This morning I had a wake-up call. As I’m getting ready to launch my first
Cardio Kung Fu fitness challenge, I was aware that my nachos-dr. pepper-ice
cream-while-studying-for-my-personal-training-certification-exam habit (yes, I
get the irony but I’m choosing to ignore it for the time being) had effected
the scale but I knew my BMI was still within the healthy range so I just
thought of those few extra pounds as, well, extra pounds that getting back to
healthy eating and regular exercise would take care of.
Well, it’s true, knowledge is power and math is cool. Part of getting ready to launch this fitness
challenge was taking my measurements on Tuesday morning. While they haven’t fluctuated wildly, I now
have more knowledge (I have a new shiny certificate to prove it...) so I decided to calculate my waist- hip ratio (your waist measurement divided by your hip measurement = your waist-hip ration). I’ve always heard that carrying excess fat
around your middle puts women in particular at higher risk for heart disease
but I’d never heard of this calculation and since I love metrics and numbers I
decided to calculate mine, expecting this to just be a mathematical exercise as
I’m still the same clothing size and I’ve only gained a few pounds. I was shocked when the number on the
calculator said .8025, or 80.25%. This
number is significant because anyone with a waist-hip ratio greater that 80% is
at increased risk of developing heart disease.
So while I’m within the healthy ranges for both weight and BMI for a
woman of my (ah-hem) age, I’m not necessarily healthy. I’m not fat, but I am deconditioned. I’m not fat, but I’m not at a healthy level
of fitness either. As a card carrying
member of the Eating Disordered Club (ok, they don’t really give you a card
when you’re diagnosed with an eating disorder, but they might as well because
you can only be “in recovery” never “recovered” from one, it’s one day at a
time and that bitch can come back any day she likes and when you least expect
her) I’ve spent years obsessing about the number on the scale, only to learn in
a very real way today, that the scale isn’t the be all and end all definitive
standard for health. It’s a good
starting point, but just because you’re at a healthy weight according to some
chart in the doctor’s office doesn’t mean you’re healthy, or fit.
So my plan is simple, I got through day one of my fitness
challenge and 80.25% galvanized my determination to get through day two, which
I have done as well, thank you very much!
So I’m planning on putting together a string of days. And with some discipline, hard work, and a
little fun (yes, I think working out is fun, why else would I studying my ass
off to become a personal trainer?!) when I calculate my waist-hip ratio in
April, it will be below 80%.
