“You can never be too rich or too thin”. Not true. I believe that in both there is a perfect balance. Too much or too little bank is no good and so it goes for carrying around too much or too little weight. That’s right! At a certain age, my gen Jones gal pals, being too skinny is not pretty. Isn’t that a relief! That gaunt hollowed look will add years to your face, your jowls hang low and fine lines and wrinkles become more prominent. I know first hand. Last year I made a bet with someone that I could lose 20 lbs. (No one should bet, dare or double dare me cuz I get down right dogmatic). I did it and I did it in 8 weeks. But when I looked in the mirror I hated the face staring back at me. It wasn’t whom I wanted to see, I looked old, saggy and tired. Uggh. I promptly gained 15 of it back. I may never wear my 26’s again but so what at least I look and feel healthy!
We all should live in a perpetual state of satiated and healthy. How do you get there? And how do you know what your perfect body weight balance is?
BMI, Body Mass Index or dividing height x weight, traditionally the gold standard for determining your perfect number has recently come into question. Certain studies have found that women with an old school ”overweight” BMI have a lower incidence of lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, anemia and osteoporosis than their thinner counterparts. For example, one bene in carrying a few extra LB’s, particularly muscle weight, is that it helps strengthen bones and fends off osteoporosis.
Even better, in a long-term studies showed that people with “overweight” BMI scores have a lower risk of mortality than any other weight group. Pear shaped women fare the best because thigh, hip and bottom fat is chemically very stable, and stable fat traps free radicals released during digestion. Thigh fat secretes adiponectin, which helps the body metabolize sugar, and leptin, which regulates appetite. Plus yo-yo dieting overtime will lead to your metabolism slowing down and eventually the possibility of weight gain.
Caution ladies, this is not a wholehearted endorsement to indulge your inner jelly donut. Fitness and strength building is the key to balancing your perfect weight rather than simply the number on your ever-lovin bathroom scale. No matter what your BMI, it is your body fat composition, the ratio of lean vs. fat mass, that clearly reveals a picture of your well-being. Exercising reduces your mortality risk by 50% regardless of your weight. Let me say that another way, daily training will give you a 50% better chance at living longer. Can’t get those kinda success odds in any other part of your life. You are completely in control of your destiny!
Aerobic exercise and resistance training will work your body slimming the fat you can see and the visceral fat you cannot detect, in fact exercising can prevent the visceral fat from even forming in the first place. A skinny gen joneser who wants to keep her weight down by not eating and not exercising is far less healthy and attractive than my plump gf’s who hit the gym.
What numbers should you be concerned with? Let me share some solid medical barometers.
Body fat percentage. If you are a member of a gym ask your instructor to hook you up with calipers to get an accurate reading. If not, with a cloth measuring tape in hand there are several on line resources you can check out to help you determine this calculation at home. Here is an easy one, http://www.healthcentral.com/cholesterol/home-body-fat-test-2774-143.html. Women between the ages of 41 to 60 years old should range between 23% to 35% for good health.
Blood pressure. This calculates how intensely your heart is working to pump blood through your body. There are two parts to this measurement, the systolic which measures outgoing blood flow and diastolic which assesses incoming flow. This is measured with the cuff at your doc’s office or some pharmacies have blood pressure machines at end aisles you can use free of charge. The healthy range is 90/60 to 120/80 systolic/diastolic.
Resting heart rate. This measures how many times your heart beats per minute when you’re at rest with no stress. Take your pulse for 60 seconds in the AM by placing a finger on your carotid artery located just below your right ear. The healthy range is 60 to 100 beats per minute.
Cholesterol. This is made up of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) the “bad” stuff and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) the “good” stuff. Cholesterol is measured with a simple blood test. LDL should be below 100 and HDL above 50.
Fasting Blood Glucose. This tallies the amount of sugar in your bloodstream. A high score means your body is unable to metabolize all the sugar in your food you are eating. A simple blood test is all that is necessary and can be checked at the same time as your cholesterol. A healthy range is 70 to 100.
Waist-to-hip ratio. Measure your waist by wrapping a measuring tape around the narrowest part of your stomach, just above the belly button. then measure around the widest part of your hips and bottom. Divide the first number by the second. Your range should be between 0.6 – 0.8.
Keep all these measures in check year after year and you will always have the perfect balance.
