Balanced Hormones and Health » Weight Loss http://www.balancedhormonesandhealth.com Restoring your wellness and rejuvenating your spirit. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:54:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 What Is Your Ideal Weight? http://www.balancedhormonesandhealth.com/what-is-your-ideal-weight/ http://www.balancedhormonesandhealth.com/what-is-your-ideal-weight/#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:26:31 +0000 tracyg http://balancedhormonesandhealth.com/?p=738 It can be difficult to figure out what your ideal weight should be. There are plenty of charts on the Internet that give you a range according to gender and height, but there are many factors that aren’t taken into consideration: age, build, fitness levels and more.

So other than looking at charts, what are your options?

BMI
You’ve probably heard about calculating your Body Mass Index. BMI calculates the amount of fat in your body based on your height and weight alone. When those two factors are entered into the equation, your BMI number will fall into one of four categories:

  • Underweight = 18.5 or less
  • Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
  • Overweight = 25-29.9
  • Obesity = 30 or greater

BMI is not considered to be the best measurement of ideal weight by many experts, but it is a starting point.

Waist-Hip Ratio
The waist-hip ratio is a good indicator of the possibility of risk for heart disease and other weight-related problems. Calculating this ratio is simple: Take your waist measurement in inches and divide by your hip circumference in inches.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the following ratios are ideal and considered “safe:”

  • For men, a ratio of .90 or less.
  • For women, a ratio of .80 or less.

For both men and women, a waist-hip ratio of 1.0 or higher is considered risky.

Now what?
If you’ve used any of the above charts or formulas to calculate your weight and aren’t happy with the numbers are you see, contact us about safe and effective weight loss.

]]> http://www.balancedhormonesandhealth.com/what-is-your-ideal-weight/feed/ 0 hCG Diets: Some Basic Truths http://www.balancedhormonesandhealth.com/hcg-diets-some-basic-truths/ http://www.balancedhormonesandhealth.com/hcg-diets-some-basic-truths/#comments Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:32:15 +0000 tracyg http://balancedhormonesandhealth.com/?p=729 You’ve probably seen the commercials recently: local “experts” selling their services in the form of hCG diets and reality “stars” touting their success. Don’t be fooled!

hCG is human chorionic gonadotropin, a glycoprotein hormone produced in pregnancy. Its use is both controversial and gaining in popularity. Said to suppress the appetite, hCG is listed on many sports’ official banned-drugs lists.

“hCG is touted as a weight-loss panacea, but what it really does is allow patients to maintain a 500-calorie diet due to appetite suppression,” says Dr. Screven T. Edgerton. “This is not healthy way of living and not sustainable. Humans are not designed to live on such few calories.”

It’s a scary way to try to lose weight.

“Patients use hCG as a crutch, and weight rebounds when use is stopped,” Dr. Edgerton says. And frighteningly, it hasn’t been studied long-term.

If you’d like some help with your weight-loss efforts, Balanced Hormones and Health believes in healthy and proven methods. Just like the old saying goes: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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