Do you know what your BMI is? If you are interested in weight loss, you may have heard a lot about BMI. Your Body Mass Index indicates how much body fat you have in your body and can help you decide if you need to work on gaining or losing weight.  

What Does Body Mass Index Mean?

Losing weight can have a great effect on your life. Weight loss can reduce high blood pressure, sleep apnea, the likelihood of a stroke, diabetes 2, and heart attacks. Not only that, but losing weight can cause:

• More energy and motivation
• Reduced risk for heart disease and cancers
• Reductions in blood glucose and blood triglycerides
• Better sleep patterns
• Reduced burden no the heart and circulatory system
• Fewer joint and muscle pains
• Better regulation of bodily fluids and blood pressure

BMI stands for Body Mass Index. Your BMI tells you how much body fat you have in your body. Your BMI is used to screen whether you are at a healthy weight or not. BMI takes your weight in relation to your height. A BMI between 18 and 25 km is a normal weight for an adult. A BMI lower than 18 km would be considered underweight. A BMI between 25 and 29 km would be considered overweight. A BMI of 30 km or higher would be considered obese.

How to Lose Weight

If you are interested in losing weight, you must make sure you do it slowly. Make sure you are aiming to lose no more than a half a pound to 2 pounds per week. Your goal should be to lose 10 percent of your current weight. This is the healthiest way to lose weight and will guide you towards long term success. In order to lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you use per day. By using your BMI, you will be able to determine how many calories you should have per day.

Do I Qualify for Weight Loss Surgery?

The first thing to do before considering weight loss surgery is to take a look at a BMI chart. You can easily find a BMI chart online, as well as BMI calculators. A BMI chart will let you know if your BMI is abnormal or not. If you have a Body Mass Index of 40 or higher, you qualify for bariatric surgery. If your BMI is 35 or more and you have weight-related issues like type2 diabetes, sleep apnea, or high blood pressure, you also qualify for weight loss surgery. If you are 100 pounds over your desired weight and haven’t been able to lose weight by exercising or dieting, you qualify for weight loss surgery. Even if your BMI is below 40, you would still qualify for weight loss surgery if you have severe weight-related health complications.

BMI charts are even used for children and teenagers. A teenager who has gone through puberty and has a BMI of 35 would receive the recommendation for weight loss surgery. The same would go for a teenager with weight-related health problems.

The Best Bariatric Care in California

‍BASS Bariatric Surgery Center and Dr. Brian T. Chin offers some of the best bariatric care in northern California. Our team is ready to make you as comfortable as possible during your recovery from your surgery. If you are interested in gastric bypass surgery and want to know more, contact our expert bariatric surgeons to find out if this surgery is right for you.