Another week, another three pounds melted away like a Popsicle on a Tennessee day. (That particular simile might be a bit more apt if the Nashville weather hadn’t been so erratic this last week to make meteorologists want to kill themselves.) As a result of this recent loss, I am remarkably proud to announce a particular milestone in my quest to get fit.
I am now less obese than this man.
Just look at that fat slob. Disgusting, am I right?
In the astonishingly unlikely event that you are unaware of who this individual is, that would be Dwayne Johnson, better known as The Rock during his professional wrestling career. I have seen this man in many films, where he demonstrates a remarkable inability to both find shirts that aren’t apparently three sizes too small, and have those shirts remain intact throughout the course of the film. The reason I can now apparently gaze upon Mr. Johnson with barely concealed disgust is that my BMI (body mass index) is substantially lower than his. These numbers were provide by the BMI calculator on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Mine is on top, the world champion wrestler is below.
Okay, I trust that the point has been made. While I have lost a great deal of weight, there are still substantial portions of my body that have the unfortunate habit of shaking like the water in Jurassic Park. It’s worth noting, that jiggling would probably commence when the 264 lbs of solid muscle that is the professional wrestler decides to take a stroll past my house.
To say BMI is outdated as a fitness measurement would be a bit of an understatement. To give you an idea, when the Belgian math genius that conceived of the ratio invented it, slavery was still legal in the United States, handlebar mustaches were very much in style, and a good leechin’ was said to be able to cure whatever might ail you. BMI is a straight ratio between height and weight. It doesn’t take what type of tissue might make up that mass. Adipose (fat cells), muscle tissue, wooden peg-legs if you happen to be of the pirate variety (and I sincerely hope you are); all is counted equally in the equation. And due to the fact that muscle mass, of which Mr. Johnson possesses with no small abundance, weighs substantially more than fat, BMI cheerfully reports that he is ridiculously overweight.
I bring this up for a reason. First, go see a health professional and determine your actual body fat percentage. This is a much more accurate measurement of where you are, and where you should be. If you don’t want to visit the doctor to get your body fat percentage, I do highly recommend investing in one of these scales. While a bit expensive, it can use a mild current to determine your percentage with a high level of accuracy. Understanding what’s happening in your body is critical to how you will improve your health.
The second reason is that those of us who have pursued weight loss as a goal know that there are no shortage of acronyms, experts, websites, gurus, and crazy hobos under the highway overpass that will bombard you with data about how best to get healthy and determine your weight. Take the time to do the homework. Regardless of what approach you use to improve your health, go into that approach with your eyes wide open.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wear a muscle shirt and glower at Mark Wahlberg. The BMI chart said it was cool.
Jan. 2, 2013 Starting Weight: 280 lbs
April 21, 2013 Weigh-In: 223 lbs
Total Weight Loss in 95 days: 57 lbs
