How are we going to measure our progress? Or see where we are to begin with?

Your Body Mass Index—the most accurate and usable assessment of where you should be and it—tells you right where you stand: weight-wise.

Good news for people about to begin a exercise and weight loss plan (and those continuing to work toward achieving their pre-set goals): There is now a tool available—out there, in cyberspace—that allows you to calculate your body mass index number without doing any of the tricky algebraic calculations. It only takes seconds to run your own numbers! See link...

The National Department of Health and Human Services defines the Body Mass Index as "a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women.” That means the system is gender inclusive, and it allows us to see where we fall in, as far as what range our current weight puts us in. The four different ranges, or as they call them “Categories” are as follows:

1. Underweight = Under 18.5
2. Normal weight = 18.5 – 24.9
3. Overweight = 25 – 29.9
4. Obesity = BMI of 30 and above

Go to the link to calculate your own BMI and record this figure accurately. Don’t try to cheat one way or the other; we want to get a fair assessment of where you are, so we can then see exactly how much progress we are (or are not) making toward our goals. You don’t have to tell anyone your current BMI, but write it down somewhere and decide whether or not now is the time for you to begin a healthier lifestyle.

We strongly encourage you to download our goal sheet which can be found below (for members to use as a template). It is available to all GettingOutside.com Members: Free of Charge: of course! And if you aren't yet a member, all you need to sign up is an email (and, in this case, a will to get in better shape, and a good reason for signing up is you will have free access to all of our attachments). You can join GettingOutside.com right now by clicking here. This is the only way you will have access to our Outdoor Exercise Log Book and Exercise Guide, Healthy Meal Plans, Maps and Brochures of State Parks and Campsites and many other great features (groups, blogs, pictures, etc...) There is nothing stopping you (it really is free!), but it's completely your choice! Back to the BMI stuff:

If your BMI is on the higher side of the overweight range (say 28 or 29), maybe you can set the number of 25 as your ultimate goal (if you are 5 foot 8 and weighed 190, then you’ll have to loose somewhere around 25 pounds to get down to a BMI in the normal weight range). But it is always a good idea to try to start small and then move on after completing an initial drop down to a 27 BMI. You can set both a long term goal and a short term goal so you can feel like you've accomplished something in the shorter range, and indeed you will have!

An Important Side-Note (there is one problem with this rather general points scoring system)

The BMI Scale is not perfect...

and, in certain cases, it can end up being somewhat inaccurate... and here's why:

We must consider the fact that all people have different body compositions, so if you are more on the muscular side, then your healthy BMI can be allowed on the higher side. Perhaps if the hypothetical individual mentioned above was very strong and muscular, a healthy, normal weight would be more than the regular 165 lb for this person, and he or she could have a BMI of 25 or 26 that would be just fine—it’s all relative to other factors, such as body composition (muscle vs. fat), your bone density, etc.; and it’s not the be all end all. The numbers can get thrown off.

The BMI Scaling System was designed as a good overall guide to the average weight ranges for adult men and women of different heights. It's just a very useful (albeit somewhat inaccurate) scaling system and really just works best to help you keep track of how far you've come. It enables you to set goals without disclosing your weight to anyone.

Here's one more example of how the BMI can help us set reasonable goals:
(so we can actually achieve them!)

Say you are in the normal weight range and just want to drop a few pounds and tighten up, then you can strive for loosing the weight that will give you a one point lower score on the BMI chart. At the link the numbers can be easily manipulated (once you have put in your height, play with the weight number to see what it will take to change your BMI by one point? Two?), and thus it makes it easy for you to try to figure out a specific goal.

Isn’t technology wonderful? Keep Reading to finish this section on goal setting...