Back to Basics: Healthy, Commonsense
Advice for Improving your BMI in 2023

Is getting healthier on your “to-do” list for 2023?  If that includes losing weight, you’re not alone. 55% -60% of Americans and Canadians are overweight,^1,2 defined as a body mass index (BMI) of over 25. Many health benefits come with losing even a modest amount of weight (5%-10% of your total body weight) including:

• improved blood pressure
• improved cholesterol
• improved blood sugar levels³

Not sure where to get started? Here are some basic, healthy weight loss tips that anyone can follow. Good luck and remember don’t get discouraged. You can do this!

Commonsense weight loss tips

1. Determine how much weight you need to lose. You may want to talk to your doctor or a certified trainer to determine how much weight you really need to lose. It can be helpful to measure your percent body fat for a more accurate understanding of what is really making up your body mass.  Some people may be more interested in building muscle and endurance more than in losing body fat.

Try this BMI calculator to determine your BMI

2. Weigh yourself correctly.  The best way to make sure you are weighing yourself correctly is to stay consistent in your weight-check routine. Always use the same scale, and always weigh yourself at the same time of day.  You may be tempted to weigh in every day, but this could lead to too much focus on your numbers. Instead aim to weigh yourself once or twice each week, and keep it up even after you’ve reached your goal to make sure you stay there.

3. Increase your activity. Take an honest look at how much exercise you are currently getting, and add to that.  If your exercise only consists of taking the stairs or walking to and from the train (which isn’t bad, it’s a great start!) then add one day of more formal exercise the first week, and continue to add on subsequent weeks. If you’re already working out 3-4 times a week, add time to your workouts, or add another day. You get the idea-whatever you’re doing now is great-don’t stop-but just add to it for more weight loss.

4. Along those same lines…just move more. All the little extra things you do-or choose not to do-each week add up. Housework, walking the dog, yard work, choosing the stairs over the elevator, parking a little further away-all these little extras make a big difference.  Take stock of what physical tasks you pay someone else do for you, like cleaning your house or mowing your lawn, and ask yourself if maybe you could do it yourself.  You’ll end up saving money and burning lots of extra calories weekly.

5. Be smart about your diet. Different diets work differently for different people.  Thinking about lowering your carb intake, because it worked for your friend?  Go ahead and try it, but don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work for you. Because of people’s different genetic makeups and backgrounds, it’s important to experiment with different diets to see what works well for you. Some diets include the keto diet, a low carb diet, clean eating diets, and intermittent fasting diets.  The key is to find a diet you can live with and stick to, otherwise your will power will only take you so far before you give up.

6. Keep track of your calories. For your best chance of success, it’s wise to keep close track of the calories you consume. There are several Apps available to make it easy right on your smartphone.

7. Buy a food scale. A food scale will help you monitor and record your calories more accurately. You don’t need anything fancy.  You’ll find basic scales at almost any store that sells kitchen appliances.

8. Wear a heart rate monitor. A heart rate monitor can be extremely motivating because it keeps track of the calories you burn throughout the day. So, you can see how all the little extra movements you make throughout the day (like taking the stairs or mopping your own floor) add up.

9. Get enough sleep. Research shows that not getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night correlates with weight gain because it causes you to make bad food choices. For example, researchers discovered that sleep deficits can lead to cravings for high-carbohydrate foods.⁴

Supplementally Speaking wishes all those who are striving for a healthier, lighter 2023 much success.

These opinions and advice are for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for visiting your doctor.

1-     https://news.gallup.com/poll/388460/percentage-americans-consider-themselves-overweight.aspx

2-     2- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5602508/

3-     https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html

4- Nourish by WebMD (Reviewed Aug. 14 2022) “Sleep More, Weigh Less”. Retrieved from https://webmd.com/diet/sleep-and-weight-loss