Many people are comfortable with a few extra pounds on their ribs and don’t think about going on a diet for a long time. Obesity is also a health risk. Certain body values indicate when it is time to lose weight.
When your jeans pinch at first and then the button doesn’t go up at all, when your fat pads jump with you while jogging, and when looking at the scales causes a little shock – these body signals show that it’s high time to start a weight loss program too busy.
But there are also measurable body values that provide information as to whether losing weight would be advisable and healthy. Obesity has long overtaken smoking as the number one health risk. Anyone who accumulates more and more kilos over the years risks arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, fatty liver, diabetes, joint wear and tear, heart disease or stroke.
More about obesity:
For many years, the body mass index was the ubiquitous measure of underweight, normal weight and overweight. The simple formula is: body weight (in kilograms) divided by height (in meters) squared. For example: 60 / 1.70 x 1.70 = 21. Normal weight is found at values from 18.5 to 25. Underweight is underweight, over 30 is overweight. A BMI value over 30 is referred to as obesity, i.e. three levels of obesity from mild to severe (BMI from 40).
Today, the classic BMI is only valid as a rough guide. Because, simple as it is, it has a couple of significant flaws: It doesn’t take gender, age, or body tissue composition into account. Because muscle is heavier than fat, lean but muscular people quickly end up in the overweight department, where they don’t belong. This is especially true for well-trained athletes.
The BMI is also not suitable for estimating the health risk of being overweight. It doesn’t say anything about fat distribution. out. Where fat deposits accumulate on the body is almost more important for the health aspect than their extent: Fat on and in the abdomen is more harmful than on the buttocks and hips.
Belly fat is considered the real health problem. Because it produces harmful messenger substances. The risk of diabetes, heart attack and stroke increases. The so-called visceral fat often accumulates between the organs in the abdomen.
A measuring tape placed around the waist at the height of the navel shows the value. A healthy abdominal circumference should not be more than 80 centimeters for women and a maximum of 94 centimeters for men. If the waist of women reaches 88 centimeters or more, and for men over 102 centimeters, the risk of disease increases significantly.
A bottom like Kim Kardashian is not only the ideal of beauty and role model for her female fans. He’s pretty healthy too. The lush curves are on the hips and thighs, while the waist is willowy. Most women tend to belong to this so-called pear type with fat pads around the buttocks. Men, on the other hand, tend to be apple-type: narrow hips, flat buttocks, straight waist, but fat deposits in the middle of the body.
The smaller the difference between the waist and hips, or if the waist is even larger than the hips, the greater the health risk from belly fat.
The personal fat distribution can be calculated using the waist-to-hip ratio: waist circumference (measured at navel height) divided by hip circumference (measured at the widest point). If women reach more than 0.85 and men more than 1.0, one speaks of abdominal obesity, i.e. severe overweight due to too much abdominal fat.
Body fat scales not only show you your weight, but also how high the fat percentage is. Even simple devices read the value via four electrodes on the soles of the bare feet. However, the measurement result is not particularly accurate.
A solid device, according to Chip, is the Withings Body Digital WiFi Personal Scale
Older devices had a table in which one could compare whether the body fat percentage was in the green according to gender, age, and fitness level. With new and high-quality devices, the individual data can be saved on the associated app.
You should think about losing weight if the scale shows a body fat percentage of more than 30 percent for a woman and more than 25 percent for a man over several measurements.
