School of Weight Loss

Measuring body weight is a difficult task because all of the measurement tools leave out important information. If you are someone who steps on a scale everyday this can be disheartening because your weight will fluctuate. The reason it fluctuates is because the scale measures your entire body and not just the fat.

Other people turn to The Body Mass Index (BMI) thinking that this will tell them more information. This is another inaccurate measure because it measures your height vs. your fat but it cannot tell the difference between body fat and muscle. So, you are still in the dark.

What people are finding is that this information may not mean a lot when you are working with your body and its weight. These can be a good starting place, but they are only part of the big picture when it comes to working with weight loss.

Here we list the upside and downside of each system so you can be prepared if you use them:

Scales
Scales are the number one tool that most people use to determine whether they have lost or gained weight. Scales cannot tell the difference between the components of your body so it weighs in as a solid substance. Scales are easy to use and you can buy them anywhere. The downside is that the scale cannot tell you the distribution of your body weight.

Body Mass Index(BMI)
The newest way for doctors to determine whether an individual is obese or not is to use the BMI Index. The purpose of this index is to measure the amount of fat on your body. Depending on what they find you can be categorized into being overweight, obese or morbidly obese. The index uses a ratio of fat to height but it cannot tell the difference between fat and muscle. This means that if you have a lot of muscle it will over estimate your body fat; it also underestimates body fat for the elderly who have lost muscle mass.

Dexa Scans
The Dexa scan offers a low-radiation x-ray of the entire body. This has traditionally been used to see osteoarthritis, but it also is very accurate in computing body composition by measuring body mass, bone mass and lean mass. The challenge is that the scan isn’t always covered by insurance, and it can be quite an out of the pocket expense.

Although all of these different ways to measure body fat can be helpful, they are not as helpful as discovering other risk factors. Many doctors use this as just one of the many ways that they determine what to do to help someone lose weight.

Family history, high cholesterol, a tendency towards heart disease or diabetes can all be ways to encourage an individual to lose weight without these other methods. The best idea is to talk to your doctor before you start any weight loss program. They are basically the ones that can tell you what you need to do for your specific body type.

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