BMI Bull$%!#

I was reading some article on some website today during my lunch break. And some doctor was quoted for some reason endorsing the effectiveness of BMI as a measure of health. Since I had no idea what my BMI was, I searched for an online calculator and plugged in my height and weight, smugly pushed the button and expected to be rewarded for all my hard work.

Guess what? I'm still "overweight."

I'm not "obese," which is what I know I was before. But I'm still comfortably in the freaking "overweight" category.

Picture a deflating balloon here. Or the sound effect version, descending tone of "Wah-wah-wah."

Seriously?

After my initial feelings of total defeat and near hopelessness, I got mad.

How is a size 8 overweight? And if it is, what size do I have to be to NOT be overweight? Should all women in the world be a size 4 or 6? Is that right? It's no wonder people have body image issues and have no concept of what healthy really is.  

I get that I still have weight to lose. I get that I'm not what anyone would call "thin." I can see that I'm still fairly solid. But it's so disheartening to have worked so hard and have this darn computer thing tell me I'm STILL overweight.

It goes back to things I've mentioned in earlier posts. It's hard to know what's right. It's hard to know what X pounds looks like because it can look very differently on different people. It's hard to judge anything based on the size of a pair of jeans because there's so much variation between brands and bodies and butts.

How do you know if you're normal?

Here's what I know ... and it's enough. I'm so much better off than I was before. If you're reading this, you also are at least thinking about getting healthier. And that's all this is. One day of eating right is better than none. Two days of dancing around your living room is better than one. And, little by little, those little steps turn into longer distances.

If you just concentrate on the next pound, the one after that will take care of itself.

(And I know that getting to the high end of "normal" for me is only 10 or so pounds away ... unless I suddenly grow 3 or 4 inches taller. Wouldn't that be great!)