Scrap the diet, create a lifestyle!

When it comes to weight loss, there's no lack of fad diets promising fast results. But such diets limit your nutritional intake, can be unhealthy, and tend to fail in the long run.

The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn't about short-term dietary changes. It's about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity, and balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses.

Staying in control of your weight contributes to good health now and as you age. If you've been thinking about your current weight, it may be because you've noticed a change in how your clothes fit. Or maybe you've been told by a health care professional that you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol and that excessive weight could be a contributing factor. The first step is to assess whether or not your current weight is healthy.

One way to begin to determine whether your weight is a healthy one is to calculate your "body mass index" (BMI). For most people, BMI is a reliable indicator of body fatness. It is calculated based on your height and weight.

Today, we added a BMI calculator to our blog! Look for it on the right-hand side of the page, just underneath the download links.

- If your BMI is less than 18.5, it falls within the "underweight" range.
- If your BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, it falls within the "normal" or Healthy Weight range.
- If your BMI is 25 to 29.9, it falls within the "overweight" range.
- If your BMI is 30 or higher, it falls within the "obese" range.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to come into our office for a free consultation on healthy living, nutrition, and exercise.

(Content of this blog post, as well as the BMI calculator were obtained from CDC.gov)