How can an ambassador
for men’s health and well being be an unhealthy weight?
New Year frequently
reminds me that one of the areas of my life I’m unhappy with is my own body and
this year I’ve decided to “go public” to get help.
I bought a set of
weighing scales yesterday and the verdict is I’m 14 stone 10 lbs (or 206 pounds
or 94.5 kilo if you prefer---I don’t, fat is fat no matter how you measure it).
Why is this a problem?
From a health
perspective it’s obvious. According to the NHS healthy weight calculator, I am
overweight (no shit, Sherlock)!
I have a Body Mass
Index (BMI) of 28.7 when 18.5 to 25 is considered healthy and 30 and over is
obese---so I’m closer to being obese than being a healthy weight.
My excess weight puts
me at an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. I’ve
never had an ambition to “live fast and die young” and right now the only fast
living I do is eating too many biscuits too quickly. I don’t want to die young
for the sake of chocolate digestive (or seven)!
As a champion for
better health outcomes for men and boys I frequently say the reason more men
die younger is that we put less time, money and energy into keeping men
healthy. Well it’s time I put my money and energy where my mouth is and lose
some weight (or maybe I should stop putting things where my mouth is
altogether)!
DAY ONE NOTES:
WEIGHT: 14 stone 10lb (healthy range 9 stone 7lb to 12 stone 12lb)
WAIST:
BMI: 28.7 (healthy
range 18.5 to 25)
ACTION: Bought weighing scales, calculated BMI at NHS choices, downloaded NHS guide
to weight loss (week 1).
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