BMI – Body Mass Index

Weight Loss Surgery, or Bariatric surgery, is a procedure completed for the purpose of losing weight. It would suit you if you were overweight to the extent that it was causing a wide range of health issues. You lose weight after the procedure because the size of your stomach has been reduced. This can be acheived by:

• Gastric Banding – a medical device  put in place to reduce the size of your stomach
• Sleeve Gastrectomy – removal of a portion of the stomach.
• Gastric Bypass Surgery - by re-routing the small intestines to a small stomach pouch.

Studies show the procedures cause significant long-term loss of weight. When your BMI is over 40, long-term weight loss can be difficult through any other means. The procedure can also help you recover from diabetes and improvements in your cardiovascular risk factors.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health recommends weight loss surgery for you if:

• Your body mass index (BMI) is at least 40
• Your body mass index  BMI is at least 35 and you have other serious medical conditions such as diabetes.

 However, the recommendations may soon be changing, whereby weight loss surgery could be appropriate for those with a BMI of 35 to 40 without medical conditions or those with a BMI of 30 to 35 with serious medical conditions.

Body Fat

Your body fat percentage is your total weight divided by your weight. Your body fat percentage is made up of two types of fat:

•  Essential body fat - is needed to live and have children. The percentage for men is less than for women, this is due to women actually having to carry and give birth to babies. Essential fat should be 1-3% in men, and 8–12% in women.
• Storage body fat - is fat carried on the body, some of this protects internal organs in the chest and abdomen.

The minimum recommended total body fat percentage is a combination of the two types of fat above and is higher than the essential body fat percentage.

BMI

 Your BMI is a value that can be used to compare yourself with people of different height and weight. The BMI measurement is widely used.

Which is Better – BMI or Body Fat

We believe body fat percentage is the best measure of your fitness level, as it is the only body test that works out your body composition  without reference to your height or weight.

Your BMI is not necessarily accurate when calculating your body fat, because muscular men will have a higher BMI. This can therefore place a muscular man in the obese category when he may just be overweight. Obviously the same is true for strong women, but due to women having more essential body fat, being in the wrong category does not happen so often….. there goes that excuse then!

Diet Pills

Diet Pills or weight loss drugs can be  any drug that reduces or controls your weight. In order to do this, these drugs need to change one of the processes that regulates your weight in your body. This can be acheived by altering:

• Appetite  – these drugs suppress your appetite. Catecholamines, or any amphetamine-based drugs, are the main drugs that suppress your appetite
• Metabolism – Drugs need to increase your body’s metabolism
• Absorbtion of Calories – Drugs need to change how your body absorbs food and the calories within the food. Many of the over-the-counter drugs,  eg Xenical and Allī, block your fat breakdown which limits fat absorption by your body. 

Which Diet Pills for You?

There are so many diet pills on the market, and what works for your friend may not work for you. With diet pills it is a case of trialling, but if  there is little or no benefit then discontinue treatment.

Looking at your diet and engaging in exercise should be your first course of treatment, but if you find that diet and exercise is not an option, diet pills can be a good alternative for starting your weight loss program. It should be noted that diet and exercise should be implemented when weight loss has reduced and it becomes an option.