Obese! Moi???!!!!

I will always remember my mother relating her shock at a doctor’s description of her: obese. Doc had stepped out of the examining room momentarily and being a nosey parker, Mom snooped into her medical file. Obese. She was as shocked and angry as if she’d been called a four-letter name. But all it really meant was: she had an unhealthy amount of body fat (in other words, excessive) as evidenced by her height and weight.

I too ran into this same shocker at a health fair last year. The medicos there had a little gizmo that took my numbers, measured me and spit out the diagnosis: obese!

All my friends disagreed. “No way you’re fat,” they said. After all, I’m a woman of average height (5’6”) and weight (168 lbs). I feel fit and energetic. I walk, exercise and am likely more active than the norm. From January to November I eat very healthily but I admit December is usually a bust! Would a body mass index (BMI) calculator really put me in the obese range?

According to WebMD, if your BMI is 30 or greater, you're obese. Right now my BMI is 27 so I’m not considered obese, but I am tagged as "overweight." A person with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered to be at a healthy weight. To be within that “norm”, I should weigh at most 154.7 lbs which gives me a BMI of 24.2.

Of course, you say, there are variables to consider, and that’s true. We all don’t fit into the BMI chart target zones due to body type, genetic make-up, metabolism, et cetera, but let’s not fool ourselves. If you consider the BMI tool as a good rule of thumb to know where you stand health-wise then, why not assess yourself and see how you’re doing? It just might give you the incentive and the motivation to help you with that annual New Year’s resolution to improve your health. After all, your health is your wealth. Guard it with your (best) life!