Maggie asked a good question about body mass index, also known as BMI. What is it and how is it measured? It's basically a measure of a person's body fat by calculating one's weight relative to their height. You can calculate this yourself by taking your weight in kg and dividing it by your height in meters, squared.
But if you're a mathaphobe like me and don't want to deal with the metric system or equations of any kind, it will be so much easier to just use an online BMI calculator like the one found here. The resulting number you get is supposed to tell you if you have a healthy amount of fat on your body.
Under 18.5 = Underweight
18.5 - 25 = Healthy Weight
25 - 30 = Overweight
30 - 40 = Obese
Over 40 = Severely obese
This measurement can be a little flawed, however. It can't determine whether your weight is from fat or muscle. Muscles mass is naturally heavier than fat, therefore your BMI will be inaccurate if you work out a lot. The BMI calculations were designed more for measuring sedentary folks like me and most bloggers.
My personal opinion (and I have no training whatsoever, so please remember this is just my opinion) is that these types of generic measuring systems are too broad for people to take much stock into their results. They don't take into consideration any special circumstances. My bones are very dense, which I'm sure translates into more weight for me. Chances are you already know if you're overweight or not. You don't need a forumula to tell you.
For more detailed information about Body Mass Index, check out this page.
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