Weigh The FAQS

If you have a BMI over 25, you are considered overweight. It’s a word dieters people don’t want or like to see. For those of us with a lot of weight to lose, the number we need to reach in order to be categorized as “healthy” may seem almost impossible to get to. I’m here to tell you it’s NOT impossible. And further, it’s easier than you think - once you set your mind to it. That said, what is this “BMI” anyway? What does it really mean? Well… I’m no doctor, but here’s my understanding of it:

The BMI refers to the body mass index, defined as an individual’s body weight divided by the square of their height. But just how accurate a measure of “overweight” is the BMI? The BMI is supposed to help give an estimation of how healthy a person is based on their weight. While a person’s BMI can be calculated quickly and without expensive equipment, the index isn’t as accurate as it could be. Since BMI is only concerned with total weight, it doesn’t take into account frame size or muscularity. Many athletes have a BMI index that would put them in the “overweight” category because of their weight — from all that muscle. Because muscle density, bone density and body frame are not taken into account, some individuals can have a BMI of less than 25 and still be considered overweight, while others may have a BMI that is significantly higher without falling into that category.

Ok great, so who came up with this idea? Well, apparently the BMI was invented in between 1830 and 1850 by Blegian Adolphe Quetelet as part of his attempt to develop “social physics” (sounds highly suspicious, I know). It became popular in the early 1950s and 60s when Western society became prosperous enough to develop obvious obesity trends. The BMI made it easy for people to be categorized — or categorize themselves — as super skinny (”underweight”), normal (”healthy”), or fat (”overweight”). It was never the BMI’s purpose to serve as an actual diagnostic tool, but simply as an easily referenced guideline.

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Ok ok, it wasn’t my job’s fault that I was fat, but I swear it wasn’t helping! I have had this conversation with my friends and coworkers over and over. It seems many people have trouble controlling their weight while working desk jobs… and why not?

Donuts in the break room. Vending machines downstairs. The candy jar by the front desk. The work place can be a veritable obstacle course on your path to weight loss. In a study of 5,600 workers worldwide, 28 percent reported a weight gain of more than 10 pounds and 13 percent said they gained more than 20 while working desk jobs. But earning cash doesn’t have to mean increasing inches - here are some surefire ways to keep work weight off, and even help you on your way to a leaner you.

Don’t eat at your desk. When you eat at your desk you are more likely to eat mindlessly and not pick up on your body’s “full” signal. Even if you don’t have time to take a proper lunch, go sit in the break room or on a bench outside and take a good ten minutes to really enjoy your food, and a much needed break from work.

Have an alternative plan. While you can’t force your coworkers to stop bringing in donuts or other unhealthy foods for everyone, you can make sure that you have other choices. Stock your company cupboards with healthier snack alternatives such as nuts, and dried wasabi peas. If your office has a fridge, keep yogurts, string cheese, fruits (tangerines and apple slices are my favorite) and veggies (apple slices) in there.

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There was a very famous diet book that asked a simple question: Do you want to be fit or fat? Too often people think of fitness in a zero-sum, all or nothing kind of way. You are either fit, or you are fat. The truth is, fitness, like life, isn’t a destination, it’s a journey. Here are five truths I think about whenever my mind starts to stray too far to one side or the other of the fitness/fatness coin:

1) Start small - just so long as you’re always doing as much as you can. Becoming fit isn’t an overnight change. Start off by making small changes and incrementally increasing your efforts. For example, if you want to run three miles, hopping on the treadmill and getting to it may be difficult. Start by running in short bursts at an easy-to-maintain pace, then walk for a little while, then try running again. When I first started, I would walk at 4.0 on a small incline for 5 minutes, then lower the incline so it was flat and run at 6.0 for 1 minute. Slowly build up your endurance so that you are running more and walking less until you finally are able to run the whole three miles. The same goes with weight training — start with lighter weights and work your way up the weight scale.

2) Set goals - The smaller the better. Motivation can be incredibly difficult to maintain while living the fit life, but setting small, accomplishable goals helps. Setting monthly (or even weekly) goals can help keep you challenged and interested in what you’re doing. Aim to increase your distance, your time, or your resistance each week. Try to outdo your last work out performance. Then reward yourself for your successes. Buy a new outfit or download a new album each time you hit a milestone. Take a trip to your favorite spot. Tracking your progress will help tell you when it’s time to celebrate and give you something to look forward to. I remember the first time I felt really excited about going on a beach weekend away with my husband. What a thrill!

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It’s easy, it’s homey, it’s delicious, but is it diet and health suicide in a can? Sadly, yes. I’m talking about canned soup. There is no substitute for home-made soup, and canned soup is no substitute for home-made soup. While many varieties are low fat or low calorie, canned soup is generally high in sodium and more often than not is chalk full of preservatives and other chemicals (like MSG) that are far from ideal for consumption.

The biggest issue with canned soup is the method of preservation. Vegetables and meats have to be prepared differently in order to hold up to being soaked in liquid for an unknown, extended period of time. David Gombas, the vice president of the Center for Development of Research Policy and New Technologies at the National Food Processors Association (and a former research scientist for Campbell Soup), says that soup companies avoid ingredients that break down in the canning process: “When you’re making a soup, you might buy young, fragile carrots. You put those in a canned soup, they won’t last. They’ll disintegrate. So companies grow special carrots for soups. They look like tree limbs—they’re like baseball bats. But once they go through the cooking process, they come out looking like the small young ones that you’d put into your soup.”

These mutant vegetables aren’t the only change — the high sodium content, besides adding flavor to the soup, also helps preserve it. The average cup of soup (there are an average of 2.5 cups of soup per can) has 1,000 milligrams of salt. That means the average can of soup has 2,500 milligrams of soup (and most people eat the whole can as a meal). To put that in perspective, dietary guidelines recommend consuming no more than 2,400 milligrams of sodium a day.

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