BMI (Body Mass Index) is a measurement of the fatness or thinness of a human body. BMI came into popular use around 1972 as an easy to calculate measurement of the amount of fat relative to the height and weight of an individual in order to assist in medical diagnosis.

The introduction of BMI as an aid to assessing a medical condition of the human body came about as Western society became more affluent with a rise in obesity as a consequence.

What Is BMI?

BMI is calculated by dividing a persons’ weight by the square of their height to give a reading that ideally should be between 20 – 25.

Why Check Your BMI

Above 25 suggests overweight, above 30 can mean obesity and over 40 becomes dangerous, life threatening obesity. Under 20 indicates underweight, possibly due to malnourishment or disease.

However, it must be emphasised that the Body Mass Index is only a guide to the amount of body fat in the human frame, it is not an accurate fat measurement tool nor should it be considered in isolation in any medical diagnosis where obesity or underweight may be a factor.

Despite this some medical practitioners and others tend to rely in their judgements on the index. For example taller people may give a high BMI despite being obviously slim, in such a case it is due to a mathematical aberration involving the BMI’s inverse proportion to the square of the height. (too complicated to discuss here).

Age, gender and ethnic origin all play a part.  Asians with a BMI of over twenty three are considered to be in overweight territory.

You may come across BMI Prime, this is a simple change to measuring a body’s BMI against BMI 25 (i.e. upper limit of good fat level) to give a reading above or below an optimum fat level of 0.99.

Those with a BMI Prime of 1% or over are overweight, between 0.74% – 0.99% have no fat problem, and below 0.74% are underweight.

How To Check Your BMI

It is easy to calculate your BMI as long as you know your weight and height.  Download this tool to calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) and give you an indication of your fitness. It saves the results in a file, so you can through the program look at the file, and compare your results from day to day, which gives you an overview of your weight development over time.

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It takes dedication to lose a large amount of weight, but losing too much too quickly can leave the body with loose skin that just never seems to go even with targeted exercise.

Areas that are noticeably difficult are the tummy and underarms.

Loose Tummy Skin

As for the skin on your tummy, you should know that it differs from skin elsewhere on your body as it contains subcutaneous tissue whose purpose is to store fat.

It is recommended that weight loss should be restricted to well under 3 lbs a week to give time for your stomach skin to adjust.

Aiming for just 1 lb a week is preferable.

However here are a couple of exercises that may help your stomach problem :

• Lie flat on the floor facing down, legs extended and feet about two feet apart .
• With your palms placed beneath your shoulders, lift your body from the knees upwards until your arms are fully extended. Your lower legs and arms will be taking your weight.
• Arch your back and lift your head so that you are looking up as high as you can and hold for a count of ten, relax back to the floor and repeat after a further ten count.

You may find that it will take time before you can fully carry out this exercise. If so, you can start with your elbows bent or not fully arching your body and over a period gradually, and without over straining, you should get the maximum benefit from this routine.

• Adopt the same position as above. This time when you extend your arms, keep your legs straight and fully extended so that your knees are raised and your weight is taken on your feet tops.
• Arch your back and look towards the ceiling and, as in exercise 1, take a ten count, relax to the floor and repeat.

This is important! If you have any back problems you should not attempt these exercises without first getting fully qualified medical advice. Also be carefull not to overdo the work out, just gradually work up to about twenty minutes a day and stop if you feel any discomfort in your lower back.

Loose Underarm Skin

Tightening the skin under your arms is a more difficult problem.

While there are a number of techniques that may work, we have no personal experience or access to anybody who has had success in curing the problem or can recommend a proven remedy,  unless you opt for surgery. Exercising the arms is likely to build up muscle that will begin to fill out the skin but is not likely to significantly reduce the excess skin look.

If you are young your skin is still elastic so you can try increasing the circulation by stroking, buffing, manipulating etc., the flabby skin to get the blood flowing. This will encourage new skin cells to grow and become thicker which can make the skin look firmer.

You can buy firming creams that contain collagen, an essential group of naturally occurring proteins. Massaging the loose skin with these creams may help to plump up the skinand give it a firmer look.

Keep your body well hydrated by drinking plenty of water at all times. This helps keep your skin cells moisturized so averting any tendency for them to shrink and look flabby.

Drinking green tea is said to help rid the body of flab as it produces metabolic rises in the body both during exercise and resting periods. If you dont like the taste you can try peach, raspberry or   tropical.  This, in turn, may help to det rid of the loose tummy and underarm skin.

We all know about counting the calories when it comes to losing weight but it is a common misconception that just avoiding foods with a high calorie count and cutting back on quantity is the answer to losing weight.

Before starting a really effective weight loss plan first note down your waist, hips, thigh and your chest measurements.

Most scales will only show your weight which may not be altering although your body is looking trimmer and your muscle tone is improving. Comparing your measurements is one of the best ways to encourage yourself to keep up your training plan.

No weight loss training program is likely to be successful without establishing a good dietary regime.

The best foods to eat are those that can give you that full up feeling for as long as possible, even though they may contain more calories than other alternatives.

For example starting the day with a bowl of fiber rich whole grains, porridge, fat free proteins or fruit will last you a lot longer before those hunger pangs kick in than, say, a bar of chocolate even though it will have far less calories.

Eating too few calories, and cutting out meals is not the way to go to achieve a healthy, trim body. The effect will be to hasten muscle loss that in turn will diminish your ability to exercise and your body tone will deteriorate.

Aim for a healthy balance in your daily calorie intake.

For example women engaged in normal day to day activities should aim at about 1200-1300 calories each day as below 1200 can lead to those negative problems.

Do not be tempted to cut out regular meals during the day in the belief that a large meal in the evening will help with weight loss. It will not! The consequences are that the metabolism slows leading to the body storing fat for the future.

Stick to small regular meals morning, midday and evening and a couple of between meal snacks or after exercising are OK. It is not how much you eat but what you eat that’s important.

A healthy weight loss diet should consist of an average portion of omega 3 rich protein, and plenty of fruit and vegetables. Juicing for instant vitamin and minerals can give added interest to your diet.

There are a large variety of exercises that combine with a dietary regime to make your weight loss training plan effective. Your choice of workouts will depend upon age, fitness, any disabilities and whether you can get to gym regularly or exercise at home.

The most all-purpose, easy start exercise for keeping fit and losing weight is running. Apart from suitable footwear no equipment is needed and the duration and speed is up to the individual.

A typical ten minute run will burn off between 100 and 150 calories and the same again for each further ten minute period.

It is important not to run yourself to the point of exhaustion, particularly if new to exercising and losing weight. Regularity is the key, keep with a plan that fits in with your lifestyle and gradually increase the speed and the duration of your run.

Of course there are many other workout routines that will help with weight loss that can be fitted in with your regular run, or even replace it, but running makes for an easy start to a weight loss plan.

It is not a bad idea to give yourself a days` break every two to three weeks to enjoy your favorite foods, no matter what their calorie count is and a rest from exercising. It will help break any tedium and give renewed enthusiasm to keep to that all important weight loss regime.

Research has shown possible links between quality sleep and keeping slim and fit.

Obesity is an increasing problem in the developed countries of the world and some scientists think that the modern lifestyle of browsing the internet into the small hours, late night movies on TV, being hooked on video games amongst other modern day distractions are depriving people of normal sleep patterns resulting in the rise in the numbers of overweight people.

The body produces two hormones that affect our desire for food, ‘leptin’ that is produced in fat cells signals the brain that we are full while ‘ghrelin’ produced in the gastrointestinal tract tells us that we are hungry. It seems that one counterbalances the other.

Researchers believe that lack of sufficient and regular sleep, in other words quality sleep, can affect the balance between the two hormones leading to a desire to eat.

Levels of ‘leptin’ fall while ‘ghrelin’ levels rise so that the less you sleep the more likely you are to overeat and gain unnecessary weight.

Eight to nine hours sleep is the average regular nightly requirement for most of us depending on our genes, significantly less may cause weight and health problems.

However it is not as simple as that because some people suffer from a sleep related ailment known as ‘apnea’.

Even though sufferers think that they have had a good 8-9 hours sleep, they may stop breathing for up to a minute and for up to a hundred times a night or more. The result is that those afflicted wake up tired and listless.

Apnea sufferers are more likely to be overweight although they have significantly higher levels of ‘leptin’. When their ‘apnea’ is treated they are able to lose weight despite their level of ‘leptin’ dropping.

The researchers think that this may be due to renewed energy levels and activity as a result of uninterrupted deep sleep.

Other studies suggests that the modern tendency to sleep less can lead to a variety of diseases such as colon and breast cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

However there is a strong body of opinion amongst researchers and medical experts who argue that despite the change in sleep patterns, people are living longer and healthier than ever before.

Our advice is to stick to at least 7-8 hours sleep every night and if you continue to wake up tired and with little energy and believe that you are overweight, go see your medical practitioner and talk to him or her about the possibility that you are suffering from ‘apnea’.

Better to be safe than sorry!

Those wedges of fatty tissue that collect at the sides of the waist above the hips are popularly known as ‘love handles’ and with a little imagination it is easy to see the reason.

The problem is that love handles are not an attractive feature on either women or men and, of course, perform no useful function when making love.

You know that the more you can hold them in your hands the more noticeable and unattractive your love handles are becoming. Even if you are only just beginning to notice a small bulging above your hipbone you should take immediate action.

The longer you delay the larger and more prominent your love handles will become and the harder it will be to lose them or to disguise them.

All routines that are effective in toning and trimming the body need self-discipline to achieve and maintain a satisfactory end result. Although this is the number one priority it does not mean a life of total dedication, nor does it mean that you should not enjoy a good life style.

All things in moderation is the pathway that will remove those dreaded love handles while at the same time making you feel healthier, more energetic and restore your figure to looking its best.

First of all you must realise that your diet will have the most effect on the overall look of your body. This is not so much a question of quantity, although that is an important aspect, but more about the quality of what you regularly eat.

At the top of the list is to eliminate or cut back drastically your intake of saturated fats. All processed foods such as:-

• margarine,
• sausages
• any tinned, frozen or packaged foods

will have nutritional information printed so nowadays there is no excuse for not knowing what you are eating.

If in doubt just think about saturated fats as being solid at room temperature.

Butter or the fat on cold meat and bacon are examples.

Watch your intake of carbohydrates as the body can turn them into fat if not burned off by exercise. Remember to eat your five vegetables or fruit a day as these add trace elements and vitamins essential to the body’s healthy function.

The amount of food we consume daily will vary with every person.

Some will have a tendency to put on weight faster than the norm, others seem to be able to eat enormous quantities, including foods like French fries and sugary pastries and still remain wafer thin.

It all depends on each individual’s rate of metabolism, most often inherited. Only you can best figure out the quantity of food you need to keep trim, and not feel bloated after a meal.

As a very rough guide three meals a day consisting of about three portions each meal combined with some exercise should not prove excessive. A portion to suit you is more or less the amount of food that can be held in the palm of your hand.

Drink about four or five pints (2-3 litres) of water throughout the day to flush bodily wastes and keep the skin supple and moisturised.

Once you have established a diet that suits your ambition to get rid of your love handles you can quickly move on to a simple but effective exercise regime. Put aside 30 -40 minutes four or five times a week to get the heart pumping harder, to burn off fat and trim up the muscles around you waist.

Running, cycling, using a step machine and aerobics are some of the cardio vascular exercises that get the heart rate up.

One of the most effective specific exercise to obliterate those love handles is side crunches. Also good for getting a flat tummy.

• Lie on the floor with your hands behind and supporting your head, elbows flat on the floor, knees together and bent.
• Starting from the waist keep your knees together and roll them to one side so that they touch the floor at the same time lifting your head from the floor assisted by your hands.
• Try to get your chin to touch the top of your chest or as near as you can without discomfort.

Start with 10-12 repetitions or less if this becomes uncomfortable and then change to rolling your waist and knees to the other side for the same number of reps.

You can build up the reps as it gets easier. For variety try a few regular sit up crunches. You will soon start to notice the effect on your obliques, the muscles underneath your love handles. As they get toned up your tummy will become trimmer and the love handles will begin to disappear.

There are a number of other exercises to tone up the obliques, for example using a large exercise ball to support you as you stretch and bend sideways from the waist.

Always a good way to stay in control of your mind and body is to get a good nights sleep. Eight to nine hours a night should come easily if you stick to your diet and exercise routine and allows your body and mind to rest and recuperate so you can face the day with renewed vitality confidence and enthusiasm.

Stick to this regime and your love handles can surely ‘Rest In Peace’

Do you remember those cartoon ads where a little guy is on the beach with his girl friend when along comes a bully with six pack abs who insults her and then hits her boy friend when he objects to the remark, calling him a “bag of bones”?.

The boy friend takes the advertised body building course and in the next strip has become so well developed that he is able to flatten the bully with one punch.

When you looked at the ad the weakling seemed to have transformed himself into this perfect specimen within days. The beach and the costumes were exactly the same!

Despite that advertisement, to get a well developed muscular body takes time and dedication to a strict fitness regime.

If you want to look good, a great six pack and pectorals will grab attention on the beach, or in the gym.

You will seem to be glowing with good health, your clothes will fit better – no beer gut- and your confidence will increase. Lose your belly fat and get six pack abs.

The first and most important step to getting those six pack abs is to control your diet.

By eating foods rich in protein, together with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables you will lower your body fat. Learn about the best power foods for your body. Your aim should be a balanced diet that is low in fats and carbohydrates that will reduce the amount of excess body fat you carry so your overall condition will improve.

Next start any combination of aerobic exercises that suits your lifestyle. For example walking or cycling to work, daily jogging, swimming, using a home rowing machine or treadmill regularly willand improve your fitness.

Now you can move onto specific exercises designed to get those abdominal muscles looking great.

Sit ups or crunches are probably the most convenient and a very effective way of building up the abs, but they need doing properly.

Squeeze the abdominal muscles to raise your upper body and be sure to let your back muscles do as little as work possible.

You will be better off doing twenty five crunches relying on contracting your abs and curling forward than one hundred any other way.

Reverse crunches or any other tensing or squeezing of the abs will help, even while sitting at a desk or other work station.

Two or three intensive workouts a week concentrating on your abdominal muscles should be enough.

The most important priority is to keep excess fat from your body by eating sensibly. The way to perfect six pack abs is to stick to the diet, do the aerobics to keep your heart functioning properly, and squeeze those tummy muscles.

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Have you ever thought it would be nicer to go through your exercise regime in the ‘all together’ and be more liberated?

Well, not many people want to workout totally starkers, do they? For one thing the dangly bits would get in the way.

And who wants to see the nether regions that would be exposed in such a simple exercise such as ‘touch your toes?’

However, there are advantages

• No sweaty clothes to wash so I suppose you could say it’s more hygienic.
• You can quickly lose your inhibitions if everyone in the gyms in the same state of deshabille.
• Cheaper – no designer competitiveness.
• You’d put more effort into building those pecs or firming those gluts.

How did it start?

At the end of the day I don’t think it would go down too well if our athletes were encouraged to participate in their chosen field disrobed.

After all, who wants to watch a load of sweaty young men running across a field after the ball or hitting a ball to each other over a net. Where would you look? Silly question and I must stop repeating that word ball.

Though I do seem to remember a certain famous English footballer by the name of David Beckham being named ‘golden balls’ so perhaps it would be quite interesting after all.

However, in today’s society there are many many naturist clubs and resorts where nude exercise is encouraged and welcomed. Swimming is an obvious recreation that is much nicer done naked without the restrictions of swimwear.

The practice of yoga requires only the barest of essentials and is often a preferred way to gain total absorption.

However, in my opinion,  its entirely up to the individual as to how they dress or otherwise for their workouts.