Category Archives: weighing

February 12, 2018 · 12:02 am

Some insights into weight and aging – Web MD

I love these WebMD quizzes. I thought this was a particularly germane one for us.

There are only nine questions, but I want to offer a couple of sample. You can take the quiz here.

exercising
I only missed a couple (wheew!). Since I have been writing this blog for nearly 10 years, I expected to crush it.

Here are a couple of examples:

True or False – Thinner is better as you get older. Unlike the majority of our lives, things change as we age. The answer is, “You want to be healthy, not frail. For older adults, what matters most is how active you are and whether you can do all your everyday activities. While it’s important to stay at a healthy weight, how much of your weight ”

I thought that was an excellent insight which many people would not know.

True or False. Gaining weight is a fact of aging. This one is also not obvious. “You can keep your weight steady as you age. It does get harder, but it’s possible. Those corners you cut when you were younger (huge portions, happy hours, little to no exercise)? You can’t But age doesn’t have to equal weight gain.”

I must admit that the statement, You can’t get away with them anymore, is, I think, no secret to any of us over 50.

Tony

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Filed under aging, aging brain, aging myths, living longer, longevity, normal weight gain, successful aging, weighing

Tagged as aging, aging brain, aging myths, longevity, normal weight gain, successful aging, weight

January 10, 2018 · 6:49 am

How many calories do you burn in a day? – Infographic

Although this blog started out as simply a weight loss tool, it has since morphed into a guide for general healthy (and long) living. Nonetheless, knowing how to count calories and how we burn them is a super tool for living a healthy life. Hence, the following infographic.

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Filed under calorie counting, calorie equivalents, calories, cardio exercise, Exercise, exercise benefits, ideal weight, overweight, weighing, Weight, weight control

Tagged as calorie burning, calorie counting, calories, Exercise, Exercise Benefits, weight-loss

May 14, 2017 · 9:47 am

How often should you weigh yourself?

The waistline on your pants keeps shrinking for some reason. You joined a health club and even went there and sweated. So you have decided you want to get serious about this weight loss thing.

Should you be weighing yourself every morning? Are you going to be bummed if those 30 minutes on the elliptical machine haven’t pared some pounds overnight?

Welcome! You are beginning to learn that weight loss and weight control are mental as well as physical. In fact, I think they are more mental than physical. They are also things that occur over a continuum, as opposed to overnight. I you are carrying extra baggage, it took you a while to accumulate. Give yourself adequate time to unload it.

So, what about weighing in regularly? The answer is … Yes. It is a good idea. You need to get feedback on your efforts. You also need information on more than a weekly basis.

There are a few important things to keep in mind, though. First of all, your weight can vary by one or two percent on a daily basis just based on hydration and elimination. So, you can’t take a daily jump or drop in weight too seriously. Keep the trend in mind. Remember, you didn’t put the weight on overnight, so you can’t expect to take it off that fast. In fact, a good rule to keep in mind is that one pound to 1.5 pounds a week is a good healthy rate of loss. You want to lose permanently, not just water weight. That’s why you are eating intelligently now and working out regularly.

One of the most important aspects to daily weighing is not to feel guilty or get frustrated if you don’t see immediate results. Keep a level head and your eyes on your goal and you will be successful.

I wrote a page on How to Lose Weight – and Keep it Off. There are a lot of very useful guidelines in it. I know they work because I used them myself over the course of writing this blog for the past four plus years. Check ’em out. They couldn’t hurt. And good luck!

Finally, I would like to make one further suggestion. If you have success shedding pounds, and I hope you do, take a moment to reflect on what got you there. You have eaten intelligently and exercised regularly. I have a secret for you. If you continue to eat intelligently and exercise regularly you will never have to worry about your weight again. Wouldn’t that be lovely?! I hope you will consider it as an alternative to going back to your careless ways and packing on extra pounds again.

Tony

4 Comments

Filed under Exercise, exercise benefits, ideal weight, weighing, weight control, weight loss

Tagged as Exercise, Exercise Benefits, living healthy, weighing in, weight-loss

May 20, 2014 · 10:58 am

How Often Should You Weigh Yourself?

The waistline on your pants keeps shrinking for some reason. You have joined a health club and even went and sweated once. So you have decided you want to get serious about this weight loss thing.

Should you be weighing yourself every morning? Are you going to be bummed if those 30 minutes on the elliptical machine haven’t pared some pounds overnight?

Welcome! You are beginning to learn that weight loss and weight control are mental as well as physical. In fact, I think they are more mental than physical.

So, what about weighing in regularly? The answer is … Yes. It is a good idea. You need to get feedback on your efforts. You also need information on more than a weekly basis.

Tony

8 Comments

Filed under weighing, Weight, weight control, weight loss

Tagged as daily weighing, elliptical machine, Exercise, weighing, weight, weight control, weight-loss

April 1, 2010 · 9:38 am

What is Your Ideal Body Weight?

What do you weigh? What should you weigh? In a manner of speaking, that is the starting point for this blog, yet answers from authoritative sources vary widely. Which one to use? It’s up to you, but an informed decision is better than a blind one.

Most folks Google ‘ideal weight‘ and punch in their height and weight to get the answer. Yet most ideal body weight websites use obsolete formulas or tables created in 1979 or earlier, according to Stephen B Halls MD.

Dr. Halls offers “Peoples Choice” ideal weight. That is, the average weight that other people of your age, height, weight and gender describe as their ideal weight. He points out that women tend to imagine their ideal weight as unrealistically low, so they diet too much. Men tend to allow their weight to be higher than medically recommended. Maybe we guys are acting a little macho there. Punch your numbers into his calculator at the link and see for yourself.

His medical recommendation is based on your Body Mass Index (BMI). Medical evidence suggests that all body weight in the BMI range of 19 to 25 are reasonably equally healthy for your height.

He offers the Metropolitan Life tables which were created for the Metropolitan Life Insurance company in 1979 although he doesn’t recommend it. He notes that the Met Life tables are very prevalent on the web. Yet, the values are too large for short people and wrong for tall people. They have no age modifiers and frame size is hard to understand.

In addition, Dr. Halls offers several other Ideal body weight formulas widely used with explanations.

I think the good doctor has provided a real public service here. Check it out.

Tony