What’s Your Body Mass Index?

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of how much fat you are carrying around. The closer your BMI is to 25, the better. It means you are carrying around less fat. The closer your BMI is to 30, not so good. It means you approaching obese. According to Dr. Daniel Amen, in his book Change Your Brain Change Your Life, obesity causes 8 different types of diseases, which include: Type II diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.

Here’s a breakdown of the BMI ranges:

• Underweight: Your BMI is less than 18.5
• Healthy weight: Your BMI is 18.5 to 24.9
• Overweight: Your BMI is 25 to 29.9
• Obese: Your BMI is 30 or higher

The math formula for determining your own, specific BMI involves 3 steps:

Step #1 Your weight in pounds X 703

Step #2 Your height in inches X your height in inches again (Height in inches squared)

Step #3 Divide the number in Step #1 by the number in Step #2

Example: A 6 foot 2 male weighing 187.6 pounds has a BMI of 24.08 calculated as follows:

Step#1      187.6 x 703 = 131,883

Step #2     74 inches X 74 inches = 5,476

Step #3     131,883 / 5,476 = 24.08

WEBMD has a great chart here is you don’t want to do the math: http://www.webmd.com/men/weight-loss-bmi

Note: A friend of mine pointed out to me that BMI is not a good measure of fat for those who regularly lift weights and I agree. Muscle weighs 3 times more than fat. BMI’s relevance is for non-weight lifters.

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