Be Healthier Without BMI

It’s time to drop Body Mass Index (BMI) from our conversations about what makes a healthy body. If for no other reason than it is too wrong too much of the time.

The problem with BMI

is that it is much like using a scale to tell us if we are Healthy. Five pounds of fat registers the same as five pounds of lean muscle. So a fit athlete can be classified as obese because he or she carries more muscle weight and a fashion model can be mis-categorized as fit because her height and weight are within the healthy range.

Basing Health decisions on the imprecise information of weight, or the ratios body measurements of the BMI, sets us up for making poorly informed decisions.

We can do a lot better.

With your Health at stake, we have to.

Developed by a mathematician in the 19^th century, the BMI engendered the prejudices, as well as the scientific ignorance, of that time. The idea that somehow all human bodies follow narrow mathematical calculations is rarely reflected in our biology.

Just look around. Our bodies are more different than we are alike!

Health comes from everything we do and think. While there are no sure things in Life, if we act, eat, and think well, the likelihood of developing dis-ease is greatly reduced. If we don’t then the chance of having our bodies fall apart sooner becomes all the more likely.

[pullquote style=”right”  quote=”dark”]“None of your patients’ bodies have read the texts you have been studying”

– Old med school saying[/pullquote]

Start by finding reliable information about your body.

A lot of wise choices can be derived from an evaluation by a qualified Health care professional. Seek out individuals who have special interests and training in Healthy lifestyle techniques and treatments. This may be your local holistic physician or practitioner. It may also be your medical doctor. Whomever you select, just critically evaluate his or her credentials and question them so that you understand why you should follow their directions. Be informed. Be empowered.

Use your common sense.

If you are making Healthy decisions in your lifestyle choices, don’t expect much from the scale. Expect instead to find your clothes fitting looser. The scale is a way to chart progress – not determine your progress. If you are consistent with your Healthy lifestyle choices, the weight will shift from fat to lean and your body will remodel itself.

Follow your intuition.

(Be honest!) If you really are doing things to improve your Health, you will feel it. Energy increases, self-image improves, and a multitude of other positive changes occur as Health develops. You are the one living in your body and know best when something feels appropriate or not. Trust yourself.

Find helpful numbers.

For those of us who really like numbers to go with knowledge of our bodies, one of the most reliable body weight ratio tools is the old dunk tank. This is where you are weighed completely submerged under water. (Fat is more buoyant than muscle when underwater.) It is still a benchmark test for those who must know their body fat percentage.

So let’s leave out 19^th century mathematical models for the determination of whether one is healthy or not. We have much better tools to determine whether a person is healthy or not. The most powerful of which is your brain. Use it for a Healthy Life!

Body acceptance means, as much as possible, approving of and loving your body, despite its “imperfections”, real or perceived. That means accepting that your body is fatter than some others, or thinner than some others, that your eyes are a little crooked, that you have a disability that makes walking difficult, that you have health concerns that you have to deal with — but that all of that doesn’t mean that you need to be ashamed of your body or try to change it. Body acceptance allows for the fact that there is a diversity of bodies in the world, and that there’s no wrong way to have one.
― Golda Poretsky