How Much I Weigh: October 2007

[rsadelle]

This is the seventh in an occasional series.

You may remember that in the fourth entry of this series, I said I would tell you how much I weigh if I knew. Well, I went to the doctor for my annual physical a couple of weeks ago, so this is my once a year time to know how much I weigh. I weigh 144 pounds, which is 21 pounds less than the year before, which was 21 pounds less than the year before that. I keep thinking about that as an equation: If you measure pounds over time, the rate at which I've lost weight has stayed the same; if you measure percent of weight over time, the rate has increased. This is what happens when you have a math-inclined mind.

I do find knowing how much I weigh has some usefulness. I can shop for legwear, for example. I could also tell my mother how much I weigh. She said to me what I think is the best thing anyone's said about my weight loss: "The only way you can weigh more than me is if you're solid muscle."

The other thing I did with the number was to plug it into a BMI calculator, because even though I think it's crap, I wanted to see where I fell on it (26.3; overweight). I've never been able to put a picture to people's weights, but now I don't have to. Kate Harding has worked up an awesome illustrated guide to the BMI. You can see how much crap it really is.

Comments

[meacoustic.livejournal.com]

The BMI thing is indeed total crap. I went to the NIH site and plugged in my stats: 27.3; overweight. I'd have to lose another fifteen pounds for it to fall into the "normal" category. They say it's a "reliable indicator of body fat" - and then go on to tell you that it's probably going to be wrong. Uhm, then how about the health profession stops using it?

(For me, though, it is pretty reliable. I have a lot of fat left.)