Everyone is talking about it. You have to live a healthy life and for that you have to lose weight. A good indicator of how much weight you can lose is the so-called body mass index or BMI. Normally it is assumed that if you have a value of 18.5 to 24.9 then you have a safe BMI value. But is that actually the case? How should you apply the body mass index for a healthy body weight?

Body Mass Index

• What is the BMI value?
• The second directive
• The third directive
• New Body Mass Index guideline
• How much weight can you lose?

What is the BMI value?

The BMI value is used by dietitians to show how the average person has too much or too little fat stored in the body. Naturally, there is a minimum and a maximum of what is good to have in fats in the body. The BMI value is calculated by dividing your weight twice by your height, or 80 kg / (1.95m x 1.95m) = 21.0. But what does this actually say? The BMI value has a scale classification as follows:

• up to a value of 18.5 the body is deficient in fats;
• between 18.5 and 25 everyone has an optimal weight;
• from 25 to 30 you are overweight;
• and from 30 and above there is obesity.

But if you are indeed 1.95 m tall and weigh 80 kg, you already look unhealthily thin. The question is therefore whether the BMI value provides sufficient information. Losing weight to achieve a BMI value of 20 may be numerically healthy, but is that really the case?

The second directive

Imagine yourself looking healthy, possibly with a little too much weight. Once again you are 1.95 m tall but weigh 95 kg. Is that too much? In that case, the BMI value would be rounded to 25.0. The BMI value says that it is a healthy weight. Yet we see that health and fitness deteriorate and muscles start to sag due to, among other things, the extra fat. With 2 meters and 100 kg we arrive at an exact BMI value of 25. Imagine if we take that as an upper limit, your weight should not exceed your height above one meter. What do you end up with?

The third directive

Many people feel optimally healthy if the following rule is applied. You may not weigh more than 10 kg below your height above one meter. This rule of thumb turns out to be a useful starting point in practice because the person is healthy, feels good and looks young and healthy. Naturally, this applies up to a height of approximately 1.40, as below this there are children for whom different principles apply. How does this work out?

New Body Mass Index guideline

The previous tables suggest that using the normal BMI value table is in itself nonsense, as the actual height of the person who wants to lose weight must also be taken into account. Someone who is small with a BMI value of 21 can already be unhealthily heavy. It is therefore necessary to define an additional range for weight per body height within the already established BMI rating. If your BMI value falls outside this range, it is already healthy for the body to lose additional weight. If you want to lose weight, check this table to see whether it is healthy to lose weight and to what extent it remains healthy to lose weight.

How much weight can you lose?

You are dissatisfied with your weight and that affects your health. Losing weight is the best advice for various health reasons. If you want to lose weight, do not use the traditional 18.5 to 25 BMI rating, because this is too unclear a range within which you can lose weight. Depending on your height, you should use the previous BMI classification as a guideline in order to lose weight healthily. But most important is the advice to listen to your own body. Please note that this classification does not take into account whether you are heavy-boned, but provides a better guideline compared to the existing BMI value classification.

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