Alternatives to BMI when tracking weight loss

When you want to lose weight, one of the most important things that you can do is track your progress. For years one of the most popular tools for weight loss analysis was called the Body Mass Index, or BMI. However, today, the open limitations of the BMI are much more apparent.

If you are serious about losing weight, then it pays to find out some of the most important BMI alternatives. What can you use if you want to make sure you can lose weight and then analyze your results accordingly?

The limitations of BMI

The BMI is quite limited in that it does not take into account things like body muscle or body fat. Basically, by taking your height and weight, you can find out what your body mass should be for your own particular height.

However, a common story about why BMI does not work so well comes from Michael Jordan, the sports legend. He was in fantastic shape, but according to his BMI he was overweight – despite being a size 30 waist. Why was he told he was overweight? Because as a super-athlete, he was in supreme muscle-bound condition.

Muscle weighs more than fat, so someone can be well-cut and defined yet, by BMI ratings, would be classed as over their expected weight. This means that you can create a scenario where someone who is actually in fine condition might be chasing ways to cut weight when, in reality, they should be doing nothing of the sort.

By the same token, this works in another way entirely. You could be told that your BMI is perfectly healthy, but in reality you are a good bit over where you should be. It’s a good metric to use, but it does lack a lot of the context we need.

This is why using BMI alternatives is so important. While you could always use a BMI calculator such as the one from Just HCG to find out what your rating is, does it really tell you too much?

If you want to better prepare yourself for proper weight loss, it pays to invest some time and effort into finding out what changes you should make. Here are two popular BMI alternatives that make a fine differing opinion. This should help you out a lot when you want to lose weight. So, how can you go about making positive changes to your weight loss regime?

Relative Fat Mass Index

While the Relative Fat Mass Index (RFM) might be a new concept, it has quickly gained ground and authority across the weight loss industry. It’s very important to learn more about it, as it offers an interesting alternative to what you are using at present.

With the help of the ‘new and improved’ RFM, you can quickly wok out your fat mass. It can also be worked out simply by using a tape measure, which is obviously useful. Unlike other analysis models, this means that you can find out what your fat mass is for a few pounds!

The distance around your waist is taken and then put into relation to your height. This is simpler, it’s less open to interpretation and it does not need quite so much context and padding around it to make it a legitimate form of analysis. Not only that, but it also gives you the help that you need to make a genuine improvement to analysis as it offers you a better idea of whether or not the fat levels you hold presently are healthy or now.

This is one of the reasons why the RFM has become such a wise measure for you to use. it’s based on some very important changes to the procedure, reducing much of the work that you need to do in a bid to find out where your body is at presently. Since the RFM is very popular, it’s rated as equally as good as the DXA body scan – a professional piece of equipment that delivers one of the most accurate fat mass results.

So, with that in mind, you might wish to look into measuring your RFM. It could be one of the best solutions to use during weight loss. What else works, though?

Simple calculations

Of course, other options exist as well. For example, according to Professor Nick Trefethen, the Professor of Numerical Analysis at Oxford University, a simple change to the numbers can produce much better results.

According to Mr. Trefethen, all we need to do is get our weight on a set of scales. Then, take that weight and multiply it by 1.3. Then, divide this by your height to the power of 2.5. This is supposed to be produce a much better level of knowledge about the body, and it does tend to be more suitable for people of a taller nature.

Another option would be to use the Lean Mass Index, or LMI. This is also very popular, and has become a go-to choice for many people looking to lose weight and find out a more accurate representation of where they are. You should look to measure your FMI and LMI apart from one another, though for one simple reason: it will give you a better idea of how much fat, and muscle, you are carrying relative to your weight.

Obviously, you might appear to be heavier if you carry a lot of muscle. It’s important to keep that in mind, as your BMI does not make that clear when you are using it.

For this reason, we recommend that you spend a bit more time getting to grips with what your BMI can do – and what it cannot. If you wish to make more use of numbers to make analysis of your body a bit easier, then following along with all of the above should really help you out.

Your RFM and your LMI will go a long way to helping you get a much clearer picture of your progress than BMI.

Martyn Williams

British born explorer, Martyn S. Williams, is a well-known expedition leader to some of the world’s most remote locations, is a human potential public speaker, and a teacher of enlightened living.