One of the best ways to motivate you to lose weight is to see whether or not you actually need to lose any weight. There can be no better motivation to lose weight than knowing that you are entering into the realms of obesity?

There are a number of ways to assess whether or not you need to lose weight. If your clothes have been fitting tighter and you have been wondering if it is a good idea to lose weight we will suggest a few different ways to assess your body and determine whether you need it or not. Some ways you can do this are by calculating your body mass index (BMI), height-weight tables, and the waist to hip ratio.

The BMI calculates an estimate of the ideal weight based on a person’s height. If you divide the kilograms by meters squared this will tell you your BMI. If you prefer to use inches and pounds take the weight in pounds and multiply it by 703. Divide this into your height squared, in inches. At a BMI of 25 a person is considered overweight and at a BMI of above 30 the person should be considered obese.

Height-weight tables are a common way to determine if you should be planning to lose weight. These are common and can be easily found through any search engine. This is similar to the BMI in that the answers are based on the height and weight of the individual.

A third way to determine if you need to lose weight is the waist to hip ratio. Some say that if your waist is too big in comparison to your hip you are in danger of developing conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure, or even have a heart attack or stroke. To find this you will need to find the measurements of your waist and your hip. Divide the measurement of the narrowest part of your waist by the measurement of the widest part of your hips and bottom. If you divide the waist measurement by the hip measurement this will tell your waist to hip ratio. For men this should be less than .95 and for women it should be less than .80.

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Filed under: Weight Loss

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