School of Weight Loss

(Originally published January 12, 2009)

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of the relationship between your weight and your height.  The theory behind it is that if your weight is high relative to your height, that indicates a health risk.  However, it is largely regarded now in the fitness community that calculating BMI is mostly a waste of time.

The only usefulness of BMI is in extreme cases.  BMI is useful for identifying an obese individual who needs to lose weight immediately to avoid serious health risks.  In this instance, BMI can be used to show the severity of the person’s problem and indicate how much weight loss is needed to get down to a healthy level.

Other than that, for your average individual, I would throw BMI completely out the window.  As an example of its uselessness, when I was in my peak physical condition a little less than a year ago, I was 5′9″ and 183 pounds.  This results in a BMI of 27, which is right in the middle of the overweight category.  I believe I can even go up to 190 pounds by adding more muscle mass without increasing body fat and still look and feel in great shape.  This would raise my BMI to 28, while 30 is considered obese.

Just for kicks, I went and calculated the BMI of the top three running backs in the National Football League this season.  The results: Adrian Peterson 28.6 (overweight), Michael Turner 35 (obese), and DeAngelo Williams 32 (obese).  So, apparently two of the top three running backs in the NFL are obese, while the other is overweight.  See a problem with this?  These guys are some of the best athletes in all of sports.  In fact, I’d be willing to bet that there are a few world-class sprinters who are “obese”.

The reason for this absurdity is that BMI does not take body fat % into account.  The people I mention above have a very high amount of lean muscle mass with relatively little fat mass.  This gives them a high BMI, while they are actually in excellent physical condition.

So, do not waste too much time worrying about your BMI unless you are in poor shape and fall into the obese category.  Even so, just worry about dropping body fat in a healthy manner while preserving muscle mass.  Your BMI may not drop as quickly as your fat does, but you will be much happier and healthier.

Just for the sake of completeness, the formula for calculating BMI is as follows:

weigh in kg / height in m^2

or

weight in lbs * 703 / height in inches^2

Now that you know it, remember that it is useless.  Focus on using sound nutrition and exercise principles to lose body fat and get yourself healthy.  The numbers aren’t the important thing.

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It turns out that obesity may not have anything to do with food at all, but it may have everything to do with a virus. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic are discovering that a virus could be the reason why many Americans are obese.

Although most people would agree that the way to keep obesity away is to eat healthy and exercise, this may only be part of the truth to getting in shape. There seem to be other factors that the Mayo Clinic is observing and this idea of a virus is one of them.

Richard Atkinson, M.D., at the Mayo Clinic has been studying research articles on obesity and he is finding there is a correlation between 3 human viruses and 5 animal viruses and obesity.

What They Found
The results of two of these viruses in studies were interesting and worth considering:

AD-36 — they found that by giving this human virus to animals it increased body fat and visceral fat also known as belly fat. They also found that this virus could be transmitted from an infected animal to a non-infected one. Atkinson did a study to look for this virus in 502 patients with varying weights. He found AD-36 antibodies in 30% of the obese patients and 11% of the lean ones; he also found large differences in their BMIs.

SMAM-1 — this was a virus that was found in chickens many years ago, in India. It was responsible for a large percentage of death in these chickens. A study that tested 52 obese people found that about 20% had been infected with this virus because they contained antibodies from it. The people who had been exposed were heavier and had a higher BMI than those who did not have the antibodies.

What They Can Do
At this time there is nothing to do except to continue to watch the virus. Atkinson thinks that there could be a virus vaccine developed to help, but this will take several years. We think this could be an interesting situation if people find out that they are severely obese because of a virus they carry.

This could be a medical breakthrough that is well worth waiting for because Americans are always looking for answers. If it were true that people who are severely obese could be victims of this virus running wild, a vaccine could be an alternative to surgery. It could also explain why an individual’s weight can seem so out of control.

This could answer the question of why some families are prone to weight gain and others are not. Perhaps this is something that happens in utero or it could be something that comes about because of the lack of whole foods that people eat; only time will tell.

Although there never is any substitute for good nutrition and exercise it could be something that if caught ahead of time, could change the course of a person’s life. We think this research should continue, to see what happens.

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Most Americans know that obesity is something that plagues the United States. There is so much talk about it and so many news articles that you cannot help but see that this is a problem. Statistics show that at least 10-15% of overweight people are considered morbidly obese. When obesity continues, it creates other health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

For many Americans the idea of losing weight has failed. They have attempted several types of diet programs, they work out regularly, and they have changed their eating habits to accept more nutritious foods. For some reason, none of these things work to lose weight so they follow the final alternative which is Bariatric Surgery.

Although this has become a multi-billion industry for the surgeons who do the surgery, the individuals who elect the surgery still have to deal with learning how to lose weight after the surgery. Weight loss does not automatically happen afterwards, and they still have to watch what they eat.

The challenge for most is that after the surgery there are several psychological things that happen that no one really prepares them for, because the process is different for each person. If you are considering bariatric surgery, here are some things to consider before you do:

Ruen Y Gastric Bypass
Often people how have gastric bypass have challenges because this is a surgery that actually creates a pouch, so that you can only eat certain amounts of food. This cannot be reversed easily and it is something that most people have to live with for the rest of their lives. This can often be difficult when it enters into everyday life.

What Happens After Surgery
After surgery there are times when the individual may find they are grieving the loss of their old life. They can no longer eat as much as they used to and they cannot eat certain foods. The attitude must change in order to have a full life in this new lifestyle.

With Gastric Bypass they will have to limit the intake of food but it doesn’t mean they cannot eat some of the foods they once enjoyed.  Sometimes they will fell depressed when they go to a family gathering when they cannot eat like they once did. However, in the long run the surgery helps develop better eating habits.

After surgery it is also important to add exercise to increase weight loss. With the bypass surgery weight loss is very fast and it is very noticeable. Exercise will help stop flabby and loose skin as well as creating an opportunity to become fit. A good way to start is with an exercise ball and a DVD at home. Once exercise becomes routine walking or bicycling can also be added to create an overall fitness plan.

The bottom line is that when considering this surgery you also have to consider the fact that it is permanent and that you will have to change your lifestyle and your attitude in order to accommodate this new feature.

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