What is BMI? How to calculate BMI? What is my BMI? are the common questions everybody gets when they feel overweight or underweight. Many times it happens that we see people with the same weight but different physic. The fat deposition is more on belly for some people and on thighs for someone. That is because of the body composition and percentage of fat and muscle in a person. For knowing our body well we need to know how much body fat our body has and how much it should have to maintain a healthy and disease free body. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on your weight in relation to your height for individuals at or above 20 years of age. For children aged 2 and over, BMI percentile is the best assessment of body fat. Today we will learn how to calculate BMI, BMI chart, and BMI formula etc (1).

How to Calculate BMI? – Online BMI Calculator:

Using Your BMI Index Number :

Now you have learned how to calculate BMI. Let’s see the categories to classify your BMI number (2).

As per below chart, you can see if you are underweight, overweight, healthy above ideal range or obese.

Obesity leads to many other serious diseases and disorders in the body (3).

BMI Category

How to Calculate BMI – BMI Formula :

The  BMI formula was invented by Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian mathematician. You can use the above calculator to calculate your BMI but if you are enthusiastic to know the formula and want to know how to calculate BMI with a formula it is given below

BMI (kg/m^2) = Mass (in kgs) /Sqr(Height (in meters)).

Body Mass Index is also referred to as the Quetelet index.

BMI Charts :

Body Mass Index can also be measured by charts rather than using formula each time.  It has Height in y-axis and Weight in the x-axis and a graph is present which states stages like underweight, overweight, obese and normal.

BMI Chart

BMI Chart for Women

There is no separate BMI Chart for Women. The same chart can be used by both males and females. Depending on the world average height of 5’7″-5’10” the BMI chart for females would be the upper half. So basically the chart can be used by women according to their height.

BMI Chart for Men

As already discussed in the above section there is no separate BMI chart for Men and Women. But men are generally taller compared to women so the BMI chart for Men can be the lower half of the chart given below.

BMI Ranges:

Once you figure out your BMI it can be classified into various ranges like Underweight BMI, Normal BMI, Overweight BMI, Obese BMI and Morbidly Obese BMI. You can read my article on Height Weight Chart for Adults to know what should be your ideal height weight.

• Underweight: BMI is less than 18.5.
• Normal weight: BMI is 18.5 to 24.9.
• Overweight: BMI is 25 to 29.9.
• Obese: BMI is 30 to 34.9.
• Morbidly Obese BMI is 35 and Above.

Underweight BMI

Your underweight BMI generally indicates that you are a skinny person. You can also have an underweight BMI index if you have some kind of disease or illness. If your BMI is less than 18.5 consider giving a more important to increase your weight. Being underweight can result in various problems like a weak immune system, fragile bones, less muscle strength etc. You can read my post on how to gain weight if you are underweight.

Normal BMI

The normal BMI range is 18.5 to 24.9. This means you are having a healthy BMI. When you are in normal BMI range it signifies that your body is fit. You will have much more muscle strength than an underweight person. Your immune system is stronger and in a good shape.

Overweight BMI

Overweight BMI range is from 25 to 29.9. The overweight BMI shows that you have crossed the normal BMI range and now advancing towards putting in more fat than muscle. It’s better to focus on a healthy lifestyle when you are in this range. If you cross this range and enter into obese BMI it is very difficult to come back to the normal BMI and it would need a lot of self-control and exercise. You might start experiencing lifestyle related problems like back pain, thyroid , diabetes etc. So start focusing on healthy living if you have entered this stage.

Obese BMI

Obese BMI ranges from 30 to 34.9. This is an alarming range. If you have entered this range you need to focus on losing fat urgently. If the obese stage continues for a long time you are sure to get diagnosed with blood pressure, diabetes or similar problem. Obese BMI indicates that you have a lot more fat in your body. You can have your internal organs surrounded by fat. Your liver might have turned into fatty liver etc. If you are in this range join any healthy weight loss program and bring yourself back to overweight BMI stage. Then continue your healthy living habits to get to the normal BMI range. You can read this article on thyroid symptoms to know if you shall take a thyroid test.

Morbidly Obese BMI

Morbidly obese BMI shows you are at the very high risk of getting health problem. There is very less chance of getting into a normal BMI range without a medical intervention. Consult your doctor and dietitian on how to reduce weight. If they recommend any medication follow it regularly. With constant efforts, you can achieve your weight loss goal.

How to Read The BMI Chart :

Measure your height and weight. Take a pencil and mark a horizontal line corresponding to your height on the chart and mark a vertical line corresponding to your weight. See where your point of intersection lies. It is written clearly on the graph.

here is an informative video from VOX on what the BMI tells us

Limitations of BMI :

It does not let us know fat and muscle percentage in our body.Many people have a lean body but high BMI because of the weight of muscles in their body. That is why it does not show your fitness levels accurately.

How to Get a Healthy BMI? :

So from the above steps, you might have known your BMI number. If you are not in the normal BMI range you can do healthy lifestyle changes to achieve a healthy BMI number. Lifestyle changes will include things like following an 8 meal per day diet, drinking a lot of water, completely stopping the junk food and soft drinks, regular exercise and healthy food. So let us discuss how you can achieve the normal BMI number

Food Tips to Get Healthy BMI

Food is one of the most important things to focus on if you plan to reduce fat. If you are not following a proper diet schedule that is the first thing to do. You can follow the Indian diet chart for weight loss. Start including ghee in your diet as it helps in losing weight fast. It is advisable not to eat too much at a single meal and break your daily intake into 8 meals. Also, the first thing to do is stop eating the junk and fast food. It has a lot of fat and over a period of time, the fat gets accumulated to increase your BMI t overweight stage. The soft drinks are full of sugar and consuming soft drinks regularly will increase your weight and fat.

Start including fresh vegetables, eggs, milk, sprouts, dry fruits in your diet. You can also eat salads for weight loss. Include flax seeds in your diet as they help in reducing weight and has many vital nutrients to help you stay fit. You can also start drinking green tea for weight loss. The main aim of fat loss diet is to increase the percentage of protein in your body and reduce the fat. You can eat high protein foods to increase your protein intake.

Exercise Tips to Get Healthy BMI

How can you reduce fat fast? it by doing exercise. When you perform any exercise your body is heated up because of the burning of calories. With regular exercise and proper diet, your body starts burning the fat first resulting in fat loss. The burnt fat is converted into co2 and water, the co2 is excelled out of the body during respiration process / breathing out. Water is thrown out in the form of sweat.

There are various types of exercises you can try. Before doing any exercise it is advisable to do some warm-up exercises. You can follow cardio exercises to lose weight. If you want to achieve the weight loss goal early you can try some HIIT cardio workouts. Yoga is also a good exercise to perform in case you want to increase the flexibility of your body along with achieving a healthy BMI. You can do yoga exercises for beginners. If you are not into a regular exercise and just starting out you can start with simple exercises like walking, running 

Lifestyle Tips to Get Healthy BMI

The most common reasons to have an obese BMI or overweight BMI is a bad lifestyle. Bad lifestyle can result in many problems like thyroid, diabetes, pcod etc. The first thing you should focus on is a lifestyle change if you want to live a healthy life. We have accustomed our body to eat unhealthy things like oily, spicy food. Burger and Pizza have become our favorite over traditional food items like shira , poha, idly etc.

To get rid of the lifestyle problem start doing regular exercise, eat healthy, sleep early and get up early, drink a lot of water and eat green veggies. If you follow this lifestyle for few weeks you will notice the changes. Your body will be getting in a good shape and attain a normal BMI.

Hope this information is helpful for you. If you have any doubt please feel free to contact me. Eat healthy – Live Healthy.