Now that I’m spending a lot more of my time coaching clients on how to lose weight, I find myself asking the same series of questions. The good news is most people have no idea what the answers are and the better news is that I can share some wisdom to help them develop a game plan to succeed.

You can probably guess one of the questions that I ask everyone is, “How much to do you weigh?” Seems like a straight forward question, right? You would think, but, rarely do I get a straight-forward answer. The more common response is “I don’t know” or “About XXX pounds” or my personal favorite “40 pounds more than I want to be”. Hmmm...if you don’t know how much you weigh today, then 40 lbs might be too much or perhaps it’s not enough. Sadly it’s usually the latter.

A key element to actually losing weight compared to what most people do and just talk about it is embracing the honest reality. If you really truly want to succeed at weight loss, and I’m 100% convinced anyone can, you have to clear the decks and get a fresh start. No, that doesn’t mean a colonic cleanse or the latest diet of the stars. The fresh start I’m referring to is data points and facts.

Let’s go back to the scale. It’s not your friend or your enemy or some uncontrollable demon wishing that you would fail. What it is rather is a metal or glass measuring device that tells you and the rest of the world if we’re healthy or not. It’s just a number that reflects our previous actions. If the number is higher than it should be then it means you need to burn more calories than you’re consuming. That’s it.

If you want to lose weight, please start by weighing yourself today so at least you know what you’re trying to accomplish. Right it down somewhere along with today’s date and weigh yourself at least every week until you achieve your goal. And once you achieve your goal (and you will!), why stop a positive habit just because you achieved your goal? Continue to weigh yourself every week for the rest of your life. I know I know, it does take an entire 10 seconds to get on and off the scale, and we all know that you’re super busy (just a little humor!).

If most people don’t know exactly how much they weigh, then far fewer than that know their BMI (Body Mass Index) which is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. I guess that makes sense since you need to insert your weight to calculate your BMI. This is another useful metric giving you the power to evaluate your own health. You’ll notice I didn’t say “the only” or “the best” because it’s simply one tool of many you can use to grade yourself.

For those scoring at home, I weighed myself this morning. The scale showed me at 159 lbs. which is acceptable on my 5’8” frame. Based on my current height and weight, my BMI is 24.17 which is normal. Anything below 25 is normal so I’m actually at the far end of the scale. A BMI score between 25 and 30 is classified as overweight while anything between 30 and 40 is Obese and beyond 40 is Morbidly Obese. To put it in perspective, my heaviest was 205 lbs meaning my BMI was 31.17 or in the obese category. I never viewed myself as obese, but then again most that are, don’t either.

Do yourself a favor and calculate your BMI. Is it higher or lower than you expected?

Healthy Jumping…

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment