A weighty matter...

Hello! I hope everyone had an awesome week! Here in the beautiful South, we just received our first snowfall of the season. Of course, since this is the South, it is already gone. Oh well.

The past four articles covered four of the five cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle: not smoking, drinking alcohol only in moderation, exercising daily, and eating a whole-foods plant-based diet. The fifth and final cornerstone is a little different. Unlike the others, it is not exactly a behavior. It is more like the result of most of the other behaviors.

Thou shalt maintain a healthy weight!

So the very first thing we want to establish is: what is a healthy weight, anyway? There are two guidelines to use.

First, one should maintain a BMI of below 25. BMI is short for Body Mass Index. It is an index of weight adjusted for height. For the nerds out there, it is defined as the square of your height in meters, divided by your weight in kilograms. For the non-nerds, there are many BMI calculators available online, such as this one.

"It's not fat, it's muscle."

One criticism of the BMI is that it does not take body composition into account. For example, a professional bodybuilder could be considered overweight by the BMI charts, since a measurement of weight only does not differentiate between fat and muscle. However, BMI works just fine for the wide majority of people. You have to be really muscular, tough guy, for it to lose relevance.

However, those who do have a truly unusual amount of muscle may wish to have their actual body fat percentage measured, since this may show that they are at a healthy weight in spite of their BMI. The easiest way for most folks would be to use a scale that measures body fat percentage. This is a reasonably accurate method.

The problem with this is that it is very difficult to find any kind of consensus on what an ideal body fat percentage would be. Women are expected to have a higher percentage than men, and older people are expected to have a higher percentage than younger people.

One chart listing ideal body fat percentages based on age and gender can be found here. However, competitive athletes in fields such as bodybuilding and running can be found with body fat percentages as low as 5%, as this page shows.

Too skinny, Minnie?

You may ask why I do not talk about the importance of insuring that your BMI is not too low. The reason is that this may not be very important at all.

First of all, it is obviously not much of a problem for the average American, with two-thirds of us overweight. The second reason is a little more complicated.

It is true that those of a BMI below a certain point tend to have a higher morbidity rate, just like those whose BMI is above 25. But this does not necessarily mean that a low BMI leads to poor health; indeed, it seems more likely that poor health can often lead to a low BMI. Therefore, a low BMI MAY not be unhealthy in and of itself. However, the BMI charts are still a good guideline, and you should consult with your doctor if you have any questions.

Waist not, want not

There is another important guideline to keep in mind in regards to weight, other than BMI. Experts agree that adipose (abdominal) fat is the most dangerous kind to have. With that in mind, they recommend that men strive for a waist circumference less than 40 inches, and women less than 35. So even if your BMI is in the healthy range, you want to make sure that your waist measurement also falls in this healthy range.

Weight loss? It's a science!

Weight loss is obviously a complex subject (so if you are not interested in this topic, you can skip ahead to the "Quantity or Quality?" section and it won't hurt my feelings). However, most of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle that we have already mentioned are going to aid in maintaining a healthy weight: not drinking too much alcohol, exercising daily, and eating a plant-based diet are all going to help. With that in mind, the rest of weight loss is simply a matter of calories in and calories out. If your burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight, period.

Determining the correct amount of calories to eat per day takes a few steps. The first step is to calculate your BMR. Not to be confused with BMI, BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the minimum number of calories your body burns each day, based on your current weight. Please note that I said "minimum". This means that this number is based on no activity whatsoever. In other words, if you were in a coma and did not move all day, this is roughly the number of calories you would burn. Here is an online BMR calculator.

You should NEVER eat below your BMR. This is one of the most common mistakes dieters make. This is a starvation diet. This is not a wise path to sustainable weight loss for many reasons. This will result in muscle loss, which will permanently slow down your metabolism (at least, until you go to the gym and struggle to slowly build that muscle back). Losing weight too fast can also cause loose, unsightly skin. It is also the most common cause of "yo yo" dieting. A starvation dieter can lose a lot of weight, but when they stop starving themselves, it all comes back and then some.

The wise way to lose weight is to eat the number of calories that will sustain your goal weight. Now, this probably needs a little explanation, so let's look at an example.

Case study

Let's say that you are a man, age 40, 5"10", 200 lbs. This would give you a BMI of 28.7, which is overweight. So let's say you decide you want to weigh 170, which would bring your BMI down to a healthy 24.4.

Your current BMR is 1,929 calories. Remember that is the minimum number of calories you should eat per day. But notice that I did not say that you want to eat the minimum number of calories. I said you should eat the number of calories that will sustain your goal weight.

So the next step is to calculate what your BMR will be at 170 lbs. It will be lower, since you will have less body mass to maintain. And indeed, your BMR at 170 lbs. will be 1,743 calories.

So you should eat 1,743 calories? No! Why? Because you're not in a coma! Remember, the BMR is based on that level of activity, so the final step is to multiply the BMR by some number to take activity into account. The most accepted method for determining that number is called the Harris Benedict Equation:

• If you are sedentary (little or no exercise): 1.2


• If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): 1.375


• If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): 1.55


• If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): 1.725


• If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training): 1.9

So, if we assume that you have followed my previous advice, you are probably at least in the moderately active category, so your multiplier is 1.55. Simply multiply the BMR by the multiplier to get the number of calories you should eat per day. In this example, that number would be 2,702.

Start eating that number of calories immediately, and you should eventually get down to your goal weight! That's right: you are not on a diet. You are permanently changing how you eat. This is how you will eat now, and this is how you will eat at your goal weight. Guess what, you don't have to starve! All you have to do is start eating like a 170 lb. person, instead of eating like a 200 lb. person. It really is just that simple! You don't need fad diets.

Now, don't expect to set any land speed records on weight loss. You will probably only lose a pound or two a week. Maybe a little more at first, and a little less later on. But that is perfect. That is the path to sustained, healthy weight loss. You probably put this weight on over years, so don't expect to take it off in days. Most folks who follow a plan like this are pleasantly surprised at how much they can eat! In many cases, it is not that much of a change from the number of calories they were eating before. You would be amazed at the difference a couple hundred calories can make, when it is every day. Just as with exercise, consistency is the key!

What if I have a lot of weight to lose?

Let us look at one more example like the one above, but one that entails a higher amount of weight loss. I want to go over this because there is a complication that can come up. I am going to do all the calculations myself again, but feel free to "play along" if you want to try your own hand at the calculations.

Let's say this time, we are a woman, age 30, 5'5", 275 lbs. First calculation is current BMI, which is 45.8 (obese).

Next, we want to choose a goal weight in the healthy range. We can determine this by typing different weights into the BMI calculator, using trial and error, to find a healthy weight. Doing this, we find that a weight of 145 would result in a healthy BMI of 24.1, based on our height. So that is our goal.

Next, we want to calculate our current BMR. This comes out to be 2,016. Next, we want to calculate our BMR at our goal weight. This turns out to be 1,451.

Next, we want to calculate the daily calorie intake to maintain our goal weight, based on the Harris Benedict Equation. This time, let's say that we are only lightly active, so we use the 1.375 multiplier. This results in a daily calorie goal of 1,995.

If you have been reading very carefully, you may see the complication. The daily calorie goal of 1,995 is less than our current BMR of 2,016! And remember, I said that you should never eat below your BMR. So in this case, you will either have to temporarily eat a few more calories until your weight is down a little bit, or (even better) increase your activity level.

I know this method involves some calculations, but they only have to be done once. If you are unclear on any step of this process, do not hesitate to leave a comment. I will help!

Quantity, or quality?

I do want to make one final comment, though. I already spoke to this in the article on nutrition.

The thing is that I believe that if you eat the right kind of foods, you will probably eat the right amount of food, almost automatically. I believe that it is difficult to be overweight if you are eating mostly fruits and vegetables, and not eating processed foods and carbs, nor high-fat meats and dairy, nor drinking much soda and beer.

If you eat nutrient-dense foods instead of calorie-dense foods, and eat frequently until you are satisfied, you may find that no calorie counting is needed. It is amazing how the body can regulate itself, if you just give it what it was built to have. I think the prime cause of overeating is that the body is starving, not for food, but for nutrients.

In conclusion...

To review our main points:

1. One should maintain a BMI below 25.

2. Men should maintain a waist size below 40; women below 35.

3. The most important way to maintain weight is to eat the proper amount of calories.

4. To determine the correct number of calories, one must first calculate one's current BMR and goal BMR. One can then calculate a daily caloric intake using these numbers and the Harris Benedict Equation.

5. Cardiovascular exercise and resistance training can help, in that one can eat more calories if one is burning more calories.

6. Eating the proper kinds of food almost "automates" this process.

So that's it!

Our five-part lifestyle makeover is complete! To review the "Five Commandments":

1. Thou shalt not use tobacco!

2. Thou shalt drink alcohol only in moderation!

3. Thou shalt exercise regularly, preferably daily!

4. Thou shalt eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet!

5. Thou shalt maintain a healthy BMI and waist circumference!

So now what? I would love to hear your ideas for future articles! In the meantime, I think next week I will talk a little more about dietary supplements. This is a point of much contention and confusion. Together, hopefully we can look at the facts and cut through the crap.

Until then, take good care, and make it happen!