and body weight measurements, and checking clinical symptoms and signs. Metabolic markers are changes in one’s body that can determine signs of good health or disease, and this includes insulin, free fatty acids, glucose, liver markers, hormones, etc. Clinical symptoms and signs include analysis of food intake, such as the level of emotional and binge eating, food preferences and environment, past weight history, family history, and weight loss attempts, and other trigger factors. This is why BMI is not the only indicator of obesity for individuals as a lot of other factors come into play as well.
If you are obese, it is not the end. There are ways to help you lose weight and regain control of your health. Aside from proper diet, nutrition, and exercise, there are also surgeries, such as baiatric surgery, that may be suggested by your physician that can help you lose the excess fat. To prevent surgeries that may also pose health risks, however, it is still best to make healthy options not just a goal, but as a lifestyle.
Remember not to succumb to crash dieting, as depriving yourself too much of food may lead to even more physical and psychological problems. Your goal should be keeping an active, healthy lifestyle until you reach a weight that is right for you, and to love the body you’re in—stretch marks, curves, and all. Most of all, remember that the scale is just a number.
Do not let the scale define your health.