Physical Assessment and Healthy Eating Tips 9/6/21

I hope this week finds you revigorated and ready to MOVE forward. You have secured your new friendship with your walking/exercising shoes. I am proud of your decision and positive progress! You deserve to feel great so you can tackle new challenges ahead of you. Your body AND brain thank you!

Hold on with me as we now look at assessing our body weight and waist circumference. This assessment is not a TOTAL picture of your health, just a snap shot of where you are beginning in RefineMEnt. Let us pull the bandage off and look.

Ideal Body Weight (IBW)-

This is helpful so we can determine if we should look at weight loss, weight gain or stabilization of our current weight. Always remember that your doctor or Registered Dietitian can help you with determining what weight is best for you. Calculating IBW: depends on sex and height.

Men- use 106 pounds for the first 5 feet of height. Add 6 pounds for each additional inch.

(ex) a man is 6 ft tall- 106 + (12×6) = 178 pounds

Women- use 100 pounds for the first 5 feet of height. Add 5 pounds for each additional inch.

(ex) a woman is 5’4”- 100 + (4×5) = 120 pounds

Link to info: https://www.livestrong.com/article/281134-how-to-calculate-ibw/

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/index.html

We can add/subtract 10% to the IBW depending on frame size. Use the link above to assess your frame size.

BMI (Body Mass Index)-

This number is a tool used to assess if we are at a healthy weight and body fatness. The higher the BMI, the higher risk for many adverse health conditions. To calculate you need your weight in pounds and height in inches. (wt in pounds x 703)/ (ht in inches x ht in inches) = BMI

If your BMI is less than 18.5= underweight range

If your BMI is 18.5-24.9= normal or healthy range

If your BMI is 25.0-29.9= overweight range

If your BMI is 30.0 or higher= obese range

Link to BMI info and calculator: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

Waist Circumference-

See link above for your personal assessment.

Remember -these are screening or assessment tools and NOT diagnostic tools of body fat or your overall health.

Whew, that is over. Here are common sense tips you can do starting now to make your daily food intake smarter and healthier. I expand on each area in my podcast. Go to the podcast tab on my home page.

1.Eat breakfast

2.Cut back on caffeine

3.Bring your lunch to work

4.Eat more fruits and vegetables

5.Cook dinner at home

6.Eat your meals at a table w/o tv and phones

7.Portion control- this is the key

To start, you may want to keep a food log along with your MOVE log. Record everything that goes into your mouth! From there, you can analyze where you can make healthy changes.

LOG: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/pdf/food_diary_cdc.pdf

This week increase your MOVE time or steps to:

-15min/day 5 days this week OR 4,000 steps/day

-Log your MOVE & Food Intake

-Make better food/drink choices

Assess and MOVE toward a better you this week.