195 pounds!
Females 30–39 years old
All these women weigh 135 pounds!
Get the picture?
Other methods for measuring
Methods of body-fat measuring that should be done by a trained professional include skinfold measurements, infrared interactance, bioelectrical impedance, and underwater weighing. Other methods, such as girth measurements and body mass index (BMI), can be done at home. A BMI reading is based on your height and weight and is just a gauge for determining health risk. This measurement may not be appropriate for athletes or very active people. The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet asks you to chart your girth measurements.
For girth measurements, use a tape measure. Measure the waist at the navel, the hips around the buttocks, and the thighs at their upper part. Every one inch lost from the waist is equal to 4 pounds of body fat (Muscle and Fitness magazine, March 2003). Use the chart in Charting Girth Measurements to keep track of your girth measurements in inches as you work the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet.
Charting Girth Measurements
| Date | Waist | Hips | Thigh | |
| Start | _____ | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Week 2 | _____ | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Week 4 | _____ | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Week 6 | _____ | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Week 8 | _____ | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Week 10 | _____ | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Week 12 | _____ | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Total change | -_____ | -_____ | -_____ |
Calculating Body Mass Index (BMI)
To determine BMI, use the following formula (or use the free calculator at nhlbisupport.com/bmi):
Weight (pounds) ÷ Height (inches)2 × 703 = BMI
| Example: | Female, 140 pounds, 5 foot 4 inches |
| 140 ÷ (64" × 64") × 703 = 24 | |
| Example: | Male, 185 pounds, 5 foot 11 inches |
| 185 ÷ (71" × 71") × 703 = 25.79 |
If your BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9, your weight is not likely to have a major effect on your health. If your BMI is 25 or more, talk to your GP about the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet.
Is it time to act?
The health questionnaire in Is your health at risk? is a screening tool to help you assess your physical activity and nutrition habits. Whether you find that you’re at high risk of becoming overfat or not, answering the questions may increase your awareness about your current habits. If you have decided that you could stand some improvement, try simply changing one of your undesirable food or activity habits instead of focusing on the scales. Use The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet for guidance. You will be amazed at how easily the fat will come off when you make even small changes, such as eating an apple before every meal.
Is your health at risk?
• Do you eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day?
• Are you physically active at least 30 minutes per day, seven days per week?
• Do you eat fewer than three deep-fried foods per week?
• Is your waist measurement under 35 inches for a female? Under 40 inches for a male?
• Is your BMI under 25?
• Do you consider yourself at a healthy body fat level?
• Does your family history show healthy body weights without obesity?
If you can answer yes to most of these questions, you’re probably not at high risk of developing overfat-related diseases. If you answered no to at least three of the questions, your chances are greater for developing overfat-related diseases.
This is not a medically proven questionnaire to determine the risk of becoming overfat. It is used exclusively as a screening technique for increasing health awareness.
In the next chapter, we’ll look at other factors that determine if you’ll become overfat, and we’ll see how the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet can make a big difference.
Were we born to be fat?
Genetics play a role in your body type and how you store fat. Yet other factors greatly influence your risk of being fat or overfat—factors that you can change or prevent.
The big fat facts of life
Fact one: we can’t always blame our parents. Yes, our genes affect the rate at which our body accumulates fat and where the fat is stored. And, yes, a family history of obesity does increase our chances of becoming obese (overfat) by about 30 per cent, and of course our family affected our eating habits and activity levels when we were children. But we have 70 per cent control over how healthy and fit we are as adults—what we do to take control is up to us.
Fact two: No matter who we are, we all have an unlimited potential to make new fat cells, which means we all risk obesity and obesity-related diseases if we continue to overeat and under-exercise.
So now’s the time to start making changes. The thousands of people who have followed the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet have come from a variety of backgrounds. Most everyone who stuck with the plan has seen great results.
The difference
