How to Use BMI for Weight Loss
Once someone is aware they have a BMI above the healthy range, they can work to lower their BMI. This can be achieved through reducing caloric intake, eating a more nutritious diet, exercising, and setting achievable goals.
The Body Mass Index can be used to determine whether you need to lose weight. Those who fall on the high side of the BMI scale may be at risk for health issues that could be serious such as a heart condition or high cholesterol.
BMI may put you in a category that shows you are overweight or obese. You can work to achieve a healthy range BMI. Today we’ll show you how to lower your BMI through a few changes and the right mindset.
The amount of calories you eat is directly related to having a high BMI. Eating more in one day than you require will cause you to gain weight. Based on your size and age, you need a different amount of calories than others. It’s essential to know how many calories you need per day. A great way to cut your calories is to first take into account how many calories you’re eating a day. You can determine the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight and compare that to how many you’re eating now.
Most likely, you are eating more than you need to if you have a high BMI. Make sure to take small steps toward reaching your correct caloric need. It can be very difficult to go from a high intake to a low one drastically. Cut 200 calories a day; for example, once you can feel full on this lowered amount, cut another 200. Once your intake is the same as what is required to maintain your current weight, you can take in just a bit less to begin to lose weight.
Where you get your calories can be as important as how many you eat. One of the two things to cut out as much as possible is salt. Salt can lead to many other health issues besides weight gain, and unless you monitor your sodium intake, it’s very easy to have too much salt in your diet. The next thing is sugar. Sugar adds weight very quickly. Sugary drinks are responsible for many people having a high BMI. When you eat a healthy diet and meet your nutritional needs, it will be easier to lower your BMI. You’ll feel better as well.
One of the best strategies to lower your BMI is to combine eating less, eating better, and moving more. One of the causes of a high BMI is too little physical activity. No matter your current physical activity, you can typically increase it. Of course, there are medical conditions that do not allow specific physical activity. The main focus will be on a proper, restricted diet in these cases.
However, plenty of people with limited mobility can still increase their physical activity. Exercise what parts of your body you can. For the average person, it’s all about starting small and increasing over time. If you never get off the couch, spend an hour on your feet walking around every day at first. You don’t have to go on a long walk outside; just get up for two 30 minute intervals or four 15 minutes intervals. Over time, spend more time being active and in different ways. After a while, you’ll be much more physically active than you used to be. At this point, your BMI will begin to lower without much effort.
One of the most important ways to work on lowering your BMI is how you set your goals. This is something that is not stressed enough for weight loss. Many people start on a weight loss journey to get frustrated when they can’t meet unrealistic goals as quickly as they set them. The mindset you have toward achieving a healthy BMI is one of your most significant factors of success. It’s common that when someone makes a weight loss goal, the goal may be too big and intimidating. This leads to many giving up and not achieving their goal. The problem with most goals is setting one goal. If your only goal is the end goal of having a healthy BMI, you may struggle to feel like you’re getting anywhere. The best strategy is to set many small goals along the way. Break your weight loss goal into steps or pieces. If your BMI is 27, set your first goal to get to 25. It’s a small step, and you can reward and congratulate yourself when you reach this number. This is just an example. Break your goals down into as small of pieces as you need to stay on track and keep focused on the next small goal and the one after that. Before long, you will reach your big, at one time intimidating, goal.
The Body Mass Index is a great way to keep track of your weight loss. When you fall on the higher end of the BMI system, it may be in the best interest of your health to work on losing weight. The primary way to lose weight is to manage how many calories you consume in a day. Many people are unaware of the number of calories they need to have in a day, and learning this can put a new perspective on your eating habits. It’s also important to understand what foods to eat to prevent weight gain and aid in weight loss. Consuming fewer calories will definitely help, but where those calories come from make a difference as well. Making sure to get your body moving more than before is another big step toward lowering your BMI. There have been arguments about weight loss regarding whether diet or exercise makes the most significant difference. The truth is that the biggest difference is achieved through a combination. Remember to set small, realistic goals and use them as milestones. Break down how much weight you want to lose in stages. Mindset can be your biggest ally or your most brutal enemy.